Barrel and Spit (thrifty)

"We probably shouldn't go around advertising what we've got," Rebecca said. "If the wrong person sees people dressed like us going into some fancy restaurant, they might assume we've recently come into some money."

"That does seem like a secret worth keeping," Sophie said quietly. It would have been nice to eat whatever rich folks do for once, but she couldn't say the archer had no point. "But we do have something, and if we go someplace too low class, we may not have it for long."

Sagus and Marianne had been listening, but also looking around as the conversation went on. Nothing too high or low class, meaning everything else was available to break their routine of eating nothing but rabbits and whatever a nearby farm wasn't guarding well enough, and that was nothing to complain about.

"What about there," Marianne asked, looking at the hanging sign reading 'Barrel and Spit Tavern. Food Drink, Live Music'. The rest of them looked in its direction and noticed that the aroma of seasoned food was wafting out, accompanied by surprisingly little noise. Two of their midsections rumbled at a less than polite volume, which the group as a whole considered a vote of "good enough".

Entering through the swinging saloon door that Sagus held aside for them, the girls took a look around the tavern, only Rebecca doing so with any sort of restraint. The interior was four standard wooden walls, though sanded down to a smoothness most bars didn't see the need to bother with. The twenty or so oak tables and four times as many chairs sat empty under the almost unnoticably swinging chandelier overhead. It wasn't a particularly ostentatious one, just fancy enough to let the place claim to have such a decoration. The floor was made of gray, polished-flat stone, except for a wooden stage at the back that would reach Sophie's waist if she stood in front of it. A bar stood beside the stage, but unlike most in Morens, it was a clean bar.

From one of the chairs pulled away from its table, a young woman snapped to attention and approached the group, collecting a few menus from a rack of them on her way. "Hello, travelers," she said, her voice like a flowing stream of cool water that promised them safe drinking for the rest of their lives. "Four in your party, today?" Sagus stared at the hostess, but in what way was difficult to tell. It wasn't leering or lustful, despite what Marianne's twinge of jealousy told her. Her jealousy would be quite understandable, however, as the woman was nothing short of stunning. Platinum-violet hair cascading down into a wavy few inches at the small of her back. Slim figure but with some tone to her arms, which her uniform only covered the shoulders of with a white puff and frill. Her build may not have been extremely busty, but her modest low-B size breasts complimented her athletic body well. But as appealing as her body was, it was her eyes that stole focus from Sophie and Rebecca. While the archer's colorless eye might have been more unusual, it also tended to discourage eye contact. The hostess' hazel eyes, on the other hand, seemed to invite their gaze. Not even the blue-on-white saloon girl-style dress she wore could compete for attention.

The hostess met Sagus' eyes as much as she could, her expression shifting into slight unease. "my...name is Phoebe, and I'll be your...server?"

"Not the entertainment," Sagus asked coldly, which made the others turn to look at him questioningly. Of course, they were his friends, but how does a man go from holding doors for women to this so quickly?

"not...until later," she replied. Sagus nodded and Phoebe showed them to a table. She asked for their drink orders, still somewhat put off by the way Sagus stared at her, and moved quickly to fetch the water they had requested.

"Old girlfriend," Sophie asked. "She must have dumped you pretty harshly for you to talk to her like that."

"no."

"You must have some reason for it," Rebecca said. "Or at least, I hope you do, because if not, something strange is going on."

"Sagus, what's wrong?" Knowing the waitress wouldn't be stealing him away from her made Marianne feel less like feeding whatever Sagus' problem with her was, but she still wanted some kind of explanation. "Does she have a lot of guilt or something?"

"we shouldn't have come here," he muttered.