Ben and Ned - 21st Century - RP

[Hickory]

Brrrrrring!

Ben could hear the school beel from his post near a window. He had been listening to a school lesson, having nothing better to do. A black labrador crouched beside him.

"Mate, when's lunch? I'm famished..."

Ben frowned. "We just ate breakfast an hour ago. We only got twenty pounds from that kind man, we'd best not spend it."

He was about to exit the area when he had to dodge baack into the shadows. A grou of giggling schoolgirls had walked past. Checking the coast was clear, Ned called back mentally to Ben.
"We're good mate. Let's go."

[Gonff the Mousethief]

River walked near a set of buildings with his Schnauzer, Walter, walking behind him, and a set of papers in one hand an his cane in the other. This whole book ending was troubling the rising author. How was he to make money? He had just enough to get a few small meals and pay for this months rent. If the book was not done, he would have to go sell Walter. Never could he do that! The dog was the only family he had left. His mother had died when having him, and his father was completely oblivious if what he did, and his older brother, Henry, was always with friends or working. Both lived his western Scotland. River had moved here to London to gather information and ideas for his book.

[Banya]

Teagan shrugged her coat off as she walked home.  It was turning out to be a warm spring.  The day was a beautiful one, though she didn't slow down to enjoy it.  After her one morning class, she had only a small window of time to rush home and feed Pippa before the extra bartending shift she'd picked up.  Meeting this month's rent had been too close to happen again.  Add to that, finals were fast approaching.  She watched a group of teens about her age walk ahead of her, carrying ice cream and skateboards and laughing.  Teagan didn't even allow herself a moment of envy.  Far too much to do.

[Hickory]

After a walk through the park, on Ned's insistance, Ben and his dog returned to the crowded city streets.
"Hi, mate, look, a Schnauzer. Haven't seen those since Germany..."
Ben glanced down and Ned, frowning. "I hope you're not getting ideas."

[Gonff the Mousethief]

River looked coming down the street to him, and saw the pair. The boy had deep blue eyes, that showed mystery and wonder, with a vast knowledge of times near and far. His dog was also odd, for its fur was glazed in a perfect light.
"Hello there young sir! I was just 'mirin' y' dog. Wot a beauty eh?"

[Hickory]

Ben glanced at him. "Thanks. I've had him for a while now. No, Ned, back!"

Ned had started inching toward Walter. "Mate, I'm telling you, I've got to meet this dog!"
Ben frowned. "Well, make it quick. You've never done this before."

[Hickory]

Ben yanked ned away. "Enough. That man has plenty of business going on and we needn't bother him anymore."

Ned pouted. "Mate, please. No one's ever too busy in this century. No Napoleon, no Hitler, no-"

Ben couldn't reprimand Ned for what he said in front of River, so he gave a quick smile and wave before hurriedly walking off. "See? I wasted a perfectly good conversation with a friendly man because you wanted to sniff a Shnauzer. Now behave. I need to find a job, however brief it may be, so we can make some money and get back on track."

Ned adopted a cowering voice. "Awwwww. How much money left?"

Ben pulled the thin wad of bills and the few coins out of his pocket. "Twenty pounds, give or take a coin. Let's find a suitable place to spend the night, set up camp, and search for an employer."

OOC: I just had an idea. Maybe Ben could get a job at the same bar Teagen works at?"

[Banya]

OOC: Sure, bars need busboys.

BIC: Teagan rushed down the crowded city street.  Her jacket flying open and her papers askew, she nervously racked her brain for anything she might not have reviewed intensively enough.  She'd studied hard for her last final, and the grade she got on this test was, to her, more important than all of her other exams.  She barely paused to smile at the sight of a large black Labrador sniffing a small Schnauzer as she stepped off the pavement to pass them by.  On the other side of this final stood the respite of summer holiday and the marks that could aid or hinder her dreams.

[Hickory]

OOC: Excuse my lack of information, I'm not 21 or older, busboys clear tables, correct?

