Exceptions To The Rule

Participants:

Jaya.jpg Kaskan.jpg L'han.jpg

Date: Sept. 29, 2010
Location: The bar, EW
Synopsis: Jaya catches up with L'han. Then she casually flirts with Kaskan….until she finds out he's a guard.
Rating: PG-13
Logger: Jaya


There's a pretty good crowd at the bar this evening, though since it's starting to get on the late end some of the drunk patrons are starting to stagger out of the bar. Suli is taking care of the tables in her usual grave self while Jaya is behind the counter fulfilling orders. There's plenty of seat available at the counter, especially since the tables are currently filled with card players. It definitely seems to be card night at the bar this time around.

L'han walks on into the bar at this hour, as he is currently waiting for a certain master to be done with his business here at Eastern before he heads back to Landing so he's best catch a drink and gossip while he can. He walks on up to the counter, giving a smile to Jaya. "Evening Jaya, mind getting a rider that's been on the air a glass of wine?" He finds himself a fortunately vacated seat and settles down.

Jaya is in the process of passing a filled mug over to one of the few seated patrons at the counter when she notes L'han's arrival with a genial nod. "Been awhile, L'han," she greets, managing to remember his name as she turns briefly to reach for an empty glass. "Wine? Got any preference?" She looks up suddenly as a patron passes behind the greenrider with in the bar owner's direction, and she gives them a nod in passing.

L'han nods to Jaya and says, "Reds will do nicely, but I havn't had much time to visit after Escaeth's flight. Had to go right back out to Landing once it was done. But at least I can take the time to visit every now and again. How's business been? Heard some folks got into it the other night." He glances behind him at the passing patron, giving a nod before he looks back to the barkeep, his eyes surveying the establishment for any signs of damage.

"Ah, right. Your green, and…flight?" Clearly it's something Jaya's not familiar with, so she's fixing L'han with a veiled speculative look as she bends slightly to pick out the right decanter. Once she straightens with it, she nods sharply to the left of her and if he looks, there's a broken table and a few broken chairs pushed up against the wall and out of the way. "Other than that? Business has been good." She fixes him with a dry look before she leans forward and starts to pour the wine into his glass, adding, "I think some are sticking in here in the hopes for another fight to spark off," she lets him know, eyes pointedly going behind him towards one of the tables. "I forget how much a good brawl draws a crowd. As long as no knives are drawn, that is." Nevermind the fact she had drawn one herself, if one should follow rumors.

L'han recognizes Jaya's uncertainty and replies, "Mating flight. Her first since coming here anyways. I was a little worried as to which dragon would catch her. But was all good, Mohria's Riordanth caught her." And what happened after that is pretty clear as he glances over to the damaged furniture and he winces. "Wow, Jaya… might want to consider adding a fight ring to this place. Probably would be cheaper. And draw in more folks."

"Don't know much about those things other than what I hear in here, shuga," Jaya notes to L'han, sending him a wry grin as he explains. "Not that I have anything against the sex itself, just…seems a bit out of control. Not being able to choose. Just your dragon." She doesn't recognize the name supplied, so she merely nods once to that and moves on to pass him his wine. The broken furniture gets a bland, "Don't tempt me," on starting a fight ring. "Ever been to one?" It's casually asked, the bar owner setting the decanter aside as she starts to work on the deposited dirty mugs.

L'han grins back to Jaya and says, "Maybe so. We don't have much of a choice in it, but our other options are far more unpleasant. It is what it is, but I prefer to choose who I get into bed with when my dragon is not glowing." He glances over to the furniture again and replies, "I've had my fair share of brawls. Sometimes tempers flare between riders and other folks and fists are the only way to settle it." he shrugs, taking his drink to sip from it.

"I hear you on that, shuga," Jaya says, tipping her head on his comment about when the dragon isn't glowing. "At least the whole business is over and done with. You fight?" This gives her pause, her motions over the current mug stopping as she pins a long look over the greenrider. "Do tell. I don't really peg you for the type."

L'han nods back to the barkeep. "Usually only when someone swings first. I usually don't start them. However I've been in several fights when steel came into play. Some riders think that because we have dragons that no one is going to mess with us. I know damn well that isn't the case." The sword at his waist might not just be there for decoration. He tilts his head and asks, "What about yourself? You do seem like the type of woman that could handle yourself in a fight."

