Jack was in a good mood despite his throbbing foot. While not everything had gone as planned, things were more or less on track. He'd splinted and wrapped his foot, so it was relatively immobile, then took some anti-inflammatories and a small dose of pain meds to take the edge off any pain. However, he couldn't take enough medication to make the pain go away completely. He needed a clear head for any further negotiations.
The final part of his new ensemble was a stylish makeshift pair of crutches he had fashioned out of some kindling Mar'kon had lying around. Jack wouldn't trust them for long term use, but they should get the job done for an evening.
S'haar had watched Jack as he went about administering basic first aid to himself, noting the similarities to what she had learned in the guard and asking questions about the differences. She had been particularly interested in Jack's medication being in tablet form, noting that the drugs she had taken in the past had been a foul-smelling and tasting drink. Jack had explained that keeping it in tablet form helped with the flavor, kept it stable a lot longer, and allowed for easier storage.
With S'haar's guidance, Jack was hobbling his way over to the woodworking portion of the village's crafting section. Once he got there, he was somewhat surprised to find himself approached by a female argu'n. While he was still no expert in argu'n physiology, he'd place her at about half again older than S'haar, putting her in early middle age by Jack's best guess. Also, she was more muscular than S'haar, probably due to years of hard work and heavy lifting involving the lumber of her trade.
Jack held out his hand in greeting and spoke. S'haar, growing used to the arrangement they had, translated. "Greetings, my name is Jack, this is my friend and translater S'haar, and I'm here to trade for some supplies. I take it you are in charge here, miss...?"
As the argu'n in front of him crossed her arms, Jack couldn't help but notice the muscles rippling under her skin. It was kind of intimidating, and he had to resist the urge to step back behind S'haar. "That would be Lady Fea'en, and yes, I'm in charge here. What sort of supplies are you looking for?"
Her words were gruff and to the point, as though she was more interested in getting back to work than negotiations. Jack held up his hands in a pacifying gesture before continuing. "I apologize. I meant no disrespect Lady Fea'en. I'm looking to trade some refined iron ore for a wagon and some basic woodworking tools."
Lady Fea'en raised an eye ridge as she contemplated his words before replying. "Why not just have old Mar'kon make you a new set of tools? Your tools would be far less worn if you got them directly from the smiths."
Jack nodded and grinned. After the politics earlier, it was a nice change of pace talking with someone who spoke their mind. "True, but I'm leaving in the morning, and I'd need the tools before then, so I'm willing to trade enough iron ore to make you two sets of new tools over the next couple weeks, give or take, in return for 1 set of used tools still in good condition.
Fea'en barely thought a moment before replying. "Done. Now when you say wagon, are you looking for something to be pulled by an arlack or a hand cart?"
As she spoke, she walked away, leading them into a nearby crude warehouse. Jack followed while answering. "A handcart, please. Something S'haar could push continually for four hours while it is fully loaded."
Fea'en nodded before leading them over to a corner with several handcarts broken down in various stages of disrepair. "You're in luck. Usually, a job like that would take me a few days to put together. However, with the end of the season, I had several worn or broken down carts traded in for some credit toward next season. If I cannibalize a few of them, I should be able to have a cart put together for you tonight. I could have it delivered loaded with the tools you asked for first thing in the morning. I'll do it for double again the iron you promised. Now before you try and negotiate that down further, I'm already giving you a great price on account of the entertainment you two provided my workers and myself earlier, so it's a take it or leave it kind of deal."
Jack decided he liked Fea'en. Maybe it's just that the last two people he'd dealt with had been B'arthon and then lord A'ngles, but her no-nonsense way of doing business was a nice change of pace. "I'll take it. Mar'kon should have the iron purified over the next couple of days. You'll get the first pick of the ore. If you don't mind, I'd like a quick look at the woodworking tools you have, so I'll know about how much iron I'll have left for other trades."
Fea'en showed them a few tools, most of which were similar enough to what Jack was familiar with, even if their forms differed slightly. Axes, hammers, saws, chisels, and planes were all included in the offer.
There were a few odds and ends he wasn't familiar with, and Jack decided to take them back to show Angela and get her to take on them. If nothing else, he was sure she'd love to see where argu'n innovation differed from their own. After a little bit of renegotiation based on the quantity of metal in the tools in question, they parted ways.
