Closed [The Rearing Stallion] Random Encounters (Garland)

Dovey meets Garland again, this time in a significantly less revelrous state of mind.

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This shining population center is considered the jewel of The Sylira Region. Home of the vast majority of Mizahar's population, Syliras is nestled in a quiet, sprawling valley on the shores of the Suvan Sea. [Lore]

[The Rearing Stallion] Random Encounters (Garland)

Postby Dovey on April 28th, 2017, 9:39 pm

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28 Spring, 517 AV
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Dovey had awoken that morning with a biting pain in her stomach, and the day had only gotten worse from there.

The air was hot today, oppressively still within the enclosed stone city, and she was sweaty already when she arrived at Windmount for her day's work. Her head was fuzzy too, swimming with the vague memories of confused, anxious dreams; one had involved tears, she thought, desperate, helpless sorrow, and she was careful to keep herself from contemplating that impression for too long. Still, she'd felt a bit foggy at the start of the morning, and it took her a little to retreat from that state of befuddlement into the more concrete annoyance of a bad day at work.

While she was grooming the mud from a gelding's coat, he had decided to stand on her foot, popping the stiff toe of her boot inside out; it had taken several painful chimes before she could extricate herself from the situation and her foot from the shoe. A little while after she'd gotten the toe popped right way out again, she'd been splashed by a wheelbarrow passing through a mud puddle, spattering the bottom of her already grubby skirt with spots of wet, sickly brown. Then, later that afternoon, she'd gotten into an argument with a coworker which had started over the proper method of cleaning leather, but devolved into a series of insults from each about the other's stubbornness and incompetence at their job. By the time her shift was over she was exhausted, physically and emotionally, and her temples were throbbing with the dull pain of a stress-induced headache.

But worse than all that was the sense that she didn't care. Of course, on one level she was dreadfully annoyed, but she was hardly invested in the irritation; it was as if her mind was only playacting at the emotion, while the real her couldn't muster up enough energy to pay it any mind. She would much rather have been upset, upset enough to hit something or start another argument or...

With a foggy sort of desperation, she turned down the road that would lead her to her regular tavern: The Rearing Stallion.

The walk wasn't long; the Stallion was in the same general area of the city as Dovey's workplace. She fell in behind a small, chattering group making its way inside, thankful she'd arrived at least a little before the evening rush - she didn't want to deal with too many people before she was well and truly buzzed.

Maybe the alcohol would quiet this headache, too. She could only hope.

Making her way to the bar, she leaned against its rough surface with her chin in her hands. "Ale, please," she said dully to the barkeep. If anything could help her, surely this was it.


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Last edited by Dovey on May 1st, 2017, 8:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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[The Rearing Stallion] Random Encounters (Garland)

Postby Garland on April 29th, 2017, 4:24 am

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The heat was bothering everyone by the looks of it. Garland had been in his armor for half of the day and he could already feel the sticky sweat of himself in the armor.

His day was absolutely dreadful so far, a quick trip to the woods to escort someone to a nearby glade ended up with him being ambushed by half a dozen bandits, now he had blood all over him, not his own mind you and his sword now needed a good cleaning.

After that, he had to deliver a few barrels of fish from the docks to the markets, that cart that was bringing the fish rolled down the hill and smashed into a stall, then a barrel smashed into the ground and another rolled into a window and smashed that.

He spent the rest of the day picking up fish and putting them in new barrels. Luckily for him he wasn't held accountable for the cart crashing.

Garland smelled of fish, blood, and sweat, and the heat just made the smell worse. Garland did not have a good day. Exciting sure, but he would prefer excitement without smelling like a week old fish stuck in a bloody sock.

Luckily his shift was about to end, he spent a quick dip in the bath just to get the stickiness and heat out of his system.

After his bath, and with a fresh set of clothes, he decided he needed a drink, something cold and stiff.

There was only one place for a cold stiff drink that wasn't Kelp Beer(Garland hated the stuff) in Syliras and that place was the Rearing Stallion.

Garland stepped in, not making an entrance like he usually does, and took at seat at the bar, not noticing who he was sitting next to.

