"Fire in the hole!" Bohrs replies, raising the flaming shot glass in salute, then taps it on the table, blows it out and downs it in one swallow.
"A wonderful story, and you have two trophies to mark the occasion!"
Bohrs picks up two twenty-sided dice and holds them out. "A game, if you're interested, is Twenty-one. Throw both dice and add the rolls together. The goal is to get as close to twenty-one without going over. After the first roll, you can either stand or roll again, but once you go over, you're out. If you're interested, put a silver on the table for the ante."
He places his own silver coin on the table, then holds out the dice on his upturned palm. "Who's game, and who'd like to roll the bones first?" He waits for a moment. If no one takes the dice, he says, "I'll roll first, if you want."
There was a mix of emotions that hurriedly washed across Russiet's face when Nicolette declined her offer. In turn, she was staring hard at Nicolette as well. As if trying to gather her reasoning. It was a quiet and tense atmosphere as she rose to leave.
"Maybe." she agreed. Her tone suggesting disinterest. In truth, she had been almost painfully curious about how this would play out. It hadn't occurred to her that Nicolette would choose not to drink.
She made no attempt to stop her, but something inside her couldn't help but suggest a comment to her before the other woman was gone. "I do understand you're afraid." she said softly, "Though I cannot relate to your lack of nerve."
If Nicolette turned Russiet would already be adding to her notes.
"Are you for real? It's not fear or lack of nerve that turns me off, it is your approach to all of this. I don't appreciate being poked and prodded by your testing. You are so...clinical. Try approaching me like a woman next time and not like a rat to be experimented on; especially if you have your own desires mixed in there..." "Which I do suspect..." "In either case, I'm not interested..."
She will move to leave. The pace at which she does so might communicate she is not stopping. From the slam of the door, she'd know she didn't want to be followed. She was going to go to her room to drink for a bit.
At his words, he can see she is taken aback. She had no idea he adored her that much. Loved her? How long had this been brewing? Since Ezra? Just recently?
Thankfully, the bit of alcohol that evening was helping loosen some secrets and this apparently was one of them. She had to admit there had been a growing affection there for him too. He leans in and she will meet him with her soft lips. They linger for a moment, then play over his gently in a caressing manner as befitting a first kiss--more exploratory than passionate. She tilts her head to the side in the kiss and draw back to welcome him into her room. She will lock the door behind them.
The next day, a knock is heard on the door and she jumps awake with a groan. Then, all of the alcohol hits her and she whimpers with the pounding feeling in her brain. No bad dreams, no crazy demons, just new memories forged. Slowly, very slowly, she sits up to observe the room. While others may be rushing down for food, she is far more occupied that morning with thoughts to readily jump out of bed and meet the day head-on.
Calaithes feels Nicolette tense as he hugs her. She doesn't pull away and she accepts his feelings, perhaps with a little curiosity. Had he said 'love' too soon? But he knows his feelings. He hadn't said anything before, not wanting to interfere with her life when he thought his destiny lay in tracking his father and family, possibly somewhere deep under the waters of Lake Encarthan. But now? Their lives had twined together on the quest of the Everflame. Even then she had focused on Kayle and he had again stayed back and held his tongue. Then they'd been through life, death, life again, and grieving together. It had been too long and he was glad to have finally told her, and she had then locked the door for them.
When the knock is heard at the door Calaithes is quickly, and quietly up. Hearing the details he returns to Nicolette. "Breakfast? It's a child. He'll bring food if we ask. Standard fare is bread and smoked fish but he says that requests can be filled. Maybe something a little sweeter for the bread? Butter and a fruit spread? And some coffee with sugar and cream? Or something else? I don't think we can dally long.... but, you have questions?"
Russiet did not respond to what Nicolette said. Though she kept her dispassionate expression there was a brief moment where she looked hurt by the words. Still, she kept any comments to herself this time. Simply waiting for her to leave before she went back to her notes. Her scribing was slow, and she seemed hesitant when scratching her words to the page. Seemingly unnerved enough that it was effecting her notes.
Finally she gave up with a sigh and let her arm go slack. The tattoo brushing off into the air like a thick wisp of dust that grew thicker and condensed into her familiar. She favored Bob with a slight smile and poked at his remaining crystalline eye. Watching it bob out from it's position and almost catch the small gravity well that made his pieces orbit around his center. Only to shift back into place a moment later. Then she would bring out the stone she got back from Bohrs and carefully insert it in on the opposite side of his core. Watching as it settled into place and the other "eye" shifted off center to make his form symmetrical again.
