Xinae drowns her sorrows.

Naomi had had enough of Xiane's teasing (it was so very very easy to get under her skin), and marched off to talk to Garron the (allegedly perverted) old blacksmith. The thief had tried her best to get Cal as well, but the stoic Godtouched merely got bored and left to obtain the speaking stones.

Head leaning on one delicate bronze hand, watching Cal's hips sway elegantly as she strolled away completely unaffected, Xinae sighed. Was she losing her touch? No, teasing that Godtouched was like drawing blood from a stone, anyone would have trouble. She blew a strand of her curly dark hair from her face and smiled, determinedly. She did love a challenge though.

Rolling the plan around in her mind, the petite rogue sighed again, deeper this time. Despite her acerbic tongue, deep down she worried more about her friends than herself. Xinae was a survivor, but Naomi's innocence made her a very tempting target, and Cal wasn't as untouchable as she thought she was... Whatever. Time to drink her troubles away.

She signalled the tavern owner over with an impatient click of her dainty fingers. The owner, Bower, was about twice the size of her, a chubby wall of skin wrapped in a leather apron, a farmer's tan, and plenty of body hair. He was harmless to a fault, a living doormat which Xinae was taking characteristic pleasure in walking all over. "Hey what took you so long Bowbow? Get me your least shite ale, and hurry up please~"

"Oh of course, whatever you says my lady!" Xinae grinned. Convincing him that she was just as noble as Naomi was a stroke of genius, he treated her with such deferrence despite their similar youthfulness. "But well... I was just thinking, I was... it's an awkward thing to talk about, but the money... Lady Naomi told me that you din't have much left after renting the room, so... no offence of course... how could you pay for the ale...?"

She met his wavering gaze with a semi-convincing look of indignant shock. "What exactly are you accusing me of, Bowbow?! I come from an extremely wealthy, powerful family and we always pay our debts, ask anyone, go on!" He wilted from the intensity of her dark eyes. "O-o-oh yes, it's just, well, you never actually told me your family's name, and... I - I... I'll get you that ale, your ladyship."

Xinae spent a while glumly polishing off a couple more of the tavern's finest ales (admittedly a low bar), considering the safest course for the three to take, and ignoring all of the anxious questions about payment. She halfheartedly grilled Bower on the details of the harvest festival. He said he could maybe use one more cook, a waiter, and a bouncer - when he mentioned the pay she laughed derisively and got him to double it.

Somewhat tipsy now, her mind roamed here and there. Unbidden, she remembered some days ago when she left her companions alone with a travelling artist and within the space of half an hour he had persuaded them to pose nude together for some sketches. When she found them his requests for poses had gotten pretty... provocative, and who knows how intimate the beauties would have got if she hadn't returned when she did - all as a "favour" for a man they had met 30 minutes beforehand. She gulped. And this Garron character really did have a reputation as a world class pervert. Perhaps this was more serious than she thought. Better check on her allies in the present first, then worry about their future.