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They left the lake and returned through the forest to the village, reaching the tavern just as the sun set completely. Rebka was standing in the doorway when they stepped onto the porch, and she smiled at them.
"Hi. What were you guys doing? Mike said something about Bernon practicing his magic."
Tanrial smiled and shrugged a shoulder, "Yeah, he was just practicing a couple little tricks. I'm sure he'll show you sometime."
"Really?" Rebka brightened.
"Yeah," Bernon said with a grin. "Maybe later though, I'm about as energetic as a wet rag right now. Is there any food leftover from the pillage over lunch?"
"Yup," Rebka replied as she let them in. "It's all ready for you, up at the counter."
"Really?" Rebka brightened.
"Yeah," Bernon said with a grin. "Maybe later though, I'm about as energetic as a wet rag right now. Is there any food leftover from the pillage over lunch?"
"Yup," Rebka replied as she let them in. "It's all ready for you, up at the counter."
"Thanks so much, Rebka." Tanrial smiled at the girl befoe heading up to the counter where, sure enough there were plates of food waiting for them.
The bartender waved when he saw them. "Evenin'. Any idea where that Rick fellow is? I made him a meal too."
"He's coming back later," Mike said as he started to eat. "Better put a cover on the plate for now."
"Allrighty."
Bernon snarfed his food in a matter of minutes and stood up with a groan. "I'm about to pass out. See you guys tomorrow, I'm going to sleep."
(I'm going to bed too, seeya later ^^)
"Alright, see you tomorrow." Tanrial smiled at Bernon as she watched him go before taking a couple bites of her meal before turning to Mike, "Mike? Can I ask you a question?"
(Seeya soon ^^)
Mike glanced up briefly, then went back to eating. "Yeah, what's up?"
"Back at Polla's, when you were defending Bernon and I, you called us your best friends. Was that true or were you just saying that?" She asked, taking another bite of her food.
He stopped and set down his fork, looking back at her seriously. "Tanrial, listen…." he sighed and tried again. "You guys are my only friends. You can probably guess that people…..don't get along with me easily. That's mostly my fault, I know." He fiddled with a splinter on the edge of the counter. "I wouldn't just say something like that and not mean it. Maybe I don't say it enough."
"Would you look at that, the big tough guy does have some more emotions," She smiled and nudged him a little, "Well, if you stick around then we can teach you how to make more friends so it's not just Bernon and I."
Mike gave a little snort. "Thanks. I apologize in advance if I'm a difficult student." He stood up and slid his plate back towards Rebka. "Guess I'll go make sure Bernon didn't fall asleep on the stairs or something. See you tomorrow."
"Yeah, see you tomorrow." After finishing her meal and saying goodnight to Rebka, Tanrial too headed up to bed.
Much later that night, the door of the tavern opened with a creak and two voices started up in the main room. It seemed Rick had finally come back. It was impossible to tell by his tone how his talk with Snatch had gone.
Deciding to see how Rick was, Tanrial quietly headed downstairs to find him. She hoped the talk with Snatch went well.
He looked tired, chatting quietly with the bartender as he ate his supper. When he heard Tanrial coming down the stairs he looked up and smiled. "Hey, I didn't expect to see you up. I hope I didn't wake you."
(brb, gotta have supper right quick)
(off to bed, seeya ^^)
Tanrial shook her head and smiled back, “No, you didn’t. I was still awake,” She walked over quietly, “You look tired, how’d the talk with Snatch go?” She asked, placing a hand in her pocket.
(Seeya ^^)
"Welp….I think she's still a bit skeptical of me, but she did agree to let me visit again, so all told it went well. She's a nice kid–once I explained I wasn't trying to bump her out of the spotlight, she warmed up quite a bit."
Tanrial chuckled a little, "Yeah, she is a nice girl. Little bit hard to deal with at times but…" She shrugged, "If you stick around with Fear you're gonna have to get used to the little ball of energy."
(sorry I'm late)
"I would love that," Rick said fondly. "I've been thinkin' about settling down for a while now….this seems like a nice place to live. Especially once we get rid of our unfriendly neighborhood villain."
“I’m sure they’d love to have you stay. Once Ryker’s gone then everything should settle back down for everyone here and this place will go back to being a calm village… hopefully we can get rid of Ryker.”
"Yeah," Rick said confidently. "I bet we can." He leaned back and set down his fork, yawning. "Well, thanks for checking up on me. Guess I'll try to get a little shut-eye before dawn."
“Probably a good idea. See you in the morning.” Tanrial have Rick one last some befor heading upstairs and back to bed.