On thin ice (Gaunt)

[Anadwen]

Athran smirked. "As lovely as a blade in your skull." he muttered. "After all, that's what swords are for..."

He didn't have any memory of this man, but his company was amusing. And as long as Anoriel was going to pay for the drinks, they could have a lot of fun.

The door behind the counter creaked, and the innkeeper appeared once more in front of them. "Almost all of the rooms are free." he shrugged. "You can choose."
"I want a room that's close to here." Anoriel yawned, holding her head in her hands.
"I'll sleep under the roof... I'll take a look at what's there." replied the knight. "And you?" He turned to Halford, waiting for him to choose.

[Brisinger987]

Halford chose the room next to Anoriel, as it was easiest, and if anything decided it didn't like her, he was right next door.

"I'll take this one, I don't sleep well at night." Halford admitted, setting his spear down, before taking a pouch, and placing it on the table.

"So, drinks."

[Anadwen]

Athran slowly turned his head to Anoriel. Strands of his black hair slipped through his face as he tilted his head aside, and Anoriel immediately knew what he wanted. She handed him her pouch with a disappointed sigh, and picked up their bags to carry them into their rooms.

He grabbed the money bag much quicker than one might have expected, and shook him with a satisfied grin on his lips. "This should suffice for the evening, don't you think?" he muttered, glancing at the counter and several barrels behind it.

[Brisinger987]

"Ah, yes, the wonderful drinks. Thank you Anoriel. You're such a good girl..." He joked, speaking as if he were talking to a baby.

He followed Athran to the bar, and decided he would find the two a table.

"Hey, I'll go look for a table."

[Anadwen]

Athran nodded. "What do you want? Red wine? White? Ale? Mead, or beer?" he asked, leaning against the counter lazily. He grabbed the edge of his cloak and wiped the blood and dirt from his face in an attempt to look at least a bit civilized, and took off the upper coat, revealing a less damaged leather armour and parts of the chainmail shirt underneath.

The bartender looked at him with tired eyes, resembling an old dog. "Fill your biggest jug with red wine to the brim. And make it sweet." the elf growled, casually turning his arm to show the long dagger, strapped to his forearm. The man gave a slow nod, and bent underneath the counter, searching for something that would suffice a strange customer like Athran.

[Brisinger987]

Halford found a table, waiting for Athran to come over with the drinks.

[Anadwen]

"Or... I'll take two." Athran added to his order, and placed a coin upon the rugged wood of the counter. The bartender sighed, reaching for another jug, and when both were filled with the dark red liquid, his grabbed them with a strong grip and carried both to the table Halford chose.

The glass thudded as he dropped it onto the table, spilling a little from each, and smirked. "Race, or start slowly?"

[Brisinger987]

"Race my friend. I guarantee, no-one beats a Dark Elf for drinking contests." Halford grinned, taking one of the jugs in his hand.

"To a good, and prosperous friendship."

[Anadwen]

"I guarantee, nobody beats the Black Sword! I can drain a barrel." Athran grinned back, and clashed his jug against Halford's. "To a good friendship, and shall it last long!" he cheered.

His hand with the jug arose to his lips and he begun drinking.

[Brisinger987]

"Bring it on buddy. Hear, hear!" Halford began to drain his jug rather rapidly, able to hold his own even the mightiest dwarf in Le'raana.

He began to think of things he hadn't thought of in a while. Friendship being one of them.

[Anadwen]

Athran turned his jug upside down much faster than someone would expect from a thin, lean elf such as himself. Its contents were drained before one would say 'Black Sword'. His head made a wild turn as he banged it against the table with a confident smirk on his lips.

"I... I guess I won..." he muttered. It felt like Maigrod making loops in the air... And that means good.

[Brisinger987]

Halford competed valiantly, finishing a mere half second after Athran, and feeling the tingle. He already felt a slight buzz, and his vision started blurring very quickly.

"Haha, nice... Shall I get us another?"

[Anadwen]

Athran nodded. "But this time no race. In this speed, I'll pass out before the sunset!" he laughed, and gestured at the bartender to come to them. The man walked to them with the same cynical expression of an old dog, and listened to his orders.

"I want these jugs refilled, and another pair, half the size, filled with mead. And a meal... Fish for me." he said, leaning over the seat of his chair.

[Brisinger987]

"I'll have yeti please." Halford made the order slightly nicer for the bartender, and this time Halford brought forward the coin.

"For shutting your little sister up earlier, haha!" Halford smiled widely, feeling that much wine beginning to play havoc on his judgement and his mind.

[Anadwen]

Athran laughed. "She's loud and crazy if you don't feed her! And flirty if you do." he shrugged, leaning back on the chair. The innkeeper disappeared, to come back a while later, carrying their jugs. Athran played with a wisp of his hair with one hand, while he picked up the glass of mead with the other one, and took a drink.

"But I hate pulling her out of the problems she gets to if she hits on the wrong man." he admitted, and shook his head, still with the smirk on his lips. The wine was beginning to take effect... He felt warm and comfortable, suddenly more open and eager to talk.

[Brisinger987]

"Back in my tribe, their used to be a group of teenagers, we used to get in so much trouble. We'd always sneak out to Ketra on the Long Week of Haruspex and go and have a bit of fun with the bar girls. We'd always keep an eye out for each other, making sure no-one got hurt, and I was constantly pulling this one girl away from criminals and the like. We ended up calling each other wingmen." Halford lied so heavily, but at the moment it wasn't showing. There weren't any inconsistencies, all bar the fact that Haruspex didn't have a festival in his tribe.

"Oh, the trouble we used to get into..."

[Anadwen]

Athran cackled. "I was always the one that got Anoriel into trouble. She was innocent when she was a child... I was setting shops on fire because the shopkeeper though I was rude!" He opened his arms and laughed. "And in Ketra, in the beginning of my knight years, it was run after run from guards for the trouble I was in. The only knight, jailed for three years!"

Memories of his wild, fiery youth returned to his mind - the Randy Peach, dancing on tables, running from guards and criminals alike... Colorful festivals and lost money bags... If he only wasn't alone, it would have been beautiful.

[Brisinger987]

"Haha, that sounds fun! Oh, there was this one time, we took this kid ba-" Halford stopped, his face realising what he had almost said, and taking a drink to calm his beating heart.

"We took this kid to a brothel, after booking him in, and left him with no money to pay for it. It was really funny..." He didn't seem to amused by the lie he had just thrown up.

[Anadwen]

"Uh. Brothels creep me out when it gets away from dancing on the table." Athran admitted, scratching his head. He moved one wisp of his long black hair behind the pointed tip of his ear, and looked down. Since Yhrana's attempt to stab him through the heart in their bedroom, he tended to avoid human women.

He raised his drink to his lips again, in an attempt to fill in the silence, still keeping his eyes on the table.

[Brisinger987]

Halford downed the rest of his mead, and sighed. He completely forgot the lie he just told, and simply went about telling a different one. One slightly closer to the truth.

"One time me and my wingman... He got a boy and brought him back to our tribe, showed him our newborn ritual. Gods, that boy was not in a good state after that." The inconsistency was a bit clearer this time, and there were subtle hints to the truth being darker than it sounded.