Initially he had been a loose jumble of stones in a fairly irregular orbit, but over time he had changed to the neat and tidy shape he took before her. She liked to think this was his version of trying to look good now that he was around people. "She may have had a point." Russiet quietly admitted. Letting a pregnant pause fill the chamber as she couldn't shake the encounter fully from her mind. "But I am not one to be emotional with so much at stake." she noted with distaste, "...I bet she would have drank if she thought I was a man."
There it was. If she believed it or not, she had her out.
[b]The next morning.[b]
Noting that she had avoided everyone but Nicolette, and how that went, Russiet made a point to rise early and be presentery before breakfast was fully ready. Relaxing in a chair and making polite conversation with her server while sipping at a cup of water. Her pleasant smile and air of self satisfaction holding for the moment.
Russiet finds Puglas down in the main room. For inexplicable reasons, it seems like almost every bartender in Nirmathas has found reason to be constantly polishing glasses when not otherwise engaged in pouring drinks, and Puglas is no different.
"Just water this morning, sir? No hair of the dog nor ground beans nor herbs to flavor your water and banish away the fog of sleep?"
He slides the bread and fish over his customer, waiting to see if the copper-capped Kassenite will engage him for anything further before moving onto another customer.
When things settled and Calaithes finally drew into sleep, she would have laid there in the darkness under the sheets. It had been a long time since she opened her heart to anyone. She knew also what she had to do that night. In private, her heart grieved and tears silently fell at the thought of vacating Ezra from her heart, but the deed was done. He was finally put to rest. It felt liberating, but not cheerfully liberating.
That next morning, Calaithes would see her hair was a bit wilder than normal, as braiding it was the least of her concerns last night. Still, she has a raw beauty laying there looking up at him that he had never seen before. Something primal or fey-like in origin, like a secret only he and maybe one other may have seen before.
"I'm fine with the standard meal," she answers him as she toys with her hair to tug it into place and look presentable.
"I was kind of hoping to sleep in, but I suppose we should get going on our mission. Also, I'm sure Bohrs and Russiet...will be downstairs." she states with a little pause thinking back to the previous night. With a groan, she lays her head down into the pillow.
Calaithes turns back to the child at the door. "We'd like to have breakfast brought up so we could eat here, thank you." He reaches for his clothing to grab a couple of silver coins for the child.
Closing the door he turns back to Nicolette. "Bohrs and Russiet can share breakfast downstairs. I think we can have a little more time before we have to join them. Now, before you get that braid fully tied into position maybe you could teach me how to brush your hair?"
Once they have enjoyed breakfast they both pack their equipment and come down to the common room. "Do we have time for a cup of coffee and discuss where we go next?"
He would find her hair needed scented conditioners of rose, cloves, and nutmeg to ease the curls into a combable structure that she could later style and braid. She would explain that doing this while it is wet or oiled would be easier, but they likely have no time for such things before breakfast arrives. He'd have seen her also rub tonics into the hair to repel the possibility of mites or other things (when sleeping on the ground in tombs, probably a good idea) during this stage (something he probably did as well from time to time). While he bothered with her hair, she would busy herself with a lotion of hazelnut and vanilla spread over her long slender legs and arms.
When her hair is done, she will look up at him cutely in her mirror as she observes her hair. It was nicely done and with care. When breakfast arrives, she will enjoy it with him, as well as casual discussion about Kassen and their boat trip. She'll even open up to him about feeling better and how appreciative she is of him.
He would get his first unobstructed, unrestrained view of how she readies herself. How she dresses. How she packs her gear. Even how she equips her armor. Whatever aversion of the eyes for privacy she'd been given as they traveled together was now open to him. Finally, a brushing of her teeth with a chewing stick and some tooth powder and some final touches with makeup will set her ready to go downstairs. At the end of their morning, a final passionate kiss on his lips will ensure she is ready to go.
"I think we have all the time we want to take. Coffee is a great idea." she states with a pinch to the bridge of her nose. It is clear she is not used to drinking as much as she did. "We need to go about this intelligently. First, we need to visit...oh what's their name?" She will have to begin to rifle through some of her own personal notes which are mostly just scribbles to help her remember things.
Bohrs makes his way down to the common room, having washed, dressed and performed his daily devotions to Cayden Cailean.
"Good Morning!" he says, pleasantly to Russiet as he makes his way downstairs. He joins him at the table and waves to the barkeep.
"Do you know how to make the Hair o' the Dog drink with the spiced tomato juice?" he asks Puglas.
Puglas thinks for a moment and then snaps his fingers. "I call that the Bloody Thrune on account of Her Infernal Majestrix the @#$% queen of Cheliax." He grins and disappears back behind the bar to go mix the drink.
