[Featured characters: Borus, Emily, Mel, Percival, Rody] Budehuc Castle: Tavern This little adjunct is one of the busiest places in the manor. The long, thin room is filled with tables lined up end to end, stretching from full from one side to the other. Red carpets line the floors where furniture does not, and more than a half dozen small, curtained windows and small, hung lights provide ample lighting for the room. The bar itself spans nearly half the room, snug against the wall, with a kitchen tucked neatly in the back. A stage takes up the full back of the room, decked with dark salmon and rose-colored curtains. ===== Warm evening breezes filter in through the open windows of the tavern, bringing with them magenta shadows of the setting sun. It has been another day here at Budehuc castle, a day filled with hustle for some, bustle for others, and relaxation for a select few. In the tavern the crowd is gathering, while the proprietor of the establishment smiles at the number of customers, and in turn, her rising profits. Back in the far corner of the room, seated at a rustic wooded table with two chairs is Borus. In front of him is a bottle that looks too ornate to be something the tavern would serve. It is a fine wine, a rich cabernet, from his private collection, and for a fee, Anne has provided him a glass and quiet place to enjoy it. Quiet? Well, not anymore. Mel storms into the tavern, arguing with Branky about the decorations of the Budehuc Castle Hall - the decorations, of course, that she was partially in charge of. Of course, she imediately charges for the only table that has a single occupant at its table - Borus's table. "Why! Hello there!" Mel introduces herself. "You're one of the Zexen knights, aren't you! My name is Mel! Pleased to meet you!" Quiet is something Percival has missed over the last few weeks. He enters the tavern from the manor, running a hand through damp hair and glancing at the occupants with a hint of resignation in his expression. There are shadows under his eyes and his posture isn't quite as upright as it might usually be; a long green coat and white trousers have replaced his armor. The man wants to relax, and he's going to find some way to do it if it kills him. His last mission didn't go quite as well as it could have, so a crowded, noisy tavern will be fine company, as long as he can find a drink. He catches sight of Borus, and begins to make his way over to the table. (I'm thirsty...) But that's to be expected after a full day of training, of course. Rody really needs to check with Estella to see if he's doing his current exercise correctly: he spent most of the afternoon buried up to his nose in the sand and yet, somehow, doesn't feel any more skilled with Earth Magic... "I wonder what kind of drinks they sell here, anyway," he wonders aloud, stepping inside. Then he notices the group quickly gathering around one of the tables in the corner and decides to head over as well: obviously something's happening, and maybe somebody will clue him in on where to obtain a menu? Emily has been sitting at a stool at the bar the whole time, very much well on her way into having another headache the next day, but as a bunch of people move to one table, she takes her drink and walks over, only slightly unsteadily, to join them. "Hey, Mel...!" Borus tries to slink under the table as the insane girl and her....err....extra personality approach. Rumors about this one have been all over the castle, and he was hoping to have the pleasure of never actually meeting her. Just as he's about to find some colorful words to throw in her face, he sees his salvation from this horrible situation--Percival. Giving the girl a tiny, forced, smile that is almost hurting his face, he calls to his friend, in the hopes the other knight will hurry, "Come join me for a drink." Mel takes the empty chair at the table and sits herself down. "Oh, Sir Percival will join us as well?" she asks, smiling widely. Mel's face is glowing now as she glances at Percival. "Thank you, Sir Borus!" she gushes in appreciation. There is a cough from her right side. "Oh, yes," Mel says, her voice now growing a little flat. "Meet Branky." Branky nods, and his face grows into a wide grin. "Hello, mister Borus. Don't mind Mel's gawking. She's trying to..." The girl quickly cuts the wolf off. "... So, how are you doing?" she asks, speaking loudly enough to ensure that she's heard (and probably be half the bar, as well). Ah, it looks as if Borus has attracted some interesting company. Percival's lips quirk into a smile despite his mood as he reaches for an empty chair to pull up to the table, and he drops into it rather ungracefully. He hasn't been back more than a few hours, so he's hardly in the mood to put on a show, even for a pretty girl. He nods to Borus and raises an eyebrow at Mel. "Evening - Mel, is it?" He offers his hand, and a curious glance at the puppet. He's heard of this one, but hadn't expected to meet her - certainly not in the tavern. "Pleasure to meet you." Forgive him if he lacks his usual charm - he's dead tired. "Hey, you're the guy from the stables!" Rody proclaims, pointing at Borus. "Have you run into Lady Chris since then? I still need to return... uh, hello." Belatedly realizing he hasn't really introduced himself to anyone else in the room, he waves to them -- wasn't the girl in that play he saw a while back? And the guy in the armor -- is that Sir Leo? "Hi everyone. I'm Rody, Miss Estella's apprentice. And