"Ale please!" Garland called down and placed his chin on the table, a bored, tired look on his face. He was also fairly annoyed of the heat. "Make it cold."
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[The Rearing Stallion] Random Encounters (Garland)

Postby Dovey on May 6th, 2017, 11:26 pm

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The barkeep nodded to her, turning to fill a mug of ale from the tap. Dovey sagged against the bar, fishing the coins she'd need to pay out from her pocket, imagining the blessed strong bitterness of that drink against her tongue. Her body was thick with tension; that would change once she had downed this first mug, and she would relax and stop worrying about the wrongness in the air, the feeling like a missing tooth, or like her belly had been shoveled full of swamp dirt...

Someone took the seat beside her, a man. She didn't look up at him; the drink was what was important, and the barkeep was bringing it over to her now. He set it down on the counter and she seized it, straightening up enough to take a grateful swig, slapping the coins onto the counter for him to take. For a moment that ale was all there was in the world, and yet having built it up so greatly in her mind, she had to beat back a sense of disappointment that it was, after all, only the familiar if delicious drink she was already so accustomed to.

"Ale please!" the fellow beside her called, his voice displaying a fair amount of the same tension Dovey herself was feeling. That was a little heartening; perhaps nothing at all was wrong with her today, but the weather or - the recent riots, maybe? - or some such thing was dampening everybody's moods. That would be nice, for it not to be only her. "Make it cold," the man added, and Dovey, deep into another swig of ale, smiled a hint in sympathy.

But something was tickling at a corner of her mind. That voice was awfully familiar, wasn't it? Now she came to think of it - was that... ?

She set down her mug and turned, and there was Garland.

"It's you!" she exclaimed, worried reflexively that she'd been rude, but let the concern slip by - they'd gotten fairly friendly the last time they'd seen each other, after all. "How've you been? Sera... sorry, what was her name? Sera Karin? She treating you well?"


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[The Rearing Stallion] Random Encounters (Garland)

Postby Garland on May 7th, 2017, 8:48 am

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Garland saw a mug of cool ale come over to him but instead it was for the person next to him. He gave a small grumble and waited for his own drink.

He felt his eyes droop, he felt tired, sleepy, but first he needs something to take the edge off today. A good drink is usually what takes off the edge for him, he'd much prefer this than Temper that his children's mother used.

He thought that she might have used Temper while she was pregnant with the twins. An annoyed grunt was Garland's reply to that in his head. Once upon a time he might have admired her, even maybe loved her, but that time has passed, hopefully there aren't any lasting effects of her drug abuse in the twins.

Garland was knocked out of his thoughts by a loud exclamation from the person he was sitting next to. He turned to look but he yelled and fell back from his seat and landed on the ground.

"Dovey? You look awful!"

Real smooth, Garland.

"I mean, ummm... Yeah, Sera Catherine is fine, I mean she's treating me fine, well... It's not like she's my mother or anything so... She treats me fine when we do meet up?"

You're rambling again.

"Anyway, Uhhh... But you a drink?" Garland asked and saw that she already had a drink of her own. Garland just nodded. "Right, you already have a drink. Sorry, I'm just a bit out of it recently, long day for a long season, aye?"

There was a bit of blood behind Garland's ear, not his blood but it seemed like he didn't quite clean himself as thoroughly as he thought. Finally his mug was placed in front of him and he quickly took a swig of it.

Garland coughed, the liquid went down the wrong tube and it burned his lungs a bit. He was acting awkward as Hai right now.
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[The Rearing Stallion] Random Encounters (Garland)

Postby Dovey on May 9th, 2017, 11:50 pm

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Dovey half rose to her feet, shoulders and arms tensed to the point of cramping, at Garland's fall. It was a more startled, even fearful reaction than the event warranted, but she was stressed and tired and the least little thing was liable to make her panic. When she saw he was all right, though, she relaxed and even smiled a bit; that was the same Garland she'd met last season, all right. He clambered to his feet, finding his seat once more.

"Dovey?" he said. "You look awful!"

Her smile slipped, grew strained. That was rude; if he'd been drunk she'd have understood, but he had just arrived here, same as her. Then he went on, stammering a clumsy redirection of the conversation, and she softened. Just a slip of the tongue, of course. This was Garland, after all; she knew him well enough to know he wouldn't be so impolite on purpose.

He continued to speak, answering her question about his patron knight - Sera Catherine, that was her name - before, clearly flustered, he turned to the old standby to support his efforts at conversation. "Buy you a drink?"

She gave the mug in her hand an automatic glance, as though it might have vanished since their conversation began. But Garland noticed it almost at the same moment, and went on, easily changing his tack. "Sorry, I'm just a bit out of it recently," he explained. "Long day for a long season, aye?"