Calaithes takes a good sip of coffee while thinking. "Father Prasst mentioned one of the counsel members, the Speaker of the Heart by the name of Aromina Yasgon. Perhaps we can see if we can speak to her. If we approach as representatives of Kassen looking in to the group that broke into the crypt and releasing the curse. Do we still have those flyers advertising employment? The counsel probably doesn't know anything about any of it, but they might know how we should proceed. ??"
Russiet gives a slight shake of her head. "No thank you sir. My libation is exactly what I need this morning." she explains with a slight smile, "For which I thank you. I've never had fish in the morning, but I find it to my liking." The light flesh of the fish with the bread was also easy on her stomach, which could be squeamish first thing in the morning.
As Bohrs joined her she nodded. "Good morning." she returned, "It is well that our resident Caydenite is the first to recover from the previous nights exertions. Did you make out well with your gaming?" Russiet's attempts at being personable were becoming infectious enough to sway her mood in that direction. Though she was curious what was taking Nicolette and Calaithes so lon-... oh.
All of a sudden she let out a bark of laughter. A slight blush coming to her cheeks when she realized how she looked without any context. "Sorry, I just realized something." she explained, "Pay it no mind.
"Not my best night, but I won more than I lost," Bohrs replies.
"Something tickle your funny bone, or do I have something tangled in my beard?" Bohrs asks. "Considering that Cal never came back to the room last night, and I heard a bit of mixed company voices from Nic's room, I'd not be surprised if they got tangled up in each other last night." He pauses a moment and sighs. "Good for them, I say. We've had enough misery on us since the day we sought to recover the Everflame. If they can bring each other some peace and comfort, it'll be a mercy to them both. Of course, right now, a glass of that Bloody Thrune would be a mercy to me! It is ready yet?!" he calls over to the barkeep.
Puglas returns with a Bloody Thrune, garnished with enough green to make a druid envious. "Let me know if it's to your liking. I can find some actual dog hair if you want extra texture."
"Yeah, that's who it was. Aromina. I just hope we can gain an audience. We are kind of nobodies."
She will pull out the flyer she kept and will show it to him proudly before quickly stuffing it back in her pocket so she doesn't lose it.
Nicolette sips on her coffee, enjoys her breakfast, and considers telling Calaithes about Russiet.
"I think we should discuss our plans here instead of downstairs. It's nice to have a private room with a locked door. Especially since we are going undercover and don't want others to know anything about us. Should I invite them up in a bit?" She also looks curiously at him, "And...we should hold off on telling the others...about this. Just until I have something sorted..."
Calaithes considers and glances around the room. A smile crosses his face, "Undercover. Hmm?"
"Good point though. I'll straighten up and be sure that nothing is tangled up in the covers." He gives her a rakish grin at that. Their equipment is packed well so there's not likely anything hidden. He does start stacking dishes and moving them to the outer room.
"Heh..." she nervously giggles, turning a bit redder in her cheeks. She watches him amusingly as he sets the room in order, meanwhile playing her lower lip over the edge of her teeth as he shifts from here to there. "I think making sure I didn't leave anything behind is a legitimate concern with me...And knowing our luck, Russiet will find it." She sighs annoyingly.
Calaithes flips through the covers, straightening them so they look the same as before they'd even been turned back the night before. He didn't see anything in the bed or around it. "Nothing here to find. Shall we go get the boys? But don't worry about Russiet. If he really knew half of what he pretends.... I mean, he thinks your curse can from something before the Crypt? You didn't have it before that demon took your body away and somehow raised you. If we somehow figure out a way to rid you of it, will it also kill you? I'm not sure I'd want to risk that unless we could be sure that you'd survive!"
They head downstairs to find Russiet and Bohrs, Bohrs nursing his 'hair-of-the-dog'. "I think we should gather back upstairs in the suite. Less chance someone might be listening there."
"Yeah, that's what was amusing." Russiet agrees, "...I just hope they're of the right mind in what they're doing. I can only imagine how trying that encounter was." Her look became a bit distant at that. Having missed her chance to help before. But she shrugged and took a inquisitive look at Bohr's drink.
"You'll have to tell me what is actually in that." she remarked, "I certainly can't tell with a look, and I don't have a god looking out for my constitution."
As the wait for their other two companions dragged on she began to drum her fingers. Growing more impatient now that she had already picked her fish free of it's skin and finished off her bread. When Calithes joined them she nodded sagely and waited for Bohr before she would rise from her chair and follow in the rear. Going to her own room to gather a few supplies.
"Tomato, lime, garlic, black pepper, a couple shots of strong potato whiskey...you know, all the stuff that'll put hair on your chest. It's all part of the old adage that the best way to cure a hangover is the 'hair of the dog that bit ya.' Anyways, it'll fix you up right quick, and has enough vegetables in it to make you feel full and fed well into midday."
