"Oh, you are new!" he said. "It's been some time since we got many new faces. No, these rats are the bar waitstaff; they belong to themselves and work for Gil, the faun who runs the kitchen. Who I happen to live with, so I take all harm done to a rat personally. Because then I'd have a sobbing faun in my arms that night, not a happy one. Also, you're not allowed to use violence in here. You are not allowed to bring grudges from your world, and you are not allowed to have sex in public." Something about that young man's face tells Asar-Suti he might be one of the few people needing that rule spelling out for. "The first drink is on the house. After that, the bar will keep a tab for you, but you must pay it - currency from your world is fine. You can get a room here, food, almost everything, from the bar. You can duel outside by the lake side if you totally have to, but please, no scorch marks in the lawn. I am in charge of the garden; I hate having to get scorch marks out of the lawn."
The man gives Asar-Suti something of a perplexed look. Mainly because he's also mentally translating it into Borogravian, and that was a lot of information.
"I see. Thank you." he says after a moment. "I will not touch your... pets. I am sorry, I didn't know."
His stomach growls.
"There is food here? How can this be when there is none anywhere else?"
"This is not anywhere else," Asar-Suti explained, patiently. "It's the bar at the end of the universe, where all worlds come together. Where is your home?"
"Borogravia, on the Disc. Just through that door..." he points to the front door. "I was looking for someone in a deserted inn, and then this was here."
"We've got dozens of girls like that," Asar-Suti said. "Provided those 'five legs two' is a measurement and doesn't mean she has seven legs. Perhaps they're not all called Betty, but I don't normally go around asking strange girls their names. And your god is a disgrace, from what my Borogravian friend, whose name is not Betty, told me; almost makes me ashamed to be a god myself. I may have been cruel and unusual at times, admitted; but never plain dotty."
As far as Asar-Suti was concerned, her name really wasn't Betty - it was Shufti.
It is only this that stops the man from saying much more.
"I think you have been given a biased opinion." he says instead, before feeling around in his pockets and bringing out an iconograph of the Brave Women of Borogravia, just after the war had come to a ceasefire.
"This girl." he says, pointing to Shufti on the picture. "She is my wife, and I am very worried for the safety of her and my child. Borogravia is in a terrible state since the conversion."
There was something about this Asar-Suti didn't like; the situation felt strangely familiar.
Ah, yes, he himself fresh in the bar, come after Lochiel; and everybody trying to explain to him why that was wrong.
I'm not supposed to tell a blond fellow who looks as if he were what Gil calls a bloke, and who just tried to eat one of our waitrats - poor Trashka! - all that complicated stuff Meg told me, am I? he thought, groaning inwardly
( ... )
"Nuggan was a little strange, but we weren't starving." Johnny snaps. "And he had some pretty good ideas, rather than letting all the women run and speak free as if they owned the place. If enough believe, maybe he will come back. Betty is a Borogravian woman, and I doubt she won't miss her home and her culture, whatever you may think."
Bloke is an excellent description. The mun applauds accordingly.
Baaaaaaad move. The Ihlini used to be actually proud of their egalitarian outlook - women did the Seker's magic and work just as the men did.
Asar-Suti looked at the bloke condescendingly. "Letting your women do things - who do you think you are to decide such things? No wonder she left you and your miserable country and your disgraceful, stinking old god. You won't have the money to pay her tab, anyway; you look awfully scuffy."
He has a sword, and appears to be trying to decide if anyone will miss it if he eats it...
Reply
Reply
"It is your rat?" he asks, with a thick Borogravian accent.
Reply
"Oh, you are new!" he said. "It's been some time since we got many new faces. No, these rats are the bar waitstaff; they belong to themselves and work for Gil, the faun who runs the kitchen. Who I happen to live with, so I take all harm done to a rat personally. Because then I'd have a sobbing faun in my arms that night, not a happy one. Also, you're not allowed to use violence in here. You are not allowed to bring grudges from your world, and you are not allowed to have sex in public." Something about that young man's face tells Asar-Suti he might be one of the few people needing that rule spelling out for. "The first drink is on the house. After that, the bar will keep a tab for you, but you must pay it - currency from your world is fine. You can get a room here, food, almost everything, from the bar. You can duel outside by the lake side if you totally have to, but please, no scorch marks in the lawn. I am in charge of the garden; I hate having to get scorch marks out of the lawn."
Reply
"I see. Thank you." he says after a moment. "I will not touch your... pets. I am sorry, I didn't know."
His stomach growls.
"There is food here? How can this be when there is none anywhere else?"
Reply
Reply
"Borogravia, on the Disc. Just through that door..." he points to the front door. "I was looking for someone in a deserted inn, and then this was here."
Reply
Reply
"Please do not refer to my god in that matter, even if you do not agree with his work."
A head tilt. "Perhaps you may know who I am looking for then. A girl called Betty, about five legs two, with reddy-browny hair, yes?"
Reply
As far as Asar-Suti was concerned, her name really wasn't Betty - it was Shufti.
Reply
It is only this that stops the man from saying much more.
"I think you have been given a biased opinion." he says instead, before feeling around in his pockets and bringing out an iconograph of the Brave Women of Borogravia, just after the war had come to a ceasefire.
"This girl." he says, pointing to Shufti on the picture. "She is my wife, and I am very worried for the safety of her and my child. Borogravia is in a terrible state since the conversion."
Reply
"Oh, you have come to pay off her tab, have you?"
Reply
"So... so she is here?" he asks. "And no, I have come to take her home, and my child."
Reply
Ah, yes, he himself fresh in the bar, come after Lochiel; and everybody trying to explain to him why that was wrong.
I'm not supposed to tell a blond fellow who looks as if he were what Gil calls a bloke, and who just tried to eat one of our waitrats - poor Trashka! - all that complicated stuff Meg told me, am I? he thought, groaning inwardly ( ... )
Reply
Bloke is an excellent description. The mun applauds accordingly.
Reply
Asar-Suti looked at the bloke condescendingly. "Letting your women do things - who do you think you are to decide such things? No wonder she left you and your miserable country and your disgraceful, stinking old god. You won't have the money to pay her tab, anyway; you look awfully scuffy."
Reply
Leave a comment