Chapter 03: Strange Little Man
Someone comes to the valley for a vacation, and a drinking contest ensues.
Finding a basket in the closet was the highlight of the first few days. He dumped the container into the shipping bin, smiling like an idiot at the pile of forage inside. It wasn't perfect, he admitted that, but it'd bring in at least a couple extra funds while the turnips finished growing.
He looked behind the house, hands flapping as he saw the first flashes of green in the tired brown dirt, still wet from him watering it that morning. His babies were growing! It hadn't been that long, yet he was still excited to see it.
He was not so excited about the mini chicken running up and pecking at the leaves, though. He ran forward, scooping the bird up and walking towards the front of the house.
Takakura was talking to an incredibly panicked-looking person, who was grabbing their hair and stomping in frustration. "Baba fell out of my pocket! My baby could've gone anywhere!" he sobbed, trying his best to keep his feet planted on the ground.
"...This is your chicken, then?" Jazz piped up, holding up the bird. The man jogged forward, gently picking up the chicken and cooing as if it were his own child.
"Do not ever run away from me again, you silly thing..." He said, scritching the chicken's head and breathing a sigh of relief. "You must be Takakura's neighbor."
"That'd be me. Name's Jazz; I own the land."
"Ah, right --" Takakura walked up, placing a gentle hand on the guy's shoulder. "Jazz, this is Lajos. He's on vacation, wanted to see how we do things here."
Lajos nodded. "It's been a very eventful first day." he said with a laugh, "Takakura showed me around the Valley, then Baba... well!"
"He'll be staying with me for the time being, Jazz." Takakura explained. "His speciality is working with animals, but I figure you can show him how to at least take care of the produce."
"I mean, yeah." Jazz chuckled. "Today, though, you should... probably rest up. You eat anything today?"
"Not yet... why?"
"Well, I could always make us... sandwiches... or. um... pasta..."
Takakura sighed. "Why don't you two head to the bar?"
Jazz and Lajos looked at each other, then both nodded at Takakura silently.
The walk to the bar was quiet, birds idly chirping and flapping overhead as they traveled. The bar, to contrast, was full of life for once. Griffin and Muffy effortlessly slid drinks to each of the patrons; the two bumped into each other in the middle, drawing laughs from the crowd as the three took their spots at the bar.
Lajos and Jazz looked over, seeing a few of the guys surrounding another, holding a glass of whiskey in his hand. Jazz walked over, eyes drifting over to Flora as she spectated the event.
"The one night he convinces me to come with him," she sighed, "and he gets pulled into a drinking contest with the turnip wrangler and the hippie."
"Who're the other two?"
"Well, Carter's in the middle, I think... then Marlin on one side and Gustafa - i think that's his name - on the other." Flora put her cheek in her hand, elbow resting on the counter. "I'm not sure what's going to happen. I'm certainly not cheering for any of 'em." she said with a laugh.
Lajos and Takakura joined Jazz in watching as Gustafa, a rail-thin looking fellow with reddish-brown hair and a pointed hat, scooped up his massive mug and gulped half of it down at a frightening pace.
"I could do better." Lajos joked. Quicker than he'd expected, the three men were quickly looking at him. "...I guess that's a challenge, isn't it?"
"You're damn right it is." Gustafa grinned, "Lajos... right?"
"That's me."
"Swap with Carter." He smacked Carter's shoulder, who rolled his eyes as he got up and left the circle. "Griffin! Get us, uhh..."
"Your strongest." Lajos' hand hit the counter.
"Ooh, confident. Marlin, you gonna take it sitting down?"
"You want the smartass answer or the tough answer?" Marlin laughed. His black hair was wavy, shining in the bar's lighting. "C'mon, let's show the new guy how we do things."
The two laughed as Griffin brought the drinks over - Lajos drank one in a few quick gulps, while Marlin and Gustafa took a bit longer with theirs.
"Oooh hell, he's quick." Gustafa said after a pause. Griffin chuckled, already pouring another drink for Lajos as the other two set their glasses on the table. "C'mon, we can't be outdone by a new face." He looked at Marlin with a grin.
