11-10-05

Characters involved: Darklett & Zoe_Lang.

Salamandastron: Recreation Room

"Neville, hey, could you fix me up some of that stuff I always get? On second thought..." Darklett rests his paw on his chin, then waves it. "Give me something darker, a darker ale, yeah..." The lieutenant settles on a stool, one of only two or so more left open on the bar in this spot just before peak time. The buck is dressed in full uniform, but his shirt is untucked and let loose to hang over the stool.

Zoe_Lang just so happens to be sitting on the barstool one over from the stool that Darklett finds himself in. The doe notices him and, tapping the buck next to her on the shoulder, she nods him up. With a blink, the private moves and Zoe scooches over one. At which point the private reseats himself in the empty spot. "Evenin', Dark."

Darklett takes his drink from the barhare with a nods of thanks, and takes his first sip, closing his eyes as he enjoys sweet, sweet relaxation... At the Colonel's voice, he flicks his eyes open and puts the mug down, swallowing quickly and saluting! But the quick swallowing was a little -too- quick, as the paw he salutes with drops down to his chest and clutches at it, the buck's eyes bulging as he hacks and coughs. Went down the wrong pipe, it would seem.

Zoe_Lang watches Darklett's unfortunate situation with wry amusement, doing nothing since nothing that she could do would help him. "Drink first, /then/ salute. I promise I won't throw ya in the cells." She grins, waiting for him to recover.

Darklett coughs a few more times, then sniffles some of the dribble that came out of his nose when he choked. Clearing his throat, he salutes properly, ears sorta bent over at the halfway point. "Ah-HRM! Hrm. Evening, Colonel!"

Zoe_Lang grins once more. "Evenin', Darklett... again." Heh. She chuckles, giving him a look over. "All righ', now?"

Darklett nods quickly. "Yeah, I'm fine now, heh." He straightens his ears back up, and grins. "You're doin' alright, too, I hope?"

Zoe_Lang inclines her head. "Indeed I am, lad, indeed I am." She picks up her mug and takes a sip, peering at him over the rim. "Been a pretty slow day, 'course, but those're nice every now 'n' again."

Darklett leans heavily into the bar, his entire upper arm resting along it while his lower is only hanging above it barely, ending in a paw gripping around the handle of his mug. "Yeah, slow days... I, uh... Actually decided to do something about all the slow days I've been having recently, you know."

Zoe_Lang's eyebrows go up slowly and she takes another drink before setting down her glass. She makes a 'go on' gesture, nodding. "Mm-hmm?"

Darklett nods. "Yeah, I took a trip up to Halyard." He sips his drink, then shakes his head. "Really, I was just tailing the badger, and that's where he headed, but I was there, right?"

Zoe_Lang's lips form a slightly disapproving line at mention of the badger-trailing, but she doesn't immediately jump into reprimanding mode. The gesture is made once more and she once more picks up her glass. Sip, sip. Do continue, Darklett. She's aaaaall ears.

Darklett cringes at the obvious disapproval, nodding as if he knew that was coming, but he continues on. "Well, as it turns out, I followed him all the way to the tavern. Er, Keita's tavern." He pauses, here, for a drink.

Zoe_Lang looks suddenly and considerably more concerned. Then again, he wouldn't exactly open a conversation about something bad having happened to Keita this way, so she's able to relax somewhat. "What was the bloody idiot doin' /there/?"

Darklett shrugs, drumming his paws on the bar, pursing his lips, and taking another drink again... After he gulps, he continues. "Ah, well, nothing to worry about. Havin' a nice little drink, a bit of a chat, you know."

Zoe_Lang looks surprised, but then she really doesn't. Resignation, really. "Why... am I not surprised." She sighs and even laughs a little, rubbing at the bridge of her nose. "A bit of a chat, ya say."

Darklett nods. "Yeah, just a kinda exchange of words, 'till the badger gets liquored up-- quite easily, I have to say-- and starts confessing to murder, and how he's gonna keep killin' and killin' for ever and ever, 'till he dies himself. And, you know, Keita gives him a little pat pat and consoling words... Tell you what, gives that badger better treatment than I've ever seen anybeast else at her tavern ever get..." He notices the colonel doesn't really seem bothered at all by this, and stops talking, grabbing for his mug.

If she doesn't seem shocked it's because of how very normal this is for Keita to do. Her eyes close and she keeps rubbing, rubbing, her nose twitching with at least some outward displeasure. "Darklett, what would ya have me do? Bring 'er in, throw her in a cell for consortin' - for harborin' a murderah?"

Darklett is looking mighty nervous, now. His paws even shake as he puts down the mug. "Erm... Actually, more than one, she says..." He just shuts up, looking away, sensing the impending talking-to he's about to receive. So, he goes for his drink once more.

Zoe_Lang's eyes snap open and she looks across at Darklett, her eyes /just/ narrowed. "What d'ya mean, more'n one?" She doesn't look exactly angry, just intent.

Darklett lowers his mug. "Well, before I left, she let me know of a marten she feeds and nourishes every so often who she says has a worse history than our badger friend Mordare. Name... Uh, Dosu."

Darklett is still shaking, for the record.

Perhaps it's all the shaking Darklett's doing, but a tremor runs up through Zoe's spine. "Mmf," she mutters, her ears twitching and then, well, drooping. Displeasure. "I know the marten..." She nods, "And aye, he's a friend o' hers." She knows this because he was unattended in the mountain when he told her so, but she'll leave that little fact out for now.

