Gelidus had been enjoying a nice quiet drink in the peaceful corner of the Paper Tiger. The sound of pleasently soft music and light chatter had been filling his ears as he had his nose buried in one of his favourite books. The smell of tobacco in the air had been soothing him whilst lost in the world of reading. Things had been nice. Jolly nice, in fact.

And then, those blasted youngsters had started babbling on about some moony circus coming into town.
Circus?! He had said. Circus indeed! Bah! Back in the old days youngsters were into studying and reading, not watching some hooligans fling blades at each other for entertainment. Why those animals they used were probably infested with all kinds of nasty illnesses and parasites, those blades were probably rusty and diseased, and the young performers themselves were probably filthy, diseased little luggers. Nothing better to do with their time other than to prance around in a circle laughing and yelling. The cheek!
Gelidus sighed.

"Those poor, misguided youths.."
Shaking his head, he resumed his casual scanning of the book set on the table in front of him.

The ice in his drink chinked, and occasionally a page of his book rustled. Otherwise, he made no further sound.

I do hope I can join in the fun


Una ushered herself inside the bar shaking off the outside air with a graceful shrug of her shoulders. She paused a delicate heel mid-step, her head turned to survey the room, where should she sit? Wine red hair set in tight curls grazed her pale shoulders. Una raised an eyebrow at the cabinet of drinks and then her almond shaped eyes rested on the figure by the bar, maybe she didn’t have to buy this drink after all. She made a bee line towards the bar gliding and slaloming through the floor fraught with coffee tables.

Una came to a halt at the stool next to the man, in one swift and elegant movement she was seated, bringing with her a breath of the sweet perfume she happened to be wearing. She slowly turned her head to face the figure she had seen. It was a man seemingly engrossed with his book. She let out a weary sigh, hoping to catch the eye of the man. She predicted it to be a game of waiting and moved her arm to a more comfortable position on the sleek bar.

Fion watched the strange man nurse his drink and grumble at the younger patrons of the bar. There was something off about him, something about his field that made her nervous. She wasn't sure what it was.

When a woman sat down at the bar next to him, eyeing him with interest, Fion decided that she'd best ask if she wanted a drink. She was nervous about tonight, she didn't really want to be working.

"Excuse me, Ma'am." Fion said, ducking her head as she always did at work, so as not to anger the traditionalists. "Would you like anything to drink?"

Out of the corner of her eye Una noticed the shy woman edge towards her.


Una smirked to herself and flicked a stray stand out of her eye, she turned and leaned toward the barmaid. Slowly blinking her almond shaped eyes allowing herself to come almost eye to eye with the woman. Noses almost touching. It was almost in slow motion.

In a whisper she said “I think I’ll take a Balshem’s Chrove” She smiled showing her perfect teeth. “Might I compliment you on your beautiful eyes?” she added. Una gave the woman a sly wink and turned back to her prey. Breaking the spell.

Sic had sensed the arrival of another long before the girl sat down, and had already finished assessing her field by the time she had ordered her drink. The results showed that she was not a threat, and that she was currently in a rather neutral mood.
An old habit of Sics' was his unconcious assessment of all surrounding fields, and doing so had saved his life on a number of occassions aswell as adding to his reputation as an exceptional caster.

Sic reached for his glass, and stopped half way through the motion of picking it up.
Empty. Bugger.


"Make that two, if you would be so kind." He said with a smile, eyes quickly glancing over the two girls before returning back to his book.
He could feel the galdor-girls eyes boring into him, as if expecting something.
Blasted youth these days, can't even leave an old man to drink in peace.

"It appears we have a similar taste in beverages, young 'un." He said in a pre-occupied tone, flipping a page and smoothening the crinkles of the old paper.
"What brings you to a place like this?" He added, not particularly caring about the answer, but enjoying making idle chatter none-the-less.

Fion held her breath and made sure she looked just a little scared. As soon as the woman leant back, she turned to get her drink, rolling her eyes and looking up at the ceiling.

"Why me?" She mouthed, imagining a stormy sky full of gods to mock her.

She prepared the two Balshrems, leaning down for a moment to look at a piece of board marked "Passes". She used a piece of chalk to make a tally next to her name. She was beating Archie and Ed by a significant margin but that was only because she showed cleavage at work.

She placed the drinks in front of their respective owners.

"Will that be all tonight?" She asked, eyes angled slightly down.

Una flicked her eyes toward the woman and gave a small smile and replied “Well for now, I think that’ll be a yes.”
She let the woman go, it wouldn’t get her anywhere and she hadn’t riled the old man next to her with the comment.


Una mentally shuddered at being called “Young ‘un”. What right did he have, she was just as good as he was. Brushing these thoughts aside, she cocked her head to the side and said breathily “Well a woman like me can’t help being attaracted to the finer things in life and theres nothing like a beverage to refresh the taste-buds don’t you agree?”

At this final note Una tossed her hair to the side and fold one leg over the other, showing some more flesh. All her attention focused on the man.

Sic took the glass with a grunt, and noticed that, along with the last drink, the woman had forgotten ice. Not that he blamed her, ice in this particular drink was rather rare. But he liked ice. And any young whippersnappers who had a problem with that could answer to a good few rasps with a cane! Or.. a staff, in his case. Bah!

Adding a few choice curses to his mental grumbling, Sic quickly whispered a few certain special words, that would quickly satisfy his desire for ice in his drink.
Some may have called it a pointless spell, but was it really so? If it brought great joy to the caster, could it truly be called "useless"?
Taking a sip out of his now semi-frozen drink, Sic finally gave in and bookmarked his current page. He turned his attention to the girl, deliberately ignoring the exposed flesh and instead matching her stare with his own aged, icy gaze.

Time for some fun.

"My my, aren't you a charming one? And here I was thinking my age was catching up with me, guess I still have my own share of charm eh?" He said with a mocking wink.
"You don't strike me as the type to go for the oldies, lass. Is that really the way you swing?" Sic laughed the typical cackling laugh people had come to expect from an elderly man, and reached again for his drink. Taking a swig, he looked the girl up and down, eagerly awaiting the results of his rude remarks.

Una hadn’t stopped watching the man from the moment the respective drink was laid down before him. She gazed as he took on the challenge of the lack of ice, and smiled to herself as he cooled the drink down. Such a frivolity, but everyone has their vices. Una continued with her stare, after all she had nothing better to do.


Una laughed a loud shrill “Ha” and then started to correct the fool. “ Like all men, who are all so full of themselves, you have assumed that I was interested in you and I am most certainly not. I would rather wrap my arms round a furry prune than you.”

Una giggled at her own joke. She wouldn’t let the creep get away scot free, but after that pointless display of magic she should really keep a close eye on her teasing...

“I do hope you understand, after all there’s nothing like a giggle over a few drinks, is there?”

She rested a hand on his leg and whispered in his ear “It may not be the way I swing, but do you always aim for the most youthful in the room?”

Sic grinned, he loved the type who fought back. The pathetic beings who just cried or ran from his remarks tired him, this was a nice breath of fresh air.
"Harsh words indeed! Didn't your parents teach you to respect your elders?" He said with a chuckle. It was clear the two of them were exchanging healthily challenging remarks, nothing of a hostile nature.

"Nay, lass. I'm afraid I am past my time for such joys in life. I just knew from the start that you were bound to be an interesting one!" Sic patted her hand with a genuine grin, satisfied that this girl might actually be worth his time. She knew how to fight, mentally at least. That fact alone pleased Sic greatly.
"I don't know how much things have changed over the years, but I'm fairly sure there are these things called names still flying around eh? What do I call you, lass?"