Well over two hours had passed; most of it Sindel spent watching her companion drain mug after mug of Bo's ale like it was lemonade, in between peeks she sneaked of Kitana and the monk, who had just started to share their dinner.
She lost count of how many drinks her friend had had after his fourth round; doubtless the management was talking amongst themselves somewhere about the table with the mute and the alcoholic, but she figured until Raiden made some kind of disruption, there was nothing the restaurant could do. And something like that didn't seem to happening anytime soon, as she came to find out that the deity was doing amazingly well at holding his liquor. With each successive drink, the god only seemed to grow more and more lax, yet not any less coherent than when he had first started.
But for the most part, Sindel paid little mind to her partner, her attention instead transfixed on the Xiaolin and Kitana, the latter whom she saw now pulling in her companion and whispering into his ear. Sindel bristled once more; unless Edenia had changed drastically in that respect in the time she had been absent, she hoped her daughter would at least have the decency to not plant a kiss on her company in public.
As the princess continued to fiddle with the hem of Liu Kang's robe, Sindel heard a short, metallic tinging right next to her. She turned to look in the direction of the sound and found the thunder god lazily flicking the iron face of the mug with the base of his nail, his face registering an unusual mix of boredom and content.
"How are they holding up?" he poked fun at her, his words still comprehensible, although muddled somewhat by the drowsy tone he used. She narrowed her eyes in benign annoyance.
"Just fine," she replied. "Can the same be said for you?"
He sat up and stretched his arms above his head. Sindel thought she heard an audible crack in his neck before he dropped his hands on the table and leaned back into his seat, his head nodding off to one side and his eyes blinking slowly.
"Never better, thank you very much," he responded lethargically, pushing some of the hair that had fallen out of his topknot from shifting around in his seat looking for a comfortable resting position back behind his ear.
"How many of those have you had?" Sindel inquired suddenly, pointing to the empty mug in front of him.
"Exactly one fewer than I need," he replied sardonically, picking the cup up and letting it swing by its handle from his pointer finger. Sindel had to admit, to the random passerby, there was little that would tip him or her off to the deity's inebriated state; at worst, he seemed a little exhausted.
"Maybe that will be enough for now," she suggested, reaching over and taking the mug hanging precariously on the tip of his finger, setting it down on the table soundlessly. He retracted his hand without rebuttal.
"Perhaps," he commented, letting his head dip back and his eyelids slide shut. "Those days are in the past."
Sindel paused, uneasy at the implication of his words. But his agreement hinted at enough self-control that she felt comfortable.
She peeked back out at the main bar of the pub. A sense of panic fluttered in her chest as she saw the princess stand up, taking her lover's hand in her own as she began to lead him away from their seats. The queen almost knocked the table over in her rush to stand up.
"Raiden! Wake up!" she snapped frantically, reaching over to her companion's shoulders, shaking them vigorously; he simply snorted himself awake at her touch, his lids still heavy.
"Wha...?" he muttered, covering his eyes with his hands to block out the dim light of the tavern.
"They're leaving!" Sindel told him, pulling the curtain back to get a clear view of the couple exiting through the front entrance. She dropped the fabric and turned back to the deity still rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.
"Hurry!" she demanded, striking the table with her palm several times in rapidly impatient succession. He held up one hand.
"Calm down," he told her nonchalantly, still shielding his eyes with the other hand. Indignant, and realizing she was losing time, Sindel darted out of the booth, weaving through the late-night denizens that still populated the pub with little regard to leaving her friend behind by himself.
When she approached the entrance, she paused and poked her head out cautiously into the street. She glanced in both directions, looking back to her right when she caught a glimpse of the red fabric in the monk's belt in her peripheral vision. She retreated a bit, waiting and watching the pair come to a stop of their own in front of a closed shop. Kitana stepped aside, her profile in clear view to her mother.
The two held gazes for a moment, spurning a sickening feeling in the queen's throat. She knew that look. Hopefully Kitana had enough sense about her not to try anything dramatic.
