A few minutes later, Coatleque rejoined Dheres at the Bobbing Cork. There was a measure of relief felt at finding him somewhat dazed and alone on the ground floor. After a brief exchange it was decided they would stay here for the night. So Coatleque stopped at reception to set things in order while Dheres made his way to the balcony on the second floor. Two rooms were requested and two keys handed over after the appropriate exchange of gil.
She then followed suit and made her way to the second floor. Her feet grew heavier with each step till she was only just plodding along near the top of the staircase. There was no denying she needed this rest as much as he did now. Thoughts of bed were pushed aside however at the sound of a familiar voice. "Sup, hot stuff. You lookin' for a seat? I got one riiiight here."
Coatleque found Dheres standing dumbfoundedly by a table across from a familiar woman. She stepped close to Dheres and slipped him his room key with a whisper of warning. "This one is trouble, be wary my lord." The two women exchanged glances briefly before familiarity set in.
"Crofte! I knew that sad puppy face was familiar!" The paladin's mouth twitched as she died a little more inside when her name was yelled across the room for all to hear. She kept her peace for the nonce, however, and Tash seemed to get the hint. "The fuck are you doin' here? Yeah, yeah, I know. Damn, upgraded to the younger model, huh?" She waved nonchalantly to Dheres who boldly took a seat adjacent to her. "Is this like your revenge boytoy fling? I mean, not bad!" With that she burst out laughing.
The paladin sighed heavily and slowly before taking her own seat adjacent to Dheres and across from Tash. Scanning the table she noticed quite a few shot glasses arranged in rows. Some empty, some waiting to be emptied. Her eyes half lidded, she glared at the mercenary. "No. To all your questions, Miss Holbrook. And where is your vulgar half?"
Tash smirked. "Huh? What, like my ass?"
"Yes, him. The large one."
Conversation quickly devolved from there to a series of posterior insults and conjecture of flotation devices. By the grace of the Twelve Coatleque was able to keep her voice from trembling in her disgust. "Mister Morn is not here then?" She tried vainly to change the subject matter at every turn. Eventually Tash slid each of them one of her shots.
"Here, you deserve this. You want one, Hair? Or you more a wine cooler kinda guy?" Dheres looked at her with his own form of annoyance before reaching out and sliding the offered glass to himself. All three then downed their respective shots. Tash slammed the glass back to the table. Coatleque gently set hers down. Poor Dheres tried to mimic them only to break down into a fit of coughing. "Whoo! Good shit, right?!" Tash exclaimed.
Coatleque sat quietly watching him and almost felt sorry for the boy while Tash just laughed. He did recover eventually but a strange calm seemed to overtake him. She leaned over the table slowly and turned back to Tash. "I am surprised to see you apart."
The mercenary just shrugged. "We gotta get some work. He's checkin' one lead, I'm on another. Your ex is a bitch, so we're poor as fuck."
Coatleque's head shook once and tilted. She remembered the last time she had seen both Tash and Vandol at Jameson's estate in Ul'dah. For delivering Roen they had received payment in gems and precious stones. "What did you do with your last payment?" She asked, now curious where it had all gone.
"Spent it. Duh."
"... on WHAT?!"
Tash gestured to herself as if the answer was clear. "Man, twink ain't cheap! I'ts a fuckin' investment!"
Coatleque found herself gripping the edges of the table on either side, her breath becoming slow and forced. Her voice slowed as she hissed, "You received easily what I make in two or three cycles... and you spent it already!?" Her lips began to curl but the anger slowly subsided as Tash explained where most of the coin had gone. When she finally let go of the table, a hand shot to her pocket to retrieve the parcel she received at Camp Tranquil. She slid it across to Tash. "Fine. Here, for the drinks."
Tash eagerly grabbed and unwrapped it with the expectation of a few gil at least, then made a face. "The fuck is this?" The smell of chocolate came over the table.
