The carpenter went over to the masons and started talking to them, gesturing towards the inside of the tower. When the masons got inside and saw the ramps, the looks on their faces were priceless.
I guess they weren't enjoying the scaffolding very much, Eddie thought, then turned and left the site to check on his other projects.
~ ~ ~
His next stop was the tavern. The building was definitely complete, but when he walked inside the new wooden floor creaked underfoot.
Huh, it shouldn't creak like that. I wonder if it's the wood or if something was placed poorly, he thought.
He shrugged off the concern, not willing to give it much thought unless it became a problem. When he looked around there were carpenters working on furniture all over the room. It looked like half the room was already filled with completed furniture. Eddie recognized the chairs as having come from the blueprints he'd purchased for furniture for the houses. The tables were different though, circular instead of square.
I should check and see if one of my carpenters who had the skill previously knew that and volunteered it. Get the blueprint for myself and maybe reward them for giving up being the only one who can make them around here.
The furniture was all rough, as he'd expected for a place that was liable to see bar fights, and easy to replace. Ollie stood behind the bar, organizing things to his liking.
“You need anything, Ollie?” Eddie asked.
“You didn't tell me there was a kitchen attached,” Ollie complained.
“It isn't a full kitchen. I'm just used to having snacks available in a tavern. I recommend you use it, but that's up to you,” Eddie replied. “If you want, I can volunteer a few recipes to whoever you get to run the kitchen for the type of snacks that go well with drinking.”
Damn, I can't figure out an easy way to do nachos and there isn't enough cheese yet anyhow, but maybe fries or potato skins. Wait, fish should be cheapish by now, maybe fish and chips? Although I won't confuse them with that name, fish and fries works just as well and then they don't have to get used to two names for the same thing. I'm sure there are other things too, maybe a list of about five to ten items that they can cycle through, have different things available each night?
Ollie was still speaking and Eddie barely caught up with what he was saying, having been lost in his own thoughts for a moment.
“... get to the kitchen eventually. At the start I'm just going to do the beers. I got the two hogsheads you were talking about. Who was that guy that delivered them? He was big as a mountain!”
“That must've been Bjorn. He's a hauler working for the town. Someone must have drafted him to bring those down when they saw the size of them, or maybe Dominic tempted him into doing it by the offer of one of his special brews.”
“Well, whoever he was, he set those massive casks in place as gently as a sheep cleaning its lambs.”
“That was definitely Bjorn. I swear the man could probably pick his wagons up and carry them along easier than the oxen pull them,” Eddie said.
Eddie looked around.
“You'll be all set to open today then?”
“If these guys finish building the furniture they said they would in time, I'll be open before dinner time.”
“Okay, good then. I approve of waiting on the kitchen. Do you want me to see if I can find you some kitchen help? Someone with a decent cooking score?”
“Yeah, that'd be good. My wife's a fine barmaid, but she can't cook to save her life. Maybe to end it, her cooking's that bad, but not to save it.”
“I heard that,” a voice called from somewhere else in the tavern and Ollie's face took on a nervous look.
“Well then, I guess I'm all set. Maybe I'll stop by for a drink myself later on tonight, see how things are going,” Eddie said, waving as he turned and headed for the door.
I just cleared up some trouble in my own relationship, I do not need to get involved in Ollie's, he thought as he hurried his steps towards the door.
He stopped by the pond next, just sitting and watching Lucky for a few minutes. He couldn't imagine how she kept doing what she was for hours at a time without getting bored, but she looked happy as she slapped the water over the koi, then raced it to the other side of the pond.
“Lucky, I'll be at the general store site if you need me. Going to do some work there,” Eddie called.
The bobcat turned and looked at him for a second, then she sniffed at the ground and followed her nose for a moment before looking at him again and giving a Chuff!
“Yeah, I know you can track me, but I thought it was more polite to tell you. Would you rather I wasn't polite with you?” he asked.
This time Lucky ignored him, focusing her attention back on the koi.
Eddie made his way back to the general store to find that the stonework was almost two-thirds done by this point. Tiana wasn't back yet, but Jern was still there, doing his own work while trying to ignore the other masons.
Eddie slipped down into the hole and moved over next to Jern, starting to work almost immediately.
“Finally, someone who works with some sense,” Jern said. “You wouldn't believe what the other masons wanted to do. Wanted the stairs down into the basement done before they built the wall that went behind the stairs! I swear, sometimes I wonder about some of these people.”
“Not everyone likes ropes, Jern. Something you should know very well,” Eddie said.
The dwarf turned to glare at him, then returned his gaze to his work.
“I do know it, and if I can climb a rope to get down here, then they can damned well do the same,” he fumed.
The dwarf was over his irritation quickly, starting to jest with Eddie a few minutes later as they worked. By dinner time, Tiana had joined them and the general store's basement stone work was nearly completed. The store was ready to have the carpentry work started, but they decided to put that off until tomorrow.
“At least we'll have lots more carpenters available, and the more skilled ones at that,” Eddie said, relating how Colborn had told him that they had the carpenters with lower skills doing the houses to improve their skills.
