Something was happening in the area the workers were now calling Fort Beer; Billy and Vern were yelling at each other and all the ACME managers seemed to be involved in some sort of drama. Rolly and Ben kept their heads low and snuck into the tavern. To their surprise, Zephyr was behind the bar, wearing a dress similar to what Suzette wore, and polishing glasses.

"Morning guys, Suzette is upstairs waiting for you. She said, and I quote, 'Tell Ben and Rolly to come upstairs, and if Ozzy comes in tell him to piss off. He already got what he wanted for breakfast,' and I have no clue what's going on."

"I never know what's going on. It's easier that way. " Rolly went to the kitchen for the hot muffins he could smell and came back with a half dozen.

Ben grabbed a muffin and asked Zephyr, "Is this a new job for you? Aren't you a tad young?"

Zephyr nodded her head in agreement. "Dad and I made a deal. I'm too young to drink in the bar, but not too young to work. If I can kill things in a dungeon and make bombs, I should be able to work in a tavern. Both of us want to figure out this mixology skill Suzette has. Way too useful for alchemy."

"The wonders of the Barmaid class. Carry on then and ignore me," Ben waved and upstairs. Suzette was sitting on her bed, knees drawn up and her head resting on them."

Rolly paused at the door. "Is it safe to come in? You don't look like a happy camper."

Suzette stood up, frowning, "No, I'm not happy. I'm pissed off. I'm mad at Ozzy, mad at myself, and can't figure it out."

Ben moved carefully into the room. He'd rather steal a cub from a mama bear than deal with an angry woman. "Well, Rolly and I just wanted to eat breakfast and get a good spot to watch the war....". He didn't get further with his speech before she started pacing back and forth and talking.

"If he's going to fool around behind my back with some hell-spawned bimbo he should warn me first!! That hussy even waved at me and winked!"

She grabbed Ben's arm, "It's not like I'm jealous or anything! Right? He's just being unreasonable."

Ben shook his head. "Nope, sounds very unreasonable of him. Shocking behavior. Since when did he start having a fling with Layla? I can see why you're worried. He shouldn't be slumming with the upper management."

Suzette blinked several times and then giggled. "No, a different hell-spawned bimbo. Like one really from hell; no clothes, bat wings, horns, curves all over the place. I caught them lip-locked over by his bar-b-que pit."

Rolly decided to not help, "Was she cute? I bet she was cute. The bad girls always have the best looks. Maybe Ozzy can bring her dungeon crawling. If she has hell-spawn powers, it would help with the rat hordes. Did she really have wings? Wings are cool."

Ben yelled at Rolly, "Not being at all helpful!"

Rolly crossed his arms, smiling, "Wasn't trying to be helpful."

Suzette ignored the bug and his pet boy, and looked up at Ben, "Truthfully, tell me, would you be jealous?"

Ben got a serious look on his face. "Absolutely. Ozzy is making time with a bat-winged bimbo from hell? I'm very jealous. She could do much better than him. He doesn't even have a fancy hat."

Stolen novel; please report.

Suzette crossed her arms and turned her back on them, "I hate all of you. No muffins for you!"

Ben saw Ozzy coming up the steps that led to the room, "Oh, thank god. We can aim Suzette at Ozzy, and get our muffins while she's killing him."

Ozzy was packing a large tray from the inn, "Don't start killing me until you get the food."

Rolly relieved him of the tray, "Nice! Real food. The kind you have to pay for! " The platter had pancakes, a dozen sausages, eggs, fruit, toast, and a crock of preserves, along with a steaming pitcher of hot coffee.

Ozzy looked at Suzette, "Since I ruined the breakfast you made me, I went to the Inn and bought breakfast for the group. Had to bribe the cook - she's packed this morning. Lots of Billy's mercenaries eating there."

Suzette got some toast and nearly fainted in joy at the smell of the coffee. "Doesn't get you off the hook. At all. Who was that you had wrapped around you, and how long has that been going on?!"

Ozzy looked a bit sheepish, "Well, just about 15 minutes before you got there. Lil was really happy with the deal I made, and I guess she got a bit excited. And I, uh, well I guess I didn't put up too much of a fight. Luckily, you scared her off."

"You know her name? Did you get her phone number too? Set up a date?"

"Uh...."

"What?! You’re actually dating her!"

Ozzy backed up a couple of steps and raised his hands. Suzette advanced. Ben noticed she was about a foot off the floor and her hands were glowing.

Rolly tossed a sausage to Squirmie, and got another for himself, "Best breakfast ever. We should do more of these."

Ozzy was talking as fast as he could, "Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to piss you off, it just happened. I was working on a deal. I needed to pick up some COR so I could learn smoke magic in tier 2. Part of the deal is a date, it's supposedly a requirement for any deal with a hellion, even my lawyer said so."

Ben turned to Rolly, "Damn, that's slick, even the gnome backs him up on this dating thing."

"You promise it was to get magic?" Suzette noticed she was somehow floating and made a small 'eep' noise. Ozzy put his hands on her shoulders and pushed her down.

"Seriously. It was all about getting magic. I didn't want to pass up a chance to get it, but I had to get a higher score in COR. It sounds useful and fun. Joe can do some amazing things with it. If you had a way to get a Tier 2 aspect, I know you'd try as well."

"Yeah, guess I would. Look, I’ll forgive you, but we need to talk. Like, really talk. About us. No more of us keeping everything bottled up." Suzette felt all the anger wash away. Ozzy had hit too close to the mark. "But you can't go on that date without me. I don't trust her. You get a chaperone."

"Deal."

Ben whispered to Rolly, "The man is a master at this romance stuff. He turned a normal date with a hellspawn into a double date."

Rolly stood up and headed for the stairs. "Breakfast is nearly gone, and you two aren't mad at each other - can I get second breakfasts now?"

Suzette gave Ozzy a quick hug, "I'm sorry," then broke away. "Go for it, Rolly. Tell Granya I'm paying for it and bring us more food."