Two and a Half Women

[Kellyn]

Alaïs visibly relaxed, her quick, shallow breathing slowly returning to normal. She looked at Breda's offered hand for a moment as if unsure what she was supposed to do, but then accepted the older woman's help to stand. She let go quickly and righted her upturned chair, muttering an apology as she did so.
The situation had worked out so much better than she could ever have hoped and as she thought about it she was filled with sudden confidence and happiness. She brushed her hair back behind her ear with hands which had now stopped shaking and took her seat once more.
"Um.. Could I have the chicken, please? And, um," she paused and looked at the other women in turn, making herself meet their eyes and hold their gaze, "thank you for being so nice to me."
It sounded childish the moment it had left her mouth, but she smiled at them and hoped they wouldn't notice.

[Breda Dreaughan]

Breda eased herself back to her chair. Her back was aching more than usual, perhaps due to the previous start. She met Alaïs’ gaze, and smiled and nodded in response. She felt a little overwhelmed herself. There was no reason why she wouldn’t have been nice to the girl, but she was surprised of how much she actually cared. As much as Breda disliked the idea of the little crossbred parasite growing inside her, it appeared that it was turning her into a slightly more maternal person.

“I’d like the chicken as well, please,” she said, turning her attention back to Aura. She wondered briefly if this kind of incident was something the barmaids had to handle on regular basis, or was the woman just as confused as she was. Then again, this was Marn. Supposedly everything was possible.

She leaned back in her chair and sighed. It had been a long and strenuous day, and so far the night hadn’t appeared to be any more relaxing. She was really, really looking forward to a warm meal and a moment of peace.

[Aura Thesin]

Aura quickly jotted down the orders of the two ladies, smiling and letting them know she would be back as soon as the chicken was ready. She turned and gracefully slipped out of the room, pulling the door closed behind her.

She moved easily through the quickly filling tavern, placing her order with the chef. He nodded distractedly as she left, adding her order to his mental list. Aura left the kitchen and moved about the tavern floor. She took a few orders, cleaned a few tables, and greeted regular patrons.

Aura was mildly distracted, thinking about the two guests in the private room. Specifically, she was thinking of the young one with the use of magic. Aura had seen minimal use of magic while she had been here, but she knew enough to know it's use wasn't normally tolerated within Marn's city walls.

She thought about how her own seeming immunity to magic might affect the girl's use of power. After long minutes of thought while working through the tavern floor, she resolved to visit the two when her shift was over, which was soon.

Aura waved to one of the girls who would work the evening shift as she came in through the door, then was called to the kitchen to pick up the chicken dinners for the guests in the private room. She slipped into the kitchen, carefully loading a tray with the two dinners and refills of the ladies' drinks, and, using two hands, made her way back to the private room.

[Kellyn]

Alaïs watched the older woman leave and felt a little of her newfound confidence ebb away. She was alone with the other woman now, and no matter how nice she had been up to this point Alaïs had always been taught to be cautious... But then, she had always been taught that magic was bad - a belief she was almost certain was wrong.

She smoothed out her dress and tucked a stray hair behind her ear, searching all the while for something to say.

"I.. I don't think you told me your name," she said eventually.

She folded her arms on the table and rested her head on top of them. No longer afraid to look at the other woman, she examined her at leisure. Now that the more obviously beautiful woman had gone, Alaïs realised just how pretty the dwarf was - though in a different, more understated way. She had an interesting, worldly face that inspired trust. Alaïs smiled at her.

[Breda Dreaughan]

Breda shared the feeling of slight awkwardness and the need for something to say. She generally wasn't good with casual social encounters. Regardless, she tried to look as nonthreatening and friendly as possible, for the sake of the other one.

"My name is Breda," she said, smiling, when the girl finally broke the silence. "I'm the smith's apprentice."

At that point it would have, of course, been polite to return the question, but something was bothering Breda. She was worried that earlier, in her clumsy attempts to calm down the frightened girl, she might have been too reassuring.

