TRP: Goro, Hansel, Mishka, and Naomi (Well Meaning)

[Setting: Day 272, the marketplace in Gentleglen.]

The market square was emptying fast in the fading light, but the Novads wouldn't have been hard to find either way. They were the only orcs in the place, after all.

Goro aimed to keep his body language easy and nonthreatening as he approached. Just a humble cleric, of course. He raised a hand to wave to Hansel's grandmother as he got closer. "Hello again."

COYOTE

Naomi glanced up. Oh. It was the cleric boy again. For a moment, she felt relieved— then uncomfortable, once she remembered this was Hansel’s fiance.

She went back to her job rolling up their supplies. “Yes? Goro, right?”

LINA

"That's me." Goro eyed their work, and considered offering to help, but honestly he'd probably slow them down. They looked like they had a system going. "Sorry, I didn't catch your name before."

COYOTE

Naomi tightened. “Hansel didn’t tell you?”

LINA

"Uh. No." Ah shit, this was awkward already. "Wasn't in much of a talking mood. He gets... anxious, sometimes. Kinda sensitive. I figure meeting this whole family he didn't know he had was a lot." Goro started gesturing indistinctly as he talked, like that would help him make his point.

COYOTE

Right. He was anxious. It was... hard... thinking of it like that.

Naomi didn’t meet his eyes. “It’s Naomi.”

She kept wrapping up as she thought as fast as she could. Likely Hansel wasn’t a terrible person. Likely he was a man who’d been through terrible things. But Naomi could not bear looking at him, thinking, Pirate, and thinking about Yehuda, and how he’d died for this.

“I’m sorry,” she said roughly. “I’m sure you’re perfectly nice people. But I don’t want to meet with you or your fiancé. Please leave us alone.”

LINA

Goro watched her for a moment, heart sinking.

Ah, shit.

"Wh... why? What's the matter?"

COYOTE

Naomi slammed the trunk shut. One of her adopted children glanced her way and started eyeing Goro. “I am not interested in having a pirate and a mercenary as a grandson.”

LINA

Goro crossed his arms. He squinted. "Oh? Tell me more."

COYOTE

“No.”

LINA

Goro thought of Hansel, and how he'd turned into a motherfucking cat after talking with this lady. That was... hm. Hm. "The hell did you say to him, exactly?"

COYOTE

Naomi winced. She failed to keep the guilty look off her face.

She rounded on him. “I’m old,” she snapped. “I’ll be dead in five years. Why do you need me to talk to you, or your boyfriend? What good will it do? Will it make him, the pirate, feel good? Feel better about himself if his grandmother likes him? I’m old. I want peace. I don’t want to look at this boy and see my dead son’s face. I have been good all my life— I have done my best. It might be unfair, but grant me this.”

She pointed down that street. “Now go.”

LINA

Goro didn't flinch. Nah, there was some weird shit going on here. She was all hung up on the pirate thing--maybe that made for a sore spot with honest merchants, or some shit. My dead son's face, though; that was the more obvious gaping wound, here.

"Did you... know? That Yehuda had a child?" Goro asked. Based on Marion's recounting, he guessed not, but he wasn't sure.

COYOTE

“No.” Naomi stopped packing and rounded on him.

Around the caravan, a few of the half-orcs sidled around. They watched Goro, but kept packing up. The short older man in his flashy clothing stood beside Naomi.

“I didn’t,” Naomi said. “If I had, would I have left it there? That was my child.”

LINA

Goro scoffed. "Yeah, so, I'm curious what the hell happened in the last thirty-five years to make you change your mind to nah."

COYOTE

“That’s not my child anymore. I could’ve shaped him. That isn’t—“ She stopped there, angry. “I don’t need to justify my decisions to you. I don’t owe anyone my time. If you knew me— if you knew what I’d been through—“

LINA

"Tell me, then. Tell me what you've been through."

COYOTE

The older man next to her shifted, crossing his arms.

“I lost my son Yehuda,” Naomi said, voice trembling. “And I thank god I lost him first, because then I lost my daughter Chaya. And then I lost my daughter Channah. And all of these people— all of these people—“

She gestured behind her to the half-orcs averting their eyes. The young green-skinned full-blooded orc, no more than eight, putting up blankets, looking uncomfortably away. The brown-skinned orc woman with weapons who guarded the caravan. None of them looked anything like Naomi, but almost all of them were half-orcs and orcs, save one who looked a bit elvish.