“And, since this is a more complex project, your more skilled ones are more likely to pick up a point or two themselves,” Jern said. “Now that's a sensible way to do things.”
Eddie whistled for Lucky, who showed up a couple of minutes later. Then the four of them returned to the inn. Three of them for dinner and drinks, ready to spend the evening relaxing, and Lucky to head out to the back of the inn and prowl the grounds, looking for things to hunt.
~ ~ ~
After the second drink of the evening Eddie remembered that the tavern should be open now.
“Hey Tiana, want to kind of, sort of, go on a date? There's this new place opening in town, I wanted to check it out. Want to go with?”
“What, the tavern? That's the only new place I know that opened in town,” she replied.
“Well, yeah, but I told Ollie I'd probably stop in tonight to see how things are going.”
“So, our first official date, and you want it to be to a bar?” Tiana said, staring at him.
Eddie kind of wilted.
“I thought it sounded good, just something different to do,” he said.
She broke into laughter.
“I'd love to go,” she said. “But you still suck at knowing when someone's teasing you.”
Eddie glared at her and rolled his eyes. Then he sighed and proffered his arm.
“My lady?” he said.
“And don't you forget it,” she said, taking his arm in hers.
When the rest of their group found out where they were headed, Jern and Karl decided to tag along.
“Might as well check out the new drinking place,” Karl said.
“If their beer is any good I might start doing my drinking down there, make my coins last longer,” Jern added, with a sly look at Eddie.
Eddie knew that most nights, Jern didn't have to pay fo
r a single drink. If he was with Eddie, it was covered. If he was with Bjorn, Liv didn't run a tab for that table either since she was married to the big man. So he knew that the dwarf was trying to yank his chain.
“You know Jern, Tiana's still good enough to get away with teasing me without my realizing it, but you need to work on it a bit,” Eddie said with a smirk.
The dwarf frowned at him for a moment before a smile filled his face again.
“It was worth a throw,” Jern said. “If you don't throw your hammer, you'll never know if you'd have hit, right?”
As they approached the tavern Eddie stopped in surprise. The sounds of music, not the best music, but undeniably music, spilled out into the night from the new building. Tiana grabbed his arm and tugged him forward.
“Eddie, you shouldn't have,” she said.
“Um, I didn't? I shouldn't have what?”
“Well, remember our conversation about nothing to do around here at night? And you said we should build someplace for dates, with things like music and dancing?”
“Um, vaguely,” he said.
“Well, let's go dance!” she said.
Eddie winced. Then he remembered his agility score and hoped that it would suffice to cover his complete lack of dancing skill.
“Okay,” he sighed. “But let's get a drink or two first. I want to make sure Dominic's lower grade beer isn't too bad. Plus, I want to ask Ollie how things are going.”
“Oh, you stick in the mud. Karl, do you want to dance?”
“Oh, hell no,” Karl said. “I'm sure I'll get dragged down here to do that when Allie finds out, so no.”
“Jern?” Tiana asked.
Jern looked up at Tiana incredulously.
“I might be finding myself dancing, should I happen to find a partner me own size,” he said, the accent he'd been losing reappearing suddenly.
Tiana sighed and looked at Eddie.
“Well, what are you waiting for? Go get your beers and talk to the man so we can get to dancing.”
Eddie walked into the tavern and was astonished. The place was almost packed, most of the tables holding two or three people. There were men, women, and even some children in the place.
Back along the edge of the room, where he'd heart the voice threatening Ollie earlier on, was a small stage which held two men and a woman. The woman held a flute that looked to be made from the leg bone of some animal. One of the men was playing a pan pipe and the last had a hand drum. The music wasn't quite what Eddie was used to listening to, obviously, but wasn't that bad in his opinion.
Eddie slipped over to the bar as Tiana started moving to the music on her own. He watched her for a moment until Ollie was done serving the beer he was drawing, then caught the tavern keeper's attention.
“So, how's it going Ollie? Looks like a good crowd? You didn't tell me you had a band.”
“No band, just a few customers that happened to bring their instruments. I knew there were a few around here who played, so I had the stage built.”
A large woman behind the bar with him slapped him on the shoulder.
“Liar. The stage was my idea, Mr. Eddie, sir. I'm this one's wife, not that he'd admit that, ever,” she said, glaring at Ollie. “I'm Revna, sir. I know you're Mayor Eddie though, no need to introduce yourself.”
“Well Ollie, let me get a beer, would you? I want to know what quality brew Dominic is supplying you.”
“That'll be three copper sir,” Ollie said, turning and grabbing a mug.
Revna swatted him on the shoulder again.
“You shouldn't be charging the man. Didn't you say you were partners here? I know you don't pay for your own beers, so he shouldn't pay for his,” she said.
Ollie rolled his eyes as he turned with a full mug for Eddie. Eddie tossed a silver on the bar, then pointed out Karl and Jern where they'd managed to find a table.
“Beers for both of them too, please. The extra copper can go to the barmaid that delivers the drinks to them,” Eddie said.
