Give Me A Reason [Claire/Open]

[Deleted]

Still bruised and sore from his last drinking session, Nai was by no means in a mood for company. As expensive as the Mary was (and his coinpurse was really feeling it), it meant that he could drink in relative peace while he tried to figure out what in Daarmir's name he was supposed to do with himself. This was not his world, he knew that much. These people were strange to him, their customs, even their language. It was a lot to take in, even for a simple sellsword like him. As it were, he cradled a tankard of mead close to his chest, all but sulking over having the shit beat out of him by a woman.

The place was far nicer than the Gallow's Inn, he'd give it that. A larger common area, a warmer fireplace. Yes, he could get to like this place. It's only fault was that it was costing him more than he wanted to admit to drink there. From his perch a far corner, he could see most of the bar. There were a group of women giggling in the corner opposite him, gossiping about some noble man he didn't know a thing about. They looked like servants, from what he could tell. Plain clothing made of wool, dyed cheap colours suitable to their station.

"Bunch of geese," he snorted, glaring at them.

There was also a pair of men sitting at the bar proper, talking quietly to each other. They were those strange creatures he had learned were called 'humans'. They were strange, hairless apes that looked like they were trying to imitate elves. Even elves were foreign to him. The women looked like children and their men were little better. And to boot, they were tainted by filthy magic. His scowl deepened as he pondered just how many people here seemed to use the filthy stuff.

[Claire]

There was an uproarious cheer from the other side of the tavern and a loud smack of flesh hitting wood. Claire was back- no longer content to drink the competition into submission for food money, she had now graduated to arm wrestling. This was almost as entertaining as drinking the burly men who tried go against her under the table, but her arm would be hurting at the end of the night instead of her head. And hopefully with less assassination attempts.

But the men had seemed to be taking this challenge well, and most were smiling and laughing with her after their arm hit the table. Claire shook hands with her defeated opponent, grinning up at him before stretching out her arm. She almost had enough money on hand now for something nice. She wasn’t sure what that nice thing would be, but it would be nice when she got it. Maybe a good meal in one of the upper districts, or some better tailored clothes. She tugged at the jerkin that dug at her chest, grimacing. Maybe better tailored clothes would be for the best. This Novian fashion and cold weather did not suit her in the slightest- she somehow stood out even more in their thick and stiff clothing.

“One more round, come on!” Claire called out, shaking out her hand. “I still have my strength.”

[Deleted]

The sudden commotion turned Nai’s head in the party’s direction, his eyes narrowing at the spectacle. What was that all about, he wondered? After a few long moments of staring at the pack of people, he decided that he wasn’t all that interested and went back to his musing. The mead was sweeter than he liked, but in all honesty, you didn’t drink alcohol for its taste. It was only just starting to kick in as his cheekbones began to numb.

The crowd caught his attention again as he heard a woman’s voice call out above the clamour. Stupid, soft creatures these were if they were losing to a woman. What could she be getting out of such a sport, anyway? It was his damned curiosity that got Nai to stand, tankard in hand, and wonder over to the gathering of men and the singular woman.

He stood behind the rest of the men, taller than the lot of them and stared down at the woman sitting at the table. What in the name of Daarmir was this sport? He’d never seen anything like it.

“What do you call this game?” he asked the fellow closest to him, taking another pull of his drink. When he was told that it was called ‘arm wrestling’, Nai smirked. Oh, so it was a battle of arm strength, was it?

“I’ll take you on,” he called to the woman, confident that he could easily beat her in this.

[Claire]

Claire looked up as the horned young man approached, a wide smile donning on her face. Well. This would be interesting. She leaned back in her chair, threading her fingers together with the cheeky grin still on her face. Another person from a far-off land.

“Sit.” she smacked the table with her hand, leaning forward and settling her elbows on the table, her fingers still threaded together. “Are you a betting man? We will take a wager if you are keen, best two out of three. A few pieces of gold each.”

Claire unlaced her fingers, holding her hand up to Nai. “Let me see your hand.”

[Deleted]

Nai nodded his head in the woman’s direction, making his way to the empty seat. He could feel the eyes of the other people on him as he sat, but he was focused on her. She was tall for a woman, at least in these parts and darker than most he had seen. That didn’t mean she was going to beat him, though.

He lifted his right hand, presenting it to her. “Aye, I’ve been known to make a wager from time to time,” he said, grinning from between still healing lips. He was left-handed, making his right arm his defensive side. It was better at feats of pure strength, where his left was better for finer movements. This would be interesting.

[Claire]

Claire pressed her palm against Nai’s, studying the size difference. All right, this would be a challenge then. She pulled her hand away and smacked the table once more, the wide grin coming back in full force.

“Put your coin on the table, <boy>.” she dug for a few coins and placed them on her corner of the table, then braced her legs apart firmly for leverage under the table. She placed her elbow up on the table and took Nai’s hand again, gripping firmly. She grinned again, looking forward to this challenge. A burly man leaned over by the table, checking the positions of their hands and arms before nodding.

“On the count of three? One.” she adjusted her fingers slightly. “Two… three.” and she began to put pressure on.

[Deleted]

Nai snorted as the woman told him to put his money on the table, tossing his head in amusement. He dug into the coinpurse that hung at his belt, matching her coin for coin. “You’re going to regret that, I am thinking,” he chuckled darkly, placing his elbow on the table as well. Her hand was quite small compared to his. But then, nearly everyone in this world was shorter than he was.

As she took a hold of his hand, Nai braced his shoulders. This was going to be fun. And if he won, it would be a good pick-me-up from the recent beating he had taken from that whore, Ilta. “Aye,” he replied, breathing in deeply as she counted to three.