"I have no idea. Some sort of cake that a strange little herbalist gave me as we passed through the Shroud."
The package was transferred and the conversation began to meander between work and personal affairs. It was clear that Tash held Jameson in rather low regard despite anything Coatleque could say to the contrary.
"I admit, James can be difficult to work with sometimes but..."
"Difficult to WORK with?!" She was cut off. "He thinks he's too fuckin' good for everything!"
"That's not true," Coatleque whispered.
"Why the fuck are you defending him!? He dumped your ass. Why ain't you mad!?"
"I am livid," she hissed. "Does that change how I feel about him?!"
The two went back and forth a bit longer as poor Dheres began to nod off. Seemed the young boy had no tolerance at all to whiskey. His head bobbed from one woman to the other as he tried to follow along. Eventually Tash tried to suggest he spend the night in her room of all places. Coalteque pushed back from the table then, disgusted.
"No wonder Morn needed some time away."
"The fuck's that supposed to mean?"
The paladin waved a hand dismissively. "Nothing. Since you're 'not like that'."
"Bitch, don't you talk-to-the-hand me! What, like now you're the fuckn' Morn translator?"
Coatleque smirked. "My," she sighed, "so defensive about a mere business partner!"
"Well, so's you know, Morn agrees with me. So fuck off!"
Coatleque rolled her eyes to the side then snapped forward to stare Tash down. "Good! Maybe I'll just go see for myself! He loves us paladins if I remember right. Something about 'horny freaks doing it in armor'."
Tash muttered quietly to herself as she nursed another shot. "Pretendin' you're this or that 'cause you think it's what they wa--" She stopped and glared back across the table, chewing her cheek. The idea of the other two together did not exactly thrill her. "Yeah, whatever. If you think Lord Taeros would let ya."
Coatleque sat back once more, her glare hardening. "Bitch," she muttered to herself.
Their arguing was interrupted by a thud as Dheres's forehead met the table. Coatleque sighed deeply before standing and pulling him to his feet. Looping an arm around her shoulders she turned him around to lead him to his room. "Take care, Miss Holbrook!" she called back to the woman who then left to refill her shots.
"Bitches. Everyone is bitches."
She then followed suit and made her way to the second floor. Her feet grew heavier with each step till she was only just plodding along near the top of the staircase. There was no denying she needed this rest as much as he did now. Thoughts of bed were pushed aside however at the sound of a familiar voice. "Sup, hot stuff. You lookin' for a seat? I got one riiiight here."
Coatleque found Dheres standing dumbfoundedly by a table across from a familiar woman. She stepped close to Dheres and slipped him his room key with a whisper of warning. "This one is trouble, be wary my lord." The two women exchanged glances briefly before familiarity set in.
"Crofte! I knew that sad puppy face was familiar!" The paladin's mouth twitched as she died a little more inside when her name was yelled across the room for all to hear. She kept her peace for the nonce, however, and Tash seemed to get the hint. "The fuck are you doin' here? Yeah, yeah, I know. Damn, upgraded to the younger model, huh?" She waved nonchalantly to Dheres who boldly took a seat adjacent to her. "Is this like your revenge boytoy fling? I mean, not bad!" With that she burst out laughing.
The paladin sighed heavily and slowly before taking her own seat adjacent to Dheres and across from Tash. Scanning the table she noticed quite a few shot glasses arranged in rows. Some empty, some waiting to be emptied. Her eyes half lidded, she glared at the mercenary. "No. To all your questions, Miss Holbrook. And where is your vulgar half?"
Tash smirked. "Huh? What, like my ass?"
"Yes, him. The large one."
Conversation quickly devolved from there to a series of posterior insults and conjecture of flotation devices. By the grace of the Twelve Coatleque was able to keep her voice from trembling in her disgust. "Mister Morn is not here then?" She tried vainly to change the subject matter at every turn. Eventually Tash slid each of them one of her shots.
