Date: Tuesday, 15 Jun 1993 12:12:24 EDT
From: Michael Sander <344LWKC@CMUVM.CSV.CMICH.EDU>
Message-ID: <93166.121224344LWKC@CMUVM.CSV.CMICH.EDU>
Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn
Subject: [BBD] A Year of Barside Evenings

[ADMIN: Credit for the title should really go to Andrea Evans, though she
 didn't know I'd post this. Thanks also in advance to Jill Thomas, even if we
 never really talked (and thus little is done)...]

The night wore on, time losing most of its meaning for Lancos and Arienne.
Outside, children stayed up later than they should have to watch fireworks;
people fought off and succumbed to demons; evil warped a hero, but was
defeated -- for now --, with only good coming from it. All this would not be
noted by this duo, who preferred to spend the night in conversation. Lancos
sat with facing a corner, his back to the crowd -- thus he would miss what
happened to his friend Luthor --, and happily traded stories and bits of his
life that he wished to be repeated with the beauty he saw before him.

But there is wisdom behind the saying "All good things must come to an end.".
And so it did for them, Arienne feeling the tiredness from a long day first.

They rose together, the warrior adding "Allow me to escort you up.", and
extending an arm.

Arienne allowed herself to blush slightly. She slipped her arm around his
gently, and pressed closer.

They slowly made their way across the room and up the stairs. They gained
the attention of more than one pair of eyes along the way, although neither
of them cared about that.

Soon -- all too soon, as far as Lancos was concenrned -- they reached her
room. She unlocked the door, and went in. The warrior was about to leave,
when she reappeared in the entryway, and he found his heart pounding in his
chest a bit. Finally, she spoke. "I _would_ invite you in, but I suppose you
could say I like things slow. And we've both got big days tomorrow." Something
told her to not end this tonight. Greed? Probably, since he wasn't the only
one that she could enact her brand of revenge upon, and the quest could easily
add to her wealth of possessions. Adventure? Maybe, since it _had_ been a
while since she'd done anything like this. Attraction? 'NO!' she told herself,
that could not be... could it?

The more animalistic side of Lancos was disappointed. But the practical and
romantic parts were only further charmed by her words -- she _did_ seem to
have a talent for pushing the right buttons.

Arienne saw the expression on Lancos' face, and smiled both inside and out.
"Well," she said, her purr returning in her voice. "I suppose a good night
kiss would do no harm.

She grabbed him, and quickly grinned when she felt no resistance. Their lips
pressed, and after a few seconds, so did their tongues. They held this pose
for around a minute, though to the participants, it seemed _much_ longer.
Hot breath warmed each of their necks; all outside noise was diminished,
replaced with the sound of skin touching skin and their hearts beating in
their ears; the smell of the other's natural scent filled the air nearby.
Sight was closed off, disregarded along with time in favor of this moment
of passion.

Their eyes opened; their lips parted again. And after this, there was no
reason for more words of goodbye. Arienne quietly entered her room and
closed the door.

A sigh escaped Lancos' mouth the moment she disappeared. He realized that
he had a lot of thinking to do. And he knew he could not do it effectively
in the Dragon's Inn; he would have to be alone with his thoughts. Outside,
then... he would have to return to the outdoors, to the realm of nature
which he had spent more of his time in than not.

He went to his own door, and unlocked it. He picked up and carried Bast,
who had remained quiet and largely unnoticed the entire night. In fact,
the warrior realized, the cat had never really spoken at all, and had not
been that finnicky since that first day they had met.

But time to reflect on that would come later. He set Bast down on the bed,
and allowed her to become comfortable. As he prepared places for her to eat
and something in case nature called, he spoke to her. "I'm going to go away
for a bit. I know I can't just thrust nature on you -- I almost made that
mistake with Little Rat. And I know you can take care of yourself, so no
complaining either. Besides, I'll be back tomorrow, so it's not like you'll
have to worry about starving to death or anything." Lancos felt a little
silly talking to the animal, despite the intelligent way its eyes followed
his movements; the way she looked at him, but somehow it also felt _right_.
He smiled to himself as he realized that at worst, it was another sign that
he needed to clear his head.

He exited the room, locking and closing the door behind him. He again
trodded upon the stairs of the Dragon's Inn, quickly making his way down.
On impulse, he decided to take the back way out, not really feeling like
encountering the party again.

By this time, he figured that things would have quieted down in much of the
town, but he took the less-traveled paths for safety's sake. He wasn't worried
about being threatened, especially on a night like this, when any thief would
have a _much_ easier target in some drunken partygoer.

However, just in case, he remained focused, not allowing unnecessary thought
enter his mind -- yet. He stayed in this mindset all the way to the East
Gate. Somewhat surprisingly, there was a guard on duty, and a sober one at
that.

"Ho there." the guard said. "Kinda late to be out ta the woods, don't ya
think?"

Lancos smiled. "Maybe for some, but you could say I'm more used to these
sort of hours. Besides, I'm able to handle myself out there, even in the
dead of the night."

The guard looked him up and down. Apparently satisfied with his ranger-like
attire, he nodded. "All right. Mainly wanted ta make sure ya weren't drunk
-- gotta watch out for stupid people, tonight especially. Just make sure
you're still in the same condition when ya come back." He opened the gate,
and motioned for the warrior to quickly step through.

Lancos smiled as he followed the directions. "If all goes well, I should
be _better_." He stepped through, and continued onto the woods.

The guard behind him stratched his head a bit in puzzlement, and closed the
gate. Then he went onto the most important job in a night shift: trying not
to fall asleep.

* * * *
For much of the night, Lancos was content to just walk around. The wind in his
hair, the sounds of animals filling the air, the thick grass under his feet;
all were familiar to him, and comfortable in a way. He became one with the
forest as best he could, making no marks and changing nothing where it was at
all avoidable. He headed south and slightly to the east, trusting his personal
compass to keep directions for him.

He eventually came upon a cave, and it was there he decided to do his thinking.
The cave was very large and spacious. In fact, it was the exact cave of the
blue dragon -- that Luthor and his companions had come upon -- had inhabited,
although Lancos did not know that. Nor would he find out, for he was content
to make his makeshift camp near the entrance, and not explore further.

Instead, he settled down, and tried to get some rest. But his mind would not
allow him the respite, and he found himself reflecting on his life to date:

...

[ADMIN: Sorry, folks, looks like I'll have to do this in two parts, due to
 time constraints. More later (today), though, I assure you...]

Michael Sander
344lwkc@cmuvm.csv.cmich.edu