When the number left her mouth, Nai didn’t pussyfoot around. He threw all of his strength into pushing her arm down, careful to keep his elbow on the table. She put up a good resistance, but within a few heartbeats, Nai slammed her fist down against the other side of the table, a triumphant grin crossing his face.

[Claire]

Before Claire could put up much of a resistance, her hand was slammed to the table with a loud smack. She stared at her hand, the crowd around her going very quiet all of a sudden. She looked at the hand, then to Nai’s face, then back to her hand, blinking. It was extremely quiet for a brief moment, then a surprised smile cracked over Claire’s face. Well. He was fast and strong.

Claire withdrew her hand and shook it, laughing at his pleased expression. “You are strong. I misjudged you. I will not this time.” She stretched out her fingers and placed her elbow back on the table, reaching her hand up again.

“Try again.”

[Deleted]

Nai tongued the split in his lip, rolling his wrist around after Claire had released it. He wasn’t surprised that he had won. She was smaller than him and weaker. Of course he had won. “Are you sure about that, Khiri’om?” he asked lowly, tilting his head to one side. At this rate, if she kept the same strength, he would easily beat her and win him some shiny coins.

He was more than ready for the next round. Cracking his elbow, Nai placed it back on the table, taking Claire’s offered hand in his own. “Those will be mine shortly,” he grinned, nodding towards the coins she had placed on the table.

[Claire]

Claire’s eyebrows raised at the name he called her, tilting her head. Hm, what could that mean? possibly demeaning with the smirk he was giving her. She shrugged, adjusting her fingers and grasping Nai’s hand firmly. All right, no more playing around. This time she would take him seriously. The burly man checked their positions again and they began to count down.

“Three… two… one.”

Claire threw her strength into the push as hard and as fast as she could, bullying the young man’s arm down to the table against whatever resistance he could put up. Eventually she was able to push his hand down firmly to the table and let go after it smacked down, a huge smile breaking out on her face. She laughed, shaking out her hand again and stretching it.

“Good fight, ah?”

[Deleted]

The downstairs was beginning to get rowdy. Lia could hear it from her room. This meant that both the activities of reading and sleeping were pretty much out. With a yawn, she figures she might as well see what the commotion was about this time. It’s not like there was much else to do. Walking down the stairs, she is instantly greeted with the sight of a crowd. There were a lot of people here today. It takes her awhile to actually see what they are swarming.

Arm wrestling. This wasn’t a phenomena to the Bloody Mary. There were quite a few spectators. The pair seemed foreign, possibly both Fate’d. The male stood quite a bit taller than the female. He won the first match, which people were expecting, but the lost the second. So the two were evenly matched. So now the winner would be based on this final match. While both of people involved were betting, there was some betting in the crowd as well.

Deciding to put some coin on the match, she puts a bit on the woman. Mostly, she figured that the woman was playing him, convincing him to bet and letting him with the first match. Then, she would win the last two.

[Deleted]

Nai’s grin lasted all of two seconds after the countdown. It slid off of his face like a slug off a slippery rock when Claire’s arm began pushing his back down towards the table. What in the molten pits was this? She wasn’t this strong a moment ago! His expression turned to panic as he arm was firmly pushed down to the wood, the smack of flesh hitting a solid surface ringing out his defeat.

He pulled his arm back as soon as Claire released it, rolling his wrist about as he contemplated it. “Nwe, Khiri’om*, well done,” he muttered, no longer as cocky as he was before. In all honesty, he shouldn’t have placed a bet. He had little money as it was and no real job to back him up for future expenses. But he had won the first round and this was best two out of three. If he won the final round, the money would be his.

[*Yes, Miss]

[Claire]

Claire couldn’t help but look smug at Nai’s disappointed look. Well, that was certainly a blow to his ego. Now all she had to do was destroy it. She cracked her knuckles one last time as the pretty young woman approached to add to the betting pool. She grinned up at her cheekily, clearly pleased.

“Thank you.” Claire stretched her hands and arms again before placing her arm back on the table. She grinned back again to Nai, tossing her hair back over her shoulder.

“One last time, are you ready?” she wriggled her fingers, taking his hand again. This was a battle she could win, she knew it. There was a quiet, excited murmur in the crowd as they crowded closer, money in hand.

“Three… two… one.”

Claire threw all her strength once more into the push.

[Deleted]

The dragonkin’s expression reassures Lia that her bet is well placed. Poor man didn’t seem to realize that he was about to be played before doing this. There was a decent amount of coin on the table in front of them too. He stood to lose quite a bit. Juxtaposing his serious expression, the woman seems fairly confident. The final bout was most certainly hers to win. With the rest of the onlookers, Lia comes in a bit closer to crowd the two. She manages to get decently close to the table now to see the action.

[Deleted]

Rolling his shoulder, Nai placed his elbow on the table once more, narrowing his eyes at the woman. He had to win this last round! He wouldn't stand for another woman beating him. It was like this world had sucked the strength for him and he'd be damned if he was going to lose again.

Taking her hand in his, Nai tilted his head slightly to the side, bracing himself. He twitched as the numbers came down. When three came, he threw his strength into it, holding his own for a few long moments. But slowly, firmly, she pushed his arm down towards the table. His face became even more panicked. With a solid thud, his arm was pushed down onto the table.

He stared in disbelief at his hand, glancing at her, then back at his hand. What the hell was going on here?! He shouldn't have lost to a woman, especially not one so small. But... he didn't want to risk a right, not with so many other people around.

"Toezhe ngyt'Khiri pryf nokhoete dontuph!*" he grumbled under his breath, pushing away from the table in anger. He stood, shouldering his way through the crowd, passing the smaller woman without so much as a glance. Nai made his way outside to cool off.

[*Fucking bitch-face, broken whore!]