"You don't initiate," Jaya makes that assumption, studying L'han now as she returns to her cleaning. "Huh. Yeah, I've heard about the fights you all put forth. You dragonriders, I mean. Haven't seen one though. You start one here in my bar and I'm kicking your ass from here to South Boll." It's so smooth how the warning is delivered, the bar owner sending the greenrider such a smile that could be taken as predatory. Both her and L'han are at the counter, the dragonrider with his wine while the bar owner is cleaning out mugs. There's card games going on at all the tables, and Suli is here manning them. "I fight," she admits openly to his question, nodding once. "Mostly in bars. Nothing that won me any marks. I can handle myself pretty good, when push comes to shove. Hope I don't need to here, however."

A nod follows that assumption and says, "No, but I finish it for certain, unless the dragons do it for us. And don't worry, I hate to fight and ruin the place where I drink." L'han winks to the bartender as she answers his question. "Just to keep your living then? Nothing wrong with that. And I hope you don't need to either. Can't exactly pour the drinks with broken hands now." He continues to drink from his wine, a happy rider.

Apparently Kaskan has a death wish. Why else would he step foot in the bar that he and Bowen nearly destroyed by starting an all-out brawl so recently? He certainly still looks the part with one hand bandaged, purple bruises marking his jaw and a limp as he favors one foot. But enter he does, and with a confident stride at that; right up to the bar where he drops his one good hand palm flat on the countertop and declares with a ready smile, "Some of that powerful good whiskey, ma'dam!"

"Wait," Jaya lifts up a hand briefly as something said gets her to blink a few times. "You let your dragons finish your fight? Or do you mean diplomatic-like?" Because dragons fighting… Her warning delivered and taken with ease, she allows the predatory smile to slip off to something more genial as she tacks on, "I fight when I gotta. Out there. Worked at some pretty shady bars up north." Perhaps it was the confident stride that gets the bar owner to pause, eyes narrowing beyond L'han as he approaches the counter. Regarding that ready smile, then those bruises still being seen, "I should be getting you a piggyback ride back to the infirmary, trouble," she pins on her new name for Kaskan, looking him over disapprovingly. Still, profit's profit, so she's setting him up with a glass and bending down to get the decanter he speaks of. "You can," she continues to say to L'han, pouring the drink for Kaskan. "Pour drinks all bloodied up. I did it once up in Nabol."

L'han replies to Jaya's lifted hand. "Fight here at Eastern not too long ago, me and Brownrider T'ryn got into a fight, one of the few that I instigated, but it's a past matter. Anyways, we wound up fighting and the golds took offence to us fighting and both came down and put a stop to it. Our dragons, mine and his, didn't mind too much." He looks over to Kaskan as he comes in with that voice and Jaya's narrowed eyes. As she goes to take care of him and gives an answer to that last bit he nods. "I'll take your word for it, Jaya."

Kaskan turns a curious look to the rider at the bar when he realizes that he and Jaya are having a conversation about fighting. Reinstating himself might go smoother than he anticipated. Their topic stirs a deeper interest than just his own; a secondary agenda. Holding up his palm he tips his head to Jaya as she threatens, assuring her, "Cleared with a clean bill of health, I swear. Certified trouble-free." For now, anyway. Listening as L'han explains further Kaskan leans on the counter with one elbow, favoring his foot by putting all his weight on the other. Casually retrieving his newly poured drink he asks of the man, "Does that happen often - dragons fighting, I mean?"

"I remember T'ryn," Jaya actually recognizes a dragonrider's name, brows lifting at it as she recalls the man. "You picked a fight with that one?" She whistles low, shaking her head as she passes the filled drink over to Kaskan. "Always thought dragonriders weren't encouraged to fight. Good thing I'm dragon-free myself." The wink is easy, light before she chuckles once and turns to address Kaskan with his drink. Dark eyes sweep over him, "Not sure about the trouble-free bit," she drawls a bit dryly, gaze flicking up and down him. "You look to have 'trouble' written all over you. I'd be interested in knowing how you'll pay me for the damages you and your buddy caused -" nevermind that the other one, Bowen had paid for it himself "-provided, it involves something of value?" She then returns to cleaning out mugs and sends a glance L'han's way when Kaskan asks the question on dragons fighting, finding it hard to eve hide her own interest in the answer.

L'han shakes his head. "The golds were stopping us, the riders, from fighting. Unless it's during a mating flight, dragons never fight. The golds won't allow it, most times. And both dragon and rider would be due for a talking to for letting things go that far." His eyes go somewhat unfocused and he sighs, nodding before he tilts back the glass finishing up his drink. "And with that, I must depart, my passenger needs to go back to Landing." He gets up from the chair, dropping a few marks on the counter for Jaya and says, "Thanks for the drink Jaya, see you sometime soon." He nods to Kaskan before the greenrider makes his way towards the door.

