The tavern door opened, letting out sounds of conversation and letting in the sound of cheerful whistling as an elven man in brightly colored clothing stepped through it. Conversations slowed or stopped for a moment as the patrons, mostly sailors, turned to look at him before resuming whatever they were doing before. The elf returned the glances casually before heading to the back of the inn.
"Heya, Allycat, brought you something!" he called out as he reached the entrance to the kitchen. A wary-looking waitress stuck her head out the doorway in response, looked at the elf for a moment, and then disappeared back inside. Still smiling, but looking somewhat puzzled, the elf waited.
"Just a minute," came a voice from inside. The waitress reemerged a moment later with full mugs in each hand. The elf smoothly stepped out of her way and examined her intently as soon as she passed him to bring the drinks to a table. Relaxing his gaze as she turned, he smiled warmly at her. "Allie not here today?" he asked as she returned to where he was standing.
"No. Not today, and not in the future," she responded, looking anywhere but directly at him. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I've..."
"I'm sorry to keep you," he interrupted smoothly, "but I've brought her a gift, so if she's started working elsewhere, I'd appreciate a tip on where to bring it, which I'd gladly return."
She glanced at his face for a moment, and then looked away. "We buried her yesterday, so you can take it to the graveyard, I guess."
The elf stared at her for a moment, his warm smile receding to a slight upturn of his lips. "What happened?"
"Look, I really don't want to talk about it and I've got customers to serve," she said, turning away, "so if you'll excuse me, I need..."
The elf caught her by the shoulder and gently but firmly turned her back around. "I'm afraid I also need. I need to know. What happened?" The waitress stared at her feet. Long, gentle fingers touched her chin. "Look at me," the elf continued. She looked up, and was caught for a moment in the brilliance of gemstone eyes against red hair. "What is your name," the elf asked gently.
"I'm... I'm Enne," she answered. There was something compelling about his gaze.
"N?" the elf asked, blinking. "Like the letter? Did you once work for the Golemworks, by chance?"
"What? No, E-n-n-e," she responded, spelling it out. "And I've never even been to the golemworks district. Why do you ask?"
"For a moment, I thought you shared a naming convention with a rather unusual personality that calls the Golemworks home, that's all."
"Oh?" The conversation had started to become surreal for Enne, but somehow she didn't know how to get out of it.
"Yes, that's the one! So, you have heard of him!" The elf beamed at her.
"What? What are you talking about?" Enne responded, utterly confused.
The elf sighed, his expression returning to the gentle smile he had worn earlier. "Never mind, it isn't important. What's important is what happened to Allie. Tell me what happened."
Again, there was something in his expression, or perhaps just his eyes, that made Enne answer. "She was killed a couple nights ago. Her body was found floating in the waters with her throat cut. Watch said it was a deep, clean cut, but no other injury. Nobody saw or heard anything, though." The pain of the memory of that conversation suddenly brought tears to Enne's eyes. Angrily, she rubbed them away and looked down again.
"I'm sorry," the elf said after a moment. Even in two words, the voice conveyed warmth and comfort. "How did you know her?"
"We were roommates, once, in the slums, back before she got this job. When I was at the funeral, I met the woman who owns this place and she offered me the position." She looked back up at him again. "Who are you, and how did you know her?"
The elf's smile broadened slightly. "I'm Loopi," he said with a slight bow, "and I met her almost a year ago while touring the taverns of the spire. We got along extremely well, so I kept coming back."
"Oh, *you're* Loopi," Enne said suddenly, and then turned slightly pink. "Ah, Allie talked about you sometimes."
Loopi grinned. "Good things, I hope."
Her blush deepened several shades. "Uh, yes, uhm, yes, she talked about good things."
Loopi cocked his head slightly and looked at Enne for a few moments, still grinning, then reached into a pouch and removed a small painted carving of a man flat on his back with his arms splayed to either side, and a large annoyed-looking cat with a notched ear sinking its claws into his face. From the clothing, the man was intended to be a sailor. Loopi looked at the carving for a moment, turning it around, and then handed it to Enne. "I made this for Allie when I was away. I think she would have liked it." He raised his gaze to her face, the grin returning to a light smile. "I like my art to be appreciated, so if you would like it as a memento, I would rather it were cherished by you than forgotten at a grave," he said, offering the carving to her.
She took it, and smiled in spite of herself, for somehow Allie's annoyed expression when she had to deal with a drunken sailor had translated very well to the cat.
"I'll take that as a yes," the elf said nonchalantly.
Enne looked up quickly. "Oh, yes, yes, thank you."
Loopi turned and looked about the room. "Well, I won't take up too much more of your time today," he said, and then turned back to her. "Thank you for talking to me."
"You're welcome," she answered, looking at the carving. "And yes, I should get back to work."
The elf nodded, turned, and left, humming an odd, lilting melody.
---
Sunset had turned the sky over the cemetery into a beautiful wash of colors, contrasting with the dull grey stones, which contrasted again with the brightly colored clothing of the elven man kneeling down in front of a recent grave.
"Oops," the elf said, simply.
I'll see you again soon, I'm sure. The words echoed in his head for a while as the sky darkened. Eventually, as the last light faded, he stood and left without saying another word.
---
"Ami kaz, ne habatas, go nori!"
Called out in forceful, precise syllables, the human woman's incantation had no visible effect. Muttering under her breath, she returned to a table set incongruously against the cave wall and crossed out several lines in a notebook.
"No luck?" a man's voice called out.
The woman looked up suddenly and a smile lit up her face. "Loopi! No, well, sometimes you have to go through the things that don't work to find the things that do."
Loopi crossed the distance between them in a few graceful strides and offered the woman a hug, which she accepted. "What brings you here?" she asked.
Loopi pulled back just far enough to look at her face with a smile. "Oh, just wanted to stop in and say hello, make sure you were okay."
The woman looked into his eyes with concern. "Something I should be worried about?"
"No, no, not at all," he answered, chuckling. "I just wanted to see you. Oh, I brought you a gift." He reached into a bag and withdrew a small wrapped packet.
"Reagents? Oh, yes, thank you! I was starting to run low." She brought them to the table and placed them in a bag at one side.
Loopi cleared his throat. "I know you're busy studying, and I won't keep you from it long. I just wanted to see you."
She grinned at him. "I'm glad to see you, too."
He smiled. "Well, I'll leave you to your studies. Good luck."
"Thank you," she said simply.
He nodded, hesitated a moment, then turned and left.
Copyright © 2004-2005 by Zed Pobre. All rights reserved. This text is NOT available under a Creative Commons license.
