Red

Swiping a leftover potato from Rico's plate, Red gnaws it and considers their options, tracing circles on her knee to help her keep track.

They could go look for the wreck of this Paradise boat, which definitely didn't sound as though it should've sunk on its own. She could swim too - it'd been one of the few pleasures of childhood. And she could swim good. But they weren't here for that, they were here for the Fort. All this ogre business... Shalelu had been saying so since they'd ran into that giant turtle that all of that was no doubt tied up with the missing rangers. She'd rather not have to handle both ogres and missing rangers at the same time. But if that's where they were going...

"I think... we s-should go to the Fort. But i-if we are g-going to look for the boat... I can swim, so I will help... with that.." Though Red is barely tall enough to see over the rim of her mug, her voice catches in her throat, faint patches of colour rising to her cheeks as a chance turn of the head allows her to catch sight of Setsuna's antics over at the other end of the bar. What in hell-?

Somehow, she didn't think Setsuna was going to go to whatever meeting Rico had in mind for later. Or even back to the inn. Unable to quite hide the flash of rage that fleets across her face, Red chucks what's left the potato back onto the plate and nods at the others, anger honing her stutter into unusual coherence. "I think I will go back first. Tomorrow will be a long day. Good night."

Ignoring the sharpness of her tone and quite forgetting to mention Rico's meeting, Red downs the rest of her cider so fast that it spills down her chin and drips onto her collar. Recklessly tossing her dues to the bar on the table, she turns her back on the others and stalks out the tavern, relishing the bite of the cold air and rain outside as she slams open the door.

*****

GM post

As Red leaves, Yads toddles back with a brimming jug of cider, evidently pleased enough with your attention to have decided to serve you himself. Heaving the jug onto the counter next to Brin with a grunt, he proceeds to clear the dirty plates, giving an appreciative whistle at the sight of how clean Brin has picked the ribs.

"Say, if you lot are gonna go a-roaming, you might want to nip by missus Wenda's store on th'morrow. Rains came bloody early this year and it's a good five hour hike up to the Fort. Seven hours, if you've got me kinda legs. You don't wanna be caught without good preppin' - happens every year, someone gets delayed and stuck out there for the night. We've got all manner of wolves and beasties out there, not just bigfolk."

*****

Setsuna

"Why, do you have another story about that? Still, you're not wrong. There's more than one way to win a fight. And not all fights are on the battlefield, after all."

The barkeep brushes a stray strand of hair behind her scarf, still holding Setsuna's gaze with her own. As she speaks, her fingers drift up Setsuna's forearm with agonising lightness, following the path of her veins.

"I don't suppose... you're willing to hang around a while? It's damned busy here at the Bottom these days. But if you can wait, we could talk some more later, once I've helped Thany close up for the night?"