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[right][code]Present day
Interactions: Latrom
Outfit: Normal[/code][/right][hr]

Edwina watched as the man stirred from his slumber shortly after her kick.  His reaction time was not suggestive of a drunken episode; however, the nature of the drinks served here could lead her to a false sense of security.  Ed narrowed her eyes further.  The truth would reveal itself in time.  Maybe an errant hiccough, or a slurred word, these drunks always had a tell.  Edwina just needed to wait until he spoke to make that determination.  Yet, despite the man looking at her, he refused to speak.  He refused to answer her question.  He just laid there, looking at her, as if he were waiting for her to break the silence.  In the notebook in her mind, a check mark was placed on the signs that he might be drunk.  She looked back at her construct to see if it had anything to add, and she noticed that it was looking at something down the road.  She turned her head back around and searched for what it might be.

She watched as a cloaked rider came down the road towards the Inn.  From a distance, she did not know who it might be, but at this hour, it was usually not a good sign.  Her eyes narrowed again as she took a backwards step towards the door, her hand gripping her tome tightly just in case.  A moment later, the rider spoke.  [color=fff79a]"[i]Addring. Ava.[/i]"[/color]  Edwina’s shoulders relaxed as the horse slammed to a stop.  The voice was familiar.  One could say it was almost angelic.  Edwina suspected that she was looking at [i]the[/i] Bard.  Only, Edwina had forgotten to write down her name.  Edwina looked to her right, pondering whether there was any recollection she could summon that would bring the name forth, but alas, her memory was not cooperating with her tonight.  [color=fff79a]"Marital troubles?"[/color]

Edwina’s eyes shot back to face the hooded figure.  She was confident she knew who this was, but she was still trying to search for the name.  Her head tilted to the side.  This was beginning to bother her.  She usually prided herself on always being in the know, and for once, she wished she spent more time inside the Inn than outside waiting for shit to go down.  At least she could have made out the name over the thunderous applause the bard always got.  Still, Edwina shifted her eye towards Latrom.  [color=00FA9A]“Yes,”[/color] her voice was as flat as the flat of a blade, without emotion or inflection, [color=00FA9A]“his drinking has spiraled out of control.  I am devastated.  Isn't that right, dear,”[/color] she paused as her eyes shifted back towards the bard, returning to Latrom, and then back to the bard, [color=00FA9A]“that was a joke.  He just fell, and I wanted to see if he was alive, that's all.  You, uh,”[/color] she paused as she used her thumb to point towards the door, [color=00FA9A]“performing tonight?  Sounds like the crowd is already a little crazy.  I am Edwina, by the way, never caught your name before now.”[/color]

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[right][code]Current day
Interactions: Grask
Outfit: Normal[/code][/right][hr]

Rosa had seen this exact shape of night more times than she could count. Too many bodies in too small a room, too much confidence stacked on too little sense, and egos bottled with as much fire as her strongest spirits. The Waystone did not show any signs of fatigue itself, but Rosa always wondered how this place was still upright despite the best efforts of her patrons.  Her eyes scanned the room, watching as even more fights began to brew.  Her eyes drifted back towards her weapon mounted above the bar.  She sighed.  An easy retirement was all she asked for, and these assholes just loved dragging her back into her fighting past.  Her eyes flicked to the door just in time to catch the latest anusysm waiting to happen walking in. A tiefling girl, a walking Calamity, sauntered in with a confidence Rosa could only call dangerous and delicious in the same breath. Rosa had a fond opinion of this one.  Rosa would still call her ‘fresh meat’ because that is the name Rosa could remember a year ago when she arrived, and because she was the best damned hunter that sold her meat.  [color=D2B48C]“Fresh Meat[/color], she sighed, wiping her hands on a rag that had seen better centuries, and muttered under her breath, [color=D2B48C]“Of course. Here comes trouble with a side of headache.”[/color]

[color=B21A4D]”Here’s today’s hunt, Rosa… If Cedric’s got complaints about the size’ve the game again, you tell him he can come out with me next time and try freezing his lazy ass out in the snow. Maybe [i]then[/i] I’ll be able to drag a fucking boar in!  Also, a big fucker’s passed out on the door. You might wanna get him moved a lil more outta the way.”[/color]

The half-orc leaned back against the counter, one large forearm braced as she watched Calamity glide past her towards the drunk girl, and the cocky fuck. Rosa’s lips twitched into the faintest frown. [color=D2B48C]“Hi Rosa.  How are you today, Rosa?  I love what you did with your hair, Rosa,”[/color] her voice rose in pitch as she muttered under her breath, her head tilting from side to side as she spoke.   Her gaze slid over the bar, taking in Kel hunched over her stein, Ransom being a cunt, and the murmur of the other patrons who hadn’t yet realized the disaster waiting to unfold. Rosa felt the familiar tug of resigned anticipation. She’d seen enough spilled drinks, bruised egos, and ruined shoes to know exactly how this would end, but she didn’t move. Not yet.  Rosa’s eyes narrowed slightly at the spectacle unfolding with Calamity and Ransom. That girl, she thought, had teeth sharper than her fists, and Rosa liked her for it. Just not in her bar, if she could help it.  The cunt looked rich, and if she had learned anything in her years as a bartender, is the rich cunts always made things worse if they lost in a bar fight.