The princess leaned in to the monk, throwing her arms around his neck and holding him in a warm embrace; although her head blocked Liu Kang's, Sindel could see his arms raising up to reciprocate the gesture, prompting the hair on the back of her neck to literally stand up of its own volition, making it itch even more.
After a moment the two dropped their arms, Kitana sliding her hand into his own. They held eye contact for another long second before she pulled away, waving good-bye to the monk and walking back unintentionally in her mother's direction.
In spite of herself, Sindel gasped; she stumbled backwards into the pub, stopping only when she bumped clumsily into somebody behind her.
"Can I help you?" came the dry reply from behind. She whipped around and looked up to see a groggy Raiden standing behind her. Without explanation, she shoved him back suddenly, eager to move away from her daughter's line of sight. She managed to navigate them into the throng of waiting customers as Kitana walked by at that moment, none the wiser.
Sindel panted from the effort of pushing the substantially-sized deity back, looking to where her daughter had passed by a moment before. She was out of sight, more than likely past the pub by now. The queen exhaled in relief.
She walked back to the entrance, poking her head out in an attempt to track her daughter; she saw Kitana far ahead, strolling casually along before making a turn around a corner and disappearing from view. Sindel stepped out into the road after she deemed it safe.
As she contemplated how she would make it back to the palace before Kitana, she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around, only to find herself looking back at Raiden again.
"All-clear?" he teased. In spite of herself, she couldn't help but smile wanly.
"So it would seem," she said, looking back to the empty road. There was a pause as Raiden stretched his arms over his head once more, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand.
"Then I guess this is where we go our separate ways," he commented, dropping his arms. She looked back to him.
"Why?" she asked, curious.
"Well, I brought Liu Kang here," Raiden answered. "Somebody has to get him home."
"Oh," Sindel said, nodding, but a little embarrassed that it hadn't clicked before, because as far as she knew, even the champion of Mortal Kombat didn't have reason to know any way of traversing the realms at will.
"Well, at any rate," she continued, trying to move on from the embarrassing case of naivete on her part, "I should be getting along, too. Before Kitana... well, you know."
Even in the dark shadows that had covered the streets in the time they had been inside the tavern, she could see a lopsided smirk forming on the deity's lips.
"Likewise," he said calmly. Feeling the conversation was over, Sindel dipped her head in deference to the god and was prepared to make her way until he acknowledged the parting as well. She was not prepared, however, when Raiden took her hand in his own and proceeded to plant a mockingly chivalrous kiss on its back.
She froze nervously, unsure of what this kind of situation called for on her end, even though she was fairly sure his actions were a simple joke, being driven more by the ale than anything. Still, she didn't dare reject the gesture of a god, especially a protector, and she couldn't help but jolt a bit when a small spark jumped from his hand to hers as he released it.
He stood back up, still grinning lightly. He tugged at the cord connected to the sedge hat that rested on his back, pulling it forward and fiddling with the knot as he placed it on his head.
"Good night, your highness," he quipped, pulling the brim down until his eyes were only just visible. Sindel stood silently with an awkward smile still plastered on her face, her eyes unblinking as she nodded back to him.
"Good night," she finally replied.
Having bid their mutual farewells, Raiden turned and began to stroll in Liu Kang's direction, his pace slow and calculated as he presumably attempted to fight off the effects of the alcohol Sindel suspected had to be kicking in by now. Yet he still seemed unaffected to the casual observer.
The empress stayed glued to her spot in the street for a moment, watching the deity meander leisurely down the street until the flames of the lamps form the tavern could no longer provide enough illumination down his way. As he melted away into the darkness, the robed monarch reflected on what she had seen in the pub that night.
It didn't make her happy, to say the least. Even though she knew there was something Kitana was drawn to about the Xiaolin, there, too, was something about the monk that irked the queen. She contemplated how she would be able to approach her daughter without provoking confrontation, as was likely to flare up.
But there was one thing that settled Sindel's mind.
At least she had an ally.
Grinning, the queen pulled her hood forward once more, making her way down Kitana's path.