Laius began to sip away at the tankard of cider before him. All was well. He would socialize with some of the lovely young ladies of this town, have a nice night of rest and leave by noon the next day if all things went well. The mercenary he had just hired seemed to have other plans for him, but he would learn to work around Laius' schedule sooner or later. The young prince turned to his newly gained accomplice and went to speak.. before a toothy dark mage suddenly plopped down next to him and rudely interrupted him. He detested being interrupted. Resisting the urge to bludgeon the dark mage with his heaviest tome, he instead took another long drink of his cider. Slamming the now empty metal cup down on the counter, he focused his attention on the nosy newcomer while the barkeep went about refilling his cup. [b]"Business."[/b] He answered simply. A very social person by nature, Laius had to also hold back the urge to make conversation with this gentleman. He was supposed to be slipping through the countryside undetected, after all, and scholars tended to know more of royalty than peasants did. 

As he turned to get his fresh cup of drink, he noted the mercenary sliding a note to him. Leaving in the middle of the night? No! He had just marched through a desert for a day. He wasn't going to go anywhere but a nice warm bed possibly belonging to the fairer sex that night. He idly placed the tip of his finger on the parchment, magical energy heating his finger as he traced the word 'nope' across it in charred paper. He flicked the note back to the mercenary, returning his attention to the mage. Maybe some interaction wouldn't tip him off. [b]"What brings you here? Other than poking your nose into others business?"[/b] He asked, his tone playful and friendly.