Mather continued to watch Iarei and the guard with growing distrust. Iarei was doing a good job pretending to be harmless and largely innocent, and Mather knew from watching her earlier behavior that she was in the kind of situation that avoiding law enforcement would be her best option. For Mather ...

Mather caught the distasteful glance Erryl adopted at the talk of the beer, and he grinned. "Hey now, kid, don't go bad-mouthing the beer. It's fortifying." In reply to Erryl's questions, he shrugged. "In the Drunken Rat? Once or twice. Not as bad as it seems on the first go. You get used to it ...

I would have her there, in whatever capacity she's necessary. How could she be involved somehow?

((Sorry for how long this has taken me; I've been having some family issues.))

Mather smiled at the table server as she walked away, and then turned his smirk on Erryl. He couldn't help but quirk an eyebrow at the boy's look of disgust at Mather's mention of their breakfast drink, and he chuckled ...

I still want to continue -- real life got in the way for a while. Ought I to post with Lis? What should I have her do?

Mather nodded, kicking back his chair and pushing his battered hat a little farther up his brow. "Erryl," he repeated, trying the new name on his tongue. "Decent enough name. Y'already know mine, otherwise we could have a proper round of introductions. More important things to do anyway. Time for ...

Mather followed the skinny kid down the narrow, rickety stairs at the back of the establishment, wondering what sort of meal they could expect to be served here. The wanderer also wondered, idly, what he was expected to do if the kid got attacked -- though what anyone would want from that twig of a ...

((Terribly sorry for the delay!))

Mather watched Iarei dig the money out of her filthy clothes and toss it to her boy-thing with an expression of combined amusement and disdain. "You look like shit," she'd said, and Mather replied with a cheery, "Yeah, well, you ain't too pretty yourself, sunshine ...

Mather didn't say much that evening, not to Iarei or the skinny boy, but he stuck close to them and did his best to look intimidating. A long life on the streets and out-roads of the world had taught him that appearances go a long way towards making people believes what you want them to believe ...

Lopa can find Lis's hideout if you want. Lis won't be happy about it.

Of course her body was precious; she'd hired a bloody mercenary to make sure it came to no harm, hadn't she? In Mather's experience, it was only a very few people who weren't all right in the head who regarded their bodies as anything less than precious. No matter how humble or self-sacrificing you ...

So...is it my turn now?

Iarei. Nice, high-soundin' name for a woman what looked like a rat caught out in the rain...and pretty covered in blood, most of it crusted; not too much of it her own either, else she wouldn't be standing -- much less walking about and having enough presence of mind to hire a mercenary and talk ...

Mather could barely help a self-satisfied grin sliding into position on his face as the ragged woman made her decision. He tipped his ratty broad-brimmed hat to the other mercenary, who looked positively outraged, and then did as his new potential employer gestured and preceded her out of the alley ...

Mather glanced at the other mercenary woman as she spoke, looking her up and down. She had that classic I'm-a-pro-don't-cross-me stance, combined with I'm-so-good-that-if-you-don't-hire-me-you-must-be-stupid. It was not an attractive combination, and Mather could tell that the ragged woman with the ...