06-11-05

Characters involved: Vansinnig & Keita.

Halyard Tavern: Main Room

Vansinnig throws open the doors to the tavern and clumps in, red eyes flicking this way and that, looking over the captives. "C'n I find a drink in 'ere 'r wot?"

Captive or no captive, Keita's still a barkeep, and so, at Vansinnig's call she pops up from her stool behind the counter and grins - yes, grins. "What c'n I getcha, good sah?" The rope 'round her neck doesn't seem to phase her. After all, it's better than being chained.

Vansinnig lets his eyes fall on the hare and smiles...disturbingly. "Keepin' up business even affer a buncha vermin took over, eh?" He sits at the bar, licking his lips. "Give me somethin' strong, hare."

Keita offers a slightly rueful grin at this, and a shrug. "Well, wouldn't so much call it business when no one's payin', but ya do what ya gotta do, eh' ole stripey?" She then drops down into a crouch and sorts through her bottles, and when she pops up, a glass is filled and slid across the counter top to the disturbed badger. Musn't get too close, Keita dear.

Vansinnig catches the glass without looking at it, scowling. "Call me stripedog once more an' I'll cut yer tongue out." His favorite threat. Taking a long draft, he sighs and licks his lips. "Ahhhh, wot's this called, eh? Tastes fine." He takes another swig.

"Ah, certainly, fine sah. Won't be callin' ya - well, I won't be callin' ya what I was callin' ya, again." She 'hehs' lightly, and gives an absent-minded tug at the rope 'round her neck before responding. Her tavern-keeper grin creeps back onto her face. "Well, now, I can't be tellin' ya that, now can I? 'Tis my secret brew. Not a soul but m'self knows just what it is."

Vansinnig chuckles harshly, eyeing the rope. "Betch'ya'd like ta get ourra that rope, eh? Ta be free?" He sips at the drink again. "Tried 'scapin' yet?"

Keita self-consciously stops tugging at the rope, and settles down mood-wise. With a small shrug and after a glance around the room at the other captives and the guards, she returns a steady eye to Van. "Escape t' what? The village is taken."

Vansinnig grunts before giving out a blunt barking laugh. "Ta the mountain, prob'ly. They like 'ares there. 'mass a great retaliation force or somethin'." He shrugs, the chains making a small noise. "I dunno. Jus' somethin' ta get th' action goin'."

Keita's lips curve up in a smirk. "Aww, is the poor, badgery type bored with nothin' t' kill?" She shrugs her shoulders, and the smirk dies a bit. "Well, sorry, I can't help ya there. Though I'm sure you'll be seein' a fair few hares 'round here before too long." She glances to his drink. "Care fer a refill?"

Vansinnig stares at the hare's audacity, before chuckling low. "Yer a brash one, aint'cha?" He hands the empty glass to the tender. "And yeah, I -am- getting bored." He looks at the other captives. "Wonder wot Daclon has in mind fer all ye miserable whelps? Personally, I hate slavery. Might as well jus' kill ya and be done with it." He glares at the hare. "Wot do you think?"

Keita takes the empty glass, refills it, and then slides it back over to him. "Personally," she gives a mildly bothered tug at the rope, "I'd rathah go on livin' and servin' you fine folks." Another tug. "But that's not really my call t' make at this point, is it? Seems its rathah yer call - Daclon's, anyway." Finally she gives up on the rope, and just looks across at Van, with a slightly arched eyebrow. "Besides, if'n ya killed me, who'd serve the drinks?"

Vansinnig laughs. "Exactly. MMm, but 'at's good." He licks his teeth again. "Ya got family 'ere?"

Keita takes a look around the tavern for any potential family, and whether she sees any or not, she's not saying so. "None that I know of, anyway. Most of my family lives furthah upshore. Couple of 'em in the mountain, a'course, but that's t' be expected with a mountain full o' hares." She glances to his glass, registering the compliment, "Finest brew on the western shores, I'll have ya know. If'n ya manage to survive this little takeovah o' yers, yer welcome t' come back 'n' visits. The door's always open, 'cept when it's not." Grin.