"You know," she said hesitantly, "what we said earlier about people being tolerant about small displays of magic, you can't always count on it. There are all kinds of people around. Instinctive spell casting, or whatever it was you did, it might get you in trouble. I don't mean to scare you, but I don't want you to think you don't need to be careful."

There. She breathed a little easier. If the girl did get herself in trouble, at least Breda wouldn't have to blame herself.

"Now then, what is your name? If you don't mind telling me."

[Kellyn]

Alaïs listened in silence, her smile slipping but not quite fading.

"I know I need to be careful," she said, "and I know I'm naive, but I'm not stupid. After everything I've been through, I'm not about to start flaunting my powers around. It would be nice if I could find a way of controlling them properly, though. That's why I came to Marn, after all."

She looked shyly down at her lap, thinking she had probably said too much.

"Breda is a lovely name," she said, quickly changing the subject. "Mine's Alaïs."

[Breda Dreaughan]

"Alaïs? Alaïs." Breda repeated the name a couple of times, to make sure she got it right.

"I didn't mean to imply you were stupid," she said then, folding her arms on the table. "I just wanted to make sure I didn't give you the wrong impression. As for learning magic, I'm afraid there is little I can tell you. I'm a dwarf, so it's really not an issue for me."

She thought for a moment. "It is possible, I believe, to obtain a license to use magic from the government, but I hear that's extremely difficult. Also, the few official battlemages I've ever seen have all seemed to be a bit wrong in the head. I really don't think that's the direction you want to take." She shook her head to enforce her point. "I suppose your best bet would be to find an underground mage who would be willing to guide you. That, I'm afraid, won't be easy either. Practicing mage who risks a discovery is pretty much a doomed mage."

Breda leaned back in her chair and folder her arms on the bulk of her stomach, in an attempt to muffle the embarrassing noises it was starting to make. She glanced briefly towards the door. The barmaid hadn't been gone for long, but it didn't hurt to be hopeful, did it?

[Aura Thesin]

Aura paused outside the door to the private dining room, then turned and pushed it open with her back. She came into the room, smiling at the two women, placing a dinner in front of each. She checked their glasses, then turned back towards the door.

Then she hesitated. She hated that she didn't have many friends, and that the last few times she'd gotten close to people, they'd either died in some very weird ways, or simply vanished one day. She turned back to the two women, and still smiling, began to speak.

"I ..." she paused, swallowing to clear her suddenly dry throat, then began again. "I was hoping I could join you two for dinner." She paused again, gauging their reaction, then continued on in a rush. "My replacement is here, and I only work the day shift, and am off just before the dinner rush. It would be nice to eat with some company that isn't busy cooking the food, if you know what I mean."

She smiled self-deprecatingly, waiting for their response.

[Kellyn]

"Alaïs, that's right," nodded the redhead, smiling warmly.

"No, I don't think I want to be a battlemage either," she said, shaking her head. She had heard many stories about deranged battlemages, and she wanted no part of that.

"I think you're probably right, an underground mage would be my best bet. I know it will be difficult, but there has to be someone somewhere that will help me, right?" she said with a hopeful look at the dwarf.

At that moment Aura returned with the food, the smell of it making Alaïs' mouth water. Her last proper meal seemed a lifetime away. She thanked the waitress and picked up her fork, eager to tuck in, but before she could the woman spoke again.

"Oh! I'd love you to!" she exclaimed, smiling happily. Not only did she seem to be getting on with the dwarf woman, but Aura seemed to like her too! She had never had company like this before, and she felt she rather liked it. Best not get too ahead of herself though. She glanced at the woman opposite her; "If it's alright with Breda," she added.

[Breda Dreaughan]

Breda, a habitual binge-eater, tuck in as soon as the plate landed on the table. Consequently, when her opinion was requested, at first all she could was to nod and gesture invitingly with her fork.

"Absolutely," she finally managed. "The more the merrier." Generally in Breda's opinion, more people meant fewer awkward pauses, but this time she was actually starting to relax in the company of the other women.

Having given her consent, Breda focused on the chicken again. It was indeed delicious, and Breda, who had survived most of her life on things others had thrown away, could never get enough of proper, cooked food. She glanced up occasionally, in an attempt to not appear too impolite.