"Here, you deserve this. You want one, Hair? Or you more a wine cooler kinda guy?" Dheres looked at her with his own form of annoyance before reaching out and sliding the offered glass to himself. All three then downed their respective shots. Tash slammed the glass back to the table. Coatleque gently set hers down. Poor Dheres tried to mimic them only to break down into a fit of coughing. "Whoo! Good shit, right?!" Tash exclaimed.
Coatleque sat quietly watching him and almost felt sorry for the boy while Tash just laughed. He did recover eventually but a strange calm seemed to overtake him. She leaned over the table slowly and turned back to Tash. "I am surprised to see you apart."
The mercenary just shrugged. "We gotta get some work. He's checkin' one lead, I'm on another. Your ex is a bitch, so we're poor as fuck."
Coatleque's head shook once and tilted. She remembered the last time she had seen both Tash and Vandol at Jameson's estate in Ul'dah. For delivering Roen they had received payment in gems and precious stones. "What did you do with your last payment?" She asked, now curious where it had all gone.
"Spent it. Duh."
"... on WHAT?!"
Tash gestured to herself as if the answer was clear. "Man, twink ain't cheap! I'ts a fuckin' investment!"
Coatleque found herself gripping the edges of the table on either side, her breath becoming slow and forced. Her voice slowed as she hissed, "You received easily what I make in two or three cycles... and you spent it already!?" Her lips began to curl but the anger slowly subsided as Tash explained where most of the coin had gone. When she finally let go of the table, a hand shot to her pocket to retrieve the parcel she received at Camp Tranquil. She slid it across to Tash. "Fine. Here, for the drinks."
Tash eagerly grabbed and unwrapped it with the expectation of a few gil at least, then made a face. "The fuck is this?" The smell of chocolate came over the table.
"I have no idea. Some sort of cake that a strange little herbalist gave me as we passed through the Shroud."
The package was transferred and the conversation began to meander between work and personal affairs. It was clear that Tash held Jameson in rather low regard despite anything Coatleque could say to the contrary.
"I admit, James can be difficult to work with sometimes but..."
"Difficult to WORK with?!" She was cut off. "He thinks he's too fuckin' good for everything!"
"That's not true," Coatleque whispered.
"Why the fuck are you defending him!? He dumped your ass. Why ain't you mad!?"
"I am livid," she hissed. "Does that change how I feel about him?!"
The two went back and forth a bit longer as poor Dheres began to nod off. Seemed the young boy had no tolerance at all to whiskey. His head bobbed from one woman to the other as he tried to follow along. Eventually Tash tried to suggest he spend the night in her room of all places. Coalteque pushed back from the table then, disgusted.
"No wonder Morn needed some time away."
"The fuck's that supposed to mean?"
The paladin waved a hand dismissively. "Nothing. Since you're 'not like that'."
"Bitch, don't you talk-to-the-hand me! What, like now you're the fuckn' Morn translator?"
Coatleque smirked. "My," she sighed, "so defensive about a mere business partner!"
"Well, so's you know, Morn agrees with me. So fuck off!"
Coatleque rolled her eyes to the side then snapped forward to stare Tash down. "Good! Maybe I'll just go see for myself! He loves us paladins if I remember right. Something about 'horny freaks doing it in armor'."
Tash muttered quietly to herself as she nursed another shot. "Pretendin' you're this or that 'cause you think it's what they wa--" She stopped and glared back across the table, chewing her cheek. The idea of the other two together did not exactly thrill her. "Yeah, whatever. If you think Lord Taeros would let ya."
Coatleque sat back once more, her glare hardening. "Bitch," she muttered to herself.
Their arguing was interrupted by a thud as Dheres's forehead met the table. Coatleque sighed deeply before standing and pulling him to his feet. Looping an arm around her shoulders she turned him around to lead him to his room. "Take care, Miss Holbrook!" she called back to the woman who then left to refill her shots.
"Bitches. Everyone is bitches."
