Cheers(Open)

[Dante Grixis]

Dante entered the pub, the cold wind following him momentarily through the door before he closed it. His cloak was getting old, threadbare, and in the approaching winter it wouldn't do. He needed a new one he though to himself as he pulled his hood off and ordered a drink at the bar. He found a table towards the back of the room and sat.

His day had been filled with rest. He had just done a particularly difficult assignment for the Brotherhood and had a few new wounds that needed tending. His right arm ached where it had been cut, almost re-opening his old scar. He stared into his glass for a moment and took a deep drink of the sweet ale.

He took his sheathes off his belt and rested his weapons gently against the wall next to him and got comfortable. He intended to enjoy his evening in the bar and figured he may as well make himself at home.

[Henry Renold]

Henry wandered into the pub, his cheeks pink and stinging from the cold wind outside. His hair was ruffled and he looked a little lost as he walked to the bar and ordered a mug of ale.
He didn't have many coins, but he had managed to steal a merchants fat purse the day before and although most of it had been spent on fixing the roof of his hovel, he still had enough for a pint or two.

It wasn't until he turned to take a seat that he noticed Dante. For once his friend had removed his weapons and had his hood down, relaxing in the corner. It was so surprising to see him with no form of protection that Henry almost didnt realise it was Dante.
"Evening." Henry grinned as he pulled up a chair, and took off his own threadbare cloak. It was much warmer in the inn and he was beginning to sweat, despite how think his cloak was.

The pub is bustling tonightHenry thought, looking round at everyone. It was not one of his usual haunts, and he recognised none of the faces around him-apart from Grixis'. It made him feel a bit uneasy to be somewhere he didnt know, but his sleeve blades were still hidden just above his wrists, all he had to do was release the catch.

[Dante Grixis]

Dante glanced up from gazing into his mug when he heard the voice. He was met with Henry sitting down at his table. "Evening Henry!" He replied warmly and smiled at him. "How've you been?"

Dante wasn't worried about the amount of people in the pub, or the fact that he didn't have any disguise. He wasn't on a mission and it wasn't broad daylight. Here and now, he was just another guy sitting in the pub having a drink. Most people walked past him without giving him a second glance let alone thought.

[Henry Renold]

Henry clasped Dante on the shoulder to greet him, before he sunk happily into the chair.
"Ah I've been alright," He smiled, "Times are going to get tougher when winter arrives, but I think I'm prepared now." He spoke of how he had fixed up his home, ready for when the snows arrived.
"At least i won't wake up buried in it this year!" He laughed. Despite all the hardships he faced Henry was never bitter about them, even when he was with someone like Dante, who if he so wished, could afford a proper house in one of the outlying villages.

"Been busy lately?" Henry asked, signalling to the way Dante was holding his injured arm. He was of course referring to The Brotherhood, and whether he had made any recent kills. He doubted anything else could have caused his friend harm.

Sitting in a pub like this almost made Henry feel part of society. But every now and again, a sneer ot curse would make him remember that although he felt like a peasant, he was nothing more than a filthy low.

[Dante Grixis]

"Well should your roof cave, you're welcome over at my home anytime." Dante said and smiled.

Dante laughed when Henry indicated his arm. "I hate mages." He replied and continued. "I was told to go off a rogue Brotherhood member. Turns out the wizard was more powerful than anyone had expected." He said in a low voice so no one but Henry could hear it.

He had come close to dying that day, but since he had not it was just another story to tell. Dante drained his mug and motioned for the barkeeper to bring another round for them.

"So any exciting stories from the life of Henry?" He asked.

[Henry Renold]

Henry laughed. His life was anything but exciting.
"Well I haven't been in any battles with powerful mages recently!" Magicians were another of Henry's pet hates. He just felt they had too much power, although he may have been just a little jealous because he had none.
"No, the most exciting thing I have been doing lately is training." Normally Henry would have been a little more discrete about his training with The Dark Brotherhood, but he did not need to state the organization for Dante knew exactly what he meant.
"Its been difficult, but i can't say i don't enjoy it!"

