Chapter Four

It had been a nice night outside, considering all the bad weather they had been having.  Customers filled the bar.   BarCat had been quite successful at scoring drinks and food tidbits.

He was quite buzzed and his tummy was full.  He was perched in his usual spot when in come this guy who plops  down on the stool next to BarCat.

You get all sorts of magical folks in the Zodiac Bistro.  This man reeked of chaos magic.  Yes, you can smell it on those guys, it smelled like rotten eggs met Axe.  That sulfur smell is a constant.  The body spray is them trying to cover the sulfur smell. Axe does the job, as it smells almost as bad as the rotten eggs.

So, the chaos magician sits down and starts drinking and talking to apparently no one.  He is a fairly young man, and all he keeps mumbling to himself.  Low, deep mutterings. He is working on something to get rich.  He wants to be rich.  He would do anything to be rich.  He wishes, somehow, he could make a deal to be rich. It is obvious that he has had way too many drinks even before he got to the bar and the only person fit to discuss with him is himself.

By now BarCat, who was feeling rather content when the dude walked in, is getting pretty annoyed.  He had a lovely buzz on, but this dude was clearly stepping all over it.  Even Pete had avoided this guy.  The nerve of this stinking excuse for a person to sit down next to him and ruin his mellow.

So BarCat did what BarCat always does, he grants the guy his wish.
 

A few minutes later, an ancient old man, rather small in stature, walks slowly in the door and settles down next to the chaos magician.  BarCat smiled as the old man turned and looked at the mumbling man, and sniffed him.  And the old man smiled and ordered a whiskey with a beer chaser.

Next thing you know, the two of them are talking.  The old man is talking about he became a very successful man, while the young man is talking about getting rich. BarCat was not really listening all that close, but the old man was suggesting that an exchange could be made, maybe the young man's body for the rich life he so desires.  The young man raised an eyebrow, and then said something about - is that like possession?  The old man nodded.  The chaos magician knew what possession was, so he said he would think about it.  The young man kept drinking, the old man kept ordering him drinks while nursing his beer. 

After a while the old man and the young man came to some kind of agreement, and the young man staggered towards the door.  The old man peeled off four fifty dollar bills to pay both their tabs. As he paid Pete and told him to buy a drink for himself and the cat.  And he turned and followed the drunk young man out the door.

Pete poured shots for himself and BarCat.  And before he downed his drink he said something to BarCat about isn't the old man one of the Fey that lives a few blocks away?  BarCat smiled.

Pete said, ya know, it's not really smart to try to make a deal with a faery.  The Good Folks are well known not to be that good to people.