Dovey gave a heartfelt nod to that. This spring was a tough one, and not only for her; the supernaturally strange weather, the food shortages, the recent riot and the rumors of some dangerous secret society - all contributed to an atmosphere of unease which seemed to have permeated the entire city. If only there had been some more overt danger, she thought, something she could outrun or at the least something which would strike and go away, things would be easier. As it was, though, anxiety sat as uncomfortably on her shoulders as anyone's. "We can only hope summer will be calmer," she replied now, "though it's still a long way away. Maybe spring will settle down into a good season after all." She doubted it, considering the inevitably long-term nature of a food shortage, but she could dream.

Beside her, Garland choked on his ale. She turned to thump him on the back; something caught her eye and she frowned. "Garland?" she asked. "Is that blood behind your ear?"


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[The Rearing Stallion] Random Encounters (Garland)

Postby Garland on May 10th, 2017, 7:25 am

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Garland gave an awkward laugh when he finally caught his breath from the drink. Then he heard Dovey say something about blood.

He felt behind his ear but saw nothing, if there was blood there, it must have been dry. "Maybe... Probably from earlier this morning, had to escort a person to the woods, asked for me specifically, got jumped by bandits, turns out it was a trap." Garland took a drink from his mug, this time not choking on his drink.

"I got really bloody, luckily none of it is my blood. Hopefully, that's the third attempt on my life this season, seems like someone's out to get me, and I know who, just don't know where the petcher is." Garland took another swig of his drink and smiled. "He'll need better assassins. So far all he's sending is fodder for my sword."

Garland tried to come off as confident and sure but there was a worry in him. His smile was forced, and grin only half as bright as his usual grin. He did a poor job of masking his fear.

He fears not for his life, but for his children, anyone who knows about Garland's children would know that and the man that was after him knew. "Anyway, enough about me and my amazing sword arm. How have you been? You look... stressed? Perhaps tired."

Garland needed to take his mind off of his own troubles and if that meant helping Dovey with hers, he was more than willing. He took another swig of his ale, usually he would feel buzzed, more prone to look at the bright side of things, generally more happy.

Right now though, he was drowning his fears and worries in ale. He wasn't sure if it was helping or not.
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[The Rearing Stallion] Random Encounters (Garland)

Postby Dovey on May 15th, 2017, 9:04 pm

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Dovey's eyebrows inched higher on her forehead. Someone was trying to murder Garland? That was news all right. He sounded as though he'd be all right, though, what with his confidence and all, and she supposed the knightly types had to deal with this sort of thing at times, and why in the name of petching Ivak wasn't she more worried about this? Was there something wrong with her, that she couldn't seem to work up any concern over a friend being in danger?

She glanced to Garland's face for reassurance, but didn't get it; he looked tense, his grin stiff and small. Was he frightened? Why couldn't she - or rather, why was she numb - but no, the question really was -

Why couldn't she properly care?

Dovey nibbled at her lip, looking down into her still almost-full mug of ale. Her stomach tightened; suddenly she wasn't so sure that she wanted to finish the drink. No, of course she wanted to finish it, she was only in a mood - that was all - her mind was playing tricks on her. There was no scenario in which she wouldn't want to finish an ale. She lifted the mug to her lips and took a swallow, and the taste was wonderful as always, and she relaxed a little.

"Anyway, enough about me and my amazing sword arm," Garland said. "How have you been? You look... stressed? Maybe tired?"

Dovey set the mug down on the counter with a dull thunk., turning to give the man beside her a well-practiced smile. "Both of those, I guess," she replied. "I had a ridiculously bad day at work..."

Then she trailed off, and she wasn't sure why.

Usually she'd enjoy venting. Usually complaining to a friend - especially about a casual topic like work - was something she'd be eager to do. What was different here? Honestly - and now she was getting a little annoyed - what was petching different about today? She was weird, sulky, detached - she hadn't even wanted her ale, for the sake of all the gods! (She took another sip now, just to prove she hadn't lost her taste for the drink.) Felt like she was under a curse.

A curse which apparently made her leave her conversation partners hanging, she realized belatedly. "Sorry," she told Garland, and sighed.
"Thoughts. I'm probably just being moody."