After Calaithes comes down and bids them follow, he downs the rest of his Thrune, and grabs the garnish skewer and takes it along with him, taking bites as he ascends the stairs to their rooms.
When the others come up, she is standing near the door to let them in. Inside, there is a little breakfast nook with chairs that they can sit at for the time being waiting for Russiet.
"You look refreshed," she smiles to Bohrs. "I'm still feeling the sting of last night. The fish helped this morning."
Her hammer is out and she leans on the handle while the head of it rests on the wooden floor. When Russiet finally arrives, she will close and lock the door behind them.
"This morning, we need to decide where we are going to go, but before that, I have a grievance. One in this party threatened my life last night." She looks to Russiet. "A secret was placed in my care by this person, and under threat that my secret would be told to the entire city, I am not to reveal theirs. Now it may not have been a direct threat, but it put fear in me and loomed over my head that I should be leashed to this secret. I have no problem keeping a secret. What I do have a problem with is after so much fear, dread, and oppression, feeling it from within this party. I hope it wasn't meant seriously, but I'd like to clear the air before we get into the details of what we are going to do today."
Calaithes enters the room and crosses to the table, pulling a chair against the wall to be out of the way. He sits but glances up, slightly surprised at Nicolette's words....
"I must admit I wouldn't know." Russiet admits to Bohrs, "Never been one for drink. It definately sounds like it has bite though."
As they enter the upstairs chamber Russiet arches an eyebrow imperiously as Nicolette locks the door behind her. Her face a mask as Nicolette tried to, well she was attempting something. Russiet couldn't put her finger on it, but her thin lips did dip down into a frown for a moment.
"Did Calaithes do something to you?" she asked with concern, "Bohrs and I were under the impression the two of you... oh my. Wait, but you were alone together before calling us up."
She let her words sit a bit. "I'm very confused." she added as an afterthought.
"There's a thing you pick up playing cards. It's called a tell. It's when somebody at the table with you has a subtle, unconscious movement when they're trying to bluff you. The question then becomes, do you call the bluff, or let them continue to double down until they put every last coin in the pot. What I want to know right now is, is this a game, and if so, what are the stakes?"
He looks around at everyone in the room.
Calaithes stares at Russiet with disbelief. He stands slowly, pulling his magical dagger and laying it on the table. "OK. I'm disarmed now. If I was the one that threatened Nicolette she could swing her hammer over here and kill me in an instant." He closes his eyes, "Since I know I didn't threaten Nicolette I'm not feeling in danger."
He opens his eyes again and sits. "Stakes? I think the phrase would be 'All in'? Time to show the cards and let the truth be told."
"I don't want the stakes high. All childish attacks aside against what I did or did not do last night or the feigned confusion in the room, I want the topic to be handled with maturity. It was a serious conversation about a serious topic and the threat certainly felt serious. It came from a person I don't know to joke." She looks to Russiet again. "You've been very particular about your behaviors so why should I doubt that you wouldn't do exactly what you say you would do? I don't think that's good when we are trying to be on the same team." She holds up a hand. "All you have to do is say that you were tense...the topic had your nerves shaken and you make a threat that you didn't really mean. Apologize and we can go about planning the day." She shrugs as if she will shrug it off like it isn't a big deal.
Russiet frowned openly as her bluff fell through. "I will apologize for nothing." she said flatly. She reached for her journal and opened it. Quickly tearing out a handful of pages. Giving a withering look to Nicolette she threw them in her face.
"That is everything I know about your condition, and everything I have learned." she declared tersely, "Since you don't seem to want my help, I will leave you to figure it out on your own. The Hallit I will not share, as that was simply a favor that had no impact on our mission. You're welcome, by the way."
Looking to Bohrs she gave an apologetic look. "I have done nothing but help everyone here." she affirmed, "I will be honest and say I made no threat to Nicolette. I only tried to help her. She can... complain about my method, but that remains the truth. She is keeping a secret of mine, as I am hers. It is fair to say if she violates my trust... further... I may not consider her an ally worth protecting."
She gave a look to Calithes as well, but seemed to think better of saying anything just yet. The air remained tense, and Russiet tried her best to look comfortable in that setting.
"Now if you all would like to discuss our mission I can help further." she began, "I have brought tools to help disguise each of us, and I have skill using it I could share to help everyone. That was what I was told this was about." She turned and looked to the door. "Otherwise, I can think of better ways to spend my time. I don't like the mistrust and deceit I have been shown since I joined this group. I will repeat that I have done nothing but help, and at great peril to my own life." she said bitterly, "Saving yours, no less." One final look to Nicolette confirmed Russiet was very angry. Her brow now low and her eyes alight.
