Adyta paused as she
entered the common room of the Blue Recluse, her eyes scanning over the
crowd. After a moment she frowned as she failed to see the person she
was looking for. With a sigh, she then made her way deeper into the busy
tavern, moving around the various tables, chairs, and chattering
patrons as she headed towards the bar.
Although the leather pants she was wearing were not overly tight and her shirt was loose fitting enough to be proper, they could not entirely hide the curves of her body, and several of the patrons eyed her as she moved past. For the most part she ignored the glances with indifference, intent on reaching the bar and then finding Tobies.
She was just about to reach the long wooden counter when a hand reached out from one of the nearby tables and gave her rear a squeeze. The patron had walked up behind her as she passed and decided to partake of a quick feel on his way to get his own beverages. Unfortunately, he gravely misjudged the wisdom of such an action. Before a smirk could even creep over his face Adyta had whirled and backhanded him, leaving a large red welt across his cheek.
The man, apparently a sailor based on his clothing, rubbed his face in irritation and pulled a small dagger from his belt, "Pretty AND frisky I see. Let's see if I can cut your attitude down a bit though shall we lovely?"
Adyta smirked, but before she could utter a reply the sound of a jingling bell could be heard and a large, calloused hand clamped down on the sailor's shoulder. A second hand grasped his wrist, and his arm was forcibly bent in an awkward angle. Over the man's shoulder Tobies's voice spoke to Adyta, "Evening Ady! We gonna have that bite to eat now?"
Adyta smiled and nodded as Tobies bent the man's arm further, forcing him to drop the dagger to the floor. It clattered against the floorboards and Tobies roughly shoved the man away. "That's a good lad. Now run along. We've business to discuss that doesn't involve you."
The large paladin eyed Adyta over and nodded once, stepping closer so that they could talk over the buzz of the chattering crowd, "Great! The Swiftblades have some really great food here! The last time I got some prime rib and let me tell you, it was perfect."
Adyta laughed, leaning forward against a bar stool, she spoke as she lifted it up, "Just like always, you're stomach does all the thinking for you Tobies." With that she hurled the barstool past Tobies's head. The projectile struck a man in the face as he was about to lunge at the paladin's back. The impact drove the man back into his two companions that had also risen to assault Tobies, and the barstool itself ricocheted onto a nearby table where two elves were sitting.
The elves leaped up, shouting loudly as they watched the humans fall into a pile on the floor. Behind Tobies, a table full of sailors got up, angry words rising up above the buzz of the crowd as they shouted at Tobies and also at the elves who were now shouting at them.
Tobies smiled at his friend and laughed, "You know me Ady; I'd rather not starve to death in the snow. Also, we don't have too many recruits right now where I could go around borrowing a bit of their lunch when they aren't looking."
As Tobies spoke, a mug flew through the air and shattered against the bannister near where the elves had their table. They shouted in rage and hurled their own mugs at the sailors and instantly the common room erupted into a roaring, ranged fight. Adyta just laughed louder, her hand reaching out and snatching a mug from the air before it could strike her. As she turned and hurled it back towards the crowd of sailors she replied with mirth in her eyes, "It's like the time we got cut off up in those frozen flats. The lads were all getting quite thin but mysteriously you kept on your love handles there."
Tobies laughed loudly even as a scrum of angry, fist-fighting sailors bumped into his back. As he slammed two of them together and threw their now rather limp forms to the floor he nodded guiltily. "Hey! I'm a growing lad. It's not my fault they weren't so good at grubbing up some food for themselves!"
Adyta laughed louder, reaching out to place her hand on Tobies's shoulder and using it as leverage to hoist herself up onto the table. One of her leather boots flashed out and took a sailor in the face as he was about to crack a chair over Tobies's head. "Growing Lad?! Really? Maybe your great grandchildren are growing lads Old Man."
Tobies turned to regard the woman, his face a false critical scowl that did not match the mirth in his eyes, "Now now lass, until my hair's gray I'm just as young as you, ignoring my old hip there. Besides, you're not a spring chicken yourself are you?"
As he was talking, a sailor came up and punched him in the jaw. Tobies tilted his head, cracking his neck and grinning at the man, who stood looking at his fist rather perplexed that he hadn't downed the paladin. Tobies grabbed the man with both hands and threw him onto the table where Adyta was standing, forcing her to jump over him as he tumbled off the other side of the table into a heap. The common room behind them was a swirling melee of flying fists and mugs now as the elves and other patrons charged the unruly sailors.
Adyta paused, looking over the crowded and shrugging, "I'm young enough to know you're a cheap date there Tobies." She grinned as she dodged another flying mug, this one sloshing with ale as it slammed into the bar.