As Jack walked away, he lightly brushed his foot across the ground, causing pain to shoot from the impact throughout the rest of his leg. After he took a moment to collect himself, and explain to S'haar that he wasn't actually propositioning the gods so much as expressing frustration, Jack decided it was about time to call it a night. Luckily S'haar knew the location of the inn and led the way. Jack hobbled after, doing his best not to voice his thoughts about the unnatural solidity of argu'n chins.
-
When the pair first walked into the inn, they were greeted by a boisterous gathering. The crowd seemed to be mostly made up of locals relaxing after their day of labor, calling out to each other and the servers in as emphatic and noisome fashion as possible, in an attempt to be heard over everyone else doing the same. While there were many argu'n running from table to table laden down with food and drink, one server, in particular, seemed to be in high demand. She was somehow managing to keep track of ongoing conversations with three different tables before moving about to whatever group most loudly demanded her attention next.
Just as Jack was beginning to wonder how in the world they were going to get anyone's attention in all this chaos, the energetic argu'n's eyes shot to Jack and S'haar. All other cries for her attention fell on deaf ears, much to the dismay of everyone else, as she hustled over to greet the pair.
Jack would place the approaching argu'n at a similar age to S'haar, but where S'haar was tall and athletic, the new argu'n could only be described as petite, relatively speaking. After all, the top of Jack's head almost came all the way up to her nose. She moved with the grace only someone used to carrying trays of food through a crowded dining room could have.
Stolen story; please report.
Jack started to wonder if inhuman coordination should be included in the annoyingly long list of advantages the argu'n possessed.
With a wave of her hand and a flash of a smile, she greeted the pair. Jack tried his best not to be intimidated by how many teeth her smile seemed to contain, but once she spoke, her bright and cheerful personality was hard to be frightened of. "You must be the two I was told to expect! Lord A'ngles asked me to hold a seat for you at his table as well as the best room in the inn. Not that there's a lot of choice in that regard, but it's the best of the three rooms I have. I'm Sur'ruin, by the way, this is my inn, and your table is this way."
As she flittered through the crowd, she slapped the occasional wandering hand away, somehow managing to be charming even when she had to tell off the occasional drunk. Finally, arriving at the table in question, she gestured to one of her servers, who brought over a pitcher and a couple clean mugs.
Taking the pitcher and pouring the two mugs for her guests, Sur'ruin continued her explanation. "Your meal will be out shortly. We've had it warming for a little while in anticipation of your arrival. Once you're ready to call it a night, just head upstairs, it's the last room at the end of the hallway. If you need anything more, just signal for me. I'll keep an eye out just for you!" Then she was on her way, working the crowd just like before.
Shortly after she left, a train of servers came over with their meal. The table that had seemed too large for the two of them suddenly seemed far too small for the mountain of food that was surely testing its legs' carrying capacity.
S'haar did her best not to dig into the meal placed before her as eagerly as her mouth and stomach demanded. Jack was glaring between her and her meal with something between jealousy and mild hatred. "You know, one of the first things I'm going to do when we get back is to test the food of this world to see what's safe for me to eat as well. It's one of the greatest tragedies of my crash that you get this feast to yourself while all I have is another couple of ham sandwiches..."
S'haar couldn't disagree with his assessment, but there was no way she was turning this meal down. She had never eaten this well in her time in the guard. Even the food she'd had in her time with Bar'thon had been too rich for her taste. This was a simple but well-prepared feast. There were a wide variety of fruits, roots, and tubers her mother could have probably named. They'd been cooked, so they were crisp on the outside and juicy on the inside. To top everything off, the centerpiece of the meal was an entire side of roast arlack. S'haar knew she wouldn't be able to finish half of this in one sitting, but she was determined to put as much of a dent in it as she could before packing away the rest for the trip back. All this was washed down with the best drink the inn had to offer.
Jack examined the mug the innkeeper had placed before him. "It looks something like mead." After sniffing it, his face contorted somewhat. "But I'd place to alcohol content somewhat closer to a whiskey. Will drinking a mugful of this affect your judgment significantly?"
S'haar looked at her drink a moment before gulping down another mouthful. "Well, if I drink enough, it would, but two or three mugs shouldn't have much of an effect."