As Russiet frowns, it almost makes Nicolette smile, as the others can see through her bullcrap too. She stands there, like a stone, as the papers fly and hit her flat in the face. Her grip on her hammer looses instead of tightens after seeing the emotionless tantrum of Russiet.
"Did it make you feel better? Your drama here? 'She is keeping a secret of mine. If she violates my trust...further...'" she calmly half mocks. "How did you get so manipulative? Can you not see? How is that not a threat? Is it not a surprise that I felt threatened last night when you said it to me? Even threatening all of us now in leaving instead of facing this... I didn't agree to keep your secret in the first place. You held me hostage by it. It was thrust upon me the second I walked into your room. Should you have laid out the stakes, I would have walked away. My problem here isn't how you've helped us, it's how you are hurting us."
"So there's one thing I can see that needs clearing up," Bohrs interjects. "Are we playing games with each other, or are we working together? In a competition, like a game of cards, you play to win, as does everyone at the table. That's understood, and no one begrudges the winner unless there's an accusation of cheating. That's not how a cooperative working team gets things done, though. A working team has to know what each others' strengths and weaknesses are, so that they can best support each other and get the most out of their skills. For my part, I'm not playing at cards right now. I just want to get all the skulls out of the sea chest and lay them out, right here, right now. Heck, I'll start, if it gets us past all this all the quicker. Ask me anything you want, and I'll confess it truthfully. I'll even swear on my tankard I'm not lying or withholding anything."
Bohrs sits back, gives an exasperated sigh, and takes a sip from his tankard.
Calaithes nods at Bohrs' words. "If we're to be here as a team representing Kassen we need to be a team. How can we be a team with secrets and threats involved? Russiet? You openly share a 'secret' with Nicolette and then threaten her with exposing her 'secret' to everyone? Are you actually planning on sabotaging our mission by having the people of Tamran attack us fearing that Nicolette is a vampire? If so, get back on a boat and go home! I'm certain that I speak for all of us that we don't want any such back stabbing mite with us. Being short handed is a lot safer!"
"I'll follow Bohrs. Ask me anything. I'll swear on any standard you want that I'll answer truthfully. Jimes never accepted lying and neither did Olmira. I was raised by the truth and I'll always side with it." He stares directly at Russiet, "Of everyone from Kassen I think I know practically nothing of you. That's strange for a small town."
Russiet took in the words with a hostile apathy. Feeling very much the enemy of the group more than an ally. She then took her time to reply to each of her three comrades.
"That's rich, coming from you of all people." Russiet replies to Nicolette, "Someone who has latched on to any man that made her life easier, or was willing to lay down with her. Who takes my confidence and brings it to others before more than a meal has passed. I was right to want a guarantee. If I have to hold you hostage to have confidence in you, you dramatic tart, then don't try to play some kind of victim."
To Bohrs she gives a slow turn of her head. "I have no skulls Bohrs." she explains. Having to take a moment to draw in a slow breath before she continues, "I have a secret that is personal to me. Not every w- individual's secret is sinister. I simply would not share it with others. You may have no secrets, but I do."
She gave a pitiful look to Calaithes. "Yes well, I'm sure there are no secrets between you and Nicolette." she remarked dryly, "As to my threat, it is entirely contingent on your precious Nicolette betraying my trust. A fact the three of you seem to be ignoring because it suites your purpose."
It wasn't that Russiet didn't know she was being unproductive, but damn if she didn't feel the need to dig her heels in right now. She gave a deep sigh and then turned to the door. "You lot won't badger me into anything." she remarked, "I've been a proper ally to the cause of Kassen, and will not sit through another moment of this."
Bohrs takes another deep drink.
"Okay, with regard to this secret of yours that isn't a skull in the sea chest. How did Nic come to know it? Was she spying on you? Did she barge in at an inopportune moment? Or, did you share your secret with her? How did it become known, and why were are there alleged threats involved in maintaining a secret that could have simply remained unshared?"
He takes another drink. "Look, I don't know what your secret is. If you don't want to share it with us, fine by me. But, at the very least, the two of you who know what it is need to work this out. We have to be able to trust one another. We have to be able to put our trust in each and every one of us to watch the other's back. If we can't do that, we aren't going to survive, let alone succeed."
"I told her because I knew I had something to fall back on if she couldn't be trusted." Russiet explained to Bohrs, "I've been trying to ... to find some common ground." She still seemed very reluctant to talk, but Bohrs had dispelled some of her agitation.
"As to trusting each other... I have fought alongside you. I have risked my life on more than once occasion. I have lent you a magical item to heal Kayle's brother. I have shared my knowledge with Nicolette... which is a full practical understanding of her condition."