Tobies grinned, "Only the best for you Boss. Besides, this place used to be respectable, but it seems like some toughs have moved into the district as of late. It's getting to be as bad as the Pig & Whistle now. Perhaps we should clean the place up a bit hmmm?"
Adyta grinned back at her friend before her boot lashed out and took down another combatant, "You do know how to show a girl a good time. I will warn you now though, after this entertainment the prime rib had best be as good as you claim, or you'll be sleeping at the Chapter House tonight!"
Tobies grinned and turned to grab another one of the combatants nearby, using the man as a projectile to break up another group of fighters, all of whom tumbled to the floor. "What do you think I'm doin' over there when you send me to move supplies anyway Ady?" He laughed and waded into the melee, his large fists quickly putting down a few of the more unruly men.
Adyta merely laughed and dove off the table, rolling and using her momentum to trip another of the combatants, knocking him to the floor where a quick blow to the temple rendered him unconscious. She rose up beside Tobies as he finished up demolishing another of the men with his fists, and the two looked at each other with laughter in their eyes. They stood side by side, the unspoken comfort they had in fighting together and the camaraderie that they shared warming each of their hearts.
Then they turned as one and began to clean up the bar. Business first, and then some dinner, just as they liked it.
******************************
Hours later, a ship captain at the docks would notice that a large number of his crew members were returning to the ship with black eyes and bruises all over. Several were missing teeth and two of them were being carried. Upon inquiring of his men what in the name of the Light had happened, he got a number of rather colorful responses.
"It was two crazy paladins sir!"
"That bitch broke a CHAIR over my HEAD!"
"I swear to the Light I broke a bottle over that guy's head and he just laughed at me!"
"That woman said we're not allowed back in there and that if she sees me again she's going to slam my head into a table so hard that my grandpappa'll feel it!"
"I think they hauled Jim and Alex off to the stocks sir! They wouldn't stop fighting and when the city guard came those two bastards were sittin' on 'em!"
"They said that we were pretty good but we needed to toughen up a bit if we wanted to be REAL soliders! Who the fel do they think they are?!"
The captain raised his hand for silence, shaking his head. It was always this way. The men would take shore leave and then, inevitably, one or two of them would get into a fight. Usually his entire crew didn't get their butts handed to them though. He made a mental note to keep them out of the Blue Recluse going forward.
Either there was some new law enforcement in town, or the Mage District was now the most dangerous part of the city. Either way, unconscious men couldn't help the ship sail with the morning tide.
Although the leather pants she was wearing were not overly tight and her shirt was loose fitting enough to be proper, they could not entirely hide the curves of her body, and several of the patrons eyed her as she moved past. For the most part she ignored the glances with indifference, intent on reaching the bar and then finding Tobies.
She was just about to reach the long wooden counter when a hand reached out from one of the nearby tables and gave her rear a squeeze. The patron had walked up behind her as she passed and decided to partake of a quick feel on his way to get his own beverages. Unfortunately, he gravely misjudged the wisdom of such an action. Before a smirk could even creep over his face Adyta had whirled and backhanded him, leaving a large red welt across his cheek.
The man, apparently a sailor based on his clothing, rubbed his face in irritation and pulled a small dagger from his belt, "Pretty AND frisky I see. Let's see if I can cut your attitude down a bit though shall we lovely?"
Adyta smirked, but before she could utter a reply the sound of a jingling bell could be heard and a large, calloused hand clamped down on the sailor's shoulder. A second hand grasped his wrist, and his arm was forcibly bent in an awkward angle. Over the man's shoulder Tobies's voice spoke to Adyta, "Evening Ady! We gonna have that bite to eat now?"
Adyta smiled and nodded as Tobies bent the man's arm further, forcing him to drop the dagger to the floor. It clattered against the floorboards and Tobies roughly shoved the man away. "That's a good lad. Now run along. We've business to discuss that doesn't involve you."
The large paladin eyed Adyta over and nodded once, stepping closer so that they could talk over the buzz of the chattering crowd, "Great! The Swiftblades have some really great food here! The last time I got some prime rib and let me tell you, it was perfect."
Adyta laughed, leaning forward against a bar stool, she spoke as she lifted it up, "Just like always, you're stomach does all the thinking for you Tobies." With that she hurled the barstool past Tobies's head. The projectile struck a man in the face as he was about to lunge at the paladin's back. The impact drove the man back into his two companions that had also risen to assault Tobies, and the barstool itself ricocheted onto a nearby table where two elves were sitting.
The elves leaped up, shouting loudly as they watched the humans fall into a pile on the floor. Behind Tobies, a table full of sailors got up, angry words rising up above the buzz of the crowd as they shouted at Tobies and also at the elves who were now shouting at them.
