((Self modded Loch's three friends just for this intro, Sharky said it was cool. They're Sho's toys after that ))

Lochlan finished his drink quickly. He drank when someone said something he disagreed with, in order to dodge responsibility for telling them they were morons, and today he was drinking with three morons; Ludovico, Clay and Gideon.

These morons were Lochlan's palace staff friends, which is not to say he had friends outside of the palace staff. Ludo had just bought another round, out of fake generosity. In truth the high ranking guard just wanted to flaunt his superior pay grade to the others, though Lochlan didn't have the heart to tell him that he earned a great deal more.

"You drink too much, that's your problem!" Clay said, jabbing an accusatory finger.
"How can you guzzle this Anaxi piss anyhow? I tell you, the beer from Hesse..."

"The beer of Hesse, I confess, it is the best!" chimed in Gideon.

"Shut the clock up Gideon!" yelled Ludo, who worked on adjusting his sash, the item of his guard uniform he kept on even when off duty, to make sure everyone knew he was a guard.

I hate you, I hate you all.

"Yes, well," Loch responded to Clay, "I'll buy my own drinks, so you don't have to worry about keeping up."

Clay shook his head.
"I didn't become palace interior decorator by settling for inferior drinks. You're lucky, you just cruised into your position on the merit of your surname. You don't know how good you've got it. You should travel, it might broaden your horizons."

"You should listen to him," Ludovico said, "I mean, take me for example. My parents are printmakers, and I went from zero all the way up to where I am now, buying you lads round after round. Self made man, I am."

Lochlan rubbed his temples, feeling like an invisible sea in the tavern was gradually rising to drown him.

"Yes, you've both worked very hard to get where you are," Lochlan conceded. Why won't they shut up?

"Hey guys, did you see the waitress? Talk about statuesque! Shame she's made outta clay, stead o' marble, know what ah mean?"

Barmaid. She's the barmaid.

Gideon jabbed Clay and winked, proud of somehow linking the woman's figure to his name. "What a rack!"

"Shut the clock up Gideon," Clay yelled.

"Really? You can look at them like that? You got a taste for the cheap meat Gid?" said Ludo.

"No!" Gideon protested loudly.

Lochlan pushed his left palm into his eye, and curled his long fingers into his receding hairline. He looked like he had a headache, but that wasn't right. The ache was happening all around him. With his other arm he hailed the barmaid, desperate for a drowning.

Fion really wasn't in the mood to keep working but she was stuck at the tiger until closing. She was staying sane by ignoring everyone past the point of bringing them their drinks.



Barmaid. She was the barmaid. And damn right she was statuesque, who cared what the material was?



Fion grumbled to herself, drowning the rest of the conversation out.



Fion saw a hand raise itself and decided she was going to have to go over there. She wasn't going to look at them though, possibly at a point beyond their left ears but nothing else.

"What can I serve you gentlemen this evening?" Fion asked, hoping they weren't in the mood for playing silly buggers. "We have some lovely wines from Hesse, just arrived."

Loch spoke up before Gideon had a chance to say or sing something clocking stupid.

"I'd like a Gioran please. A double Gioran."

One thing humans were good for was mixing a strong drink, even a substantially "rack" ladened one such as this should be able to handle that. He felt almost enraged by her, as if she represented particularly well everything he despised about their race, but for the moment could find no rationale for the feeling, and so squashed it under forced politeness.

"Thank you."

Clay could say what he liked. He wasn't getting that weak Hessean wine.

Fion nodded, not bothering to look at the man. He sounded vaguely familiar, though not entirely so. She wasn't sure she'd ever met a man who sounded quite so bitterly resigned when thanking her.

"Of course Sir, would you gentlemen like something to drink as well?" She did a quick run past each of their faces, not feeling like putting up with any of their crap like she had with Birch tonight.

Gideon sucked on his teeth and looked contemplatively at Fions chest, then her face. Leaning back on the chair, he grinned.

"Yeeaahh get me a whiskey too." His voice yawed across the table, and around the room. A few patrons gave him disapproving frowns. Ludo nodded and pulled out some coins.

"Right, me too. And whatever the other gents are having, I'll pay." He gave the others around the table a self absorbed grin, waggling his eyebrows. Clay rolled his eyes and winked at Fion.

"I shall have a glass of the Hessean wine. Unlike these fellows, I am a traveled man and I understand the finesse in fine foreign wines." He reached over and nudged Loch in the ribs, lowering his voice.

"You really want to take a look at that Loch, I could see a romp in the loft being on the cards if I have my way. She reminds me of this well rounded girl I had a fling with in Hox."

Fion took the coins, again making a pretense of looking at them politely when she was actually looking past them all. The wine lover sounded like a complete pratt.

"Of course, gentlemen, I'll be back with your drinks in a moment." Fion said subserviently, looking forward to the point in the evening where they'd go away.



He may have been speaking more softly but Fion still heard him. It might of been the whiskey she'd drunk earlier with Birch, but it made her very, very angry. She turned away towards the bar before her face had time to go completely red. How dare he! She wasn't about to fall into bed with a bastard like that! She could do so much better even if she was on the pull. She was spitting in his wine, may Alioe damn him, and may his children grow to hate him!

