Closed [Rearing Stallion] Dove In The Drink (Dovey)

[Garland]

Winter 31(Twilight)

There was one thing better than drinking a mug of ale by the fireplace in the middle of winter, and that having a cold ale outside in the sun during a hot summer's day. Right now, the entire world felt more like summer than winter.

Although as the sun set and the ground began to cool, the people started walking into the Rearing Stallion, eager to wet their parched lips after a long day's work.

Garland walked in, seeing the slowly forming crowd, still rather lethargic from the working day. Garland walked up to the bar and collapsed onto the counter. He had a busy day of patrols and training, he needed a drink badly.

Kevith gave a smug smile, remembering his own days as a squire and knight. "Kev! Ale!" Garland yelled out, his head still on the counter of the bar. "Please!"

The entire tavern was just waking up, a travelling bard tuned his lute while he waited for more people to come into the tavern. Garland could see a new dancer getting ready from an occasional glace pass the raised dais.

The new dancers were never quite as good as Sayana, the exotic six-armed lady was quite a show, her moves were captivating, foreign to most of the Syliran populace. The new dancers were just from the local stock, they weren't bad, but he'd seen them before.

Dancers, like bards, would benefit from a larger repertoire for their respective skills. Garland didn't have the finesse or dexterity to dance, he didn't do fancy flips or run around doing cartwheels, he was like a wall, unmovable if he puts his mind to it.

Right now, he was very unmovable, and only a good stiff drink and a good conversation would rouse him from the bar.

A mug was placed in front of Garland, foaming and filled with his hard drink of choice. "Cheers, Kev!" Garland said and took a swig of his ale. He had only planned to have a bit of casual drinking before retiring back to the dorms.

[Dovey]

She'd spent most of the day at the apartment they'd given her, sleeping, and rearranging her things. That was all right, she supposed, since she had just arrived. She was still tired from her journey; that was why she'd been so distracted, and so lethargic, and so godsforsaken emotional. Tomorrow she would be better, and Mother wouldn't be on her mind so much. For now, she really needed a drink. To that end she had made her way back out to the city streets, but although she was sure she had left the residential areas behind her, she still couldn't seem to find a tavern. "Hey," she said, putting a hand out to catch the attention of a passerby. "Uh, could you tell me where I can get an ale around here?" The woman gave her an odd look, but then shrugged her consent. "The Stallion's out a bit, nearer the gates," she replied. "You'll want to go left at this next turning, then head straight - " She rattled off directions. "Not that I drink there, mind. But it will suit you." She hurried off before Dovey could thank her. Dovey shook her head. Somebody was a bit posh, wasn't she? Still, she followed the directions the woman had given her, and was pleased to discover she hadn't been duped - before her swung a bright red sign, untidily striped, and painted with the figure of a rearing horse. Hurriedly she slipped through the door beneath the sign. She could already taste that drink. The interior of the tavern looked nice enough, if a bit dark. More than good enough for her needs. Dovey wound her way to the bar, edging between tables of revelers to lean up against its scuffed wood. Beside her was another customer already gulping his own order down, the lucky dog, but she hardly noticed him. "Could I get some ale, please?" she called to the barman, who nodded in acknowledgement and went to fill a mug. She watched him a moment, massaging her temples with her thumbs. "Gods," she murmured. "Some winter this has been so far."

[Garland]

"Winter? Feels more like summer, too hot to be in this plate all day." Garland pointed to his armor and gave a small smile. "What are you here for? A drink after a long day's work or drowning your sorrows?"

Garland turned to look at the person he was talking too. She seemed like a hard working, Garland noted the callouses on her hands, and gave a shrug of approval. "You seem like a hard worker. What do you do?"

Garland took another swig of his ale and smacked his lips together. "I needed that. My name's Garland by the way. A pleasure to meet you." He extended his hand to greet her.

Garland rubbed his chin and turned to look at the person talking to him. She looked cute, a bit too young to be here maybe. Though she looked relatively well-built compared to other girls.

"Tell me, what's a nice girl like you doing in a place like this? You seem to be more like... The White Swan type, although... They're are expensive as balls! Have you ever tried just ordering ale there?"

Garland coughed, and put on his fake posh accent. "They'll be like 'Excuse me 'ale'? What brand sir? Vintage? Season or unseason? Would like some cheese to go with that.' and I'll be like 'Mate, I just want an ale!'. I can never understand rich people, it's just alcohol, if it can get you drunk, it's good."

Garland laughed and took another swig of his ale.

