Help a Turtle Out

[ginsu_master]

"Right."

Leo is having a staring contest with the Front Door.

"Look, I need to get my brother Raph, in Tortall. So he can watch our other brother, Mikey, your Barman, give birth. ...I never said it made any sense."

Bowing at the waist, he asks, "Can you please help me?"

The door swings open...

Comments

[becareful_boyo]

"'Course you do," the barmaid murmurs back, smiling. "I've always said you were smarter than y'look, boy-o."

She does say that a lot, when it suits. It's just that she also accuses him of having a head full of empty space when it better serves her purpose.

"And I suppose I've a powerful love for you too," she sighs, making it sound like she's just announced she has to leave the comfort of their bed to use the necessary.

[becareful_boyo]

"Oh, much too late for that," Abigail sighs, barely holding in a laugh.

And then, because sometimes he blushes all over his head and looks downright adorable, thank you very much, she turns her head to raise her eyebrows at him.

Get it, Raph?

[becareful_boyo]

When it does, Abigail makes an undeniably satisfied sound.

Followed, predictably, by a warm, unrestrained laugh.

"Oh, I do. At that."

Love him.

She kisses the tip of his nose and his chin, before settling a firm one on his mouth.

[becareful_boyo]

A reputation for what, exactly?

Over the years, Abigail has kicked many men out of her tavern, and a few of those out of her bed.

For his efforts, Raph simply becomes the latest victim of her not-so-surprisingly strong legs.

[becareful_boyo]

The shriek she lets out is in no way ladylike and in all ways mad.

(Except not really.)

Abigail flounders for a moment, then digs her fingers into the bed clothes and starts clawing her way back to the center of the bed.

~thump~

It would have worked, too, if the sheet hadn't started to come loose and Abigail hadn't decided that meant she should simply... let go.

So, one barmaid and one Shang, tangled in cloth and each other, on the hard but clean floor.

[becareful_boyo]

That might be the elbow she digs into his ribs -- probably not on purpose -- as she readjusts herself atop him so she can look down and run her foot along his leg.

"Forever?" She plays at being horrified and pretends to try ripping the sheet. "Mithros."

Beat.

"Next time, assumin' there is one since we're stuck well and good, I won't make a fuss when you wear your weapons to bed." She grins. "But mayhap Thomas heard me yell."

Meanwhile...

[ginsu_master]

"Pardon me," someone in a long, dark robe asks a young man behind the inn bar. "I am searching for my brother. He is about so tall, bald, might be in tights." Thinking, Leo also offers, "His weapon of choice is a chair or a three prong dagger?"

Re: Meanwhile...

[agoodmusekickin]

The blonde man is busily wiping down the bartop after what appears to have been a successful lunchtime rush, and as such misses a great deal of the stranger's gestures.

Also the fact that the stranger appears to be Yamani, which explains his slight start when he does manage to look up.

A Yamani Islander? Here? Clearly looking for Raph? What has that man gotten himself into...

"Doesn't ring a bell, though I may have heard tale of such a man. Does he also have a name?"

[ginsu_master]

"Raph. Short for Raphael."

He tries to think other ways to describe Raph that don't involve violence, a preference for blondes, or alcohol. Because he doesn't think those would really stand out in place like this.

"Or 'hey you'."

"He has a, ah." He isn't sure what to call Abigail, actually. She is certainly more than just a girlfriend, but she isn't technically a wife. ...At least, he doesn't think so. Crap. What else doesn't he know about his own family?!

"I had been told that in case of a family emergency, I should try here and ask for Abigail."