03.05.09 - It Was Worth It

Location: Ruingate Skull and Candle

Characters Involved: Tobias, Harper, Tychon

Lucky Harper gets to accompany Tobe today. That means down at the docks and on his ship, primarily - still plenty of work to be done there even though it won't leave Ruingate again until the river is entirely thawed. The buck has been his shadow, and with work done the tabby, of course, enters the tavern, unbuttoning his coat as he goes, and gestures Harper toward a free table. "Want anything?"

A silent and unwilling shadow! Tobias gets a glance and little more. He walks to the table and nudges a chair out with a foot, seating himself.

Maybe Harper didn't hear him. It's the busiest time of night for the tavern, after all. Tobe stops on his way to the bar, eyes his slave. "I said. /Want anything/?"

A dismissive shake of his head is Harper's answer. He arches a brow at the raised voice.

Not so much raised as emphasized. Tobe looks at Harper like he's nuts, turns, and goes to the bar. Somewhere in the midst of talking up a vixen and joking with a noble ferret, he gets two mugs of ale, and heads back. One is set down in front of Harper. "Drink it anyway."

"I'm not your drinking buddy." Harper shoves the mug away.

"You're my slave," Tobe points out, depositing himself in a chair across from the buck. He leans back, props his boots on the edge of the table. "If I say drink it, you drink it. Why is obedience so difficult?"

"I don't have a problem with obedience. I have a problem with you." Harper's teeth grit and he looks off around the tavern.

Tobias's long tail sweeps up, and pushes against the mug, sliding it back in front of the scowly slave. "Is it 'cause I'm huge?" he says with a chuckle. "'cause I could squish you under my foot and you couldn't do a damn thing about it?"

"No. No, I can't say that's exactly it," Harper snorts.

"Then why," Tobe prompts. His ears are back, eyes half-shut, more just curious than actually concerned.

"Because you try t'claim obedience by force. One might say - and I do - that that's the sign o' a weak-willed individual." Harper quirks a brow.

Tobias takes a few swallows of the ale as Harper speaks, then lowers it from his mouth, showing a smirk. "Aye? So how would /you/ get obedience from a slave, oh wise monkish one?"

Harper quirks a brow at Tobias. Is he really that daft? "I wouldn't."

"Right. 'cause you don't /have/ any slaves," Tobe gruffs. "But if you did. If by some odd, odd backward accident of fate you were the owner instead of the owned."

"How would I get their obedience?" Harper quirks a brow.

Tobias lifts his mug a bit. "Right."

"The only way t'truly win the obedience of a slave is t'grant them their freedom." Harper shrugs. "But you don't want obedience. You could have that from any one of your underlings, who serve you willingly."

Tobias gives a little cough that turns into a laugh. "/Freedom/? See, /that/ makes no bleedin' sense at all. If you're freed you're not a slave anymore. 'sides what do you figure I /do/ want if not obedience?"

"To obey someone is a willful act. It's something you /choose/. I live a life of obedience - to my duties, to my Abbot, and to all those I serve. /You/ want compliance. You don't care why the hell I'm doin' it, s'long as I do it. Righ'?" Harper has pushed the mug away, again.

Tobias snorts. "Bit choosy with the words are we? Alright, /compliance/. Same question, switch 'obedience' out for compliance and answer it again."

Harper tilts his head. "Why should I /comply/ by answering your question? How /exactly/ would teaching you how t'get slaves t'comply help me?"

Tobias's tufty ears swivel forward. "Help you? Well you'll definitely be better /off/ if you quit being a stubborn arse. You know slavery isn't something you can just sit twiddling your thumbs and wait for it to wear off. I /own/ you."

"If you were in my place, would you comply?" Harper leans back in his chair, eyeing Tobias curiously.

Tobias drops his legs again, and leans forward, one hand on the tabletop. "'course not. But I'll never /be/ in your place now will I? I don't know how an abbey beast like you wound up here, but it was probably by doing something damn stupid."

"Did you ever consider that you all have done something damned stupid by enslaving an Abbey Brother?" Harper smiles faintly.

