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[Keye Hayes]

Keye Hayes had grown used to the hustle and bustle of owning a pub. The Runaway Hideout had started as a dingy and rundown pub; she'd gotten it at an incredibly low bargain, and it only took days to figure out why. Still, magic had its uses, and Keye always had a good grasp of magic and its uses - Charms especially. It didn't take long to get the place functional, but with the staff shortage, it had started that she was part of the night staff as a bartender and waitress. She was a surly employee, but hey, she was also the boss, so no one could really go off on her for it. Still, little by little, the pub grew, and Felix and Lanithro became part of her life, and now, fifteen years later, the pub was busier than ever and could hardly be called rundown. Dingy, probably, but it was just part of its character by now - and she just can't be bothered to do a full renovation when the place had served them well to this day. Still, there were nights like tonight when the chaos raked through her nerves, agitation running through her veins, but she would push through it like a well-worn ache. She tended to get a little snappy with patrons attempting to make conversation with her, though, as she mixed cocktails and poured drinks behind the bar. Still, the regulars were already familiar and knew well enough to leave her to her tasks. It was the new ones that were frequently persistent and snapped right back. "Like I said, we don't sell what you're asking for now either pick a drink from the menu or the door is right there," she said at the indignant young man, probably Josh's age, who was now demanding she call the manager. She could see one of the old-timers snickering and she shot them a glare which just amused them further. Now she had to decide if she was going to call down Felix or just kick this stupid kid out.​

 

[Joshua Hayes]

"She is the manager you tw@t." Josh said as whoever his mother was arguing with once against called for the manager. Clearly he was an idiot, but he knew his mum could handle it so he just kept walking and opened the register behind her. "Mum, you're out of sickles," he said, before closing the register and then sitting up on the counter, right in the way of someone who was about to lean over to ask the bartender for a drink. The bar tender who looked at Josh, bewildered. Clearly she was new here. Josh just smiled at her and leaned back to pick up the fire whisky. "Thanks," he said, before turning away from her and keeping a watchful eye on his mum. Just to make sure the tw@t didn't try anything funny. Felix was probably in the backroom, he'd go and check in a second as soon as he knew things here were under control.​

 

[Keye Hayes]

Keye was running out of patience—not that she had much to begin with. Working as a bartender and a server had not lightened her disposition at all. It had been a sour point for a lot of the now-regulars at first, but what they had come to expect from her was not a sunny smile. They come here for good food, cheap drinks, and efficient service. It wasn't like she got mad at them for not tipping her anyway since she was a grumpy server. Nowadays, the regular tended to leave her tips depending on how fast she could get them their drinks or how entertained they would be whenever she would snap at whatever wannabe decided to come to the pub. Entertainment, they said. @ssh0les. She would have rubbed her forehead then at the stupid kid in front of her if her hands weren't occupied pouring a cocktail into a glass. Or well, at least until her son had decided to show up, which made her snort. "No honey, that's Felix, and he's upstairs," he said both to her son and the stupid customer, who looked like he was turning purple or some bizarre shade. She was not about to do the paperwork again, not when Felix was perfectly happy occupying the office to work on them. "There should be more upstairs baby," she called back as she handed the cocktail she'd just made to be served. "What on earth would you need sickles for?" Keye asked, bewildered, as she gets to work pouring the next drink. At least this one was just a gin and tonic. Finally, it looked like the stupid kid had had enough and had started ranting about the awful service and lack of good drinks, and demanded for the manager again and Keye had had enough. "Look. Like I said pick a drink or walk away. Since you're obviously too stupid to read a menu, the door is the big brown thing over there that leads to the outside world. Now leave my pub," she said completely out of patience as she gestured to the door, one of the regulars making a show of opening it. @ssh0les. Stupid kid made the mistake of pulling a wand on her.​

 

[Joshua Hayes]

Manager, Owner, they were basically the same thing in his opinion but he could understand his mum not wanting the title. Ah well, he'd go and tell Felix to shove it later, he was just enjoying the show. "I'll grab them later, I need them for gambling," he said, aloud, uncaring if anyone heard since it wasn't the truth. Gambling was his goto response to mean anything Scitorari related, and his mum knew that. So did Felix, but the words never passed between them. He was about to get up and go and find Felix when the tw@t decided to pull a wand, and Josh immediately pulled his own, firing a quick and decisive blinding curse before accioing his wand out of his hand. "And you won't be getting this back, so I suggest you go buy another one," he said, slipping off of the counter and grabbing the man painfully by the shoulder to throw him out on his @ss. He turned back to the patrons and raised his wand at them. "And any of the rest of you get any f*cking bright ideas, don't think I can't get more creative without using the good spells," he warned, before moving to sit his @ss back on the counter to look at his mum. "Hi Mum." He said, opening yet another draw and dropping the wand in with the six or so others in there.​