“I took in all of them,” Naomi said. “My brother and his family, and all these I’ve adopted. Rescued. And you tell me I need to take in one more, the one I can’t stand to look at.”

“Naomi,” said the older half-orc next to her. She slapped his hand away.

“You tell me I need to do more,” she said. “You judge me. You don’t know one damned thing about me. I’ve done enough good.”

LINA

"Nah, lady. Nah. You don't need to take Hansel in. He doesn't need anyone taking him in. He's the one making a family of his own, now. Picking up strays, and shit. Must be in the blood. No offense, no offense," he said to the others who were looking his way. "I'm a stray myself. Ain't nothing wrong with that."

He ran a hand through his hair, appraising Naomi again. "Nah, I ain't saying you gotta look after Hansel, or anything. Give him the time of day, maybe. Seeing as he's the one good thing that came out of your family setting foot in Shepherd Hills. The one thing that made that whole shitshow not completely fucking senseless. Me, I wouldn't wanna live in a world where my son died for nothing, just, poof, he's fucking gone, 'cause of some racist motherfuckers." Goro snapped his fingers to go with the poof. "You know, I'd prefer living in the world where he left something behind. Something fucking amazing. A whole new life. Some proof that he was here, that he meant something. Made a difference."

COYOTE

“My son did die for nothing,” Naomi snapped. “And we do live in that world. And if your fiancé—“ Not her grandson. “Used to be a murderer and a thief, there’s a good chance the world would’ve been better off without him.”

“Grandma,” said Noelle, who used to be a thief, and touched her arm, and tried to guide her away.

Naomi dug her feet in. “We have to do better than that. Than people like that. To show them.”

LINA

Goro, arms still crossed, dug his nails into his elbows. "People do the best they fucking can, lady! I've been stealing since I was five fucking years old, why? 'Cause my own mother dumped me on the street and left me to fend for myself." He jerked his head in the direction of a random alley. "You wanna go round up all the little homeless boys and girls in Gentleglen and wag your finger in their faces, telling 'em they oughta do better? Hansel's doing the best he fucking can. And his best happens to be real good, just for the fucking record. Saved my sorry ass. Saved some kids from starving on the streets. He's raising a whole family of misfits who got nowhere else to go, much like--"

He looked meaningfully around at the rest of the group.

COYOTE

“Get out!” Naomi snapped, not even listening anymore. “I told you no! Get out!”

Several human bystanders began to watch. Some gave Naomi cold looks, and others glanced sympathetically at Goro. A woman stopped to talk quietly to a nearby guard.

LINA

"The fuck are you all looking at?" Goro yelled at the bystanders. "Mind your own fucking business! Get outta here!" He gestured for them to shoo.

COYOTE

The guard shifted onto his feet. He grumbled, ignoring Goro. “You’re disturbing the peace,” he told Naomi.

LINA

Goro kicked a pebble in the guard's direction. "What fucking peace? Your whole city was under siege like two fucking hours ago. Something my people put a stop to, thank you very much. Now how about you go find some real crime to fix, yeah?"

COYOTE

The guard’s eyes shifted from Goro to Naomi, clearly taken aback about who he was supposed to be protecting from who. “Hey,” he barked at Goro. “Shove off. No arguing.” He snapped his fingers at Naomi. “You lot, out of the city.”

“What?” Naomi said.

LINA

"You shove off," Goro told him. "They ain't fuckin' done nothing. No arguing, pfff. Is that a fucking law here? How about a little grace for the people who saved your sorry asses? Twice! You know that Sanguine shit? Guess who took care of that."

COYOTE

“City ordinance says no selling goods past nightfall.”

LINA

"They ain't sold shit. I've been standing here, watching. Now goodbye." Goro leaned forward and waved in the guard's face.

COYOTE

—

The cell door slammed shut on Goro’s face, leaving him alone in the jail cell.

Two cells over, a drunk unconscious woman snored in a pile of hay.

LINA

"Dick!" Goro yelled, for the dozenth time.