Darklett nods a few times, thumbing over the rim of his mug nervously. "Yeah, I saw him there. I figured the gigantic sword he carried with him woulda meant something, but... I never saw him hurt anybody myself." The lieutenant quickly shakes his head. "I just think it seems odd that we lose lives trying to get rid of those very beasts, and she's invitin' 'em right back in for a drink."

Zoe_Lang gives Darklett a weary look, then jerks her head towards him. "Stop twitchin', yer makin' me nervous." She glances around at the stools to their left and right and conveniently at this point, they're unoccupied. Then, with a sigh, "Keita's..." Silence. How to explain? "Well. She's... got a diff'rent way o' lookin' at things." Right. That helps. Exasperated, she pushes her drink away. "D'ya /want/ me t' put her in a cell? Some one-legged bar hare?" Not to mention her daughter. "What would we do then? Execute 'er? I don't know what t' say, Dark."

Darklett stops moving altogether, ears folding over a bit as he holds as still as possible, his bottom lip's inside being bitten softly as he waits for the Colonel to speak, the lieutenant slumping his shoulders from their tightened positions and nodding at her loss of words... Of course, he stops when she asks the questions, and... Well, Darklett doesn't have any answers of his own for those. So, he remains quiet for a while, then shakes his head. "No, I guess there'd be no point. Just frustratin'."

Zoe_Lang couldn't agree more, as evidenced by the frustrated swiping of fingers through headfur. "I can't change what she's like. She's always done everythin' the opposite o' what I wanted. I think she almost likes vermin - more'n she likes our kind, anyway. She's just..." Zoe shrugs, not finishing her sentence. "I don't know, Dark. Just stay away from 'er, if ya can. You're more'n likely t' get hurt if ya don't."

Darklett leans a little more heavily into the table... Now that he figures he's not gonna get reprimanded, he seems more casual than ever, sipping at his mug. "She's got to like the murderers more-- she gives 'em a place to stay, food, drink, even when she knows when they step outside that tavern, they're gonna be murderers again... I'll stay away from her, Colonel."

It's times like these that make Zoe such an easy target for alcoholism. XD She grabs the pushed away mug and downs the rest of it, then sets it back down and signals for another. "M'sorry, lad. Wish things were different."

Darklett's eyes simply follow the bottom of the mug... down, up... still up... and down again. Huh. "Yeah, I do too, Colonel." He sips, a little more soberly, at his own drink, not quite wanting to get smashed tonight. "Can't believe he's not dead yet. Makes you wonder how many holes you can put in a beast before..."

Aaaand... he's just reminded her of her disapproval. Once her drink arrives but before she downs it: "I want you t' stay away from that badgah, Darklett, unless you want t' send out a patrol 'n' take care o' him the right way."

Darklett nods in agreement with Zoe-- he's not even acting ashamed, or disappointed with himself, or anything. "If you'd allow it, I'd like to take a patrol out to take care of the badger like it should've been done back at Halyard..." He pauses here, as if contemplating something, then continues. "In my defense, the last skirmish we had was by accident; I was just out running, and he was out of sight. Blindsided me."

Darklett grabs his mug, and gulps the rest of it down. Liquid courage.

Liquid courage is good; Zoe follows suit and downs her own. "You've got m'permission, lieutenant. And that's fine... but you know s'well as anyone that I don't approve o' folks playin' hero."

"Yes, Colonel." Darklett tries not to smile, but his lip does curl up a little at the side. "I promise, no more heroics. Just want to get the job done, Colonel." Immediately, Darklett goes to thinking... Who's he gonna bring with him?

Zoe_Lang peers at Darklett and his little smirk. Then, she pushes her mug to the far edge of the counter and signals another refill. "That's all well 'n' fine. Just don't go gettin' yerself killed. Can't have us down a lieutenant, y'know?" Zoe nods to Neville when he comes with her next drink; he gives her a knowing grin, and she merely rolls her eyes. 'Yeah, yeah', in other words.

Darklett grins. "With all due respect, Colonel..." He shifts in his chair, confidently. "If I can almost take the badger out myself one on one, I don't think we'll have trouble if we're an entire patrol against him."

Zoe_Lang rolls her eyes and then lifts her drink. This time only half goes down the hatch, and she sets it back down. Ahhhhh, good stuff. "Just be careful, yeah?" She smirks at him, then swishes the liquid around in her mug for a few seconds. "I ought t' stop this 'n' go... sleep, or somethin'."

Darklett nods. "Will do, Colonel." He watches the drink, and the chugging thereof, with a grin. He's... quite excited. His own patrol. Yeah! "Just as long as you don't stay up too late worryin'."

Zoe_Lang stands and while standing downs the other half of her drink. The mug is set down with a clunk and she takes a slightly unsteady step backwards. Ahem. One reason she shouldn't drink - she's a light weight. Ha. "I won't." She turns and makes for the door, waving a paw over her shoulder. "'Night, Dark."

Almost forgetting himself, he stands out of his stool, raising a paw to his brow in a sharp salute. "Colonel." He watches her stumble all the way out of the rec room, grinning widely as his face can stretch now that the Colonel's facing away. "Good night." Wow. -This- is what he joined up for...