Earth/Midgard, the Northern Hemisphere, one of the countless large cities that dot the surface of the realm like shining torches or metallic bugs.<br/><br/>To be accurate, in a bar.<br/><br/>A small, but a pretty good one, at that.<br/><br/>The bartender gave a rather jolly group behind the bar a warm smile. "Here it goes. Pay now, or before leaving?" she asked as she handed the four their drinks, and wiped the counter. "Later." one of the group assured her - a Dark Elf with a mess of black and blue hair - and gave her a wide grin, which made his eyes narrow into slits. Her smile froze and broke off her face, and she hurried away. A loud laughter exploded, and his smile disappeared, too. "You scared the shit out of her, Ruki! You... You can't just smile like that, that's the smile that would traumatize little kids." one of the other three commented on it. Ruki picked up his drink, and frowned. "Still better than yours. You grin like a dog."<br/>"That's why I don't smile!"<br/>More laughter followed. Ruki tried to hide that he was blushing from embarrassment by taking a drink - surprisingly, it worked. Then, his ice-colored eyes found another target to focus on.<br/><br/>He jabbed one of his companions into the shoulder with his elbows, and nodded his head at a couple of grey-winged Valkyrie that just entered.  Short dresses, wide wingspans, high heels. "Hey. Look at that." he whispered, and raised a brow in admiration, receiving a couple of similar looks from his friends.<br/>"Go borrow a guitar." someone suggested.<br/><br/>And that was actually a pretty good idea... Ruki finished his drink - it was kind of small anyway - and sled off the stool he sat on. With a few steps in his tall leather boots, he made his way to the corner of the counter, and softly tapped onto it to get the bartender's attention. The silent thuds of the technical parts that enveloped most of his right arm were apparently loud enough, and the girl turned around. "More drinks?" she asked.<br/>"No. I'd like to borrow an electric guitar." he explained. At least two months ago there always was at least one or two - it often happened that someone wanted to try out a live performance or karaoke. It livened up the atmosphere and chased away the stale air, full of the stench of alcohol and cigarettes.<br/>The bartender nodded. "Just a moment." she uttered, disappearing for a moment, just to return with a case in the shape of a guitar, which she handed him. "Pay with drinks?"<br/>"Yeah. Thanks." he gave her a slight smirk, and carefully took the case into his hands, already starting to examine the instrument. He returned to his friends, and swiftly took his black shirt off, tossing it at one of them.<br/><br/>"You say please, Ruki." he reminded him sarcastically.<br/>"I say I pay the next round when I finish playing. Good enough?" he responded, opening the case and hanging the red and black guitar's belt over his neck.<br/>"Yeah. Whatcha gon' play?"<br/>"You'll see." Ruki smirked, and raked through his hair with his left hand, flicking a few black and turquoise strings over his shoulder. Whether it was the drink, or something else, he felt rather confident, and he climbed onto one of the nearby tables - the only empty one - with the same smirk. The sleek shape of the guitar didn't hide much of his tightly fitting sleeveless top - to his pleasure, as this one, with a large white skull drawn on it - was one of his favorites. The music usually playing in the background went silent.<br/><br/>"With the agreement of the staff," Ruki turned to the people around, speaking loudly enough to get most heads turned to him, too, "I'm gonna play you a song now. Enjoy yourselves!" he encouraged them, followed by clapping from his three friends. He put his hands onto the strings, and started playing.<br/><br/>At first, the melody was silent, but it grew louder and louder as he added more tones into the complicated pattern it formed. The ornaments on his left forearm almost appeared to slither like snakes on his pale skin as his hand ran up and down the neck of the guitar. It was quite a difficult piece he decided to play - but after all, who ever heard of a metal song that wasn't difficult to play? It wasn't the most difficult one he ever played, and the biotech on his right arm helped with pressing the strings quite a lot, too.<br/><br/>Hopefully the two Valkyries would enjoy this little spectacular performance.