[Dovey]

Dovey glanced over to the man beside her, startled, when he spoke. Armor. A knight? She'd thought knights were all formal and chivalrous and nonsense; she'd never imagined one drinking in a commonplace tavern. Still, he seemed ordinary enough, for someone lugging around the contents of an entire smithy on his back. Wasn't bad looking either. "Does it?" she replied, with an exaggerated groan. "I was hoping this was normal for you all." Mother did say Syliras got cold come winter. His question caught her off guard, enough so that she flinched back a bit. She set her teeth and drew a slow breath through her nose, dragging her mind back from the precipice the reminder of her grief had propelled it to. She had to answer, or he'd be concerned and might press further. "Sorrows," she said, and right on cue the barman returned, setting a wooden mug overflowing with foam on the surface of the bar before her. She wrapped both hands around it and sucked in a mouthful of foam from off the surface, relishing its bitterness. Oh, by Sivah, she needed this. The man beside her was talking again, and thankfully about work, rather than what had brought her here. "I haven't got a job here yet," she answered, wiping a bit of foam from her lip and turning to smile at him. "I'm new to Syliras actually, just got here yesterday, and I'm going to the - what is it, the welcome center? Going there tomorrow to find work." She took his outstretched hand, giving it a squeeze and a warm shake. "It's a real pleasure, Garland. My name's Dovey." "Tell me, what's a nice girl like you doing in a place like this?" The line startled a laugh out of her, cliche as it was, and then he just kept going. The accent had her grinning, and she was laughing out loud by the end of his little speech. "In that case," she said, chuckling, "I doubt I'd be a fit at your White Swan. I don't even know what half of that means - season or unseason? I'm just here to get tipsy. And cheese? Just plain cheese, not on bread or anything? I mean, why?" She took a swallow of ale and smiled at Garland again. "Though I will take the compliment, assuming it is a compliment. I'm not sure I want to look like a White Swan type, if they're that fussy about their alcohol."

[Garland]

"Sorrows eh?" Garland nodded and looked over to Kevith. "Kev, her tab's on me." Garland said, he was always lenient with his money, not just because she was a pretty girl.

"I'm sure you'll find something to do here." Garland took another drink of his ale, seeing that it was almost empty. "Kev, refill please. It seems I'll be staying here longer than I thought." With that he gave a cheeky over-the-top wink.

The cliche lines he uses always work, most of the time. Well, not really, it was just a great fallback when he couldn't think of anything to say. Saying something stupid was better than silence he always said.

"Something about spicing the wine with some exotic spices, if you ask me, it's just a way to get more money for a cheap drink, and don't get me started on the cheese, they're not even whole slices, they're like these tiny cubes you could swallow in one bite." He laughed and the barkeep brought back Garland's mug filled with drink.

"Cheers!" He said and took another swig of it. "I guess you don't look like the Swan type, they spend their money left, right and center, you seem like you work a lot and save a lot." Garland was always an observant one.

"You say you recently come to Syliras, from where if I might be so bold to ask." The tavern was starting to pick up pace, the bard had started strumming idly before playing a lively song to help keep the spirits up.

[Dovey]

This Garland was paying for her to drink? That was surprising, but hey, free ale. Dovey tipped her head to the side and raised her eyebrows at him. "Well, aren't you the gentleman," she drawled, then flashed him a grin. "Thanks. I am a bit hard up." She returned to her ale, cupping it between her palms as she took a long, slow draft. When he winked at her she snorted, barely managing to avoid spraying ale across the counter. She swallowed, wiped her mouth with the back of her hand in case she'd spat any onto her lip, and turned to give him a look. The effect was slightly ruined by her still-amused expression. "You're ridiculous. I like it," she said, running a hand through her hair, fanning it out with her fingers before letting it settle back onto her shoulders. Then he was talking about the White Swan's absurd menu, and she went back to her mug, nodding along with him as she drank. "I guess you don't look like the Swan type," he was saying, "they spend their money left, right, and center, you seem like you work a lot and save a lot." She turned to him, mug in hand, resting an elbow atop the bar. "Well aren't you just full of compliments tonight?" she said teasingly. "I'm going to have to catch up." There was a bard playing now, she noticed, strumming his instrument over to one side of the tavern. Must be getting later in the day - she'd arrived quite early, before the crowd, but now the space was slowly filling up. She wondered what sort of goings-on took place here, once things got lively. Were taverns in Syliras much different from those back home? She doubted it, but who knew? "I'm from Kenash," she replied to Garland's next inquiry. "Got the accent to prove it, but I don't suppose you've been down there to recognize it. It's strange being here - everything's so different, with you knights everywhere and all. Well, everything except this weather." She lifted her mug again only to find it empty. "Oh." She waved to the barman - Kev, hadn't Garland said? "Could I get a refill, please?" She glanced to Garland. "That all right with you? Since you're paying."

[Garland]

Garland nodded. "It's fine, have as much as you can drink." Garland actually thought about what he said. "Actually, don't leave me broke. I need to save something for when I take you out on a date."

With that, the collective people in the tavern just cheered at Garland horrible pick-up line.

"I must have drunk more than I thought." He smiled sheepishly and took another swig of his drink. "I've had some chocolate from Kenesh. They were amazing, shame they just cost so much."

Garland felt a little bit tipsy, and the tavern was getting more and more lively, and in turn Garland's mood was getting higher, he was drinking more, and he's more likely to make horrible life choices.

"The weather is dreadful, it's not usually like this. Have you heard about the rumors going around? Morwen, the goddess of winter didn't do her job this year and the rest of the seasonal gods are having a fit about it." Garland took another drink.

