[hr][center][img]https://txt.1001fonts.net/img/txt/b3RmLjk2LmRkYTBkZC5VbUZ1YzI5dElFeGhZbVZzYkdVLC4y/golden-jewelry.regular.webp[/img][img]https://i.imgur.com/HvlcxJd.pngp[/img][/center][right][code] The Waystone Inn
Interactions:  Kel [@NoriWasHere] Cali [@Fernstone]
Outfit: Composed entirely out of recycled red flags[/code][/right][hr]

Ransom was so distracted by living out a teenage boy’s dirty fantasy of being the meat in a tiefling sandwich that he hadn’t even registered the relief in his shoulder. Perhaps if he were a bit more inebriated then Ransom would’ve snatched at the bait thrown out by Cali and make the best mistake of his life. Unfortunately, momma didn’t raise no lightweight. He recognized Calamity Harbinger immediately from the wanted poster he had and noted with a lingering glance that the image had been ungenerous. It was no surprise she’d been able to kill so many men. 

Unlike them, Ransom knew what he was dealing with. He wasn’t just some other idiot guy. A batted eyelash wouldn’t make him drop his guard. Cali was about to learn that she couldn’t out bullshit a bullshitter. She thought she was trapping him, but really he was trapping her. A classic gambit. He could feel his light coin purse already growing heavy. 

Then Cali pressed herself against Ransom and his brain went away to its vacation home. He was certain now that Cali’s flirtation was purely genuine and, with Kel crowning him as a pretty princess prince, felt that it was his noble duty to reach down from Heaven and lift Cali out of the pits of Hell. Hell, if Ransom didn’t see scales as a dealbreaker, he would do the same for Kel. 

[color=B21A4D]”But seeing you down that bar, I knew I [i]had[/i] to finally talk to you. Why let the opportunity slip by? Don't get many like you round these parts, after all."[/color] 

[color=plum]“From where I’m standing, I can only see two others,”[/color] said Ransom with a scummy little wink as he followed her lead and slipped his arm behind her. [color=plum]“I am glad you seized the opportunity. I’m even better looking the closer you get, or so I’ve been told.”[/color]

He took a swig of the free drink to punctuate the least humble humblebrag ever. He no-sold the disgustingly unexpected burn of the extra spice as the liquid touched his tongue and slowly, silently spit the swill back into the mug by pretending to take another drink. What the fuck? If he hadn't seen Rosa pour it he would’ve been sure it had been mixed with some kind of poison.  Who could like this shit?

[color=D87093]“They were just.. so tasty the number of drinks just got away from me,”[/color] said Kel as Cali checked in on her, inadvertently answering Ransom’s rhetoric. 

[color=plum]“And what’s wrong with living it up a little?”[/color] asked Ransom. He slid his drink over to Kel and gave her a pat of encouragement. [color=plum]“Why, you’re almost empty again. Please, it’s on me. I’m afraid if I have another drop Rosa will have to cast me out before I–wait, cast out? Ah, that’s it! You’re Kael’zar Vexmoor.”[/color]

[color=plum]“Our friend here is with the Outcasts,”[/color] he explained to Cali, his partner-to-be, before revealing to Kel how he knew of her.  [color=plum]“Did a couple of unofficial milk runs with a group of them the last time I was in town, but ended up turning down the recruitment offer. Call it a style clash. Still, for a bunch of cutthroats and thieves they’re a real fun lot. Most of them, anyway. If you see Sorren, tell that little bitch he still owes me a Cloak of Billowing. He’ll know what I’m talking about.”[/color]

[color=plum]“Ah, but where are my manners?”[/color] said Ransom, striking his forehead with his palm. [color=plum]”Ransom Labelle, pleased to meet you.”

“[i]And you,[/i]”[/color] he said, his hand adventuring from the bar and resting on Cali’s waist to pull her a little bit closer. He lowered his head down to her ear and whispered so that only she could hear, his breath warm like poisonous gas creeping out across a trapped chamber. The hand that he should’ve offered in his introduction to Kel instead moved to tug at the fox scarf around Cali’s neck. [color=plum]“Follow my lead, baby, and you won’t have to wear this cheap shit anymore. Just silk and satin, Calamity. Silk. And. Satin.”[/color]

He pulled back just enough to definitely still be invading Cali’s boundaries and raised his voice so that Kel could hear.

[color=plum]“How would the two of you like the opportunity of a lifetime?”[/color] asked Ransom, sounding as if he was about to make an indecent proposal. 

The bounty hunter was so swept up in the bullshit of his game that he’d failed to notice he had already misplayed his hand. He had a solid reason held together by a couple of half-truths for why he knew of Kel. If Cali asked how Ransom knew her name all he had were bad bluffs.

And he was already on a losing streak.