As she listed her own deeds she thought of something. Her expression changing. "I do have a question." she reasoned as she looked to Nicolette, "Why did Kayle disarm Asar? He was not a fighter. I have seen you, first hand, disarm me. Why was Kayle the one to disarm him?"
Nicolette listens in shocked disbelief as Russiet incorrectly assumes she's essentially a whore. At least with the company present, they know her. They know she has had one person she was faithful with, wanted to marry, and when he was lost, felt so alone she never let any approach her. In fact, in their village, there is no one less described as a whore. There were doubtless dozens of men who wanted to lay with Nicolette, including evidently Calaithes, yet none could come close. After a hair-raising near-death experience, she may have lightly flirted with Kayle, but such knowledge wouldn't be known by Russiet; nor did it go anywhere. Even last night's interaction with Calaithes is unknown to be true, yet she goes off on this wild conjecture assuming Nicolette sleeps with anyone who wants a good thrust. All Nicolette can do is stare in disbelief at the stupidity she's hearing, not only from her improper new title as whore of the party, but as a drama queen. She stands there watching the flailing child tantrum with a detachment of a parent watching a toddler scream and shout.
Thankfully, Bohrs somehow calms Russiet and even mirrors Nicolette's own feelings. She had no intention of sharing or betraying any secret, and hadn't, despite Russiet feeling she had done so already in less than "a meal having passed." However, when the mention of Kayle comes up, Nicolettes grip on her hammer greatly strengthens and her cheeks tense. She speaks with fire:
"Your secret...as stupid as it is to keep, is personal to you, and I keep it still...but a normal person with any semblance of intelligence doesn't take a minor secret and threaten someone's life with it. It's measured...like...I'll dye your hair...or I'll paint your armor. Your secret, no matter how personal, is not worth the threat to my life and those I care about who would come to defend me when you seek to bring it to ruin if I somehow, someway, screwed up and betrayed your confidence. It wouldn't be done on purpose, but if it did happen, I don't trust you to measure that action with compassion or maturity. Especially after this display, and I'm not going sit here a minute longer and let you drag my actions through the mud with your stupid tirade. You let the words leave your lips that it was my fault Kayle died and you'll feel my hammer. Now...get the f~&# out of here."
She opens the door and steps aside, letting her leave.
Calaithes listens and watches, no longer surprised at the stupidity of Russiet's words or actions. As he turns to leave Calaithes does speak in a low growl of a voice, "So we'll get nothing but more stupidity from you? Then just go. You haven't a clue about much of anything then. What is between Nicolette and me? Naught but an intimacy that I hope you may some day be mature enough to find. And of course it had nothing to do with whatever you pathetic personal secret is regardless what you think!"
"As to why Kayle acted to disarm Asar? Because he was acting in the manner of a true hero of Kassen, or anywhere else! We were all in a desperate battle and he saw a chance to try. He tried and it worked. You blather about risking your life? You fought as we all did when the situation warranted. You lent a magical item to Bohrs to heal me? And it was returned. Had you not loaned it Bohrs would have done what he could without it. We all use our abilities and resources to help each other without braying like an ass when we do it. That is part of being a team. Kayle died as a hero for Kassen, but more important, to each of us. Pity you weren't there to see how a true hero acts."
Russiet actually rolled her eyes at the blather Nicolette were putting forth. As if they knew anything of intelligence. These bumbling buffoons who couldn't tell the difference between an attack and assurance. Who couldn't take advise from someone who knew, clinically, what was actually afflicting them. A curse. Pah. It was no wonder they bristled at someone with half a brain helping them.
"Yes, and I don't trust you to scrape two stray thoughts together." she spit back at Nicolette, "I'm tempted to call you at fault just to see you try. You witless hick. I've done nothing but help the lot of you, and YOU specifically! This is the thanks I get. I should have let Calaithes chase you down alone and stayed at the inn with Bohrs. Then you'd both be dead and I wouldn't have nearly died for you ingrates!"
Calaithes doesn't get much in to pile on, as she was already leaving when told. She felt her face flush with anger, and the voice of reason that remained in her head told her clearly that if Nicolette did attack her it wouldn't be just her. Dishonorable curs.
Bohrs looks at the remaining companions after Russiet leaves. "Well," he says, pausing to take a long pull from his tankard. "That could've gone better, especially considering he's now angry and in possession of information that could get us all killed, and Nicolette in particular, a most grisly fashion. So, I need to know," he stops to take another swallow. "Do you want me to go after him, try to get the rest of his side of this story, and try to patch things up, or are the two of you content to let him go, and hope his temper doesn't bring up a thirst for some sort of payback?" He takes a third drink. "Personally, I've got a feeling there's a misunderstanding at the bottom of all this, and I'm willing to find it, but I won't waste my time if you two are dead set against keeping him around."
