"Ow!" Vanya hissed irritably as the razor nicked her ankle. Again. She dabbed the wound with a rag soaked in healing potion, watching with interest as it closed up neatly without a trace. There were definitely things in this world she appreciated.

She was sitting on a blanket that she had spread on the floor between her bed and the wall with her pants rolled up just above her knees. She had hoped to shave at least up to her knees but at this rate, she'd be lucky if she made it halfway up her calf before she ran out of healing potion. She picked up her razor with a deep breath and focused.

She'd get as far as she could.


The fabric of her pants rubbing against her bare calves felt alien as she walked across the tavern and she couldn't help her smug smile at her accomplishment. She'd nearly made it to her knees but got spooked when the razor bit a little too deep and she'd had to resort to drinking some of the potion to fully close the cut. Still, she counted the morning a success.

She was bringing lunch to a group of builders that were on break from erecting Captain Veleth's new house- he was having it built seeing as his impending departure from bachelorhood required a new living arrangement- and it had not escaped her notice that in the days since she had returned to working the floor that the men who frequented the inn were taking great care to keep their distance. Most had been perfectly friendly before, but now they hardly looked at her and leaned away from her when she walked by as if so much as brushing her would burn them. It would seem many shared in Bralsa's speculation on the cause of Gjollmir's broken fingers.

The men at the table predictably recoiled as she set their plates in front of them. It was getting a little irritating to be honest, she didn't have a goddamn plague. She put her a hand on her hip and motioned toward the plates. "What's the matter? Is it not to your liking?"

A chorus of mumbling issued forth around the table.

"It's fine."

"Looks good."

"Perfect, even."

One of them glanced warily around the room.

Vanya rolled her eyes and left with a huff. Teldryn is not even in the tavern, for goodness sake.

She was carrying some dirty plates across the room when she rounded an archway and nearly collided with a couple of miners. One of them jumped as if he'd been stricken, running into his companion behind him. "Sorry, Vanya. I didn't mean nothin'. I didn't see you," he said hastily.

Vanya only glared at them, took a breath and stalked toward the kitchen. She dropped the dishes into the wash bucket and started scrubbing a plate vigorously. When she had tossed the plate into the rinse bucket Geldis came up beside her and pulled it out, drying it while humming a tune to himself. She continued washing, and he continued rinsing and drying.

"It's not like I'm not grateful, I am," Vanya said. Geldis stopped humming and glanced her direction but said nothing. "But have you seen the way everyone is avoiding me? And Teldryn does not help when he sits in the corner with his stupid helmet and scarf trying to look menacing when I know underneath he's smiling as he watches the other men squirm. You've noticed that right?"

She looked at Geldis and he hummed in the affirmative. She continued, "It makes my job a little more difficult when people won't even look at me, and not to mention he's scaring off your customers." She used the plate in her hand to point at him before handing it over.

He took the plate, saying earnestly, "You have a point."

"I know. I think I'm going to have to just talk to him about it. I mean, it's not that he doesn't have a right to be proud of himself. What he did was...it was..." Amazing? Terrifying? Exciting? She reddened slightly as Geldis' raise an eyebrow so she quickly continued, "I don't know, but I don't exactly appreciate this unspoken threat that he's gonna chop off someone's hand for so much as brushing against me. It's a little extreme, don't you think?"

She could also add that the groups of women that made eyes at Teldryn while shooting her calculating glances were not helping. They were pathetically desperate, in her opinion. She decided to keep that to herself.

"You're absolutely right," Geldis nodded as he rinsed the last plate.

She dried her hands on her apron and put them on her hips. "Well, thanks Geldis. I feel a lot better." She smiled at him as he shrugged.

"Glad to be of service," he said with a chuckle.


It was too easy.

All he had to do was leave his face covered and sit with his arms crossed and they'd all cast uneasy glances his direction, shying away from Vanya as she did her work. He hadn't planned on doing it, but after noticing the reactions when she had emerged from her self-imposed exile he wasn't about to pass up such an amusing opportunity. There were a few that glared at him, likely disapproving of his lack of honor in a bar fight and he simply could not care less for their opinion. They could certainly challenge him if they liked.

He sat himself down at his usual table to continue his fun, scanning the tavern. Vanya had just left a table with three miners and when one of them glanced his way, her eyes followed and she did not look pleased. She was walking over rather purposefully. Hmmmm.

She stopped directly in front of him, arms crossed, looking down her nose in a way that reminded him of his mother after that one time he had set her scribs free in the courtyard to practice shooting fireballs. "Enjoying yourself?" she asked tartly.

He feigned innocence, "Should I not be?"

She narrowed her eyes. "Do you think I don't know what you're doing?"

"I'm just sitting here."

The corners of her mouth twitched and she leaned down toward him. "Well, you need to stop it. I think you've driven the point home by now, don't you?"

He clamped his lips shut to stifle the laugh that was trying to escape as she glared at him, her nose flaring in irritation. He got control of himself and replied with exaggerated deference, "Yes, muthsera."

She drew herself up, arms still crossed and the slightest blush rising in her cheeks. "Good," she said imperiously. She was leaning her weight to one side in a way that enhanced the curve of her hip and- fully aware of his hypocrisy and not the least bit sorry- he raked his eyes over her form.

"I suppose you're hungry," she said and he let out an involuntary cough that he covered with a chuckle.

"Indeed."

"The usual?"

"That's fine."

She nodded and corner of her mouth curved up. "I'll be right back." As she walked away she turned around. "Hey," she said as she continued her steps backward. "Take your helmet off so I can see your face." She smiled and turned back around, disappearing into the kitchen.

He breathed out through pursed lips as he pulled his helmet off, scratching his head to distract his senses. "Fuck," he muttered. He had to be careful around her, she disarmed him so thoroughly. He could not deny that he wanted her but it was imperative that he deny himself in acting on the physical reactions she so easily raised. It would only serve to complicate things. He didn't want things to be complicated. He reached for the pocket that housed his pipe as an annoying thought needled his mind.

Things are already getting complicated.

A/N: Don't hang me for the short chapter! 'Tis but a transition!