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[The Rearing Stallion] Random Encounters (Garland)

Postby Garland on May 16th, 2017, 3:26 am

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Garland felt what Dovey was feeling, at least a bit of it, he just wanted to rest now, to just relax, but the drink was not helping.

With someone wanting him dead, getting drunk is the last thing in his mind. He took a sip for the ale, almost as if he was just forcing it down rather than enjoying the drink. He felt like a knife was hovering right over his neck right now, just waiting to drop.

That didn't scare him, what scared him was the repercussions of his death, he wasn't afraid of dying, if it was for a good cause, and protecting Syliras was as good a cause as any, he was afraid of what the twins would become without him.

He grew up without parents just fine, but not without heartache, pain and growing up faster than what should be. At four he was almost beaten to death while trying to help a four-armed kid from actually being beaten to death.

Garland changed that day, he was scared of dying then, but not as much as now.

He had spent a good chime or two just staring into his mug. He was only half listening to Dovey and almost got lost in his own thoughts when she piped up again.

"Yeah, I've had thoughts too, usually that's bad in itself, me thinking that is." He tried to make light of the situation, and forced a laugh, but his tone was hollow. "My thoughts now are... a bit scarier than usual."

The next few chimes were sat in silence, Garland hated the silence, silence meant his mind was free to wander, but he didn't feel like talking right now. He felt paranoid, scared and angry, and he's been hiding it well throughout the season, but today he was just breaking down.

"Dovey, what are you afraid of?"
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[The Rearing Stallion] Random Encounters (Garland)

Postby Dovey on May 25th, 2017, 8:04 pm

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"Dovey, what are you afraid of?"

She froze, mug halfway lowered to the surface of the bar, her mouthful of ale pooling in the back of her throat. Just sat for a moment. Then she smiled, and swallowed the alcohol, and brought her other hand around to cradle the half-empty mug just beneath her chest.

"I don't know what you mean," she told him, and it was the truth, she didn't know. Did she seem afraid now, or was his question a more general one? And if it was general, then why did he ask - what, did he expect her to fearless, or else have strange terrors not common to all? She wasn't so unusual as that. She feared death, she supposed - now her mind was wandering in places which did frighten her a little, but she wasn't alert enough to treat such daydreaming as a threat and stop it, as she ordinarily might have done - she feared death, and pain, and loss of course, losing people -

Her hands tightened around the mug, the imperfections in its wooden surface pressing into her skin, and her breath shallowed. Everybody feared loss - and everybody mourned, but she had mourned, she was all right, she was done mourning - she hadn't dwelt on Mother in a good while -

but that was because she'd stopped herself from doing so, once she could, once she'd decided she was finished mourning -

Even now it hurt, the thought of her, and even now Dovey was busy automatically shoving the sensation away.

Garland could probably hear the change in her breath, how much quicker it had grown. Embarrassed, she clenched her teeth, willing herself to gain control over her body. Normal breathing. Normal face - no contorting - ordinary. She took a quick swallow from the mug of ale.

"The ordinary things," she replied at last, in her best imitation of a casual tone.


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[The Rearing Stallion] Random Encounters (Garland)

Postby Garland on May 27th, 2017, 11:34 am

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Garland didn't know how to respond at all, his mind was in another place. "Yeah, me too." Garland wasn't quite like Dovey, where she was trying to hide it, Garland just had that sullen look on his face.

It took a few chimes but Garland broke out of his stupor and finished off his drink. "I don't think I'll be drinking any more tonight." He looked over to the barman and pushed away the mug. "Just some water and food. Thank you."

Garland just looked over to Dovey and placed his arm around her shoulders. "Here I am, being all sulky and a downer while a friend right next to me is feeling the same." He released her and planted his hands on his face.

Garland had broken down right here. He could feel tears streaming down his face, anger, regret, worry, they were all swirling inside him now and he had no intention of hiding it. "I am such a failure."

Garland then placed his entire head on the counter and just started sobbing, uncontrollable bursts of tears. People just gave him a wide berth, some just grumbled saying things like 'looks like it's gonna be one nights' and other similar sentences.

Garland just didn't care anymore, but he did feel like he was being watched though, not just the eyes of annoyed patrons, but a pair of more sinister eyes. He stopped suddenly, a chill on his back.

He turned to Dovey. "I'm sorry, I just needed to get that out of my system." He wiped his eyes and took a drink from his glass of water. His food was brought over and he took a few cautionary bites.
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