If Russiet heads back out of the room and to the main room, she finds Puglas still there, polishing a glass. Wordless, he passes a Bloody Thrune towards her.
For whatever effort may or may not have been taken to be private, wooden walls tend not to be thick enough to completely bar the sound of angry shouting. But the one-armed bartender seems not keen on asking questions uninvited.
Nicolette can feel her words having no effect on Russiet and as she gets up to leave, at least there is that--her presence gone. Nicolette will watch to make sure the sneak actually goes into her room and closes the door before closing and locking their own. No doubt others in the inn heard the final shouting spat and saw the angered face of Russiet as she stormed out. Nicolette will smirk to at Bohrs with a smile at his trying to patch things up.
"He's so kindhearted."
Quietly, she states:
"Have I not been thankful? Haven't we all? To be perfectly honest, I didn't expect him to evade, dodge, attack, and then freak out. I expected him to apologize and just man up, so it's really hard to say, Bohrs. His actions were pretty psychotic right there...and honestly, just the way he talks to me, which, in truth, last night I told him his words are and have been always directed toward me--since knowing of this condition--like I'm some sort of experiment to him. It makes me feel sick and weak, like I'm beholden to him for his knowledge. That I'm too stupid to live without it. You've noticed it too, I'm sure. And now, even holding his good deeds over my head like I owe him to keep his secret." She gestures to where Russiet was a moment ago basically stating the same thing. "So when he laid this secret on me and made that comment last night...I'm sure, honestly, it was for his own assurance, but I took it as a real threat at the same time...because this guy has not had a funny bone in his body. He has only ever been dead serious. Suddenly I felt like a prisoner. Trapped by my own teammate after just getting out of a hostage situation."
"This is not his secret, but last night he then propositioned me to drink from him in a...slightly seductive manner. He seemed to want to say it is possible his blood is special and that I should be drinking more, even bending his neck so I'm more tempted, all to entice me to drink. I told him I was not interested. He made some offhand comment about how I didn't have guts, so I told him why, because he is asking for me to do something very personal with someone I'm not comfortable with and I told him why. Then I left. I think that's where these insults come from this morning."
She sighs.
"He didn't realize how I could not be into his mindset, and naturally treated me like I was stupid, like this morning. This is a common occurrence with him. Do I think he's a villain? No. Corrupted in heart. Yes. And I think he has a strong temper like you said. He keeps it hidden inside like his secret. What I saw there just now was not the ravings of a madman who will snap and tell the world my secret. No, just the defensive scratchings of someone with no escape. And I wanted him to have no escape because I wanted you both to see what I saw, because it was not my imagination. He really is threatening me. Us and he cannot see it. I knew he couldn't. Regardless, I don't hold that against him. I just wanted an apology. I just wanted him to laugh and joke and say it was nothing serious, but we got the opposite of that."
She looks back to Bohrs.
"If Russiet were to honestly humble himself and show he's wanting to work together...gosh...it'd...it'd have to be a life-altering change. I'm talking from that snooty a!!#$@$ to something like a servant trying to prove his worth...I just don't see that legitimately happening with so much hatred, lying to our face, and what I'm guessing is jealousy in his heart." She shrugs. "Maybe in time, but not now. I just don't think I can work on this mission with someone like that looming over me and I was trying to get him off my back. And you gentlemen know me...I forget a lot of things. It really made me worried I might slip up and then what? I say leave it alone. Let's focus on our mission."
Calaithes had been about to reply when Nicolette more than covered his feelings.
"I agree. Let him simmer. The last thing we need is to drag him back where he can snap and cause us so much more trouble! We need to go and meet with the Speaker of the Heart, Aromina Yasgon. Imagine if he decided then to accuse Nicolette of being a vampire? Instead of meeting with representatives of Kassen and possibly giving us guidance she'd be calling out the city guard to attack, capture or kill all of us."
Russiet pushed the drink aside. "I will need a real drink." she remarked with a measured patience, "Perhaps several. I have just wasted an indescribable amount of effort, and I wish to not be sober enough to think about it."
Giving a thought to her words, and frowning anew, Russiet would then smile politely and continue. "It would please me greatly if you could oblige me, good sir. I am not well versed in alcohol, but I trust your judgement and my coin purse." she stated. Reaching for a few gold coins and setting them down on the bar.
She grimaced at the gold. Starting to do the math on how much she had spent just trying to aid the group. Perhaps endear herself to them. Tears welled in the sides of her eyes and she lowered her head to the wood to wait for her drink. Feeling so very stupid for thinking she could trust those idiots.