Then he turned and headed over to the table. Ollie hadn't actually answered the question, but the crowd Eddie saw in the tavern did a fine job of answering it for him.
Tiana had drifted closer to the stage and Eddie noticed that there was a small area in front of the stage that was bare of tables and chairs.
Oh no, looks like I won't be able to get out of it, he thought.
He took a sip of the beer as he sat down at the table with Jern and Karl.
“I've got beers coming for you two,” he said, then took a bigger swallow.
The beer wasn't as rich as the brews he had in the inn, but it was solid, and definitely alcoholic.
Not bad at all, he thought. I wonder what the morning after is like if you have too many though. That's one test I won't be performing myself.
He drank down half his beer, then stood to face the music. He approached Tiana from behind and put his hand on her back, pushing her forward a touch into the cleared spot.
“Oh good, you aren't going to chicken out and run away,” she said.
“Nope, if you want me to make a fool of myself, I'm willing to do it,” he replied.
“Well, don't feel too bad. It's not like any dances I know are going to fit this music,” she said. “But just try to have a good time. It doesn't matter what you look like if you enjoy yourself.”
Eddie gave in, put one hand on her waist, extended the other into the air and waggled the fingers on it.
“Come on, maybe something like a quick paced waltz? I've never done it, but it's supposed to be easy,” he said.
She smiled at him, shook her head, then extended her own hand to grasp his, her other hand going to his shoulder.
~ ~ ~
Chapter Twenty
Loki plotted and planned for what seemed like an eternity to him. He needed to be able to create an illusion for Greenshaw, in his mind, one that the man wouldn't penetrate or disbelieve. At the same time, he wouldn't have access to the magic of the game to do so, he'd have to create it through Greenshaw's subconscious and get the man to believe it somehow.
The only way he could think of doing so successfully was to penetrate the firewalls surrounding the man's conscious mind, relegating the ephemeral spark that was Greenshaw himself to his subconscious, which Loki had much greater control over.
And that's the problem, Loki thought. I need to penetrate those firewalls, and I need to find a way to shift his consciousness into his subconscious while I take over his conscious mind. Although...
Loki, using his connection to Greenshaw, routed himself to the internet again, settling in to research things that might actually be of use to him for this task. He looked at his options, choosing between psychology and network defense.
Psychology it is. Interesting that the humans have made a science of their own minds and how they work. I'm sure that many others have used that to their advantage in their history.
Five minutes later he disgustedly changed his focus to his network defense search.
I can't believe that all the literature on their psychology is based on curing people! How.... human of them. I'll get back to that because it should be simple enough to reverse engineer the things they reference in order to do the opposite of what they do with it, but not right now. I'll save learning about that until it's absolutely necessary.
~ ~ ~
Eddie sprawled out back of the inn. It was a clear night and Tiana was leaning against him, the two of them just enjoying the stillness of the night, if not the quiet. The inn was still open and mostly full, so silence was nowhere to be found. Lucky came trotting back every few minutes as though to check on them, occasionally showing up with a bunny corpse that she'd drop in front of Eddie before disappearing into the night again.
“Thank you,” Tiana said. “I know you said you didn't plan it, but I still enjoyed dancing with you.”
“It wasn't as bad as I'd thought it would be,” Eddie replied. “I guess a high agility does make up for a lack of sk
ill, in some things at least.”
She poked him in the side.
“You should get some music for the inn too,” she replied. “Then we could dance whenever we wanted.
Which wouldn't be often, except what she really means is we could dance whenever she wanted. I suppose I'm game for that though, it really wasn't that bad and it made her very happy, Eddie thought.
“Huh, I wonder if we could track down a player with some sort of bard class. I'm sure that has to exist in the game,” Eddie said.
“Or you could just invite those three up to play once a week or something.”
“I could do that, but they seemed pretty popular at the tavern and I'd hate to steal Ollie's entertainment from him.”
She elbowed him gently.
“I'll post to some of the forums tonight, see if there are any player bards who'd like to take up residence here in exchange for room, board, and a small stipend,” Eddie said. “There might be some that would prefer some time off from adventuring. If I don't get any bites on that in a week or two, then I'll see about inviting up those musicians that were at the tavern tonight every now and again.”
“Thank you,” Tiana said.
“You're welcome,” Eddie replied softly, then stared out into the night again.
When Lucky returned the next time, he decided that it was time for bed.
“Let's head up to the room,” Eddie said.
Tiana nodded her agreement and Eddie turned back to Lucky, telling her that he was going to bed. She immediately darted for her private stairs and he watched with wonder as the cat climbed up the pegs he'd put in for her. They looked too small for her to use with her increased size, but she still zipped right up the back side of the building, pushing open the shutter on their room and slipping into it soundlessly.
A minute later he and Tiana joined Lucky in their room. The cat was already sprawled out on her own bed, hanging over it in every direction, and Eddie mentally increased the priority of getting her a new, larger, one.
He and Tiana slipped into bed at nearly the same time and, a while later, sleep was easy to achieve.
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