Vansinnig swills the liquid. "Even if'n I'm th' enemy, eh? Yer quite the business woman." Gulp. "I'm sure ya have friend's 'ere. 'ren't ye worried?"

"If ya've got the propah coinage, ya could be a tree 'n' I'd still invite ya in." The doe leans forward against the bar, and actually, she does consider his question rather closely. In the end, though, she merely shrugs. "M'friend, d'ya know how many times this little village has been ransacked, taken ovah, and jus' generally squashed by creatures such as yerself? Sure, aye, 'm worried, but it comes with the territory. I'm just bidin' my time 'til the rebuildin' starts."

Vansinnig lifts a brow. "No, I've no idea how many times this li'l place's been taken over." Taking another gulp, the badger wipes his mouth with the back of his paw. "Yer th' patient type, eh? I ain't. There ain't no satisfaction in 'at." He chuckles cruelly. "But I know when ta shut up and bide my time, even if I 'ate it."

Keita grins, actually rather liking this gruffly disturbed badger fellow. "Aye, the bidin' I'm good at. I nevah quite learned how t' shut up, though. Don't know if ya noticed 'r not." Heh.

"I 'ave. Yer a right chatterbox." He grins a bit. "But I don't mind. I'd rather be talked at than talk to, ya know? I'm a beast a action. Not one ta talk a lot an' be all fancy." Sip. "Ya from 'round 'ere?"

Keita nods, and her ears dip, too. "Oh, aye. Actually, I'm the ownah of this fine establishment." She gestures around the somewhat worse-for-wear tavern - a horde of vermin and a bunch of captives living in it for several days'll do that - and grins. "My rooms're right above us. 'Tis somethin' of an adjustment sleepin' in the tavern itself, though." She hmms, and quirks a brow. "Where d'you hail from?"

Vansinnig sips at the drink, scratching at his chin with the free arm. "I'm from th' East...very east." He smirks. "Not too much goin' on over there nowadays. Got bored one day and left. Ya know how it is." He grunts a bit. "Or don't you?"

Keita chuckles. "Oh, aye, I know how it is." She grabs a washcloth and goes about wiping down the counter while she talks. "I left home pretty early, m'self. I like m' family 'n' all that, but sometimes it's just time t' get goin' 'n' go."

Vansinnig snorts. "My parents were intoler'ble. My dad was self-righteous, my mom went along with everything he said. I got out while I still could." He drains the alcohol. It's loosening his tongue. "Made my life as a mercenary. Always enjoyed red."

Keita holds out her paw for the empty glass, and hms thoughtfully. "I'm guessin' they weren't the mercenary type, yer folks?"

Vansinnig scowls a bit. "No, they weren't. More like th' longsword swingin' morons before them." He grunts as he hands her the glass. "When I found out I 'ad some sorta disease that didn't let my wounds heal as quick, I completely ignored close range combat." He raps his claws against the bar, head in free paw, elbow on table. "But I 'ate archery. So..." The red badger shrugs, making the chains clink.

"So..." Blinkity. "What exactly /do/ ya do, if'n ya can't fight close range 'n' ya hate archery?" The doe's /trying/ to think of what's left, as well as trying not to grin at the loose-tongued badger. She passes a refilled glass back to him.

Vansinnig fingers the chain links, then flicks the end off and wraps it around the glass. Before it can slack, he yanks the chain and brings the now half-empty but still fine glass to his other paw. He takes a sip. "I'll give ya a guess."

Her eyebrows go up slightly, and she gives a soft, "... Ah." Hehe. "Sure those come in handy inna bar fight."

Vansinnig chuckles, his lip curling a bit in pride. "Ya better believe it." He paws a stitched up cut on his cheek. "But when I does get a cut, I've gotta get it treated." The many scars on his body show many treatments.

Keita hmms, and leans forward to study the cut with a sort of academic interest. "What happens if ya don't get 'em treated, then?"

"I bleed until me body finally heals itself." He takes another sips, his motor functions obviously becoming more unstable. "But I alw'ys do. 're ya a fighter?"

