1. Ellian
Ellian felt the thin cotton blanket slipping from his shoulders, and in the half-muddled state between sleeping and wakefulness, started to draw it up again. And then he realized he was sitting -- had, in fact, bolted upright from a deep if fitful sleep -- and then he was awake, and knew there would be no more sleep for him this night.
He flung the blanket aside and reached for his breeches. He’d slept in his tunic; it
was already so wrinkled and worn that he could have wadded it into a ball, rolled it through the city streets and given it a good dunking in the Town Green pond without altering it much. The inn’s clerk had given him the standard-issue sack, along with a map he didn’t need, when he’d checked in a few hours earlier, and he attached it to his belt as he stood. A pair of sandals completed his outfit.
Ellian stretched, glad for the lack of a mirror in the curtained-off cubicle that
passed for a room in this inn. He knew what he’d see -- a gaunt, slightly stooped man, looking far older than an Elothean of his age had any reason to look, dressed like any commoner come to The Crossing to seek his fortune. He tugged slightly at the neck of his tunic, ensuring that his gweths were hidden from view, and pulled the curtains back.
The longroom of the Tenderfoot Inn was set up like a dormitory, with rows of cots
lining the walls, only half of them surrounded by curtains for privacy. One had to pay a bit extra for the curtains. Squinting in the pale, predawn light streaming through the room’s
only window, Ellian saw one set of closed curtains and three occupied cots. Four others, then. He’d counted three when he came in, but he’d been tired and preoccupied. Or perhaps someone else had arrived after he was asleep, creeping in during the darkest hours of night as he himself had.
Directly across from Ellian, and snoring so loudly that it was a wonder any of them
had slept through the night, was a Human man dressed in a ridiculous homespun nightshirt. His mouth gapped open beneath an arm flung over the face, and brown stubble covered his cheeks and chin. Ellian had never been good at guessing ages, but he’d wager this man was barely past boyhood. Callouses on the man’s hands and the sturdily ugly boots by the foot of the cot confirmed Ellian’s first impression of a farmhand trying his
luck in the big city.
A rounded lump under the blanket of the next cot over was surely a Halfling, or an
exceedingly small Dwarf. Occasionally the lump twitched slightly, but otherwise there was no sign of life -- perhaps, Ellian thought drily, the Halfling was deaf.
A moment later the Human emitted a snore of such resounding volume that Ellian
flinched, and the lump sprang to life. The blanket was thrown back, revealing a dark-haired Halfling lass. Unlike the Human, she wore no nightshirt. Ellian blinked in surprise as she stood up on the cot and he realized that, in fact, she wore nothing at all.
“Shut up!” the Halfling shouted at the Human. “How can you sleep through
that?!”
“Whaa...?” The Human opened his eyes sleepily, glancing about. Catching sight
of the tiny, furious creature on the cot next to his, his jaw sagged and he stared in unabashed amazement. “You’re....NAKED,” he finally managed.
“You have been snoring all night, do you realize that? And do you realize there
are other people here? Trying to sleep?”
The Human rubbed his eyes, then peered at the woman as if unable to credit what
he was seeing. “You...” he began.
“...have heard you snore for the last time!” she finished. “Go find a barn to sleep
in if you can’t breathe properly.”
“You’re naked,” the man repeated, apparently unable to get past that one observation. Ellian stifled a chuckle. So far, it didn’t seem that either one of them had noticed him.
“I’m--” the woman glanced down at herself. “Bloody void,” she muttered,
grabbing her blanket and wrapping it carelessly around herself.
“There,” she said. “Now I’m not naked. Oh, good gods, don’t stare at me like
that. Haven’t you ever seen a naked woman before?”
The Human shook his head slowly and sat up. Ellian observed with no small
amusement that the nightshirt was ruffled at the neck and cuffs and was at least two sizes too small.
“What are you staring at?” the Halfling demanded, and Ellian saw that she had
turned toward him, hands on her hips, the blanket gapping open in several interesting places.
Ellian bit back a smile and held his hands up in a gesture of peace.
“Men!” the Halfling said in disgust, and hopped off the cot, flinging the blanket
away and reaching for a pair of trousers under the bed. In doing so, she presented both Ellian and the still-gaping Human with an unobstructed view of her rounded buttocks, which seemed a fitting accompaniment to her one-word pronouncement. It was, Ellian
mused, quite a lovely bottom, even if it did belong to a lass half his size. Undoubtedly the Human shared his opinion, as he continued staring in wonderment.
Ellian saw movement out of the corner of his eye and turned to see an Elven male
sitting up on the cot by the door, grinning widely as he watched the woman yank a shirt over her head. He caught Ellian’s eye and winked.
“I’m going downstairs, and the gods help whoever owns this pathetic excuse for an inn if they don’t have some sort of breakfast ready,” the Halfling announced, grabbing her sack from under her pillow and trying unsuccessfully to attach it to her beltless trousers. The sack, Ellian noted, was nearly big enough for her to hide in.
“Stupid thing,” she said, tossing the sack on the ground. “They probably don't have breakfast ready. They probably all fled hours ago, thinking there was an EARTHQUAKE!”
She screamed the last word at the Human, who cowered back, looking genuinely alarmed.
“Was...was there an earthquake last night?” he asked. “Is that why you’re so mad?
Earthquakes can be pretty scary. I mean, I’ve never seen one, but they sound scary.”
He smiled suddenly, and with the smile, his homely face took on the endearing
sweetness of a young child.
He’s simple, Ellian realized. He felt half-simple himself for not realizing it before.
“Are you new here too, like me?” the man asked. “Isn’t it exciting? This bed isn’t very comfortable, though. But I’m hungry. Did you say something about breakfast? Oh! I forgot to introduce myself. I’m sorry. My name’s Coll. Or, some people call me Colly.
Like a nickname, except it’s longer than my real name, which is kind of funny, don’t you think? I hope the earthquake didn’t scare you. If it comes again, I’ll protect you. I’m
very strong. You don’t have to be scared while I’m around.”
“Oh,” the Halfling said.
Which was, Ellian reflected, an exceedingly appropriate response.
And with that thought, he headed out of the room to see what sort of slop the
management was currently passing off as breakfast.
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