She's still there... but they don't see her.

The two adventurers sighed with relief (Cal internally) as they pushed open the door to the tavern. This was somewhere they felt safe. The town was isolated enough that they were the only guests at the inn, and the owner Bower was a big soft teddy bear of a man, whose large quiet form gave them a sense of peace and security.

As they entered they saw him standing behind the bar, with an expression of frowning concentration on his face they had never seen before. His body swayed at the hips, and his hands seemed to be busy with something under the bar. Cal was uneasy - it was a strange sight. Naomi was as oblivious as usual, greeting him with a cheery shout. Before he returned her greeting, he seemed to mutter something, and Cal could swear she heard a sharp sound, like a slap. Then Bower was his usual self, all gentle smiles, but with a hint of uncharacteristic smugness.

Naomi went over to chat with him, while Cal took their new equipment up to their shared room. When she returned, Naomi was sitting at the bar and talking to Bower about the plumbing. Apparently it periodically made a strange kind of loud sloppy, slurping sound, and Bower was attempting to fix it. Cal waited for Naomi to finish advising him on this subject which the paladin knew absolutely nothing about, then changed the conversation to Xinae's whereabouts.

Bower's grin got even more smug. He told them that he hadn't seen her since she left soon after they had. He said that she was probably out sucking some random villager's dick and loving every second of it. He said it with a kind of vicious pleasure that shocked the two women so much they didn't hear the truly bizarre sounds the plumbing was making.

"BOWER!" the two women admonished simultaneously. Naomi shook her head, tutting, and said "That is our friend you are talking about! And that kind of language is absolutely inappropriate anyway! I'm disappointed in you."

Bower put on a face of clearly insincere shame. He apologised unconvincingly, then followed it with another scandalous comment; "But is that such a crazy guess? She's used her mouth on your adventures before, hasn't she?" His hands were moving faster than ever under the bar, and whatever he was doing to the pipes was making a sort of rapid "gluck" sound.

Naomi replied before Cal could stop her. "Xinae told you that story, Bower?! Yes, there was the time that she was caught sneaking into that bandit camp. Calli and I saw the whole event... I couldn't believe she fitted the entire thing in her mouth! I wanted to look away to preserve my friend's dignity, but what she did with her tongue was so very impressive. Did Xinae tell you that she even had to swallow his - "

What cut Naomi off wasn't the **** "please shut up" gestures of her friend, but the sudden slamming sound that came from under the bar, as Bower let out a long, deep groan and closes his eyes. Cal and Naomi shared an awkward look, then decided to move to a different table and change the subject while they waited for Xinae to appear.