Tobias's teeth show in a brief grin. "Aw, what're your lil' friends going to do, Harper? .. /Harper/? Seriously." The cat shakes his head. "That's an awful name, I'm going to call you... Alec."

Harper ignores this. "So what ever happened to Merdez, then? He was at least smart enough to /pretend/ an alliance with the Abbey."

"While ever seeking an excuse to invade it," Tobias retorts with a laugh, shaking his head. "The old sod got old/er/. You know it happens. Though I think I'll be like my mum and just avoid it all together, ey?" He finishes his drink, reaches for Harper's. "You sure you don't want it, /Alec/?"

Harper makes a gesture of allowance. Go ahead. "Though I see he never did. Invade, that is."

"No, no he didn't," Tobe says as he lifts the mug, and takes a swallow, settling into a leaned back position again. "Never liked him. All full of theology and nonsense. He was two inches from a woodlander himself."

Something has been eating at him. "So, Crow's a nice kid. How'd that happen?"

"How did /he/ happen? .. well here's a better question," Tobe counters, "how much about him have you figured out so far?"

Harper asks, ""So far? That he'd be a lot better off growin' up somewhere else and with someone else. But that was a pretty easy one."

Tobias shrugs. "Well I'm not his mum am I? If I knew how to take care of a bloody kitten /you/ would've been up at auction yesterday. I hear the girly went for a fancy sum.."

"Well! Speaking of Crow, I should probably get back t'him." And Harper starts to rise.

"Sit your arse down," Tobe mutters. "Aren't you curious?"

"About the inner-workings of your family? No." Harper doesn't sit down.

"Or your girl-thing. Anyway, sit down, I'm not ready to leave yet," Tobe says with a little wave of his hand.

"I don't need t'be here for you t'get drunk," Harper points out. "Nor do I care t'sit here while you rub the situation in m'face."

Tobias rolls his eyes. "Let's put it this way. You want anything to eat today? This is your chance. /Sit/ down."

Harper actually laughs. "Sit down or you'll send me t'bed without any supper? REALLY? That's what yer goin' with?"

The amused expression? Gone. Tobe sets down his drink, rises, and in a rather abrupt motion he reaches to snatch Harper by the front of the shirt and sling him onto his back across the table.

Ahhhh, /there's/ the rise. There it is. He had to sift through with patience and care, but he found it. Harper actually smirks the second before he is grabbed. He hits the table with quite a bit of force, but that doesn't stop him from aiming a very powerful kick to Tobe's face. Hares FTW!

Tobias gets enough to the side so the kick hits his shoulder mostly, nicking his jaw. The tabby growls, shoving down the hand that holds Harper's shirt, that hand rearranging itself to shove upward against Harper's neck. He shoves his weight down while the other hand goes to his belt - and then there's a curved blade in his grasp, tip to the buck's lower stomach. "... you're an idiot." His teeth are bared.

Harper's teeth grit. All at once he is breathing in angry little snarls. He's been angry this whole /time/, but. You know. "It was /worth/ it."

Tobias presses. His claws grip at the sides of Harper's neck, palm shoved flat against it tightly to cut off his air. The knife twists, pressing, the tip digging in a little under Harper's navel - won't take much to cut into him. "Worth /dying/?" he growls.

Harper's breath is cut off, so he can't answer. His eyes narrow in silent rage, though, and that should be answer enough.

Tobias is so close to just cutting him open. His teeth are bared, and the big cat is bristled up aggressively. "/Stupid/," he growls again, and moves the knife away, adjusting it in his hold. Harper's neck still gets that pressure - let him go without air for a little while. The hilt of the blade is brought around in a blow against the side of the hare's face.

See, /that/ stings. In the way that it kind of hurts a little bit. Or a lot. Harper feels something go loose in his mouth. Well hey, he didn't need that tooth. And oxygen? He can do without that, too! Except not. He grips at his throat, trying to pull Tobias' paw away.

Yeah, no. The hand stays. Tobe brings up the knife again, prepared for a repeat blow. "/Do/ as I /say/! Are you /going/ to?!"

Hey. Tobe. He can't answer. He is starting to make little choking sounds that are kind of interesting. Could those serve as his answer?

Well all it would require is a nod! Or headshake, if he wants to die. Tobe doesn't let up.