you?" he pivots to face the redhead approaching the table, eager to learn more about everyone in the tavern. Emily drinks more of the wonderful ale here, her eyes bright and shining from the three prior mugs she'd had. "Oh, I'm Emily! I think we've actually met, but we didn't talk much. Isn't Estella that really loose woman?" Ever the diplomat... After motioning for Anne to bring him another glass, Borus looks again at the girl and her little friend. "What is it that you want?" He glares at the puppet suspiciously, as its eyes are seeming to follow him ways he doesn't like. After the glass is delivered, he pours a measure of the rich red wine into it and passes it towards Percival, while silently cursing the rude interruption of his enjoyment of the drink. As he swirls the vintage in his own glass, the others in the room catch his attention, first Rody and then Emily. To the former he doesn't bother an answer, since the question was never finished, and the latter's remark yields a snicker... Mel smiles widely at everyone. "Oh, is that wine? Yes, it is!" She nods sagely. "I know about wine. Caesar wouldn't let me have any when it was last brought up in a conversation with Sasarai." As usual, she happens to forget the bishop's title when addressing him. "Yes, my name is Mel. And this is Branky! Wave for them, Branky!" Branky rolls his eyes, and he lifts his paw in a sarcastic wave. "HELLO!" he growls in a rather aggravated voice. "My name is BRANKY and I act like Mel's slave because I do everything she tells me to do!" The wolf mimes a spitting motion (one will notice that no saliva actually comes out of his mouth) and grumbles. "Like a slave... phht..." Mel frowns. "Oh Branky, stop it. Just because there's not enough female attention for you, you happen to get all grumpy and nasty. Don't be jealous now." She then turns back to Borus and Percival (and Rody) and gives them her most disarming smile. "So, how is everyone? Are you all ready for the ballroom dance that's coming up?" Goddess above, there's a /dance/? Percival takes the offered glass of wine gratefully, examining the girl with mild interest, then passing a curious glance over the others. It's a regular crowd today, isn't it - and at the worst possible time. He manages to muster up another smile, which widens as he takes a sip. Nice. Better than water, certainly. "You have business with Lady Chris?" he asks Rody, turning a bit in his seat. He isn't sure he should answer Mel... he'd hate to admit ignorance about an event like that. And he doesn't want to end up with a date for it, either. Yet. "Well, I want to go to the dance, but Mister Ace told me I should try to find a partner..." Something Rody /still/ doesn't really understand. But if it's preferable to take somebody... "Say, one of you guys wouldn't be interested in going with me, would you?" (Never hurts to ask...) And to the knight, he says, cheerfully, "Oh, yes, I have something of hers she left behind... um, Sir... Roland?" Hopefully he got that little stab in the dark right, otherwise, this could get awkward. Emily blinks. "There's a dance or something? I hadn't really heard about it. Oh, oh, I'll go with you." Even if he is a weakling, it saves her the trouble of actually finding somebody, doesn't it? "I don't really want to think too hard about it..." And she sips her drink. Borus gives an immature and resentful glare at the boy who has used the most sacred of names in his presence. He takes a sip of his wine, enjoying the heavy flavor. The girl and the puppet are still keeping him unnerved. He isn't sure how to respond to her prying questions, especially in front of Percival. Embarrassment comes with a high price around friends, because they never let you live it down! With a grin he looks at the strange mage-boy and Emily...they will be such an unusual couple, but all the more entertaining for onlookers! Mel notices a severe lack of casual conversation at the table, and takes it upon herself to fill in the uncomfortable silence. "Oh, congratulations for finding a date so quickly, Rody," she says sincerely. "Hmm. If Emily hadn't offered, I would have introduced you to my friend Alanis. She's looking for a partner as well." She glances up first at Borus, and then at Percival. "Say, would either of you care to meet her? I'm sure she'd be delighted if you would take time to talk with her about the Ballroom dance!" "Percival," he replies to the young mage, taking another sip. This is a first. No one has ever confused him with Roland before. If the boy is worried, he doesn't have to be - in truth, it's rather amusing. "If you need to return something, I'm sure Borus or I would be happy to take care of it for you." Well, he's making assumptions there, but surely Borus would rather play messanger than let Chris be bothered, hm? He turns his gaze to Mel again, a touch wary, and shakes his head. "I'm sure she's a lovely girl, but I cannot make any promises. Duty, you realize." It makes a nice excuse, anyway. "Ah, the Swordsman of Gale." Well, that was an embarressing mistake. But Rody just blushes pink for a moment before picking up again. "Well, Miss Emily, I'll be happy to go with you to the dance!" Digging through his robes a minute, he temporizes, "Here..." before produces a small, unopened basket. Holding it out, he says, "Miss Chris left this behind when I ran into her at the stables, and I've been meaning to give it back to her... would you see that she gets it back?" Emily says "Well, that's