Lyra sat at the bar, fidgeting nervously as she nursed her drink--a mixture of cinnamon whiskey, spiced rum, and ginger beer (the concoction didn't have a name, but she liked to refer to it as "Dragonfire Draught," given that it tasted more or less like burning). She had just returned from the Plug's back room, and was disappointed with what she found. [i]No new bounties,[/i] she thought, her face twisting ever so slightly into a frown, [i]that's two weeks without a hit. I should be able to go another month with the creds I have, but after that...[/i]

Her train of thought was cut off suddenly, as a commotion erupted at the other end of the bar. Lyra turned her head just in time to see two Bubblers hauled out by the Dustin brothers, and watched as the remaining gangers tried (and failed) to act tough on their way out. [i]Serves them right,[/i] she thought. She never did like the Bubblers--human trafficking was a [u]very[/u] shitty thing to do on its own, and more than enough reason for Lyra to hate the Bubblers, but add the cheery and rambunctious attitude that they approached it with, and you had yourself a recipe for grade-A creepy.

As the bar settled down, she took a moment to look around at the others. She saw Niklas and the Dustins first, returning to their business after dealing with the... undesirables. [i]Nice enough folks,[/i] she thought, [i]especially for the Gutter. Not saints by any stretch of the imagination, but trustworthy, and a hell of a lot kinder than the likes of the Bubblers or Die Glücklich at any rate.[/i] Then, she noticed Dr. Quackshot sauntering up to the bar and nodding politely before asking Niklas a question and taking a seat next to her. [i]Quacky, though,[/i] she thought, [i]might just be a saint. The guy's a bit strange, sure, but he's borderline selfless.[/i] Medical care in exchange for rumors is a rate that few in the Gutter were able to pass up, and Lyra had sent many of her boarders to Quackshot in the past (he had even operated on her once or twice, after some of her... spottier bounties). [i]Plus, even if he does seem to take great pains to conceal his identity... well, so do I, so I can't really fault him [b]too[/b] much for being suspicious there[/i].

"I'm sure everything's fine, Quacky," she said, with a reassuring grin replacing the slight frown on her countenance. "If Pinky offed every bartender that turned his lackeys out for getting too rough, there wouldn't be a bar left in the entire goddamn Gutter," and then, with a chuckle, "and then it'd [b]really[/b] be hell."