"Perhaps we could spar sometime?" He grinned, "I'd like to try my hand against that longsword of yours?" He indicated the sword leaning agains the wall behind Dante.
Fighting was one thing Henry enjoyed completely. He could forget himself and concentrate on nothing but the rhythm of the battle. Status and magical ability didn't matter, as long as he had his weapon. He as yet did not know Grixis' abilty, but that would make it more of a challenge. He couldn't wait.

[Dante Grixis]

Dante nodded. "Sounds like fun." He replied. He had no idea what Henry's skills were at it was always exciting to fight someone new, the mysteries of their fighting style never ceased to amaze Dante. He smiled at his friend.

"You look hungry, let's get a bit to eat first." He said and asked one of the barmaids to bring them a platter of food. Moments later a platter with chicken and fruits was laid before them and each got a small pewter plate. Dante dished himself out some food and said "The meals here are a good as the drink." And took a long swallow of his ale.

[Henry Renold]

Henry shivered in anticipation of the fight, it was certainly going to be interesting. Most underestimated Henry's strength due to his size, but his slight build meant he was agile and able to evade attacks well.

Henry nodded at Dante's suggestion, and laid a few coins on the table. "I'll get the meals," He smiled, "I owe you!" Soon both men were shovelling food into their mouths, and talking in short sentences between mouthfuls.

"I gotta admit, this is pretty tasty" Henry agreed, helping himself to more chicken. It was one of the best meals he had eaten in ages and he was really feeling at ease with his friend, in the corner of a busy pub- something which didn't come easy.
With his stomach full and his tankard empty, Henry leant back in his chair. This must be how fat people feel he thought to himself, noticing a huge man in the opposite corner struggling to get into his chair. He chuckled and let out a loud belch.

Behind him some raised voices caught his attention. Someone was hassling the barmaid.
"Please sir, I need to get to the kitchens.." She said meekly, clearly scared of the 6-foot-something man in front of her. He laughed at her, and stroked her cheek with his giant hand.
Henry looked at Dante.

[Dante Grixis]

Dante was enjoying the food, particularly the chicken and grapes. He had several plates of it. "Thanks for the food Henry. I'll pick up the tab next time." He said and smiled at his friend.

"Please sir, I need to get to the kitchens.." Dante looked up and saw a big man harassing a small, young and quite beautiful barmaid.

Dante shook his head, grabbed the sheath with the short sword but didn't draw it. He stood up gave Henry a quick glance and barked "Hey! How about you leave the lady alone!"

The large man's attention quickly turned to Dante. "And what're you gonna do about it?" Dante sighed and sized his enemy up. He was a few inches taller than Dante and outweighed him by fifty pounds easily. Odds were playing in Dante's favor. The man was a simple bar brawler, Dante was a trained assassin. He wouldn't kill the man but he would put him in a world of hurt.

"I'll kick you rather large ass up and down the bar." Dante replied drawing a chuckle from the silent onlookers.

[Henry Renold]

Henry was surprised to see Dante standing up for someone the way he was, but he felt a sense of pride that he had picked out such a noble friend (if perhaps the word didnt suit him!).

With a slide of his hand, Henry had one of his hidden knives on show, and he held up to the light as if admiring its blade.
"How about i stand the other end and kick it straight back at you?" He grinned, still inspecting his blade. The man who did not look even slightly amused, suddenly started guffawing, clearly thinking there was no way he could be beaten by a tiny low and a average sized man. What he didn't know was definitely going to hurt him.

By this time the barmaid has slipped silently away and was watching from a crack in the kitchen door, with another girl who looked younger and even more terrified. While Henry was looking at them, checking they were safe, a massive fist hit him square in the nose, sending a spray of blood against the door and wall, at which the two girls screamed.

[Dante Grixis]

The attack came quickly and pummeled Henry in the face. "Oh for the love of Christ!" Dante yelled as he watched blood spray onto the wall. He quickly rammed the pommel of the sword into the mans stomach causing him to double over. Dante grabbed him by the back of the neck and brought his knee up hard to meet the mans face. The felt the mans nose break under the force of the blow.