"Then you best shape up, sucker." Marlin pointed at his already-empty glass. "Don't like the hard stuff?"
"Oh, the hard stuff is fine --" He gulped it down as Griffin poured more. "I just don't wanna lose the best drinking contest I've had so far to a newbie."
Carter looked at Jazz. "So... what's his tolerance?"
"We're about to find out."
The three boys kept drinking, the crowd around them cheering more for Lajos than the other two as he powered through the drinks. Before long, the glasses piled high, and Griffin and Muffy looked at each other.
"Maybe you three should take it easy now..." He cautioned as they slammed their glasses on the table.
"Or what?" Gustafa hissed, "We can handle more of 'em.'"
"Marlin's about 3 sips away from falling on the floor, and your hat's been swiped."
His hands smacked the top of his head, eyes widening in surprise as Lajos laughed, still seemingly sober and now sporting a green pointed hat. "Sounds to me like I've won the day, gentlemen." He sounded... smug. Infuriatingly so.
It was kinda cool... Carter chuckled, pushing his glasses up as the crowd broke, Marlin and Gustafa stumbling out of their seats and onto their feet; Gustafa took his hat back from Lajos as they began to walk away. Lajos got out of his seat as well, and almost as quickly tumbled to the floor with a groan, face flushed and red.
Griffin chuckled, pinching the bridge of his nose. "The floor don't make for a good bed, you know."
Marlin waved his hand nonchalantly. "I'll take 'em, Griffin; don't worry about it." he said calmly, kneeling down and effortlessly scooping Lajos up; carrying him like a bag of feed as he looked at Jazz. "He's light... So... do you know where he lives?"
"Yeah," Jazz laughed, "Follow me."
The two left the bar, Marlin carrying Lajos as they walked in the night air. It was a crisp night; the air populated by the sound of owls in the distance. Fireflies dotted the sky, occasionally daring to illuminate for brief moments.
"So, this guy..."
"He got here this morning; he has this pet chicken and it got onto my farm. Turns out, he's staying right next door."
Marlin nodded, "Right, you're... you're the new guy." He said, pausing as he thought, "I... man. You never got to meet Pete, huh?"
"You make it sound like he died." Jazz joked, tilting his head. "I thought he just moved to Mineral Town."
"He did, but... but man..." His face fell, "I always thought he was pretty cool, but he... ran off with Ann, now I'm..."
"Oh no, did you...?"
The two shared a silent acknowledgement. Marlin nodded, and Jazz nodded in reply.
"I've been there. You think you've got a chance, then.... it vanishes."
"Recent thing?" Marlin asked.
"Before I moved." Jazz replied with a sigh, "My... well. Turns out the person I was seeing was seeing about four others, and none of us knew about each other."
"That sucks." Marlin shook his head, "Really, I just... I think I'm just. I mean..." His brow furrowed. "I'm not really sober enough to explain. Guys are neat. Girls are kinda... okay, I guess." He shrugged,
"Nah, I get that." Jazz smiled, "Maybe you'll find someone new."
"I hope so..." Marlin sighed as they made it up the hill. "Right, now where...?"
"Takakura's house. Knock first; I'm not sure if he's home yet." Jazz said, Marlin heaved Lajos over his shoulder, using his other arm to knock on the door. Takakura answered, pointing to a hammock positioned over his bed as Marlin entered.
"Thank you for bringing him home, Marlin." Takakura said warmly, "Was he the winner of your little contest?"
"Yeah, somehow." Marlin laughed, gently climbing up and placing Lajos in the hammock. "Gustafa was pretty annoyed by it, but they'll get along fine... I'm sure."
"I'll make sure he stays hydrated tomorrow." Takakura chuckled, "You doing okay, Lajos?"
"Unnhhhhhh." He mumbled, curling up around his pillow.
"He'll be okay in the morning." Marlin shrugged, grinning. "I should be heading home myself before I get a worse hangover." He said with a laugh, walking out the door and waving to Takakura and Jazz.