COYOTE

—

Around the time Hansel turned back into a person again, Mishka said, “Y’know, it’s getting late. Maybe we should go find our half-elf.”

IZZY

Hansel grunted. It'd been a while, yeah. He checked his bracelet -- Goro wasn't hurt, anyway. He had this feeling that things'd gone bad somehow, given Goro hadn't come back. He figured ... Naomi was going to keep saying what she'd been saying, 'cept Goro would get a lot more defensive than Hansel had, and he'd pick a fight instead of just dropping it, but at least he and the traders both probably had more sense than to get into an actual fucking fight inside the city.

Probably.

"Yeah, s'pose." He was just fuckin' dreading seeing Naomi again, was all. He slid off his barstool, tossing some coin onto the bar and hooking his arm around Mishka's waist, and turned for the door.

COYOTE

Mishka wrapped his arm around Hansel's waist as well as they walked together. "D'you suppose we ought to check the nearest Maskarran temple or the nearest city jail?"

IZZY

"Hm." Before he shoved the rest of his money back in his pocket, Hansel kept a copper out and flipped it, catching it on the back of his hand. It came up tails. "Jail."

COYOTE

Before Mishka could respond, a short orc woman stepped into the bar. She scanned the room— then her eyes settled on Hansel. Then, briefly confused, on Mishka.

She approached. “Hey. Mama Naomi asked me to tell you that your, um— the half-elf cleric— he... got arrested.”

Then, with a short, cordial, confused nod at Mishka, she headed towards the door again.

IZZY

"Hm," Hansel said again. He sighed. "Sounds about right."

COYOTE

“We should’ve bet on it. Mm, so— do we pay the fee, or...?”

IZZY

Hansel grumbled. "Ought to. Don't wanna fuckin' cause more trouble with a jailbreak." He thought for a second. "Less you wanna just crack him out ..."

COYOTE

“Well, obviously,” Mishka said. They headed towards the jail.

IZZY

"Mm."

On the way out, though, they ran into Luci, who apologized and told them that she had taken a brief break from watching the orc caravan and lost it -- she'd spent some time scouting around and spotted them outside the city. Hansel's gut sank. Something had definitely gone fuckin' awry. He asked Mishka to go check on the caravan and keep them safe -- meant what he'd said about that, just didn't fucking wanna be the one to watch them.

He had a fucking suspicion that Goro was gonna be in lock-up, and Luci confirmed it with that track spell, and he grimaced and told her she could go hang out with Mishka, or Raef or someone -- he preferred she wasn't alone, but she didn't need to be around for him fishing Goro out of jail.

When he got there, the guards eyeballed him with the usual mix of fear and suspicion and open fucking aggression. He didn't tuck his shoulders in and duck his head the way he used to, when he came into the city with his dad -- not his dad -- with Elijah -- but he kept his voice soft and his expression at least partway friendly.

"Here for my fiance. Half-elf, dark hair, 'bout yea high."

He got a scowl and the guard jerked his thumb over his shoulder, to the hall lined with cells. Hansel hesitated -- maybe should've specified he was there to bail Goro out. He could always talk to him for a moment and come back to pay, though. He angled past the guard, who didn't budge a fucking inch to accommodate him, and down the hall until he came to Goro's cell.

"Hey, chatichi. Come here often?" he tried.

LINA

After it had become clear that Goro continuing to scream profanity at the guard wasn't going to have any effect, he'd sat on the floor (pile of hay smelled too much like piss) and hugged his knees, scowling.

Hansel scared the crap out of him, just because Goro wasn't expecting anyone to figure out his location so soon. God, he must've just fucking guessed.

"I've only been arrested once before," he said. "Wait, no, twice. But that second time didn't count because I wasn't committing an actual crime. Wait... I guess I was, it was just a stupid crime. Same with this time. Did you know arguing's illegal in Gentleglen?"

IZZY

"Mm." He nodded. "Sure is, depending on how you look."

LINA

"Well, I was trying to get the fucker to leave the caravan alone, but I don't think it fuckin' worked. All this shit for nothing." He hid his face against his knees.

IZZY

Hansel sighed a bit. He glanced down the hall -- the guard had turned to watch him, just in case. Yeah. Just in fucking case.

He forgot sometimes that he and Goro'd grown up in such different fucking places.