[Aura Thesin]

Aura smiled brightly, turning back to the door and slipping from the private dining room. Marie was standing just outside, and she took Aura's elbow gently, not guiding the younger woman, but simply following alongside as they wove through the beginnings of the crowd in the common room to the kitchen.

Just inside the kitchen door, out of the way should any of the other waitresses enter, Marie turned Aura to face her. "Who is in the private room, Aura?"

Aura gave Marie a worried look. "Just a couple of women who had fallen asleep on the chairs. I took them in there to be out of the crowd. One of them is pregnant. I ... Did I do something wrong, Marie?"

Marie smiled gently. "Nay, lass. Dun worry 'bout Cook. He prefers that people pay for tha privilege of using tha private room, but it sits empty most nights, often as not. I'll keep him quiet 'bout it."

Aura smiled gratefully, discussing whether they needed more help for the evening. Marie shook her head and dismissed Aura, sending her to grab the steaming plate of chicken and vegetables Cook had already set aside for the young waitress.

Aura took the plate and utensils, added a glass of watered wine to her free hand, and turned to the door leading out. Marie frowned and gave her a questioning look, but Aura simply tipped her glass and continued out the door. She was back in the private room in short order, settling into her chair and smiling at the two women.

"How is the meal?" she asked, before digging into her own.

[Kellyn]

Alaïs looked up with a smile as Aura sat to the table, grateful that the silence had been broken. She hadn't minded not talking whilst she was eating, but the longer the silence stretched the harder it became for her to think of a way to strike up conversation once more.

"Oh, it's lovely," she replied, hurriedly swallowing her mouthful. "Except this," she added with a grimace, pointing her fork at a green mass on her plate, "I've never seen this before but it tastes like... boot polish."

[Breda Dreaughan]

Breda had almost finished her meal by the time Aura got back, and nodded enthusiastically to support Alaïs' initial praise. When the girl then mentioned something about the taste of boot polish, she blinked and looked at her plate, with an expression of mild confusion on her face. She certainly didn't remember a taste of boot polish, but then again she only had a vague memory of something greenish on her plate.

Sheesh, one of these days I should probably start paying attention to what I eat.

[Aura Thesin]

Aura giggled, nearly choking on the first bite of her meal. She finished chewing, cleared her throat, and pointed to her own plate, absent of the offending item.

"I don't like them either. They're beans from the garden out back, and Cook steams them until they're practically melted together." She giggled again. It was nice to have people to talk to that were closer to her own age.

Aura cast a glance over at the pregnant dwarf, giving her a smile. Well, at least one of them was closer to her own age. There was a comfortable silence for a few minutes as Aura ate, the other two basking in the afterglow of a good, warm meal. After several bites, Aura leaned back and paused, taking a small sip of the watered wine she'd brought in with her.

Smiling over at Alaïs, Aura said, "So where are you from? You don't seem to be from around here, judging by your reaction ..." she paused, then smiled sheepishly at bringing up a potential sore spot so early in polite conversation. "... earlier?" Aura finished the sentence lamely.

[Breda Dreaughan]

Satisfied and full, Breda leaned back in her chair, absent-mindedly stroking her belly. Childhood survived on garbage had left her with not only an endless appetite, but also something of a chronic indigestion, and the gobbled supper seemed to be practicing shadowboxing somewhere behind the womb. She shifted awkwardly to find a more comfortable position.

Drowsily, Breda listened to the other two chatting away. No, obviously Alaïs hadn't been around for long, as she shyly admitted. She didn't seem to be too keen on discussing what had brought her to the city, but that was a small wonder. Marn attracted all kinds of misfits, almost as much as it bred them.

Breda's eyes shifted to the barmaid. She seemed relatively content and at ease, but cynical as she was, Breda generally assumed that all people had to have some skeletons in their closets. The only question was the size of the said skeletons. Then again, with the dwarf's own background, the skeletons had to be pretty damn big for her to mind.

Alaïs seemed to be falling asleep in her chair. Breda could only hope that the innkeeper had a soft enough heart to give her a place for the night.