"Thirty-nine, Forty... Hey, that ain't a bad haul this trip!"

Pushing open the door to the tavern, the man looked up from counting his Rupees and hung the bag they were stuffed into at his belt. Most people might not have considered forty of them might to have been much pay for the work that he did - but when he got to do something he enjoyed, and get paid for it at all? That was like killing too Keese with one rock.

He chuckled to himself as he strode into the tavern, his heavy leather boots clad in metal making surprisingly little noise on the wood floor. Now, if his job consisted of just knocking Keese out of the air, that would be funny... For a while, anyway. But no, he'd had to go and fry some bigger metaphorical fish to earn his money. Bulblins were the most common, but they were easy enough to take care of in small numbers. There were the occasional Wolfos that he met once or twice when walking across the fields. They tended to travel alone like he did, though, and only when they got desperate and hungry in the colder months. They weren't too hard, but not too easy, either.

... Then there were the Stalfos he met, the one time he had stayed out in the fields that one night just to sate his curiosity. The thought made him shudder, but he fought the urge down as he took a seat at the bar, resting one gauntlet-clad hand on the smooth wood surface as he shot a nodded to the barkeep. Out of habit, the other hand rested on the hilt of the sword at his hip that he made no effort to hide - a sturdy hilt wrapped with leather and topped with a heavy pommel, sheathed in plain dark leather. The way he wore it with ease spoke of comfort, familiarity, like he never took the thing off. "Hey, barkeep," he flashed the man a smile and a wave. "What'll twenty Rupees get me that's cheap, filling, and damn tasty?"

The barkeep turned to regard him, cocking a brow. Probably didn't get many pointy-eared, blue-haired bounty hunters in here, he figured. Still, he gave the guy credit - he didn't look too surprised before he set down the platter he had been polishing and stepped up to the bar. "Twenty, y'say? I have a couple of these cakes left over that fit that bill. You might want to grab them fast, though, we've been getting more orders for them than usual today..." The bald, mustached man's dark eyes darted towards a corner of the bar and lingered just a bit longer than usual, like he was trying to emphasize something. Yugo's eyes followed the barkeep's, and fell upon a peculiar-looking hooded girl, nested away in her own corner... Was she talking to herself?

He shrugged. "I don't see why you're giving her a weird look - I talk to myself like that all the time." He waved it off, reaching down to take half the pay he'd just earned in exchange for that Bulblin's blood, sweat, and tears, and pass the little gems over to the man behind the bar. He nodded, and soon came back with a small bag crammed full of sweet-smelling treats, wrapped in little paper sheets and tied with cheap, but functional twine. Yugo took one and set it before him, casually stuffing the rest into his pack. Nodding his thanks, he began to dig into the cake he'd just gotten, relishing the chance to relax - he enjoyed a good fight or trek, but being back in a cozy tavern where he could enjoy the quiet? He relished it.

... Now that he wasn't talking himself, though, he couldn't help but hear something odd - like another voice, coming from that same corner the barkeep had been giving the exasperated eye. In what he thought was a covert maneuver, he cast a quick look over his shoulder at the girl- There. He definitely heard another voice in the little gaps of speech where she paused, like she was holding a conversation with somebody. But about what?

Yugo reclined a little in his seat, idly wishing the barstool had something resembling a backrest. He took his time snacking on the cake he'd bought, and occasionally glancing back at the corner where the dark-haired girl was sitting. His curiosity about her conversational partner was solved when he spotted the tiny figure standing near the plate of sweetcakes she had brought over, and he had to stifle a laugh when he saw him try to eat one with a fork as big as he was. Hm. Maybe he ought to stop looking and actually go over and talk to the two of them, before one of them noticed and spotted him-

Bollocks, like that. He winced when he caught her eyes, offering a brief little wave back to her accompanied by a sheepish smile. Well, they definitely know now. Best go make introductions, right?

Finishing his food, he pushed up from his seat and casually made his way over to the corner. He waved a hand at the chair opposite hers, indigo eyes flitting between her and the fairy. "Couldn't help but notice you over here - a voice like that is hard to miss in a place like this."He said coolly, nodding in her general direction. Taking a seat, he extended a hand out, offering it to either one of them. "Yugo Oersted, bounty hunter and general jack-of-all-trades. And you?

Sure, he didn't exactly plan on getting caught more-or-less spying on somebody in a tavern today - at least not stone-cold sober, anyway. But he figured, while he was in-between jobs, why the hell not make the best of a probably-awkard situation and make a new friend or two.

Yugo relaxed as he shook hands with her, noting the similarities and differences between the two of them; she was smaller, that much was obvious; but it was the way she grinned and the strength hidden in her soft grip that told him she was very different from the sort of women he was used to meeting in taverns. Not that he made a habit out of doing that, but the point still stood, she was a welcome surprise. And, to add to that, she had a fairy with her - not too many people he knew of traveled with them, and even fewer did so without keeping the poor things in a bottle. Their demeanor, the way she carried herself, the way her hands were like his - she did work, whether it was using a tool or swinging that sword of his. The two of them might be able to help him-

Wait. Pickup lines?...