Keita snorts, but cheerfully. "If I was, d'ya imagine I'd be tied t' this 'ere rope?" She grins, and shakes her head. "I c'n hold m' own a'right, but I nevah went in fer fightin', much. Don't see the reason in it. 'Tis more profitable t' knock folks out with the drink than with m'fist."

Vansinnig stares at her, then down at the liquid. Then back up. "I really hope 'at ain't what'ch yer doin' 'ere, missy."

Another snort. "Oh, aye, I'm startin' with you, 'n' then I'll move ont' the half-dozen /othah/ guards they've got posted in 'ere. 'Tis a genius o' a plan." She shakes her head, "Besides, yer not payin' - unless ya want to, o'course. What's profitable in that?"

Vansinnig snorts and laughs. "Guess yer right." He grins at her, though a bit oddly. "I like you and yer attitude. I think I'll try ta keep you alive." He pulls out a gold coin and places it on the table. "Yer amusin'."

Keita puts on her very best tavern-keeper grin, and plucks up the gold coin. "Why, thank ya. Just fer that, you'll have yer first drink free, aftah all this is ovah." She drops a wink, and into her pocket goes the coin.

Vansinnig nods a bit. "Too kind, I'm sure." He wrinkles his nose a bit. "I bet yer tavern weren't never so full b'fore."

Keita takes a look about, and gives a half-nod. "Aye, pretty much, save fer the nights they give the patrol 'ares leave. Then, it fills up righ' good. Ya nevah seen a bunch o' uniformed hares so drunk before, lemme tell ya."

Vansinnig hmms before clearing his throat. "I saw some beasts workin' over in the village earlier, under th' watch a vermin. D'ya know what's goin' on? I'd like ta know."

Keita, too, hmms, and looks towards the door, where the vermin stand guard. "I can't say I do. I've been a bit, ah, tied up, if'n you'll pardon the bad joke. What did it look like they were doin'?"

Vansinnig shrugs his shoulders. "I didn't give it much thought. Jus' a passin' glance." In other words, he has no idea. "How many times 'as this place been taken over?"

"I don't reckon I know the real numbah, but its happened every few seasons since this village came t' be. Don't know as ya noticed, but before ya came, 'twas both woodlandah 'n' vermin livin' t'gethah, here. The villagers 're a mix o' the formah conquerors 'n' a few that're actually native t' the village, but mostly folks storm in here t' ransack us, 'n' end up stayin' t' live. I'd like t' think its this'ere tavern that draws 'em in, though I've only been keepin' watch of it the last few seasons, 'ere."

Vansinnig licks his teeth. "'at's...interestin'," he murmurs. "Strange beasts ta live ere." He doesn't really care if he offends the hare or not.

Keita grins, and shrugs. "It has its appeal." She's not easily offended, and so he needn't worry. "Though, if I'm so strange fer wantin' t' live here, how strange does that make /you/ for takin' it ovah by choice?" She quirks a brow, cheerfully. His turn.

Vansinnig leans back a bit in the chair, smirking. "Ac'ually, I didn't join 'ntil after the invasion. Not my decision." He shows a fang in a lopsided grin. "So, ya ain't got nothin' on me."

... Hm. Well, darn. She taps a finger-tip on her chin thoughtfully, and eventually shrugs. "Yer right, I must just be nuts. 'Nother drink?"

Vansinnig shakes his head. "No, I 'ad 'nough. My head's beginnin' ta swim a bit." He blinks, clearing his vision. "Act'ally, I'm gonna go find a bed. Nice chattin' with ya."

Keita gives a content nod, and plucks up the empty glass, setting it in the sink. "It was, of course, lovely chattin' with you. An' hey, see if ya can't find out what's goin' in the village fer me, will ya? There's the drink in it fer ya, 'n' I might even be able t' rustle ya up some food if'n the information's good." She stands back from the counter, her paws dipping into her pocket as she awaits for him to head off for a bed.

Vansinnig nods. "Yeah, sure, sure. 'm curious myself. Might's well get some drink outta it." He heads off. "Night."