done, then!" She tugs a chair over to the table, sitting down next to Mel. "Alanis is a little young for them, isn't she? I mean, I thought she was going with that little kid with the bad hair? Nashville or something like that?" All too willing to remove himself from this precarious situation, and of course to talk to Chris, Borus all but runs towards the boy and the basket. He is so anxious to leave (and perhaps to see Chris about this dance before _someone else_ gets to her) he leaves his wine on the table. Taking the delivery, he heads to the door, and gives a nod to Percival as if to say "good luck." Mel witneses the exchange between Rody and Borus and only watches as he leaves the table in a little bit of a jiffy. She cries after him, "Well, Borus, it was nice meeting you! I hope we get to meet...." Mel trails off and then reassembles herself in front of the table. "Well... I don't know if Alanis is going with... Nash. She didn't tell me the last time I saw her." Mel shrugs. "Well, Mister Percival? Do you have a date yet?" Branky snickers. "After all, Mel's still looking..." he manages to squeeze out before Mel puts a hand around his snout. "Ah..." Percival watches Borus hurry off with just a hint of panic, quickly covered with another smile to Mel. It wouldn't do to be rude, but his dear friend is going to have something to answer for later. At least he left the wine. "I haven't looked into it much, really. We knights have our duty - I may not have leave on the night of this dance." It could be true, and if he's lucky, a short talk with Chris will make it so. He doesn't quite fancy being tied down by people he doesn't even know - and such a young thing, at that. A little too young for him. What? Yes, of course Percival has morals. "Oh... Sir Percival, are all knights usually leave some token behind when they leave?" Rody points to the bottle of wine. "Because it appears Sir Borus left his drink behind..." Emily stretches, taking another sip of her drink and eavesdropping on the conversation a bit. Though she does speak up. "Oh, I'm sure that Chris will let you off to escort Mel. She seems nice enough to do that!" Mel's mouth drops. "Escort? Date? Uhh!" Her eyes widen and her face turns slowly red. "I wasn't... asking him for a date or anything!" She lets out a nervois breath and her glance goes from Percival to Rody to Emily. "Percival... he's busy as he said. Of course! And definitely, he's..." Branky completes Mel's sentence for her. "You're too OLD!" he roars, grinning and letting out a hollar, seeming to enjoy himself for the first time during this conversation. "Come on, Mel. Have a glass of wine at this revelation." Percival can't hold back a chuckle at that. He raises his glass to Branky - and Mel too - and takes another sip. The bottle he moves to his corner of the table. Borus probably wouldn't appreciate donating it to this group, and they're a bit too young anyway, in his book. "He's right, I'm afraid. I'm over the hill." Well, he's assuming the puppet is a 'he.' He's not really interested in finding out, to tell the truth. It's odd enough as it is. "However... I'm sure I can spare the time for one dance." Yes, she is a little young... but every girl needs a dance. Even girls with strange puppets. Branky is more amusing than the rest of them together, so far. "Isn't that what a dance is for, so everyone can have a good time with everyone else?" Confused blink, then Rody turns to Emily. "Speaking of which, I guess we'd better start thinking about what to wear and such... You wouldn't happen to know anyone we could see about that...?" This would be Rody's first time attending a dance, after all, so if he's going to do this, he might as well do it properly. (Hmm... wonder if Miss Estella has any advice...) Emily says "Oh, I don't know, let's go talk to... Ah... That one woman about it!" It's not at all clear who she means, but that might be the point, as Emily stands and leads Rody off... Mel blushes quickly. "One dance?" Her mouth drops. She didn't think he would say anything, and now this! She manages to hide her astonishment and the utter flattery behind her very happy facade. Calm. Calm. "Mel's speechless with excitement and giddyness," Branky says, filling in the momentary pause in silence. Mel says, "No! That's not it!" she replies, but her ears are probably as red as her mouth is. "Well, good luck, Rody and Emily!" she says to them as cover. "I can't wait to see you two... uhh, well, thanks, Mister Percival... and I hope you can forgive Branky, I didn't think he'd call you old..." She stands up and bows. After a moment, Mel whispers, "Branky, say you're sorry." Branky whispers back. "Why should I say you're sorry? I got you a dance with Percival! Every girl in the castle's going after him and now you..." "Hush, Branky, I don't have time for that right now," Mel whispers back, her face still averted to the ground. "We have to show our appreciation..." Branky lets out the apology in a reluctant sigh. "I'm sorry for calling you old, Percival." Now Percival is hard-pressed to keep himself from laughing. It shouldn't be this funny, but... they're just so /strange/. One doesn't come across gems like this very often. It will be worth a dance just to see more of their antics... and it's always his pleasure to make a girl happy. "Not a problem..." He raises his glass to her again with a faint smile, and sits back, propping his feet on the chair Borus had occupied earlier. "I'll see you at the dance."