"I've got a feeling that letting matters sit as they are will just make things worse. I'm going to try talking to him one-on-one over drinks, and see if I can mend some fences. With Cayden's Luck, things will work out for the best."
Bohrs rises, raises his tankard in salute, and exits the room. He looks around for Russiet's whereabouts, and finds him sitting at the bar in the common room.
"Drinking alone tends to sour one's mood. Mind if I join you?" He speaks in a friendly, but not overly jovial tone.
Nicolette sighs and shakes her head.
"You are probably right, Bohrs."
A second later, she nods at him and unlocks the door to let him go out. After he heads out, she will then leave the door ajar slightly and will move to the windowsill. With a faint smile to Calaithes, she will sit down on the edge of it, looking out at the large city about them. A moment later, she closes her eyes and tries to calm herself down.
Russiet lifted a hand from the bar, waving Bohrs to join her. "Refusing to drink with a cleric of the lucky drunk would probably sour the drink as well." she astutely noted, "By all means, join me Bohrs." Her words were muted by the fact she remained face down at the bar. Waiting on her first drink and not feeling safe to show her face just yet.
After a long moment there came an exhale and a sniff before she would wipe her eyes on the wrist of her sleeve and sit back up properly. Casting a sidelong glance to him. Though she said nothing.
"Line 'em up," Bohrs says to the barkeep, slapping a gold piece down on the bar-top.
"Give us each a shot of something Elvish, something Dwarvish, and something from the nearest Halflingshire, then cap us off with a couple of ales."
While the barkeep works, he turns to Russiet and says, "In Wine, there is Truth, but in whiskey there is Wit and Wisdom. I don't know how much I have without a few drinks in me first, but my ears work. That business upstairs didn't end well, and those sorts of emotions tend to fester if left under the skin. I may not be the ideal person to serve either as a counselor or confessor, but I'm here."
Russiet watches the bartender work with a sense of apprehension. Had she already lost control of the situation? She took a deep gulp, adjusted her clothing, and started to twist her first drink between her thumb and fingers.
She then took a pull and made a sour face. If she was being honest, she had barely ever drank before. "I just wanted to ensure my secret was safe." Russiet remarked, "Document if more drinking would help Nicolette. Try to get her to see it as less of a traumatic thing."
After a long moment staring into the dribble remaining in her glass her gaze grew distant. "I was a little curious if my blood would taste better." she explained, "I have draconic blood." She held out a hand, already the fingertips feeling slightly number, and used prestidigitation to cause a few multi-hued sparks to pop from her fingertips.
"But I'm not much of a sorcerer." she continued with regret, "So is my blood really that special, or am I just a distant draconic mutt? I, well that's not the reason I gave Nicolette. It's like pulling teeth just to get her to listen to something I say for her benefit, let alone for my own."
Realizing he conversation had slipped into bringing the object of her ire into her mind she frowned and took her next drink. Anyway, that's the situation." she ruefully remarked, "Front to back, top to bottom. I may not be the nicest at times, but I've only ever tried to help this group succeed. Being ambushed like that, pair of ingrates."
Into her second cup and she was already muttering. Her eyelids low.
"Sometimes, it's not what you say, but how you say it." Bohrs replies. "The more I think back on my time studying with Father Prasst, the more I realize that what I took to be pedantry and pompousness was my lack of appreciation for what he knew. I'm no scholar. If I learn anything it's usually the hard way, and with a few scars and bruises to boot. Maybe if Prasst talked to me like one of the tavern regulars, and less like a schoolmaster scolding an idiot pupil, I would have listened to him more. But was that on him, or was that on me? After all, I was an idiot pupil, compared to him. I guess I just didn't appreciate the daily reminder."
He taps the shot glass of Elvish liquor on the bar-top, and then throws it back. He exhales in a satisfactory fashion, then turns the empty glass over and sets it down.
"None of my business," the one-armed bartender mutters as he lines up six shot glasses and four mugs. Into the central shot glasses, set between Russiet and Bohrs, Puglas pours a shot of a pale green liquid over which he pops sugar cubes and a small dropper that begins dissolving the sugar into the green liquid below. It smells distinctly of spices, maybe a bit of licorice. The next glass swirls with amber and smells like it'll either put hair on your chest or burn the hairs out of your nose. The third shot looks almost honey gold, and Puglas drops a small seed within that fizzes as a sweet apple aroma rises. The ales are filled to frosting, the first pale, hazy, and hoppy, the second dark, rich, and malty.
"Sometimes you need to drown the dog," he says as he finishes pouring. By the time he's done with all of the pouring, the contraption melting the sugar cubes has done its trick, and Puglas swirls a curious slotted spoon through the glasses, turning the liquid almost milky. "I'll bring bread and peanuts."