Tobies smiled at his friend and laughed, "You know me Ady; I'd rather not starve to death in the snow. Also, we don't have too many recruits right now where I could go around borrowing a bit of their lunch when they aren't looking."
As Tobies spoke, a mug flew through the air and shattered against the bannister near where the elves had their table. They shouted in rage and hurled their own mugs at the sailors and instantly the common room erupted into a roaring, ranged fight. Adyta just laughed louder, her hand reaching out and snatching a mug from the air before it could strike her. As she turned and hurled it back towards the crowd of sailors she replied with mirth in her eyes, "It's like the time we got cut off up in those frozen flats. The lads were all getting quite thin but mysteriously you kept on your love handles there."
Tobies laughed loudly even as a scrum of angry, fist-fighting sailors bumped into his back. As he slammed two of them together and threw their now rather limp forms to the floor he nodded guiltily. "Hey! I'm a growing lad. It's not my fault they weren't so good at grubbing up some food for themselves!"
Adyta laughed louder, reaching out to place her hand on Tobies's shoulder and using it as leverage to hoist herself up onto the table. One of her leather boots flashed out and took a sailor in the face as he was about to crack a chair over Tobies's head. "Growing Lad?! Really? Maybe your great grandchildren are growing lads Old Man."
Tobies turned to regard the woman, his face a false critical scowl that did not match the mirth in his eyes, "Now now lass, until my hair's gray I'm just as young as you, ignoring my old hip there. Besides, you're not a spring chicken yourself are you?"
As he was talking, a sailor came up and punched him in the jaw. Tobies tilted his head, cracking his neck and grinning at the man, who stood looking at his fist rather perplexed that he hadn't downed the paladin. Tobies grabbed the man with both hands and threw him onto the table where Adyta was standing, forcing her to jump over him as he tumbled off the other side of the table into a heap. The common room behind them was a swirling melee of flying fists and mugs now as the elves and other patrons charged the unruly sailors.
Adyta paused, looking over the crowded and shrugging, "I'm young enough to know you're a cheap date there Tobies." She grinned as she dodged another flying mug, this one sloshing with ale as it slammed into the bar.
Tobies grinned, "Only the best for you Boss. Besides, this place used to be respectable, but it seems like some toughs have moved into the district as of late. It's getting to be as bad as the Pig & Whistle now. Perhaps we should clean the place up a bit hmmm?"
Adyta grinned back at her friend before her boot lashed out and took down another combatant, "You do know how to show a girl a good time. I will warn you now though, after this entertainment the prime rib had best be as good as you claim, or you'll be sleeping at the Chapter House tonight!"
Tobies grinned and turned to grab another one of the combatants nearby, using the man as a projectile to break up another group of fighters, all of whom tumbled to the floor. "What do you think I'm doin' over there when you send me to move supplies anyway Ady?" He laughed and waded into the melee, his large fists quickly putting down a few of the more unruly men.
Adyta merely laughed and dove off the table, rolling and using her momentum to trip another of the combatants, knocking him to the floor where a quick blow to the temple rendered him unconscious. She rose up beside Tobies as he finished up demolishing another of the men with his fists, and the two looked at each other with laughter in their eyes. They stood side by side, the unspoken comfort they had in fighting together and the camaraderie that they shared warming each of their hearts.
Then they turned as one and began to clean up the bar. Business first, and then some dinner, just as they liked it.
******************************
Hours later, a ship captain at the docks would notice that a large number of his crew members were returning to the ship with black eyes and bruises all over. Several were missing teeth and two of them were being carried. Upon inquiring of his men what in the name of the Light had happened, he got a number of rather colorful responses.
"It was two crazy paladins sir!"
"That bitch broke a CHAIR over my HEAD!"
"I swear to the Light I broke a bottle over that guy's head and he just laughed at me!"
"That woman said we're not allowed back in there and that if she sees me again she's going to slam my head into a table so hard that my grandpappa'll feel it!"
"I think they hauled Jim and Alex off to the stocks sir! They wouldn't stop fighting and when the city guard came those two bastards were sittin' on 'em!"
"They said that we were pretty good but we needed to toughen up a bit if we wanted to be REAL soliders! Who the fel do they think they are?!"
The captain raised his hand for silence, shaking his head. It was always this way. The men would take shore leave and then, inevitably, one or two of them would get into a fight. Usually his entire crew didn't get their butts handed to them though. He made a mental note to keep them out of the Blue Recluse going forward.
Either there was some new law enforcement in town, or the Mage District was now the most dangerous part of the city. Either way, unconscious men couldn't help the ship sail with the morning tide.
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