[attr="class","mouths1"]”Hey~. Tao, right~? Gonna have to ask you for another one~.”[break]
”...”[break]
”Come on, hotshot~. I know you can hear me~.”[break]
”Just because I am capable of hearing your statements does not mean I have to reply.”[break]
”Hah~... What? Won’t even humor a customer~?”[break]
”Not if I do not like them, no.”[break]
”Ouch~.”[break][break]

Despite the rather blunt retorts that he had received, a laugh sounded clearly throughout the bounds of a particular bar; courtesy of one of the men sitting at the counters himself. True enough, the farthest thing he meant was harm. Annoyance, on the other hand…? Possibly. With this specific person, that was more than likely his goal. On one hand, he did know the other, younger man behind the counter - the very same one who passed him another drink despite the remarks that he took care to direct his way - through another acquaintance of his, who also knew another, mutual acquaintance. ...In fact, it was that same, mutual acquaintance that he met the first acquaintance from, and--[break][break]

...Well, you get the idea.[break]
Acquaintances. Lots of them.[break]
He knew people.[break][break]

He knew people, and they knew him; it was simple as that. Whether they liked him or not was controversial in the eyes of some, but for the most part, those that he knew often took a liking towards him due to that charismatic nature that he often exhibited.[break][break]

...And then there were others - much like his bartender - who didn’t quite find it in themselves to be joking or affectionate towards him.[break]
In Tao’s case, it was more or less due to a few interactions that he had with his cousins and family-friends, but that was an entirely other story in itself.[break][break]

For sake of sparing him any further annoyance, however - which was his form and idea of presenting him a mercy for the meantime - Gian Drago Capello merely gave him a swift and playful wink and smirk alike; something that prompted him to chuckle a faint bit more as the younger one himself returned the gestures with his common, stoic glare before sighing and turning away in order to serve another, newer customer to the establishment. While he did so, Gian himself took care to lift the newer glass to his lips; taking a sip from the beverage itself as his scaled, draconian tail swayed vaguely behind him from over the stool top itself. His eyes scanned across several papers across the wood before him; documents that he had taken care to bring with him in order to work on while he had a drink.[break][break]

After all, work doesn’t just disappear.[break]
He was in the mood for a drink, but that didn’t necessarily mean that he couldn’t work while having one.