Tabletops and Tablebottoms Ch. 02

"That was really quite good," he says simply, wiping himself off with a rag. "Thank you, stranger." Your reply is reciprocal, even ordinary. He just laughs, smiling to himself at the state of you both. He offers you the rag, wiping the evidence of sex off of you. Then, he offers you a small, pounded gold coin, from his magnificent veil. A keepsake. Sex with him.... Somehow, it felt so distant now. But it was still pretty great.

You stumble, fully clothed, out of the back room, back into the bar. You try not to meet the barkeep's eye, but you do hear his knowing chuckle trail you out of The Pink Orchid. The performer didn't follow. Your heart throbs dimly at that, but you know this was the flow of things such as this.

Outside the bar, the sign-spinner catches your eye once again. "My friend!" he calls to you. "I see you go in earlier, and you are the last one out!" His grin was wide, showing off a few gilded, bejewelled teeth. "Let me guess--you are the lucky man with the biggest tip of the night, eh?" You blush somewhat and look away, but he is unrelenting.

"Ahh, it's alright my friend. Zinnian is special, isn't he?" He sighs wistfully. "Yes, special indeed. Ask any man this side of the sea--all will remember their one and only time with the Magnificent bard."

Bard?! The thought is dull in your head, and an image of Zinnian's glimmering emerald gaze fills your memory. No wonder!