The man reared back in pain and wild swing at Dante. Dante ducked low and kicked his feet out from under him. The man was sent toppling to the floor in a heap. Dante rose and kicked him repeatedly in the stomach as the man rose. Dante dodged a series of punches and landed a hit with the pommel on the mans already broken nose causing him to cry out in pain. Dante took the opportunity and rained punches on the mans face. The whole exchange took less than a minute

Finally the man staggered from the bar blood dripping from his face. Dante quickly turned and helped Henry from the floor. "You alright, Henry?

[Henry Renold]

As Henry crouched low in shock from the blow, Dante took control. Within a few minutes he had completely destroyed the mans face, breaking his nose on two seperate occasions and sent him running out of the bar.

Henry nodded as Grixis asked how he was, he had too much blood in his throat to talk and he was struggling to breathe. Although they had really saved the day, the owner of the bar was not looking at them with the happiest expression on his face. Henry took the hint and dragged Dante out of the bar with him, he didn't want any more trouble and no more broken bones either.

Once they were outside in the clod air, Henry managed to clear his throat, sending a rather large glob of sticky blood on to the ground.
"Thats better" He said nasally, his nose was still blocked up and he sounded as though he was pinching it. "Urgh, this is gonna hurt for a while!" His nose felt broken, but Henry was no doctor and it may have just been swollen. The bleeding would need to stop before he could tell what it looked like.

Wiping his nose on his sleeve and then cursing at the pain the pressure had caused, he thanked Dante for dishing out his revenge.
"Guess I wasn't much help back there!" He laughed, causing more blood to spray from his nostrils. "Ah, sorry!"

[Dante Grixis]

Dante laughed then winced as more blood came from his friend's nose. He reached into the folds of his cloak and handed him a rag to stop the bleeding a bit. His nose didn't look broken, just swollen which was good. Broken noses were often hard to fix. Night had fallen on the kingdom.

"He was easy." Dante said and laughed. Truth be told the man knew little about fighting, just as Dante had predicted. He was actually surprised that he had landed such a wide hit on Henry's agile frame.

Dante's breath came in wispy clouds. It was colder than it had been the past few nights and he pulled his hood up and wrapped his cloak tighter about him. "So Henry, where do we go?" He asked. They could go to another bar, an inn to get warm or just take in the night life of Camelot. It mattered not to him, he just didn't want to go home yet. The night was young and he was far from tired.

[Henry Renold]

Henry took the rag gladly and started to clear some of the blood off of his face, although since his nose was still bleeding it was a bit of a wasted effort.

Henry sent a new spray of blood as he laughed again along with Dante. It wasnt the ideal situation- standing in the freezing cold with a bloody and possibly broken nose, but Henry wouldnt have changed it for the world. It was nice to have something interesting happen and it was nice to have a friend.

Henry paused to consider where they should go now, his nose was easing up now, but his clothes were still soaked in blood.
"Well I'm not sure an inn or tavern would let me in in this state! Unless we headed to the slums?" To be honest Henry was quite enjoying the break from the dingy and seedy bars he usually visited and he didn't feel much like drinking anymore.
"We could do somehting exciting?" His eyes twinkled and he grinned at Dante.

[Dante Grixis]

Dante winced than laughed again as he watched Henry laugh and spray more blood onto himself. It really was a pitiful sight. "True, I doubt any bartender would want to have you bleeding all over his floor."

We could do something exciting

Dante grinned at his friend. Something exciting. His mind went through exciting things, things that he had always wanted to do but never had. Horse race? Not at night. Spar? Not in Henry's current condition. Get women? Fun, yes. Exciting, not really.

Suddenly his mind set on something. His eyes gleamed in a mischievous way and his grin widened. "Let's rob the magic guild." He said in a hushed excited tone. He expected this idea to be met with dismissive laughter but it was a genuine proposal. The magic guild had many valuable and interesting artifacts. It would certainly be challenging but they could live for six months on the money they could make from it. Plus neither of them had any chance of ever seeing it otherwise.