"Hey." He leaned against the bars and reached through to beckon Goro over. "C'mere, ahuv."

LINA

Goro climbed to his feet and walked over, reaching automatically for Hansel's hand.

IZZY

Hansel took his hand and pulled him closer, so he could talk without the guard overhearing.

"Listen. Wasn't for nothing. Just that doin' the right thing is fucking harder out here. Guards sent'em outside the city, but we're still gonna keep an eye on'em. Gonna be fine." He hesitated. "Honestly, might fuckin' be safer out there with Mishka and Luci keeping watch than they were in here."

He squeezed Goro's hand.

LINA

Goro squeezed back, and didn't bother lowering his own voice. "Honestly, fuck those people. I mean... fuck those people."

He'd felt sorry for Naomi at first, but the anger on Hansel's behalf was starting to hit him.

IZZY

Hansel shrugged. "S'the way it is."

LINA

"Fucking shouldn't be. She doesn't even fucking know you, and..." He dropped his head forward, grinding his teeth. "I gotta go out there and yell at her some more. Got fuckin' interrupted."

IZZY

Hansel blinked, thrown for a second. "Oh, you meant -- Goro. Nah. S'fine, all right?"

LINA

"Sure as fuck isn't. Listen, I'm not saying she owes you anything, but--actually, no, you know what, I am saying that. She owes you some fucking decency, for a start. She owes it to you to at least get to know you a little before she decides she wants nothing to do with you."

IZZY

He was quiet for a moment. "No one owes anyone shit just for existing, ahuv. The woman had a perfectly good fuckin' son, and I ain't any kinda fuckin' replacement. She hasn't gotta give me the benefit of the fuckin' doubt." He stepped back a little to glance down at himself and shrug, not letting go of Goro's hand. "I mean, look what she's got to go off, here. I don't fuckin' blame her."

LINA

"She should. She should." Goro gripped Hansel's hand so tight, his arm shook. "She doesn't want her son. She wants a fucking blank slate, someone she can imagine as being any way she likes. You're too fuckin' real for all that. There's no way she couldn't love you if she really got to know you. There's no fuckin' way."

IZZY

Hansel squeezed his hand back and let out another sigh. He pulled away gently.

"I'm gonna go try and pay your bail, ahuv. Be right back."

LINA

"Alright," Goro said reluctantly. When Hansel was halfway up the hall Goro called after him, "I'll pay you back!"

Then he sat back on the floor to wait.

IZZY

Hansel scoffed slightly, then wiped the grin off his face before he confronted the guard. Funny thing. He'd always referenced the tusks when it came to people judging him -- horns or tusks, he remembered commenting to Larkin, once. Now that he was down to just the one tusk, though, he got the bullshit even worse.

"Lookin' to pay his bail," he said, being upfront about it this time. "How much?"

The guard scrutinized him. "Who?"

"Half-elf. Dark hair. Yea high." He kept his voice empty of the irritation he was feeling. "My fiance."

"Ain't that against the rules?" the guard said, giving him a hard look.

Hansel raised an eyebrow, because if he opened his mouth, he knew that the fuck are you fuckin' talking about, motherfucker? would come out.

The guard flicked a hand between Hansel and the cell block. "Your kind and his, fuckin'. Adder-lessy, that's what they call it, right?"

He knew exactly what the fuck he was doing. Could see the glint in his eye. And when Hansel'd been younger, he would've played right into it and knocked his fucking teeth in. Instead, he made a non-committal sound, because the important thing was getting Goro out of fuckin' jail.

"Dunno what you're talkin' about." He dug some coins out and dropped them on the counter. "That cover it?"

"Don't know what I'm talkin' about? Got to. Yeah, elves, they got all kindsa words for your kind, ain't they?

Hansel dropped a couple more gold down. Goro hadn't fucking done anything wrong. Was bullshit he was here at all. Bullshit having to fork over this much.

"'Course, that's what they call elves, ain't it? The ones that ..." He gave Hansel an openly disgusted look, up and down. "Ugh."

Hansel put down a couple more coins.

"Where'd you get all that fucking gold from? Someone like you?" He was changing tactics.

"Saving cities," Hansel said finally, shortly. "You gonna take this fucking bribe or what?"