A flicker of disappointment crosses Kaskan's features at the rider's departure, quickly smoothed and hidden behind his raised mug of whiskey. Taking a healthy swallow he lowers it with a satisfied hiss. "Ayup, good stuff," he reiterates, tipping the mug in silent ode to Bowen for introducing him to it. Turning to observe Jaya a moment he mentally catches up with her earlier comment, saying, "Don't I get any brownie points for this?" Giving his chin a jerk he swings over-long bangs to the side, tilting his head to keep them out of the way so that a small line of stitches can be seen crossing his temple. "Courtesy of your knife butt, I believe?"

"As I thought." Jaya says this to L'han's explanation, regarding the greenrider for a moment before he takes his leave. She snatches up his marks, pocketing them before he's had the time to step away from the counter. "Have a good one, L'han," is her sent greeting before she watches him head out with a genial smile. Once he's gone, "My apologies," she suddenly turns this on Kaskan, dark eyes finding that injury she dealt him when he shows it. Funny that she doesn't -seem- apologetic. "Wanted me to kiss it and make it better? And well, someone should have warned you about me. Bar owner keeps knives around," she adds this bit with some arrogance over her shoulder when she turns from him to reach for another mug.

Kaskan snorts, giving his head a shake and relaxing his shoulders so that dark ruffled layers fall back into random disarray. Eyeing her sidelong he takes another drink, quiet a moment to savor the burn of it down his throat. He really is getting used to the stuff. "Would you?" he asks with a cheeky smirk. At mention of weapons he frowns a bit, muttering aloud, "Figures. I'm getting mine back.

"If we were friends…" Jaya seems to tease without teasing on whether she would or not, letting her gaze roam over the card playing tables as she says it. "Good friends. Don't like women with knives?" The last gets tacked on, finally allowing herself to send a smirk his way as another patron drops marks on the counter and leaves. She leans over to collect those up to, "So. You're going to keep me in the dark, or are you going to tell me where you hail from?" Kaskan gets her intense study then, letting it linger as she finishes her work.

"Since you asked - no, not particularly," Kaskan replies with a wry twist to his lips. "But that's not what I meant. I… like to carry a staff but was told not to carry it around here." Broad shoulders twitch then and hunch slightly without the familiar feel of that weight strapped to his back. As the marks are deposited he watches her scoop them up, taking a moment to draw another swallow from his mug. Setting it down he gives the emptied container a little shove. Most of the time Kaskan's blue-eyed gaze is direct and focused as if he's reading you from the inside out, but as he answers her last question he glances to one side. "Southern Boll," he replies in too-casual tone. It's true. To a point.

"I'm disappointed," Jaya gives a little mock pout to his initial answer, even though she knows that that was not what he meant. "Staff, huh? Pretty unique weapon." Seems like it's something she might know about, the way she nods a few times while cleaning. And then his own answer to her draws her gaze up to Kaskan to gauge him, eyes narrowing slightly. "I see," she finally drawls that out, her Bitran accent slight in its deliverance. "What is it you do then, Kaskan of Boll? Other than beating on random men in a bar." The probing questions, as they were, continue, and she's not necessarily hiding the fact that she's looking to draw information about him from him.

One dark brow quirks at that pout, almost drawing a smile from the serious line of Kaskan's lips. "There's always exceptions to every rule," he notes. Watching her clean he settles more comfortably at the counter, hitching his hinder up on a stool and bracing his injured foot onto the bar under another seat. Her scrutiny is noted and lobbed back just as boldly, his wandering gaze perhaps even a little more frank than hers. "Guard," he answers, again in that minimalist style. Before more can be said a young man comes into the bar and after a brief pause trots over to Kaskan. "'Scuse me, sir," he starts, waiting till Kaskan's attention is achieved. "He's ready." Kaskan nods briskly, casual demeanor shook off like a cloak and replaced by one more business-like. Standing, he tips his head to Jaya and delves into his pocket for the appropriate amount of money to toss on the counter. "Duty calls," he says by way of farewell, and turns to follow the young man out.

"Exceptions can be….useful," Jaya notes, seeming pleased by the response given as she sets the mug she was working aside to given Kaskan her full regard. She'll consider him longer, even, until he gives that answer of what he does. That gives the scarred woman pause, that easy smile slipping free to something far more guarded as her posture straightens up. Lips part as if she was going to say something to that, until the young man comes and interrupts. She's really watching as Kaskan's demeanor changes, her brow furrowing as she returns that tip of head and lets his marks stay on the counter. Duty calls indeed, and the bar owner's staring after the guard as he leaves her bar with the color draining from her face.



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