Loch's wrist twisted so the fingers now covered his other eye too, and he leaned his head tilt to the side in a visible show of embarrasment. Why was he friends with Gideon again?



Oh fuck you Ludo, you'll pay, but I'll pay when you remind me how much drink you bought me. And it's not like you don't get it back every godsdamn time we play cards.



You pretentious prick.

Lochlan had once as an experiment emptied a bottle of Hessean and filled it with an Anaxi wine, then replaced the stopper before a dinner party. Clay didn't notice at all, and spent the entire evening singing its praises. Again, Loch kept this nugget to himself, just one conceit to hold over the man as firm evidence that everyone he knew was in fact actually a horrendous barnacle on his life.

Loch recoiled slightly at the jab, wanting nothing to do with him, with any of them. The other patrons looked at Loch and didn't pick him out as any less of a slime than the others, and ironically he was the only one to notice their disapproving glares. He had long ago given up looking apologetic, and instead fell into a familiar ashamed dejection, which only Clay noticed, and even then interpreted it as a symptom of alcoholism.



"I don't want to know!" Loch yelled, far too loud. A couple of tables nearby fell silent, but the ambient volume soon restored after some audible tuts. Loch felt incredibly nervous, and continued, to cover up his irrational outburst.
"I don't want to hear another word about your tail in Hox. Didn't you do anything else when you were away?"

All three men looked at him with stunned shock. Loch was not the outburst type. Gideon scoffed and looked around.

"Clocking hell Loch, keep it down you prat!" He waved at the other patrons and made motions indicating Lochlan was possibly drunk.



Clay sniffed, slightly put out. He leaned back in his chair and crossed his legs.

"Of course I did. Whilst I was in Mugroba I went to this fantastic night ceremony in Thul Ka. It had a lot of singing, dancing and spice. And these women dancing with nothing but a few thin strips of fabric." He rolled his eyes and flapped his hand.

"It was just gorgeous." Ludo chuckled and adjusted his sash.

"I've paid for a dance by those girlies before. One used to work in that red lantern place in the dives. Cost a lot of money, probably more than any of you lads earn in a week, but it was worth it." Looking at Fion again, he sneered winsomly.

"If I paid you enough, I bet you'd dance for me."

Fion walked over with their drinks, planning how she would murder them if she could. She'd heard the tail end of an outburst as she'd finished pouring the whiskey and wondered if it was time to cut them off.



Fion put their drinks down trying to avoid looking at them at all and then stopped. A smile, of sorts, made its way onto her face. She leant over closer to Ludo.

"You could pay me all the money in the world and it would get you exactly what you have right now. Squat and a glass of whiskey." Fion winked. "Have a lovely evening."

Then she stood up again and walked right back to the bar, grimacing and sticking her tongue out. Letches, disgusting, cretinous letches.

"Oh I'm embarrasing you am I?" Loch hissed.

You utter shit! I cannot believe how blind you are to your own putresence. I'm suprised you haven't gotten us thrown out yet.



Here we go.

Lochlan's lips became thin and pressed, and he pushed out a very long slow breath through his nose while Clay bragged on.



Loch gasped.

What a thing to say! I'm never coming back here again. How could I bear it? Why does Ludo always do this? And why do I always put up with it? Why do I waste my time with these idiots? Why don't I just tell them all where they can stick it, once and for all? That's it. This is the final straw. I'm going to end this.

Lochlan opened his mouth to say something, then planted his face in his palm again.

Ugh.



His hand slid down his face in a jarked motion, covering his mouth and exposing his wild open eyes. He knew that sass.

It couldn't be! Not her! Not here! Not a chance, not to him, not again. It would be too cruel!

He gawped after her, studying for any telltale signs of confirmation. From behind he couldn't be certain, it had been so long. Perhaps all human girls were like that? Bold, vulgar. But the way she carried herself...

Lochlan reigned in his hyperbolic thoughts.
You're just cracking up. Take a drink, play it cool. You're going to get thrown out. It probably isn't her, why would she be in Vienda?
She's going to ruin me all over again! I have to get out of here. No, it looks bad enough as it is. Just relax, relax...

Lochlan threw back the whisky and jabbed Ludo.

"You'll get us chucked out, human or no. They serve good whisky here, don't get us barred."

The three men cracked into loud hur hur hur's, Gideons voice booming over all. They watched her leave, or more exactly, they watched her rump leave, elbowing each other with leering grins and waggling eyebrows.



"Hate to see her go, but love to watch her leave eh Loch?" Gideon almost yelled with a guffaw. Clay sipped his wine with what looked like a thinly concealed shudder of disgust. Putting the glass down, he shook his head.

"You should see the behinds of those Hesse woman, some of them really have something you can grab hold of. When I was there, I'd gone there from Bastian, you know how it is. Well, when I was there, one lovely girl was just teasing me all evening. Galdori she was, but by Alioe, she was a naughty thing!" He giggled and put a hand on his chest, legs crossed.



Ludo laughed and reached down to jingle his coin purse.