"Usually, it's always cold around here, I don't hate summer, but I like things to stay normal. Winter is cold, Summer is hot, etcetera." Garland took another swig of his ale and sighed. "I love a good drink, especially with good company."

[Dovey]

Dovey preened. "Ooh, I'm good company?" she said, smiling warmly at Garland once again. "You're not so bad yourself, you know. I'm not sure who I'd rather run into, my first evening out in Syliras." She studied her drinking companion for a moment, her hip against the bar as her eyes traveled over his face. She liked his hair, brown and cut short and ruffled over his forehead. The strands looked soft and fine to her, like the feathers of a young bird. His armor looked heavy, encasing him like a beetle's thick shell, and she felt a flash of keen empathy as she realized how stifling it must be in there in this heat. No wonder Kenash had no knights; they'd never be able to stand the climate, walking around in that every day. The barman had set her mug back down on the counter; she'd heard the clunk. She turned back to the bar, nodding to the man in thanks before seizing the mug with both hands and taking a gulp. One drink had not been enough. She was flirting and laughing, true, but beneath the surface she could still feel her grief lurking. She needed to bury it in ale. "So tell me about these rumors." She turned back to Garland, her eyes more somber now despite her battle to hold onto her good cheer. "The goddess didn't... didn't create this year's winter? There's just no winter? Does anybody know why?" She took a swallow of ale. "I mean..." She bit her lip. "I mean, if even the gods are having spats..." She didn't finish the thought. Honestly, she didn't even know where she had been going with it. All she knew was that gods ought not to quarrel. Good gods and evil gods could fight, perhaps - but not the seasons! The seasons were steady and true. At least the goddess Morwen's truancy had spared her from facing the chill of a Syliran winter. It was an ill wind that blew nobody any good. She took another swallow of ale.

[Garland]

"The things I hear around the rumor-mill are pretty far-fetched, but who knows? Weirder things have happened." Garland stopped to wet his lips with a drink.

"I've heard that there's trouble brewing in the Vantha home city, and Morwen's there to make sure the city doesn't get blown up. No one in their right mind would attack a city with a god in it unless they had a god with them as well." Garland was troubled with that bit of rumor, most because if someone had enough gall to attack a city with a godly being in it, then that could smell trouble for everyone.

"Another rumor I heard is that she's dead and the other gods just don't know it and she's think she's not coming, I highly doubt that's the case as disturbing as it is." Garland took a another drink. He was getting a moderately tipsy now.

"My favorite rumor is that Morwen just got lazy, just said 'eyyy, I'll do it next year' kinda just makes you think if some of the gods just get tired of petty of us mortals." With that Garland finished his mug, and turned to Dovey. "Gods squabble, sometimes good gods fight other good gods because they need to, but otherwise I just think the three seasonal gods are worried, I don't think this has happened before, if it did, maybe back when the world was destroyed." Garland took large gulp of the ale and sighed. "But enough about that, we're here to drown your sorrows with excessive alcohol or joyous conversation!"

The tavern was really picking up now, music, singing, dancing, and drinking. The winter feast just happened recently and everyone was in high spirits. Garland was only neutral about the event, even though it was fun and had plenty of food, the only reason they had that food was because the entire region felt like spring or summer, there was plenty of game when there shouldn't be any.

If things return to normal, there wouldn't be such a big feast. "Spirits are high, good drink, good song, and a lovely lady by my side! This is a good day I reckon!"

[Dovey]

Dovey shook her head, lips pressed tight together. "Well, I wish they wouldn't. Squabble, that is. That's what blew up the world in the first place." On impulse, she made an 'explosion' gesture with her hands, then paused to consider. Was she tipsy? She was probably tipsy. Not tipsy enough, though. She seized her mug of ale and knocked it back, downing as much as she could before coming up for air. She chuckled. "By the gods, can you imagine if she really did just decide to take the year off? I know if I was a god, I'd probably get pretty sick of dealing with us mortals." The pleasure of hearing a few wild rumors had freed Dovey from her worry - and the alcohol hadn't exactly hurt, either. "Yes, let's drown my sorrows!" she said, lifting her mug in a toast. "And yours, if you've got any to drown just now. With excessive alcohol and joyous conversation - why choose?" She was having to speak quite loudly now to be heard over the general revelry. A lively song was being played and people were dancing over by the musician's dais. She watched them for a moment, drinking from her mug. "My day has surely been improved!" she said, turning back to Garland. "By both the drink and the company." She drained the last of her ale and thumped the mug down onto the bar. The music was lively, the mood was high, the evening was youngish - what wasn't to love? Grief trembled at the back of her mind and she forced her smile not to waver. Don't think about that. Think about something else. If she was doing something sufficiently distracting, maybe she'd forget what had happened for a little while. "Hey, want to dance?" she asked, raising her eyebrows at Garland. "This song's good. I mean - " her eyes had fallen upon his breastplate - "if you can, in that armor."