Instead, she grabbed three empty steins and set them in front of her, muttering, [color=D2B48C]“We’ll never make any money with you handing out drinks like this, Rosa.”[/color] her eyes shifted to her right, and she matched her husband's.  He was at the other end of the bar, and he did not like it when Rosa tried to play the peacekeeper.  Still, a free drink for Calmity and Ransom would likely mean more bought drinks in a minute, which, to Rosa, was all is well that ends well.  She poured two Something Elses from the keg, and even poured one of water for Kel.  She walked down and planted them in front of the reluctant trio, and she had to contain her rage when she heard of the foursome proposition.  One thing was for sure: she was not letting a girl as drunk as Kel leave her bar with a guy like Ransom tonight.

Suddenly, a large dragon of a man sat down next to the show and he flashed some gold her way.  [color=ea834e]”Ale if you have it, beer if you don’t. And a bowl of goat stew, please.  And keep the rest, thank you."[/color]

Rosa smirked. 
 
[color=D2B48C]“Mighty generous, mister.  I know our goat stew still be good but might I,”[/color] Rosa paused as she walked over to the various animals that Cali had brought in. She picked them up with one hand and held it to the side, while her other hand pointed at the mass of meat.  [color=D2B48C]“Suggest something fresher.”[/color]  Normally, she would be all too happy to serve the old food first.  But Rosa was a kind person at heart.  You show her kindness with a tip, and she’d show you kindness with the finer cuts of meat still available.


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[right][code]Current day
Interactions: Ransom x Cali
Outfit: Normal[/code][/right][hr]

Kel had stopped being an active participant somewhere between the fox’s teeth finding flesh, and the word Father being said with entirely the wrong kind of confidence. She lingered at the bar like a forgotten stein of Something Else, her elbows planted, her chin resting in her hand, and her head hovering just above the polished wood with a slight sway to and fro. The room felt louder now. Or maybe someone had cast a spell to amplify the sound in her head

The Something Else in her stomach shifted. Saliva formed in her mouth, it was swallowed, and she immediately regretted it as it still contained traces of the worst aspects of Something Else.

Ransom and Cali’s voices blended in front of her, and the two sounds began to weave together like fabric at a seamstress.  It was impossible for her to follow the conversation in full, but Kel followed it as best she could with eyes half lidded, yet tracking the distance betweenthe smug line of Ransom’s mouth to the cute fox curling back into place below an adorable face.  A faint ringing assailed her ears, and Kel grimaced in response.  It was not enough to drown out the conversation, but it was enough to make her feel like she was a step behind in listening in.  Despite this, she was able to hear how Ransom was apparently a divine intervention wrapped in a pretty, pretty form.

Kel snorted before she could stop herself.  Her voice was small and coarse.  She felt a rumbling in her stomach that followed.  It was the wrong kind of sensation that one wanted to feel while potentially flirting with two very pretty people.  Kel tilted her head.  Were they still flirting?  Or did the conversation end, and a new one start in its place?  Did Kel even pay attention enough to formulate a guess?  Still, she knew she had to, no, needed to remain a part of this conversation so she turned her head towards Ransom.  His fatherly words rang hollow, and that hollow feeling finally caught up to her.  [color=D87093]“That’s not [i]*hic*[/i] your not how priests talk,”[/color] she muttered, not quite loud enough to be helpful, not quite quiet enough to be private.  The bar swayed. Or maybe she did.  She blinked.

She focused on Cali instead, on the way her smile sharpened, on the way the words came out sweet while carrying teeth. Kel blinked slowly, piecing it together in fragments. The Tieflings words came out as garbled nonsense, but she liked looking at her still.  The butterflies in her stomach fluttered and then the contents of her stomach lurched in response.  Kel froze in an instant.  Something surged upward, and Kel could feel it was hot and insistent.  A bitter burning sensation began to form.  Her mouth began to salivate uncontrollably.  

No. No no no.

She breathed through her nose; her breath was shallow and fast.  She knew what was coming, and she knew she was past the point of no return.  She closed her eyes as she could not watch what was to come. One hand fumbled blindly until it found the edge of the bar, claws scraping faintly against the wood as she anchored herself to it. The room tilted harder this time, a sickening roll that made her tail twitch and coil around the stool leg.
Ransom was still talking. Gods, he was still talking.  Anger began to brew within her stomach as she thought about how he wanted to be their salvation, and this further fueled the traveling contents of it.  These born-again priest think they know everything.  She wondered if he could offer her salvation for all the lives she has taken, all the pain she’s inflicted, and all the death that stains her ledger red.  Kel cracked one eye open, vision swimming as she looked in his direction. [color=D87093]“You’re,[/color] she paused as she closed her eyes again, taking a deep breath as she did,  [color=D87093]you’re really bad at this,”[/color] she offered weakly, [color=D87093]“the saving thing. Very, very condescending.”[/color]

Kel slapped a hand over her lips, eyes going wide as panic finally cut through the fog. She swallowed hard, once, twice, and each time it only made it worse. The heat climbed, her vision tunneling as the Something Else made its final, decisive move.

She barely had time to lean forward.

Kel lurched off the stool with a strangled noise and promptly lost the fight entirely, vomiting spectacularly downward in a cascade of filth that splashed directly onto Ransom’s boots. The smell hit immediately. Alcohol. Spice. Regret. That terrible concoction that befell these hallowed halls every night, and tonight Kel was the first one to create it.  She gagged once more for good measure, then froze, hunched and staring at the mess on Ransom’s boots.  Those looked expensive.  They were rusted, but they looked like they were expensive once.

Slowly, Kel lifted her head.

[color=D87093]“…I think,”[/color] she said hoarsely, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, eyes glassy and unfocused, [color=D87093]"I got some on you.  Sorry.”[/color]