"So there I was, I had them begging for more than just a tune, if you know what I mean and--"The regular tavern-goer cut him off,"Yer' a load of shite, Hargrave! Since when did ye play the feckin' flute?"
Gran took a swig from his mug,"Well, McDonnough, I'm a musician, an artist! Once you learn one instrument, the rest are just child's play!"
The rough dockworker grunted,"Ye? Then why 'ave I've never seen you with a flute then, ye koont?!"
"Well obviously it's because it was just too dangerous! I mean, McDonnough, my dear man, I know the definition of 'drowning in it' to you means literally falling in that scummy water you work in, but you'll have to understand it was just too dangerous. My life was at stake! I mean it's a beautiful instrument really but the female quivers at a man who can really get into that flu--"
The dockworker cut him off,"Alright, alright. Enoof."
Satisfied with himself, Gran smiled and took another swig of his mug. His counterpart, Aldrec, a Leobennite, interrogated him,"Zo, Hargrave, vhy are you going back to zhat shithole anyway? The.. operation.. has been making a lot of money, freunde! You're not going to leave your old partner just like that, eh?"
Gran furrowed his brows and pursed his lips, wagging a finger at Aldrec,"Aldry, don't use such language about Estavyr! It's not a shithole! No, that's The Fenplatz. Home sweet home. And I know you and I have got a good thing here, but the God's sakes man, the common man needs help!"
Aldrec rolled his eyes, turning to look into his ale,"Here ve go.."
Gran shoved his partner's shoulder,"Aldrec! Come on now, you see all the nobles walking about, with just their -clothes- being more than people like fuckin' McDonnough would ever make in his entire life!"
McDonnough offered a grunt and a middle finger as he took a sip of his alcoholic drink.
Aldrec sighed,"So your great-great-uncle or whatever got beheaded for being a man of the people and now you think you can grow up to be just like him?"
"Well, first of all, my mother has always said I was a reincarnation of -the- Milton Hargrave, and I'll have you know she's pretty sensitive to that sort of stuff! She once woke me up when I was a lad coming of age and yelled at me not to bring that whore in our house! I didn't know what the hell she meant, but the next morning I woke up passed out in the cellar with a wench on top of me. She saw the future! Anyway, no, Aldry, this is for the people of Fensplatz who live in the shit. I've got a man of like mindedness, a family friend, who I can trust with my eh.." He rolls his hands and talks in code to Aldrec,"Borrowed goods, to pawn them off and give them to the hungry and all that!"
Aldrec chuckled quietly,"You know you're still going to hell for fuckin' that nobleman's daughter the day before her wedding, this isn't going to get you out of it."
Gran sighed, defeated,"For the last time I'm not doing this for me, friend! I'm doing this for the people! Don't worry, we'll still share that spot in eternal damnation like I promised you that one starry night, okay Aldry?" Gran brushed a finger along Aldrec's stubble mockingly, Aldrec smacked his finger away and muttered to him in his native tongue. "Arschloche."
"Haha! What time is it?" Gran turned around and squinted out the window,"Oh fuck me, looks like it's almost noon, I need to catch a boat." He stood from the barstool, as did his partner. They both looked at each other, and took each other's innerforearms with one hand, gripping their shoulders with the other. Aldrec nodded once,"Gran Hargrave you're still the foulest man this side of Aldinor, no matter how many 'good deeds' you do."
Gran grinned and replied,"And you're still the scummiest heathen ever to come out of Leoben. Good luck, brother." They broke apart and Gran walked towards the door, turning to Aldrec and pointing a finger,"If I don't see you again, tell the Reaper to keep my spot next to you in hell open." He swung the door open, Aldrec calling out,"Implying -I- vill die first! Haha!"
And so, having said goodbye to his partner in crime, literally, the tipsy Gran pushed through the crowd to the skimmer that would bring him home to Estavyr.
