A night at Little Calimport

[Phineus]

Marques opened the door to the Little Calimport, or the Lil Cal as he came to know it, and smiled.

The place was a little busier than usual and folks sitting at various tables were leaning in close and whispering.

"This ought to be interesting." He thought to himself.

Samira was at her usual table and, despite Marques' numerous admonitions, had her back to the door. He skulked up behind her and nuzzled the side of her neck.

She flinched away, giggling, and greeted him with a kiss.

"Have you need of another?" Marques asked, motioning to her empty wine glass. He had already spotted the bloodstains on the floor near the bar and wanted to talk to Rashid, the proprietor and lone barman, so he hoped she would say yes. Without waiting for an answer from the lovely Samira, Marques smiled and turned for the bar. Samira frowned at his back as he walked away.

"Good evening Rashid, a spiced wine and an ale, if you please." Marques eyed the soldier standing post at the door to the employee entrance behind the bar and raised an eyebrow. "Is all well, Rashid?"

Rashid frowned and shook his head as he went about filling Marques' order. The widow Violet approached and Marques greeted her smiling. As Rashid brought the drinks to the bar, he motioned the two close and whispered the tale of the bloodstains to them. Appararently some madman had slaughtered two Mulhorandi customers and the extra muscle behind the bar was in case the man came back.

A man Marques had never met approached the bar, just then, and introduced himself as Dante.

"One thousand fivestars reward" Said the soldier in a thick accent. Marques raised an eyebrow and nodded reassuringly to Rashid. Excusing himself, Marques took Samira her drink, setting it in front of her and bending to whisper briefly in her ear. She seemed a bit put off, but nodded and accepted the wine. Marques ran the back of his hand gently down the curve of her jaw before making his way over to another table.

At a table across the commons sat three hin, two female and one male. Marques knew the female halflings, Rosa and Mossi and was interested in meeting the male. He approached the table casually and greeted Mossi.

"May I sit?"

Mossi motioned him to the empty chair with a grin. "Please do."

Marques nodded in thanks and introduced himself to the male hin who said his name was Cruinn. The three engaged in quiet small talk for a stretch and Marques smiled to himself as the newcomer, Dante, approached Samira's table and made himself comfortable.

"....took him long enough..." Marques thought to himself.

Marques feigned interest as Cruinn went on about something. Eventually Marques heard the conversation at Samira's table take it's inevitable coquettish course and he smiled again to himself, nodding at Cruinn as the hin meandered on.

Marques caught the motion from the corner of his eye. Approaching from his left was Ahmand, an inveterate Little Calimport frequent and Black Dog mercenary. Marques sighed as he spotted the approach and tried his best to look surprised when Ahmand patted him on the shoulder.

"You gonna let him get away with that? I thought she was your woman." Ahmand guffawed drunkenly and motioned to Samira's table.

Reflexively, Marques rolled his eyes before turning to face Ahmand and smiling. "Samira's a big girl." He said before swiveling back to look at Cruinn.

Ahmand laughed and made his way back to his barstool. Marques sighed inwardly, Ahmand was laughing and giving his Black Dog compatriot a jovial elbow. Marques could scarcely afford to lose credibility in an establishment like the Lil Cal. He spotted Violet still standing near the bar and waved her over. He gave Violet his very best grin as she arrived at the table and invited her to take a seat, on his lap. Violet obliged, as he knew she would. She of course assumed the gesture was an attempt to make Samira jealous and he would let her go on thinking that. What did it matter to him?

"Samira is an asset," he thought. "As is Violet. Hells sake, in a city like Selgaunt, who isn't?"