Make your way down the stairs

You decide that you really want to save up for a better shield and helm. Though you were relatively new at this profession, you had seen enough to know that protection was paramount. At the end of the day it was more important to come home alive than it was to kill the monsters. You can always come back with stronger forces to take down a threat, but you couldn't help or harm anything if you were dead. You exit your room, the upstairs of Robb's Inn, and head downstairs.

Robb was a good friend of your father's before he was killed in the goblinoid wars when you were young, and treats you as one of his own. You worked as a bouncer and a cook as a teenager, earning enough coin to get your first set of adventuring gear. Robb was none too keen once he had heard you were following in your father's footsteps, ranting and roaring at you, even coming to blows about it. Eventually a grudging respect was shared between you once you had shown yourself to be quite competent, bringing back a decent bit of coin back to the inn. Recently you had even started talking about investing enough to become part owner of the inn. You start down the old familiar stairs to an empty in... well mostly empty.

A wet dirty rag hits you in the face as you walk down the stairs, courtesy of Belleca, Robb's daughter.

"Look what the bugbear dragged in last night, where do you think you're going ya daft cunt?"

Her mouth was quirked up into a smirk, her green eyes sparkling. Her long, dirty blonde hair was done up in a bun, her working dress and apron dirty from morning chores.

You and Belleca had quite the long history together. Born five months earlier than you, she had lorded it over you growing up, a tyrant to her and your siblings. She had been a right pain in the arse up until your teenage years, when you had finally hit your growth spurt. The fights the two of you had up until then were legendary, having earned both of you a pair of red asses from Robb. Until one day the looks you two gave each other started changing, the heat in your gazes coming from more than one place. When you had started coming into your strength, Robb took you aside and gave one of the rare serious talks about the strength difference between men and women, as well as some of the other differences.

You two had been on again, off again lovers, and she had gone from the frenemy of your youth to one of your most trusted friends and confidants. However the two of you didn't really think you were soulmates despite your closeness, much to Robb's relief. He certainly didn't want his daughter married to an adventurer, regardless of his fondness for you. Belleca was currently seeing a female Tiefling, Irinex, a local courier for the crafting guilds, Robb had almost choked on his tongue when the two of them walked into the inn holding hands. The sounds coming from her room were impossible to ignore, since it was directly adjacent to yours. The fact that they had both shamelessly showed up bright-eyed and bushy tailed at breakfast that morning certainly made for an awkwardly quiet family meal. They had been going steady for a few months now, but you hadn't been there for most of it, being off on various jobs and a few quests here and there. You had gotten in late last night, fresh from a bounty job, and hadn't seen her yet.

That brought you to now, Belleca squaring off with you, her brow furrowing in mock anger.

"Going to get another job. Have to earn some more money to afford another barstool, for when you decide to break another barstool over the head of some randy old goat, eh Belle?" you easily reply

"That was one bloody time two years ago, ya bastard! And he had it comin, grabbing my arse like that!" She roars, always prickly in the morning

"Yes, that he did. You could have picked something cheaper to bash him on the head with though" you say, throwing the rag back to her

"Oh fuck off! I hope you get eaten by a sewer monster!" she says

The false tension breaks and both your and her faces both break into shit-eating grins as you both chuckle. You both walk closer to each other, giving each other a hug and a quick peck on the cheek. You take the opportunity to grab and pinch her ass, and she playfully slaps your arm. You grab her arm and twist it behind her back, and she promptly stomps on your foot, not that it does much to your metal shot boots. You both play wrestle until you have her pinned to a table.