Work Text:
Unlike the commonfolk Wicander has never been in a tavern. His perspective for this kind of place was forged from rumours and his imagination. He thought of it as a cheaper version of a hotel with a cheaper version of a restaurant that had cheaper versions of drinks, and so far it seemed that he was correct. But he didn’t expect it to smell so strongly of alcohol, that he felt like he was becoming a sinner for merely taking a small breath inside the place. At least it was warm.
Tyranny smiled at the loud guests singing songs to accompany the melody of flutes and drums in the corner of the room. The middle of it had a small dancing area where people were proudly ruining the floor with constant careless thumping of their shoes. Wicander and his companions sat at one of the bigger tables that initially was taken. Kattigan was about to take care of clearing the space with his charm but the moment those people saw a nama and a pixie they decided to leave quickly. Once out the table they were greeted by Wulfric which made their pace even more swift on the way out.
“I thought of being nice today but I didn’t even get a chance. Alright.” Kattigan tilted his head and chuckled, sitting down with his wolf under the table. He then turned to a woman, serving drinks not so far from them. “Hey, love! Would you be so kind and fetch us some ale.”
“And food.” Teor reminded.
“Right. And-”
Wicander got distracted with his own anxiety rising up inside of him when he clatched to his vest and cloak and tried to hide his face. There were so many people! And it was so loud he found it surprising the waitress could hear anything through all the ruckus. At some point Thimble and Kattigan started to argue and this woke Wicander up from his thoughts.
“Do you really think it’s a good idea to have a drinking competition with a pixie?” Thimble asked, flying right in front of the ranger.
“I don’t recall if we ever did it before. Could be fun, eh?”
“Oh! Oh! Can I join?” Tyranny almost jumped out of her seat. Wicander couldn’t suppress giving her a disagreeing look that at this point was a big habit of his.
“Sure, little devil! Is his Radiance going to join us, too?”
“Don’t call me that.” He said it quietly but Kat could hear him clearly. “Just Wic.”
“Wic.” Kattigan tried the name on his tongue. “Alright, Wicky. Are you in or not?”
“Just Wic.” He repeated.
“Are you in or not?” Kat repeated, too.
Quickly so Wicander glanced at Tyranny as if asking for help. He really shouldn’t do this, he thought. Getting drunk would be inappropriate. Oh, Tyranny, help him from doing the same thing you’re about to do!
Then Teor suddenly joined in, “It’s pointless, he’s going to lose anyway.”
“We all start somewhere.” Kattigan’s smile remained to be blinding. “Besides, maybe he’s got a hidden talent, mh?”
Wicander finally decided to answer, despite the turmoil. He wanted to get this over with. “I’ll drink but no more than one chalice. I don’t want to be impolite.”
“Better than nothing.” Another chuckle escaped the ranger. “And you, Teor?”
“Someone has to keep watch. I won’t be in competition, but I’ll have a drink or two.”
With that five differently sized cups were placed on the table.
***
It wasn’t even delicious. Awfully disgusting, really. But now it was too late and Wicander watched Tyranny slowly but surely put shock and pride on Kattigan’s face when she downed another cup of ale. Thimble gave up by now yet Kattigan was still going strong against Tyranny. In a very strange and complicated way Wicander thought that he should feel proud of her as well, and weakly so he did. He wouldn’t admit it, of course.
“I'll let you have this one.” Tyranny put down her half empty cup and smiled at Kat. “I want to dance before I reach my limit.”
“...That’s gonna hurt my ego.” Kattigan joked under his breath as he looked down on the reflection in his ale. “Let’s call this a tie?”
“No.” She smiled wide. “Just let's have a rematch later.”
“Sounds good to me.”
She then turned to face Wic and his half eaten chicken leg that he carefully sliced with a provided knife and a fork. “Hey, Wic!” Her head tilted slightly to point her horns at the dancing party.
“No.” The thought of performing right now was so outrageous to him he didn’t hesitate to answer even when he was still chewing.
“Oh, come on. It’s gonna be fun! You need to let loose. Especially now.”
“It is very nice of you to invite me,” He finally swallowed his food, “but I’m afraid I must decline. I’m not really in the mood for that. Everyone is going to look at me and I wanted to keep a… low-profile.”
“Wic, you’re not low-profile with me, the big lion man, and the fairy. And, well.” She pointed at her face making a circling movement with her finger around the left eye. “The tattoo. You can relax. Hiding right now isn’t required.”
Wicander looked at the crowd again and, through it, at the musicians. “Well, I suppose the melody is cheerful. I do feel better listening to it.”
“Imagine if you’ll dance to it, too!” The demon reached to touch his shoulder, only laying a palm on it. “I promise you it’s going to be okay. It's gonna be fun.”
His eyes darted between Tyranny and the crowd. “But what is this kind of dance? I don’t know how to move.”
“Me neither. No one does! Let’s try it!” Now her other arm wrapped around his and she started to get up. “Don’t worry, I can try leading.” Wicander heard her chuckle.
Something pushed him to get up. It wasn’t Tyranny’s pull but his own legs walking out of the table to the people who started becoming a blur around him as he was getting closer. His friend looked at others, too, and found her inspiration for the moves. She started to walk around Wic, clapping. When she made her second circle she grasped Wicander’s hand and directed him to do the same thing.
His knees felt weak and he knew any moment he could simply trip on this wooden uneven floor, but he followed Tyranny with sweat forming on his brow and breathing randomly forgotten. Suddenly more people started cheering and clapping their hands. Tyranny and Wicander danced, elbow to elbow, their arms wrapped together. They changed direction again and again until Tyranny walked closer to him in sync of other people walking to their dance partners. That felt a bit more familiar and Wicander found courage to take her hand into his and lay his palm behind the upper side of her back, both of them swaying with the crowd. Face on Wic looked mostly focused through the entirety of the dancing but now, in this position, when Tyranny’s horns almost gouged one of his eyes in the heat of the moment, her own expression made him smile in empathy. She was right: it was fun. Now he took the lead, having the advantage of his experience as a Halovar. He took a step back and led Tyranny’s hand above her so that she turned around in circles. After this they resumed the first moves of their dance, and with the hood of Wicander's cloak dropping on his shoulders, the Filament on his tattoos shined brighter.