 

[Keye Hayes]

Keye didn't even want to know why in Merlin's name sickles were the things he needed for whatever sh!t was going on with the Scitorari. It would just give her a migraine that she didn't need. If she really needed to know, she trusted Josh would tell her. Or Dad. And if all else failed, maybe Felix. For as much as Josh didn't grow up with his biological father, he had quite the male influences in his life with Felix, Lani, and her dad coming about. It shouldn't have been a surprise when Joshua had told her he wanted to join the group as well, but perhaps she was hoping he'd take a little more of her and just prefer a peaceful life. Or well as peaceful as running quite a shady pub could be. As soon as the kid made a move to pull a wand on her, Keye's was already in her hand, ready to counter any spell the idiot would throw. She probably should have looked in the other direction though, since the first spell now came from her son and she just pressed her fingers against her eyes hoping it would relieve the pounding in her head resulting from the commotion. Her son had then proceeded to both literally throw the idiot out and threaten the rest of her customers. Which of course because the regulars were utter @rses, resulted in a round of applause. Nope. "I could have handled that," she told her son as he sat on the counter and greeted her with just made her sigh in resignation. "Hey baby," she greeted back as she reached up to ruffle his hair - why did he have to be so tall? "Do you have to keep threatening my customers every time you visit your poor old mum?" she asked as she put her wand back away as she got to work on the next order as if nothing happened.​

 

[Joshua Hayes]

"Of course you could have, but I wanted to do it, I never really get to have any fun, so this was my chance to have some fun," he said with a grin, leaning over the counter to give his mum a kiss on the cheek. She ruffled his hair and he ducked away from her, "Merlin, I'm not five," he said, trying to remind her that he was no longer a baby anymore. He was eighteen and he'd graduated like two years ago, sometimes she was so serious. "If your customers would stop doing things that make me threaten them, I'll stop threatening them," and she was exaggerating anyway, he didn't always threaten her customers, because he wasn't always here - not that he was about to bring that up too often. "Besides, if you get Felix involved you'd have more to worry about on your hands, you know that." He laughed, and Josh didn't even really like Felix all that much, he just found him to be more violent when the need arose.​

 

[Keye Hayes]

Keye heaved a great big sigh at her son's defense. Not that it was much of one. Still, she couldn't help the small smile from breaking out on her face at the kiss he gave her. He never failed to make her smile, even if he would cause her no amount of worries most days. Didn't really change much from when he was a child; he was just... bigger now. And older. Like he said, he wasn't five anymore. "I don't need the reminder when you're so tall already," she said, amused. There was a time when he only reached up to her knees. Now, he was visibly taller than her. Time passed by so quickly. She did roll her eyes though at his mention of the patrons of The Runaway Hideout. She doubted there would ever be a day Josh would deem it a non-threatening day. While they were a legal establishment, between the location, vibe, and Scitorari-affiliated people running the place, it was almost impossible that this would not be a patron pub for certain circles. It was... an okay ground that she built, she supposed. It really was funny how Josh was now threatening the patrons, considering he sometimes did the same thing when he was much younger. The regulars found it amusing then, she doubted their reactions had changed. "Honey, the day you find the customers not worth threatening is the day I have an empty pub," she said as she called up a couple of drinks to be served before pouring beer to a regular seated on the counter just a few seats away from Josh. "And I know that, but Felix also knows that I can handle myself against kids your age," she was pretty sure that the idiot they threw out was just about Josh's age. Anyone below a quarter of a century counts as a kid. "And besides, if he got involved, he handles the paperwork anyway," she said with a shrug.​

 

[Joshua Hayes]

"Yeah, yeah, Ma, I know. I'm not five anymore, but let's be real though - if I was five, I wouldn't have to duck under the doorframe." he quipped, flashing a grin as he glanced at the still-too-low entrance. “And come on, when did The Runaway Hideout ever have a non-threatening day? You should know by now, it’s always a game of who’s got the bigger stick, figuratively speaking,” he added with a shrug. He watched her pour the drinks and leaned back a bit, sliding down on his stool so he wasn’t towering over everyone else. “You know I’m just trying to keep my options open. Felix knows I’ve got it covered, just gotta make sure he remembers I’m not doing this out of the kindness of my heart. I know he’s got the admin work for days,” he said with a snort, taking a swig of his own drink as he leaned back further. “But hey, if I keep things quiet, he’s got less paperwork to sort out, right?” ​