Tavern Brawls S06WK04

Raucous laughter emanated from The Two Brothers as the figure approached.  He’d tried to do this previously, but that nosy thief had gotten in his way and ruined his plans.  At the end of the day, it was of little consequence, but he had to admit it had been very annoying.  ‘In fact,’ he thought to himself, ‘if he had a silver piece for every time someone had tried to steal his wand and broken it, causing some kind of injury, he’d have two silver pieces – which isn’t a lot, but it’s still weird it’s happened twice.’

Shaking his head, the figure opened the door of the tavern just in time to hear the shorter of the two owners shout above the noise of the room while standing again on the bar as he had at the beginning of the event.

“Great job to everyone so far!” Chris shouted to the crowd.  “We’re about a third of the way through the Brawl and the competition has been fierce!”

The crowd gave a renewed shout and drinks were toasted high in the air.

“Our feature match last week saw the Decepticons dazzle the Knights of Cydonia with tales of music, then bring the #1 Knights from their allegro pace at the top to largo!”

A hush spread through the room as patrons looked at each with confusion.  “Did you say ‘Al’s eggs?”  A lone voice could be heard shouting from the far corner.  “Is that where they all came from?”

Chris frowned.  “Al’s eggs?  No, allegro.  It means they were moving fast and then…never mind.  They brought down the number 1 ranked team 5-0.  I smell a rivalry for the playoffs!”

This, the crowd understood.  A big shout came from the table of the Decepticons, with many going over to clink a glass with the Knights as a sign of respect.

“Speaking of wins, a promise is a promise.  As a thank you for taking down Gillyflower, here’s a free round of drinks for OptimusRhyme and the A.U.T.O.B.O.T.S.  Gillyflower, please tell your sponsor CorranRust he’s a good sport and I owe him a drink too.”

The A.U.T.O.B.O.T,S, instead of cheering, began shouting lyrical nonsense at the crowd.  After a moment of two of this, nearby tables started throwing bits of leftover bread and vegetables at the team.  Laughing, the recipients of the free drinks sat and refreshed themselves with their beverages.

—–

The man who had come alone worked his way towards the bar and the back rooms, staying close to the wall to avoid drawing attention to himself.  This would have been easier with his long coat and hood, but he hadn’t been able to get the chicken droppings out of it and didn’t want to embarrass himself walking around town with it on.

—–

“I know the 5th round matchups have been announced,” continued Chris, “so I won’t keep you from your fights much longer.  But, I do have one warning for you.”

He turned to the French Connection table.

“Do NOT scare the wait staff again.  If you do, you may find more than ale in your cup next time.”

—–

The man watched the young owner climb off the bar and talk easily to a few patrons that had cozied up to the bar.  He continued his way towards the back room when he heard the proprietor shout, “Hey, Doc!  You here to see Kevin?”.  

Doc turned around to face Chris.  “I am.  He’s probably not expecting me though, so if he’s not here I can come back another time.  N-no problem.”

Chris waved the notion away.  “Of course he’s here.  I think he’s taking inventory of the eggs and arrows.  We need to redo our count since everything was scrambled.  You get it?  Scrambled?”

Doc laughed nervously.  ‘Does he know?’ he wondered.

“Anyway,” Chris went on, “he should be in the pantry.  I have to stay out here to help tonight, but make yourself at home.”  With that, he pointed at one of the many heads surrounding the bar to get a drink order.

Doc turned and made his way into the back area.  This had been a long time coming between himself and Kevin.  He didn’t really want to do this, but this was bigger than himself.  This was about family.