"Bribery ain't legal in these parts, y'know." He grinned. "Guess you wouldn't know no better."

.

"Fuckin' detaining someone for no reason ain't legal either," Hansel retorted, running out of fucking patience. "How you feel about me getting one of my friends that ain't got tusks or pointed ears to talk to the governor about your shitty behavior? You wanna make some fucking gold or nah?"

He hated it. Couldn't solve the problem himself. He wasn't gonna fucking scrape and grovel anymore, not as a grown fucking man, but even being fuckin' neutral wasn't helpful. Had to play dirty, one way or another.

The guard considered it. He eyed the gold, then scooped it up and tossed a key at Hansel without saying shit else. He turned to duck into the back room, and Hansel hissed through his teeth and went back.

"Sorry it took so long," he said, unlocking the door.

LINA

"How much?" Goro asked, pushing his way out and immediately latching onto Hansel's waist.

IZZY

"Don't matter." Hansel wrapped around him and kissed his head. "You're fuckin' priceless."

LINA

Goro snorted and shoved him, but promptly held on tight again. "Shut the fuck up, beautiful. Tell me how much the bail was."

IZZY

"Nah." Hansel started to pull him on towards the door. He was ready to fuckin' be out of here.

LINA

"Alright, fine. I'll just give you a ton of money, if you won't tell me. Slip it into your pocket when you're not looking. The bail fairy."

IZZY

"A'right. Two copper," he lied, not even trying.

They passed by the guard station, and Hansel tossed the key onto the counter without looking.

LINA

The guard emerged from the back room as they walked by, and Goro turned to twist out of Hansel's hold. "Hey you. Dickhead. How much did he pay you to get me out of there?"

The guard eyed them both, leering. "Prolly not much more'n your fee for the night."

Goro drew back slightly. Ey. That was a new one.

IZZY

Hansel flipped him off silently, still without looking, and grabbed Goro to keep dragging him out and away from this motherfucker.

LINA

"Motherfucker extorted you, didn't he?" Goro said, letting Hansel drag him most of the way outside, but stopping to wrestle on the threshold. "Lemme go. I'm gonna go get your fucking money back."

IZZY

"He didn't extort me," Hansel said calmly, wrangling him.

LINA

"You telling me that guy in there quoted you an honest bail price?" Goro continued to struggle.

IZZY

"Goro." Hansel picked his feet up off the ground and turned. "It ain't fuckin' worth it, ahuv."

LINA

"Hey. Hey. Put me down! That fucker's got no right. I'll fuckin' show him it ain't worth it, alright. Make him real fucking sorry for that shit."

IZZY

"Goro," he repeated miserably. "C'mon. Please."

LINA

Slowly, Goro stopped flailing. He put his arms around Hansel's shoulders instead and hugged him tight, not saying anything.

IZZY

Relieved, Hansel carried him on out into the street, letting the door bang closed behind them. A couple buildings down, he lowered Goro back to his feet.

"Know you mean well," he said quietly.

LINA

"Don't--fuckin' tell me I mean well." Once freed, Goro pushed back in to hug Hansel all the more fiercely. "Don't. I'll kill anyone who looks at you crosseyed, Hansel. I'll do it."

A second later he muttered, "Larkin would've let me stab him. Would've helped."

IZZY

"Mm." Well, if she had, he would've just had to carry them both away. He kissed Goro's head and sighed.

It was just a shitty fucking situation. No right answers. No way out.

"One time," he said after a moment, "I came into the city with my -- with Elijah. Trade caravan snapped an axle and we needed to sell our milk an' cheese to buy more feed, so we came to do it ourselves. Elijah got fuckin' wasted in this bar, and started a fight, got hauled off to lock-up." He paused. "Took just about all the coin we'd made to get him out. Not even 'cause he was bein' a difficult bastard -- just 'cause I was the one doin' it. That's just ... how it fucking is out here, ahuv. Don't help any to yell at one guard. Just gets you locked up longer. Worst case, gets you killed."

LINA

If that was supposed to fucking help, it didn't. Goro held Hansel even tighter, breathing heavy with anger and grief. "You had to grow up with that shit. You had to grow up with it. And fucking Naomi..." His voice choked off.

IZZY

"She did too, motek," Hansel said quietly.

