Oracle

Part 31

The bar was quiet that night which surprised Jaspar. There hadn't been a quiet night in the week he had been in the Rook and he assumed that every day was the same but it appeared there were nights where the bar was slightly empty. "Is something going on?" he asked Elison softly.

Elison grunted. "Not particularly, but it is a quiet time with the moon," he mused as he ate the dinner that day. It was an English Sunday roast with chicken and pork as the meats. A more unusual choice in the city but apparently there was a place which served it as the Rook was now dishing it out.

"The moon?" Jaspar asked sounding slightly confused by the term. He had already finished his dinner and was now just sitting in his chair, listening to the noise level around them idly. After the day he had, Leo had appeared in the bedroom with a pair of satin gloves. Jaspar didn't know why Leo had them, nor was he sure he wanted to know why, but he had them on now.

"The moon," Elison nodded. "Magical cycles and all that," he coughed. "Magic is waxing at the moment as we approach the full moon. After the full moon, it will be in wane. In between these two events, not much tends to happen on a magical scale. Obviously, other things happen because chaos is always rampant in this city, but magical based phenomena tend to be either on a full moon or nights where there is none."

"I see," Jaspar hummed, thinking about that statement. He had heard similar things growing up but he hadn't related that to how that might affect the Rook regulars. If there were times where things were quiet, that was properly the best time to get things done. Werewolves, fae and demons all had a power boost during the full moon, while vampires, ghouls and zombies were most dangerous when there was no moon. Seers were no affected by the moon at all. Jaspar wasn't sure what gave him power but it wasn't the lunar cycle.

"The beloved moon," Justice hummed as he passed them, taking Jaspar's empty plate as he did so. "You can not move in here on the night of a full moon or the nights where there is none. Anyone not boosted is hiding from those who are," he snorted softly. "It is actually kind of funny. Most businesses plan based on sports matches. We use a lunar cycle book."

Elison chuckled and there was was a clinking noise as he put his knife and fork down on his plate. "The atmosphere is a little merrier, I'll admit," he said with a smile in his voice. "Is the boy who was here last full moon going to be working at the Rook part-time or was he a one off?"

"One off from what I understand. With the butcher now out of business, John is struggling for workers," Justice admitted. "He had a lot of people quit recently and I think he is genuinely considering hiring freemen from the knowing population to fill the gaps."

"That is an unusual move for him," Elison mused as Jaspar stood up, not really caring about the issues of a slave keeper with the lack of handsome young slaves on sale.

Over the course of a week, Jaspar had gotten used to the layout of the bar and could get around it without help now fairly well. He was still learning how to tell if someone was in front of him or in his way, but most of the regulars shifted for him. Or glared at any non-regular customer who tried to give Jaspar a hard time for not knowing they were there. Jaspar was both warmed and slightly unnerved by the fact the regulars were growing more protective of him. Being friendly was one thing and more than one regular had been threatened, hit or slapped by Elison for touching Jaspar where they weren't supposed too, but if anyone unknown came too close to Jaspar he was quickly huddled by the regulars.

Leaving the two to their conversation, Jaspar moved over to the piano and sat down. Taking a deep breath, he began to play. It was just a harmless song, one he had played more than a few times but it had also been requested a couple of times too so it was likely a popular song for a bar. As he played, his mind wandered from the music, thinking about his situation and also about his feelings for his bodyguard.