"Oh?" He cocked a brow at her, his brain finally catching up with his mouth. "Would you be offended if I told you it was both?" A corner of his mouth curled up in a wry grin, and he leaned back in his chair and set his hands on his knees. "Judging by how Little Seri looks like he's about to charge me with that dinner fork, though, maybe it's not you I need to worry about offending.

"Didn't come over here to toss sweet nothings at you over a dining table, though," As fun as that and watching the resulting bickering between you and Seri may have turned out to be, He thought, shaking his head. "I just came back from bringing in a bounty. I won't bore you with the details,"

Like how the Bulblin grenadier's hand slipped and he dropped the bomb at his feet, and I didn't -actually- do much to earn that bounty besides walk out there and draw my sword-

"But while I'm in my downtime, I figured I could go looking for some more work while I was here. Couldn't help but notice you two over here, and I couldn't help but wonder if you guys had heard or seen anything interesting around here?"

Yugo watched Seri with a bemused look on his face as the fairy attempted to make a tactical retreat - and then was aided by Tisua. Had he done something to irk the fairy? Hmm.

He sighed, looking just a little dejected at Tisua's situation that she apparently had in common with him - looking for rumors, and not a whole lot to share. "I know what you mean," he gave an exasperated click of his tongue, leaning over to rest his hands on the table between them. "In hindsight, even if you -did- have any stories for me, I couldn't really give you anything to pay you back barring food, money, or my services." He shrugged, gesturing with a hand in a 'well, what can you do?' fashion. His head turned away from the two of them for a moment, then something caught his ear and brought his attention back.

"You say you're heading to Castle Town?" He canted his head forward, showing he was interested. "Huh... Exactly how keen are you on getting there?" He glanced down to Seri - who seemed to be the more eager of the pair to make it to town. "Feel free to say no, but if either of you are interested in these stories floating around town, the shrines, graveyards - would you be willing to postpone your trip for a little while? Imagine if those stories are actually true - and what those places might be hiding, waiting for whoever's good enough to find it and earn it."

Come on. If would be interesting to know if it's true - it'd be another thing -entirely- to figure out for yourself, the gleam in his eyes seemed to say as he looked at the two of them, the only other thing betraying his budding enthusiasm being the way his fingers delicately tapped against the wooden table.

To say that he was disappointed would have been an overstatement - he'd half-expected her to decline his offer. Most people he threw it at had much the same reaction, and he couldn't fault them for that. Not many people could afford to go around chasing after fairy tales and mere rumors like he had. He kept himself from showing it, though his shoulders may have slumped a tad and some of the fire might have gone from his eyes-

But she was leaning forward, and she had that same sort of look, that drive, as she spoke. Traveling with her and Seri?... The thought brought a smile back to his face. He reached up to stroke at his chin with a hand, as if he were contemplating the offer - as if there were any chance that he'd say no. "Hmm..." He dragged out the sound, making a show of it to tease the two of them. He had already made up his mind. "Those are some harsh conditions... Here's an idea."

He reached behind him and pulled something from his pack - it was the bag of sweetcakes he'd bought earlier, which he was now setting down on the table between him and Seri. He eyed the fairy and nodded, nudging the bag a little closer with a shove of his finger. "How about -I- share my sweetcakes with -you-. Would you be more agreeable to the deal then, Little Seri?" He spoke with a sincere smile, without any trace of mocking or deceit in his voice - like he viewed the smaller male as an equal. "I would hate to come between you two - it'd tarnish the entire experience if we weren't all happy with this arrangement, wouldn't it?"

Yugo's eyes were still focused on the pair before him in his efforts to bribe befriend the little fairy, Seri, his hands rising from the table to accentuate his words with little gestures as he spoke to his two new adventuring partners. Still, something moving at the edge of his vision made him glance over for a fraction of a second- Was. Was that a person, or a statue that had just crept up on them?

Understandably, he was a tad surprised at this sudden fourth guest arriving at their table - though he took it rather well, all things considered, eyeing the giant with a bemused half-smile. Yugo didn't judge him to be a threat at the moment - and so the hand that had leapt to the sword at his belt carefully made its' way back to rest atop the table, while he sized the man - Dazugo, up. Strong, laconic, straight-to-the-point... And intriguingly interested in the taste of rocks. Resting his chin in a hand, Yugo looked from him to Tisua and Seri, then back to the giant, blinking owlishly a few times. "... The more the merrier?"

He brightened up a little bit, leaning over to carefully clap a hand to Dazugo's shoulder - assuming he could reach, anyway. "I doubt these cakes would last the whole trek, and I'm damned awful at cooking," Well, if the ingredients list is longer than "fire" and "chicken cucco breast" I am, anyway. "So I have no objections. Good to meet you, Dazugo - Y'can call me Yugo," He said, offering his other hand to shake.

For some reason, he decided he could trust this person just by hearing him talk. He seemed too blunt to be the sort to have an ulterior motive - not dumb, just straightforward in the way he approached things. Yugo liked that.