Jack shook his head. "So chalk alcohol tolerance up as another area of unfair argu'n physiology. For the record, one full "mug" of that stuff would probably leave me well and truly wasted, assuming there's not something else in there that would simply kill me instead.
Jack set his drink down with a sigh. I'd better steer clear of this if I'm gonna be taking a larger dose of pain meds so I can sleep through the night. Just a heads up, they'll leave me kind of out of it, so you'll have to keep your wits about you, so we're not both vulnerable.
S'haar took a large bite out of her arlack before replying. "No offense, but as far as I'm concerned, you're always vulnerable whether you have full use of your senses or not. I have no plans on getting drunk while we're outside your home, and I'm acting as a bodyguard."
Jack looked like he wanted to protest her claims for a moment before deciding to take a large bite out of his sandwich instead. While he didn't mind fighting for a lost cause, he knew better than to challenge S'haar, so shortly after he'd already proved her point for her by breaking his foot.
Meanwhile, S'haar abandoned all pretense of not enjoying her meal, digging in with a gusto that would have put a viking feast hall to shame back on earth. Somehow she managed to take the occasional drink despite always having both hands full of different cuts of meat. A hand would only stay empty long enough to grab another fist full of whatever caught her eye next.
Her eating habits might have lost Jack his appetite if everything didn't look and smell so delicious. On the other hand, it was good to see S'haar enjoying herself so much. She'd certainly earned her keep, and more, this afternoon.
Jack took another bite of his sandwich and smiled to himself. It might not have gone as smoothly as he'd liked, but he'd accomplished what he'd set out to. Now Jack had various contacts and connections within the village, and over time those connections might even turn into friends and allies in his quest to get back home. In return, maybe he'd teach them a thing or two to help them avoid some of the pitfalls humanity had gotten stuck in back on earth. All in all, Jack was feeling rather proud of himself.
-
S'haar cursed Jack for the first time since she had started to get to know him. She knew it wasn't entirely his fault. He was acting drunk because of his pain meds and not because he'd overindulged the way the village men tended to do. He'd even warned her something like this might happen. Still, she had to resist the urge to slap some sense into him. As delicate as he was, she'd probably break his jaw or something, and she didn't want to have to explain herself to Angela when she got back to the cave.
She'd given up on trying to guide him to the room and instead just picked him up and carried him upstairs. She ignored the varying degrees of laughter and smirks that followed her out of the room. Jack was muttering something about how back on earth it was the groom's job to carry the bride, whatever the hell a groom or bride were.
She briefly amused herself by contemplating dumping him on the floor to fend for himself but decided against it. He was injured, not to mention with his delicate constitution, he might just kill himself trying to get to the chamber pot in the middle of the night. Being the bodyguard to someone so weak was more annoying than she'd anticipated. She was starting to think the compensation they'd offered her wasn't so outlandish after all.
Jack's clouded and wondering eyes suddenly focused on S'haars, and when he spoke, his voice was definitely slurred. "First of all, I'm not delicate! You all are just freakishly durable... Furthermore... you know, I always thought you were kinda sexy in an exotic alien chick kind of way..."
Just as S'haar was starting to seriously reconsider that slap from earlier, Jack passed out and started drooling on himself almost immediately. With a sigh full of long-suffering exasperation, S'haar tucked Jack in for the night.
That done, she went back downstairs to pack the remainder of her meal away only to find Sur'ruin waiting with it already packed and ready. Handing it over, Sur'ruin spoke with a mischievous glint in her eyes. "You know, when I heard about all the excitement and trouble the two of you caused this afternoon, I was expecting someone more imposing than your companion. I imagine someone so small that can also cause such an uproar must be quite the challenge to watch out for."
S'haar couldn't help but let a little of her exhaustion show. "You have no idea..."
With a conspiratorial wink, Sur'ruin added, "Still, at least he's kinda cute in an odd sort of way. It makes you wanna wrap him up and take him home like some kind of lost housepet."
S'haar didn't know what to say to that. Instead, she muttered her thanks, took the meal upstairs, and stored it with the rest of their belongings. That done, she settled in for the night as well, falling to sleep after one final thought. "Why did Sur'ruin's description of Jack bother me so much?"