[Gonff the Mousethief]

River smiled as the dog sniffed Walter. Suddenly though they were on there way. The Pair had an odd feel to them, but it didn't bother River much. What did however was this ending!

[Hickory]

Ben stopped walking as he noticed a hiring sign on a bar. Excellent! That was exactly what he needed. He told Ned to stay seated outside of the bar and went inside.

Passing the customers, he headed for the bartender and asked, "I heard you were hiring, I'd like to apply."

The bartender paused from wiping the counter and said, "Okay, the managers in the back. I'll go get him, stay here."

In a minute he returned with a tall man who had a thin mustache and beady eyes. "So, yer the applicant," he said, sizing Ben up. "Plenty o' room for busboys. Come back around seven, business starts risin' around then."

Ben nodded and hurried back outside.

[Banya]

OOC: Busboys do clear tables.  Busboys don't have to be old enough to serve alcohol, they just have to be old enough to work legally.  In the UK, the legal drinking age is a flexible 18, so I'm assuming the legal alcohol serving age is that or younger.  In the States, one must be 18 to serve alcohol, but those younger than 18 can still work at a place where alcohol is served.
Q for Sage: Does your latest post imply that Ben got the job immediately and begins his first shift at seven, or is he returning at seven for an interview?  I'm assuming the former.

BIC: Teagan slid a foaming pint of yellow beer down the bar.  It almost reached the edge before it was caught.
"Watch it, John," she said, throwing a dishrag over the spill on the counter.  "You nearly missed that one."
The accused, hunched over, stared into the glass with red, unfocused eyes.
Teagan checked the clock on the wall behind the bar.  Her shift was half over, but for the first time in a long time, she wasn't anxious to get out of work.  The summer holidays had begun, and the stressful days of papers and finals were behind her for as far into the future as she dared or cared to look.  She was working longer and more frequent shifts at the bar, but she had always enjoyed the feeling of a bar full of regulars, people finding togetherness in their desire to be alone and exploring the vivacity of life in their effort to unwind.  The bar was close to empty, but the crowd would arrive within hours, filling the place with conversation and laughter that would become louder as the night wore on.  As the swinging doors behind the bar swung open and the manager walked out, she busied herself with wiping down the taps.  Inwardly, she rolled her eyes.  The other managers were a little more lax and usually left the bartenders and waiters to their business, but the head manager, when working, was always around, and his beady eyes missed nothing.  Unconcerned with the already spotless taps, she was distracted from listening in on his conversation by John, who was holding his empty glass crookedly in the air.  She walked over and removed it from his tight grasp.  
"All right, mate," she said evenly.  "I'll give you another, but then we'll call it a day.  Sound all right?"
John nodded with glassy eyes.
She turned to fill a clean glass.  As she did, she caught sight of the teen boy with whom the manager was conversing.  He was a handsome teen of average height and build, but his eyes made her pause.  She'd seen the clouded eyes of the blind before, but they were never as bright blue and focused as his were.  His eyes seemed much older than his kind, unlined face appeared, and they revealed an alert intelligence and restlessness that intrigued her.  Nodding to the manager, he turned and left the bar.  The manager turned and noticed Teagan.
"You've got the place lookin' fine, Teagan.  Mebbe give the taps another wipe-down, and take yer dinner break before the rush starts."  He pushed open the swinging doors to the back and paused.  "Oh, an' make sure John there's on 'is last drink for the day, or we'll have to call 'im a lift 'ome again."
Teagan nodded and picked up her rag.

OOC: I apologize; I'll keep it shorter next time.

[Hickory]

OOC: That was fine. Oh, and you assumed right. Gonff can make a post, then perhaps a time skip?

[Banya]

OOC: How far into the future?  Now that Ben and Teagan are working together, are they going to meet?

[Hickory]

OOC: Just a skip to, let's say, quarter to seven? That should be fine. And they probably will meet.