Well, he doesn't want to die, but he shakes his head.

The knife-hilt swings around to hit him again. "NOD!"

/Ah/. Harper's head rocks to the side. His nose, it has sprung a leak. But that's okay, Harper is hardly aware of it. He batters at the paws around his throat, the choked sounds he was making becoming more urgent, now. With all the strength he can muster, he jams his foot into Tobe's inner thigh.

Tobias jerks back away from the kick, and brings Harper with him. He pivots, and throws the buck to the ground. At least his neck is free now? The tabby still looks pissed. He aims a hard kick into Harper's ribs.

When he lands, Harper chokes out a gasping breath. His eyes are wide open and he grips at his throat, totally unprepared for the kick. It sinks into his ribs, dutifully cracking them. He immediately doubles up. Suffice to say he's not really fighting back at the mo'.

Tobias has just lost his freaking temper. He gives the buck another kick, and another, then grabs up one of the mugs and /hurls/ this at Harper's head.

Harper is going to be feeling this in the morning. All he can do is protect his head and groin, really, and that's all he tries to do. Fortunately the mug doesn't hit his head - it strikes the floor just /next/ to his head, and shatters.

Tobias grabs up another projectile. This one happens to be a chair. Tobe brings it up over his head, and then down.

This is not one that Tychon sees every day. He slips into the tavern in time to watch his older brother going an apeload of bananas crazy on someone. At first he is not noted, standing at the door with his brows furrowed before going to move cautiously towards Tobias. It's certain he's gone round the bend on this one. Without warning he aims to catch the older tom's arm in both hands, to stop him once the chair has been slammed downward. "Hey. Whatever point you're making, I think he gets it."

The chair kind of disintegrates when it hits Harper's back and shoulder and the floor. So now there's glass and broken chair all over the place. Meanwhile, Harper isn't... so... conscious anymore.

Tobias's instinctive reaction to the touch on his arm is to whip that limb out in a hard backhanding motion at Tychon's face.

Oh hey. Backhand to the face. Tychon doesn't have a fast enough reflex to dodge this sudden attack, so the knuckles connect with his muzzle and the feline goes stumbling backward from the impact. Wasn't there a table nearby? Yes there was. Before he catches himself, the redhead's back becomes familiar with this furniture. He braces his hand against it and grunts as his other comes up to touch to his mouth, eyes averted for a second. Off-balance.

Teeth bared, Tobias spats at Tychon - then stops. Oh, hi Tyke. The tabby's ears angle backward, tail bristled out and giving tense swishes. "... sorry," he mutters, and glances at Harper. The buck is passed out, he can just stay there for now. Tobe steps toward his brother, hand offered out to help him up.

The tom doesn't catch hold of the offered hand, instead pushing himself up from the table without help while he scowls at his brother. ".. we're /adopted/ you know. You have no excuse for insanity." Tyke smears blood off of his lower lip where it has blossomed forth like a crimson flower. It streaks across his palm now.

Tobias's muzzle twists a little, the tips of his canines visible. ".. he pissed me off." Clearly. The tabby shakes his head. His hand brushes Tychon's arm in a brief apology motion and then, taking a calming breath, he moves out of the room. It's just momentary - the tom comes back with a bucket of rainwater from a barrel outside. This is upturned over Harper.

Harper does not stir. He is now beaten /and/ wet. Thanks, Tobe baby.

Tobias gestures down at Harper. "Tyke.. meet Alec." He holds the bucket on one hand, looking kind of perplexed. The other hand comes up to rub the back of his neck. "That should've worked..."

"You beat him into unconsciousness." Tychon states, as the voice of reason. Who would think a teenager doing that? ".. of course it's not going to work." He licks at his lip before stepping in closer to Tobias to look over the battered hare. "Why don't you just kill him if he's so much trouble?"

Tobias grunts, and drops the bucket. Eh. His toe bumps against it, making it roll a little. "Crow likes him. And he's kind of.. entertaining." The cat shrugs, and steps forward, going to lift the unconscious, sodden buck into his arms. Harper's not exactly a wee thing, but the tabby manages. "Oh. And he was free."