An Expensive Meal

---- Some Establishment in the Border Forest, Early Morning, 1 DSTR ----

"Hello, anyone here?"

Ceriden looked around and was rather disappointed when he didn't see anyone, except, oddly enough, the gigantic bouncer, who was leaning against a wall in pretty much the exact same position Ceriden had seen him in before he had retired for the evening. He was about to approach the strange man when he heard a door open behind him. Ceriden whirled around and saw an attractive young woman with an eye patch over her right eye scurry up to the front counter as door to outside flew shut behind her.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, love," the woman intoned in a practiced sultry voice once she got behind the counter. "What can I do for you?" As she said this last part, she leaned over the counter, giving Ceriden quite the view of her cleavage.

Struggling to avoid staring at the eye candy the woman was intentionally dangling in front of him, Ceriden replied, "I, uh, was hoping to, um, buy some livestock for my friend."

Despite all his knowledge, power, intelligence, and idealism, Ceriden had never figured out how to overcome his lifelong struggle with becoming nervous around attractive woman. There were multiple reasons why he was still a bachelor, and his nomadic lifestyle was only one of those reasons. The only reason he had been able to keep his cool around Sabina was due to the fact that their relationship had been a purely business one. Unfortunately, this woman's suggestive hints were breaking through his mental wall of professionalism, and that was making him quite uncomfortable.

"We don't sell livestock, hon," the woman stated flatly, straightening her posture.

"Um, surely you have livestock, though, otherwise, how would your food be so fresh?"

"I didn't say we didn't have livestock," she responded impatiently. "I just said that we don't sell them."

"Well, uh, could you make an exception?" Ceriden inquired, mentally cursing himself for being so nervous.

Leaning back over the counter while resting one of her elbows on it, the woman put her chin in her hand and raised her one visible eyebrow as she asked, "And why should I make an exception?"

Ceriden averted his gaze by looking at the floor. "Because my friend's a ghoul," he muttered.

"What was that?"

"Um, my friend is a ghoul, and he doesn't eat what most people eat," he said a little louder.

Her eyebrow rose even higher as she asked, "He eats live animals?"

"Yes..."

"Ummm, okay," the woman began, straightening her posture and glancing at Gareth then the bouncer before returning her gaze to Ceriden. "I guess I can make an exception. What kind of animal do you want?"

Now it was Ceriden's turn to glance at Gareth. "Uh, a pig would be great."

"Fine, that will be 300 gold, sir."

Ceriden looked at her, astonished. "300 gold?! Are you serious?!" Although Ceriden wasn't a farmer and so he never really had much of a need to buy livestock until now, he was pretty sure he could buy a pig from most people for around 50 gold.

"Do you have any idea how much of a pain it is to get those animals here?" the woman retorted. "If you are not happy with that price, then you can plead your case to my boss in the morning and maybe she will be willing to offer you a better deal, because I'm not really at liberty to give you one of our animals unless it is well worth it for us."

"250," Ceriden pleaded.

"Okay, fine," the woman relented, rolling her eye. Ceriden counted out the coins and handed them to her, sighing as he did so. He didn't have enough money to dish out this amount of coin for long, but for now it was a sacrifice he was willing to make, if only so that he could get some more sleep instead of having to worry about Gareth all night.

The aggravating night manager promptly recounted the coin he'd given her, and when she was finally satisfied, she looked at the bouncer and called out, "Ox, dear, can you go get a pig for our guests?"

The hulking bouncer wordlessly and gesturelessly got off the wall and walked out of the building. Ceriden was about to follow suit when the irritating woman said, "Where, do you think you're going, darling?"

"To, uh, get my pig?" Ceriden replied questioningly, coming to a halt. "Is there something wrong with that?"

"Yes. How about you stay here until Ox comes back in and lets you know when your pig is ready to be eaten," she suggested with what Ceriden thought was intended to be a menacing tone.

He wasn't amused by this in the slightest, but he thought better of making a stink about her implied threat. "Okay, sure, whatever, we will wait," he growled. Ceriden sensed that she wanted to hide something from him, but little did she know that he had a spy outside, ready to be used for just such an occasion. Reaching out to his wraith, Ceriden telepathically asked, "Wraith, do you see the big man that just walked out of the inn?"

"...rry b... I di... ca... ...r you ... through ...t bare..."

Cerriden sighed, the mentally replied, "Just tell me what you see the big guy do when I get out there, then."

"I ...ll ca... .ear y..."

Ceriden severed the link between him and his wraith before the thing could make more excuses. The only reason he was even the slightest bit interested in what the bouncer was up to was because the night manager seemed so determined to hide it from him. After a few awkward minutes of silence, during which Ceriden noticed the infuriating woman examining Gareth, the bouncer finally came back in. Contrary to what the woman had said was going to happen, when bouncer returned, he simply walked back up to his post without even giving Ceriden nor Gareth a glance.

"Your pig is ready," the woman with the eye patch stated. Ceriden said nothing in response, instead leading Gareth outside without any other acknowledgement that the woman had spoken.

Once they were outside and the door closed behind them, Ceriden said to Gareth, "I haven't wanted to strangle someone so badly since, well, I talked to Commander Styliane yesterday morning. Gods, what is this world coming to? Once upon a time, I could pride myself in my ability to keep a level head in most situations, but now I end wanting to murder every woman I talk to, well, except the day-shift innkeeper. She wasn't being a bitch to me like Commander Styliane, Sabina, and that other blighted lady were."

Ceriden took a deep breath to calm himself as the pair moved toward the pig, which was conveniently tied up to a nearby tree. "Well Gareth, I hope this will be enough." After undoing the knot around the tree, Ceriden began to pull the hapless pig deeper into the forest. "Let us get some distance from this establishment so as to avoid the possiblity of its guests overhearing something they may find unpleasant, shall we?"