LINA

"Then she should know." Goro wasn't even sure what the hell he was trying to say anymore. He didn't know what he wanted from Naomi, or anyone else. It just hurt too damn much to watch the world be this way to Hansel. Goro fucking despised the assholes at the Church who'd treated Amari like garbage, so much he made it his goddamn life's work to take them down -- but the thing was, at the end of the day, most people treated Amari right. She was loving to everyone, and usually got loved in return.

Hansel got glared and sneered at by people who didn't even know him. People who didn't have a clue how much love he had in him. His own grandmother wouldn't give him a chance.

"It's not fair," he murmured. "Not fucking fair. I'll kill 'em, Hansel. Don't think I won't."

IZZY

"I know." Hansel kissed his head. "I know y'would, ahuv. Fuckin' don't, though."

He sighed, and squeezed Goro tight to make himself feel better. It wasn't fuckin' fair, the way people were about orcs and such. Elves, too, around here, and tieflings and anything that wasn't all human, really, but orcs got the worst of it, usually. He wasn't gonna argue that.

Wasn't gonna argue that Naomi had a point, about him specifically, either, 'cause it'd just make Goro upset. She was right, though. He could be a human and get the same sorts of looks for being covered in scars and weapons, get the same treatment for saying he was a pirate.

Yehuda had been kind, Marion told him. Gentle and soft-voiced. Well, he took after her -- the woman who'd angrily brandished a kitchen knife at her own mother and told her to fuck off and never come back. No wonder that Naomi didn't like him. There was nothing of Yehuda in him but the tusks.

He sniffled

LINA

Ah, dang. God damn it. Goro kissed Hansel on the cheek and put his arms around Hansel's head, hugging it to his shoulder. "'Kay. I won't. You gotta tell me what to do instead, then. 'Cause knowing that there's people out there who hurt you, and not killing 'em, well, that's tough for a guy like me. I get antsy. Need something to keep me busy." He kissed him a few more times. "You want me to tell you how great you are? Nah, probably not. S'true though."

IZZY

Hansel snorted quietly. Shame the cat thing had worn off, and he didn't think he could do it again, 'cause cuddling up to Mishka and Roddy and Goro as a cat had actually been really fucking nice, once he got used to it. Who knew. Supposed he'd just have to make Goro cuddle him without being a cat. Tough sell, clearly.

"Just ... be on your best fuckin' behavior, a'right? Can't be fishin' you outta jail any more." He squeezed Goro again, then shifted to scoop him up princess-style and head for the inn. "Undercover, yeah? Simple, humble, unassuming Helmite cleric, Goro Voronin."

LINA

"Eh, no fuckin' promises. Better me getting thrown in the clink for a couple hours than orcs getting run outta town for fucking nothing. Except it didn't even fucking work, did it? God. Anyway, put me down and turn into a cat again, so I can carry you for once."

IZZY

Yeah. Didn't fucking work like that, was the thing. He wondered if Goro was gonna remember that for next time. "Can't. Limited use thing. Magic, and shit, y'know."

LINA

"Ah, dang. Well. What'd you think of it? Being a cat."

IZZY

"Mmph." Fuckin' terrifying at first, then actually pretty nice. "Got used to it. Wasn't so bad."

LINA

"You were a pretty cute cat, y'know."

IZZY

He scoffed.

LINA

Goro grinned and kissed his cheek. "Aw, shit, though. This means you heard me being all sweet and calling you a pretty kitty and shit. God. You'd better take that one to your grave with you, Bell."

IZZY

"Uh-huh." Hansel leaned back a little to look at him, teasing, "You talk to Pumpkin like that when no one's around, huh? I take you to the Lady again, you gonna be hidin' out in the corner babytalkin' at Lily? That who you are and y'just never told me, huh?"

LINA

"Psh. Psh. Fuckin'--" Goro squirmed, kicking his feet just to make himself difficult to hold. "Fuck you, asshole! Was an act, alright? 'Cause Mishka was there. I hate all living things."

IZZY

"Uh-huh," Hansel said again, letting him squirm around and not letting go at all. "Hey. What if I was a mouse instead. Bet I could be a mouse. All scarred up little mouse that looks like it just crawled out of a cat. That be pretty cute, too?"