"Loch, don't worry my good boy'o. If the owner wants to take the side of a mere waitress, I'll just give him something a little prettier. And easier to spend." Taking his whiskey, he laughed again, like even the mere suggestion that he would get them kicked out was a lovely joke.

Fion had no reason yet to go anywhere near them again but she had just remembered about Birch's case. He was still blotto but he wasn't blotto in the bar anymore. She walked calmly over to his old table, facing but not looking at the quartet of rowdy galdori, and casually peeked under the table. She made an expression of surprise, pulled the case out and shook her head. She sighed loudly, pretending she hadn't known it was there all along. She took it back behind the bar and put it underneath, pulling out some paper to write a note for it. Birch was going to see it returned, just not before she'd gone through it first.

Lochlan shook himself from his trance, realising he could cover for his terror with fake lecherous fascination. It was just as well - he'd gone from feeling like an ant under a magnifying glass to chilled and pale. It would be difficult to conceal his discomfort.

But he couldn't bring himself to agree with Gideon, even if it did make for good cover.
"Shut the clock up Gideon!"



So it seemed the status quo had been restored. Loch occasionally peeked over to the barmaid each time a moment presented itself in which he was not under scrutiny, which was frequently, owing to the self absorbed nature of his companions, but it did not help at all his growing dread. There was no doubt in his mind anymore - it was Fion, the ghost of a past life come to haunt him anew.



Loch nodded weakly to Ludovico, suddenly tired by all the internalised tension and rage, too tired to argue.
He glanced at her again. He prayed she wouldn't notice him, hoping maybe he could go to the bathroom while Ludo got in another round so they could leave sooner, without Lochlan seeming yet more suspicious. His stomach felt like it was doing flips. His brows knitted together as he felt himself hoping desperately for the closure he wasn't allowed to have.

Fion watched the hours slowly bleed away. She watched the other patrons pay their tabs and leave. She watched the plant on the sill grow.

She did not watch the four galdori men leave. This was because they hadn't yet. Three of them were still exchanging stories of sexual conquests while the fourth curled in on himself like a snail, disappearing into his shell. He didn't do anything to calm them down though, so her sympathy was limited.

She started doing all the usual things you did in a bar when you wanted people to leave. She cleared the ash trays, upended the stools onto the bar top so Clean Ed could sweep more easily in the morning. She didn't count the till because she was waiting for the final cabal of idiots to leave. Eventually she couldn't take it anymore. She walked over to them again, making sure to remember to use small words.

"Gentlemen, last call was over an hour ago. The bar is closed, it's time for you to leave." She said firmly, glancing at all of them and thinking she'd never seen a sorrier sight in her life.

The snaily one looked like someone she'd seen before. He was probably going to be too embarassed to come back after this.

Time dripped by, and Lochlan came to the horrible dawning realisation that they were staying here until chucking out time. He tried to get drunk, but Ludovico's generosity began to dry up, and Loch was used to putting away shots much quicker than this. Clay made sure to point out Loch's eagerness to drown, and Gideon would occasionally break into song.

Fion (he was certain now) had grown into a strong, tired looking woman. He'd managed to avoid any more close calls with her by taking frequent bathroom trips, but now she was coming over, likely to get rid of them finally - it was long past last call, and the place was entirely ready for lockup, apart from their table. He saw her approach, and felt suddenly terrified he'd be recognised.




Acting fast, he feigned the onset of an attack of vomiting, and he rose quickly, forcing his chair to tumble over. He made for the door, going from seated to outside in a matter of seconds. He didn't look back, didn't check to see the reactions of his friends or wait for them to emerge, he stalked off homeward at as fast a walk as he could muster.

Fion wished she'd been surprised when the snaily man had run out the door. Perhaps he'd thought he owed her money when the truth was she'd been overcharging them in case they'd made a mess. She'd made a great deal in tips that night, so the tithe she'd taken from them in case of property damage was going to an orphanage or the local church. She didn't like to think of it as robbing, more as insurance.

She ignored his friends and their distasteful conversation as they left. She felt dirty somehow, a feeling she did not appreciate in the least. The snaily one had at least seemed unhappy with his friends. He'd kept his eyes down the entire time and stayed withdrawn. She wondered why she was thinking of him and not his more repugnant fellows.

She felt better once she was outside, in fresh air again, walking towards where her ride home would be waiting. Her heels made a satisfying clack upon the ground and when she looked down she remembered that the cobbles in the Stacks were made of different material, something darker perhaps. She looked up at the night sky and decided it was much the same. Cloudless tonight, starry. Fion didn't usually miss her old home, not since she'd become attached to the new one. Maybe losing her house was making her nostalgic.

She thought about Lochlan, and how bright his eyes had been, for the first time in a while. The strange galdor's eyes had been that same shade, though so much sadder.

She stopped in her tracks, heart now beating like a drum inside her chest. Just like it had when she'd realised that Stu had cared for her so differently than she'd cared for him. They were almost gold, striking. She liked striking eyes.

"Oh my gods." She whispered to herself, knees feeling weak. "Lochi."

She stood there for a long time, unable to move.