"So... you say that this is the tree root that the carpenter was looking into, Hanae?"
"That's right, ma'am." Kirtida watched the cream-furred beastwoman glance around the cozy room, which was filled with a few customers that had risen early to get to the bar before the crowds did, for whatever reason they needed to. Most simply wanted to avoid the hustle and bustle of the dining halls at whatever inn they were staying at – while it wasn't the bartender's business to ask, she had been running the Dancing Peacock long enough to be able to guess. The tanned woman adjusted the jeweled veil on her head, then reached out towards the chunk of wood that the explorer across the counter was holding close.
Hanae blinked in confusion for a moment or two before realization dawned on her face. "Oh... I'm sorry, here you go. Be careful, it's heavier than it looks."
The bushi gingerly passed the chopped root over, and Kirtida slipped her fingers underneath the wood. Her jaw dropped, and she hunched forward somewhat when Hanae let go of the lumber, feeling almost like she was holding an entire chunk of tile in the palms of her hands. The beastwoman was still keeping her arms outstretched underneath the bartender's, ready to catch her if she lost her balance, and inwardly, Kirtida thanked the canine for the gesture. It only took a few seconds for the dark-haired woman to get used to the weight, however, and she forced herself to stand up, bringing the wood over to a barren part of the counter and squatting down.
"My! That... yes, you're right, that is quite heavy..." Kirtida couldn't help but remark once she had pushed the tree root into the little shelf, getting back to her feet, dusting herself off, and taking a few deep breaths to help herself relax. The bartender fetched a large satchel of money from one of the other lower shelves before slowly walking back over to Hanae, her gaze lingering on the bushi's ears as they twitched. She heard a noise coming from the far end of the room; someone was probably getting ready to leave for the day. She shook the distraction away, sliding the reward money over. "Here you are, darling. A full five thousand. Make sure Naomi doesn't spend it all here, hm?"
The joke caused a shy, if also knowing, smile to wriggle its way onto Hanae's muzzle. Kirtida casually slipped her elbows onto the countertop, leaning into the smooth wood somewhat. "Don't worry, ma'am, we will. She might come by later today, just so you know... she was more exhausted than the rest of us after going into the Windy Archive."
"Sweetheart, just call me Kirtida. You and the rest of Guild Zephyrus have been around for almost five months now, after all," The tanned woman started, patting the back of the bushi's hand when she grabbed their payment for their work. She would have been content to leave things at that, but Hanae's warning was not only very helpful, but the name of what could only be a ruin of some sort had piqued her interest. "And... the Windy Archive, you said? That's where you found that heavy root?"
"Mmhm... that's right," Hanae replied softly, turning to look at the ceiling as she thought to herself. Kirtida waited patiently, plucking a few dried fruits from the nearby complimentary bowl and popping them into her mouth. "It was... well, it was windy. It was strong enough to make us lose our footing a lot of the time, even Naomi in her full suit of armor."
The bartender quirked her eyebrows upward in surprise at the beastwoman's description, picturing the fortress struggling against a impossibly powerful gust of air in her mind's eye. For a split-second, she thought of herself in that situation, and winced, bending a knee against the folds of her dress. "You make it sound quite dangerous. I certainly pity any female explorers with skirts who venture in there... or any female explorers with dresses, for that matter."
The quiet yipping noise that Hanae let out in response was not what Kirtida had expected, and the bartender sharply raised her head to stare at the beastwoman, feeling herself grow tense when she saw how her customer's fur had bristled underneath her- padded dress, she noticed. Her mind began to race, piecing scenes together out of nothing as she tried to figure out the odd reaction, and soon enough, as only one reasonable explanation popped up, she felt her heart sink at her own behavior. Kirtida never meant to make anyone uncomfortable, quite the opposite, but it seemed that she had run her mouth a little too much.
It was her own fault, of course: the bar's regulars weren't as shy as the pretty young bushi was, and Hanae didn't come into the bar by herself very often, if at all. She didn't dislike the Dancing Peacock, it simply wasn't the type of place she would choose to spend her time. The opposite of the rest of the patrons that sat around the room right now, Kirtida wryly noted. She shook her head, getting her thoughts in order as the cream-furred canine bowed her head in clear embarrassment, ears flattened against her long, blonde hair.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that." Kirtida bit her lip, watching the bushi fiddle with the ends of her long sidelocks, before continuing. "You don't have to answer this if you don't want to, but... did something actually happen down there? Did the wind really blow your dress up and, I dunno, Skylar saw it or something?"
"S-Skylar- what? Oh, no! N-no, nothing like that happened, ma'am. Kirtida." Hanae seemed to relax, just a little, as she replied, correcting herself at the very end. "I promise, everything went fine."
Kirtida felt her mouth droop with the slightest hint of a confused frown. The explorer's frank answer was once again unexpected; she had figured that Hanae would have either danced around the question, or would have simply not answered at all. She did neither, so why was she still acting so flustered? Was she simply taken aback by the idea of the strong winds blowing up her dress...? Or maybe she was thinking about if someone did get blown into her...
Kirtida mulled things over as she watched Hanae grab the satchel of money and bring her arms to her lap, the jingling coins ringing through the air. Kirtida steepled her fingers as she watched the bushi's tail wag happily back and forth, an odd sight considering how embarrassed she had been by the direction their conversation had taken, first the wind, then her wrong guess about Skylar, and then-
And then the details clicked into place, and the tanned woman narrowed her eyes, breathing as casually through her nose as she could. Slowly, but surely, she moved from the bushi's tail to her torso, then to her face, knowing without needing to see it that a blush had flared up onto her lightly-furred cheeks. She was still looking at her, and the bartender smiled slyly. "Oh... I think I can see what's really on your mind now, sweetheart."
The simple statement was enough to bring the bushi back to her senses, her ears perking straight up as she understood what Kirtida meant, and the cream-furred canine took a shaky step backwards, glancing over her shoulder in surprise when her tail brushed against her ankles.
"U-um... I should get going now, ma'am. It was n-nice talking to you, have a good day!" Hanae said just loud enough for Kirtida to be able to hear, and as soon as she had finished speaking, the explorer turned tail and dashed towards the exit, escaping into the city plaza within a few seconds. Her departure caught the attention of some of the other explorers sitting nearby, peering from the door to the counter, but the bartender didn't even bother acknowledging them. They shrugged after a moment and went back to minding their own business, leaving her free to think about what had just happened.
For the third time that day, Hanae had managed to do something that Kirtida wouldn't have expected. This time, however, the tanned woman still smiled to herself, adjusting her jewelry before taking another pinch of dried fruit from the bowl. She shook her head; just another way to get to know one of her customers a little better. "Oh, Hanae, you naughty thing, you."