LINA

"Not cute. Nothing's cute. You know what I do with mice that I find in my room? Toss 'em out the goddamn window, is what." But secretly, he was thinking that if Hansel did turn into a mouse, he'd cup the tiny thing in his hands and defend it with his life. Whatever.

IZZY

Hansel frowned a bit. "Y'don't actually do that, do you?"

LINA

"Well. I mean. Not like, my third story window. I take 'em--hey, fuck you, pal! Maybe I snap their little necks, huh?"

IZZY

He scoffed again.

LINA

Goro squinted slightly. "Killing rodents ain't a dealbreaker for you, is it? 'Cause I've done it. Killed lotsa shit."

IZZY

"Killed lotsa shit too, ahuv." Hansel shrugged. "Just no point in killin' somethin' if it ain't a threat or you ain't gonna eat it, y'know?"

They'd gotten to the inn, so he kissed Goro's head and set him back on his feet, figuring he might be embarrassed about being carried through a busy public place.

LINA

"Yeah, right. Maybe I hunt rats for sport, huh? I'm a wicked guy." He threw a couple small punches in the air. "Not someone who cuddles cats, that's for sure."

IZZY

Hansel raised his eyebrows slightly at the punches. Adorable. "Uh-huh. A'right, c'mon, me'at krishi."

He slung his arm around Goro and directed him on into the inn. A crowd of people were in the lower-floor bar, celebrating the avoided battle, and Hansel moving carefully through them got him several alarmed or angry looks and people shifting hastily away. Was better because Goro was with him, actually. People probably assumed he was too preoccupied with the half-elf to bother any of the humans.

The guard's comment came back to him and made his gut sink again. He thought about the way he held Goro close, like he was possessive of a thing he'd bought or stolen. Didn't think a thing about it in Skyport or Glimmerton, but here he had to remember that these fucking people would think it meant he was fuckin' ... kidnapping Goro, or something. Forcing him along.

He bit his tongue, and he wanted to grip Goro tighter because normally that'd make him feel better, but then the looks would just get worse, and the chances someone might bother them would go up. Just went straight for the stairs instead. A drink'd be nice, but not here.

Hansel raised his eyebrows slightly at the punches. Adorable. "Uh-huh. A'right, c'mon, me'at krishi."

He slung his arm around Goro and directed him on into the inn. A crowd of people were in the lower-floor bar, celebrating the avoided battle, and Hansel moving carefully through them got him several alarmed or angry looks and people shifting hastily away. Was better because Goro was with him, actually. People probably assumed he was too preoccupied with the half-elf to bother any of the humans.

The guard's comment came back to him and made his gut sink again. He thought about the way he held Goro close, like he was possessive of a thing he'd bought or stolen. Didn't think a thing about it in Skyport or Glimmerton, but here he had to remember that these fucking people would think it meant he was fuckin' ... kidnapping Goro, or something. Forcing him along.

He bit his tongue, and he wanted to grip Goro tighter because normally that'd make him feel better, but then the looks would just get worse, and the chances someone might bother them would go up. Just went straight for the stairs instead. A drink'd be nice, but not here.

Hansel raised his eyebrows slightly at the punches. Adorable. "Uh-huh. A'right, c'mon, me'at krishi."

He slung his arm around Goro and directed him on into the inn. A crowd of people were in the lower-floor bar, celebrating the avoided battle, and Hansel moving carefully through them got him several alarmed or angry looks and people shifting hastily away. Was better because Goro was with him, actually. People probably assumed he was too preoccupied with the half-elf to bother any of the humans.

The guard's comment came back to him and made his gut sink again. He thought about the way he held Goro close, like he was possessive of a thing he'd bought or stolen. Didn't think a thing about it in Skyport or Glimmerton, but here he had to remember that these fucking people would think it meant he was fuckin' ... kidnapping Goro, or something. Forcing him along.

He bit his tongue, and he wanted to grip Goro tighter because normally that'd make him feel better, but then the looks would just get worse, and the chances someone might bother them would go up. Just went straight for the stairs instead. A drink'd be nice, but not here.

ABBY

As they hit the area where their rooms were, a familiar, brightly-painted tortle perked up and darted over. "Dad!" Roddy called, throwing his arms around the pair of them. "You're back to being Dad!"

[END]