"It's always so loud in here." Harriet sighed. In her hand she held up a glass containing a small amount of red wine.
Eld glanced across the little room. The pokey tavern was called the 'Coach & Horses' due to it being by the gate in the wall where travellers often passed through. It was certainly loud and bustling, mainly with Garrison soldiers, but the were also several MP's dotted around.
It was his fault they'd had to come here. They simply wouldn't have enough time together if he'd had to journey further into Trost and find somewhere to put his horse, and the stables here at the gates allowed soldiers to leave their horses there for free.
He gave her an apologetic smile as he ran a hand slowly through his loose hair. He'd taken it out of it's regular bun because he knew she especially liked it. It was one of his 'moves'.
"Oh - stop that." She tittered, placing a hand on his leg and shaking her head.
He feigned innocence, hand suddenly scratching his head, eyes off to the side,
"Stop what? I'm not doing anything."
She leant in to him and tweaked his nose, "You know exactly what you're doing, and I hate that it works every time."
He smiled warmly, grabbing her free hand and planting a quick kiss on it.
"Have you thought any more about where you'd wanna go?" He asked.
"Hmmm. What about Orvud?" She suggested, twisting her lips in thought, "I've never been."
"Don't know much about it." He replied, "Though it's quite a long way to go given the short time. To be honest I'm not sure it's smart to spend more than two days travelling either side - we should be making the most of it."
Eld'd had to request his honeymoon week off in January, and it still took until mid-March until it was formally approved. Being a member of the Special Ops squad had many perks, including earning just about enough that they no longer had to stay in the absolute cheapest accommodation, but it also meant it was much much harder to get any days off that weren't pre-determined military holidays and seasonal festivals, and so Eld was going to make sure that they made the very most of the only-just-authorised time.
He hadn't been getting to see Harriet much either, and he'd been so busy that he'd left a lot of the preparation for their wedding to her and the parents, which was inevitable with his job, but he nonetheless felt incredibly guilty about it. It was partly why he'd ridden out in the early afternoon so he could meet her in person at Trost today, where she was visiting family.
"You're right. More than one day's travel each way would be too much." Harriet replaced her wine glass on the small table - well - dirty old barrel that had been turned onto its flat side.
Eld made to giver her a refill, only to find that their bottle was empty. He gave the bottle a final little shake over the empty glass and watched with disappointment when only a single drop fell from it.
"Nuts. I'll get us another one."
"Are you sure? You've got a long ride back to the grounds later."
"Heck yes I'm sure. Feels like I hardly ever get to see you. I'll take the Captain's shit with a smile tomorrow morning when I remember drinking this cheap ass wine with you." He winked, stood and a made his way towards the bar, but not before he'd caught the grateful twinkle in her beautiful cerulean eyes.
It wasn't quite possible to get to the bar yet for the line of people already standing at it. He huffed, a little frustrated that this wait was eating into his very limited time with his fiancé, then briefly considered stealing a pre-opened bottle from a distracted table and taking it back to her. That would save a bob or two…although she definitely wouldn't approve of him doing that…
A gratingly loud, uppity sounding voice cut through the bar chatter;
"I for one back it wholeheartedly. Everyone has their 'boyfriend in the scouts' phase - if for nothing else than the cheap thrill of it. I'm glad you got it out of your system before it all ended in tears."
Eld's ears pricked up.
Everyone has their what now?
It didn't take him long to pick out the culprits. A small huddle of MP's stood not a metre away by the bar, some leaning on it, some stood behind them.
"From what I hear it did end in tears for the scout." A curly-haired, red-faced man snarked.
"A small part of me feels sorry for him." A tall woman with cropped black hair said snootily, "If I realised I'd made such poor life choices as joining the scouts I'd bawl my eyes out too."
The first man, a sandy-haired, stouter MP obnoxiously added, "Was he the idiot that couldn't stop biting his tongue?"
Eld could feel his blood pressure rising, a feeling he rarely got when he was inside the walls. A scout who infamously bit his tongue? Come on.
It was at the point he noticed Lina's short brown bob stood with her back to him in the small huddle.
He heard her laugh sharply,
"All the time. I was like 'my word; this is getting old', and then I realised it wasn't a joke, that was just him."
These motherfuckers.
The curly haired man sneered, "What a fucking buffoon."
The tall woman gave a lofty laugh, "You've dodged a bullet there."
"He said he graduated high enough to be an MP - we all dodged a bullet."
"I wonder how he'll fare on their next little trip over the wall." The stout man declared, "I'd bet three silvers that he'll be so torn up about the break up that he'll freak out and starting crying, then bite the du-"
The MP stopped at the sound of Eld's slow clap as he approached the group.
"Wow." Eld uttered darkly.
The stout MP raised his chin,
"And you are…?" He inquired witheringly.
Eld simply waited for Lina to turn around. A part of him expected to bask in the pure horrified dismay on her newly ashen cheeks (it took her a moment to recognise him, hair down and in his civilian clothes) but he found in reality that the moment held no enjoyment whatsoever, and realised just how irate he was.
His eyes flitted back to the stout sandy-haired MP,
"Just an interested party," He said, keeping his wrath at a simmer (he was always cool, calm and collected), "wondering why a bunch of MP assholes drinking on duty think it's ok to talk trash about someone they know nothing about."
The dark haired woman smirked and the curly haired MP gave a mocking "Oooh!"
Lina said nothing, but her face was the picture of guilt, she wouldn't meet Eld's eye and she was so rigidly still she could have been knocked to the ground with a single flick.
The stout MP took a step towards Eld. He was shorter, but nonetheless exuded a combative, overconfidence that might have been threatening if Eld wasn't so used to being intimidated by a short, scary man.
"Oh dear. Looks like I've found one of those titan-fuckers from the scout regim-"
"Sam stop-" Lina interrupted, her voice barely audible.
"Don't worry, I've got it." Sam's voice was smooth with hateful ridicule, "What's this angry overgrown broom gonna do? Force me to enlist to their pointless, waste of taxpayer money, sorry excuse for a military regiment?"
"Nah, the scouts wouldn't take a blockhead like you. Dignity is part of the essential criteria." Eld derided, unmoving from his position.
Sam sneered, bearing his teeth, moving his angry face closer to Eld's and hissing,
"Faux-heroes - the lot of you." Spittle was landing on Eld's cheeks, "You think you're so valiant riding out beyond the wall - but let me tell you something asshole: you all die screaming and shitting yourselves, wishing you'd done my job. No exceptions. Not you, nor that curly-haired big-tongued twat."
Eld's brown eyes flashed, "Go ahead and tell yourself that if it helps you sleep at night. But your delusions won't protect you if Wall Rose is breached. Where will you go then? Good luck bribing the titans to stop eating ya."
"Eld?"
Harriet.
Eld paused, catching her willowy figure in his periphery. She looked worried. He took a step back.
Bar fighting wasn't his style anyhow. With a deep, regulating breath, he turned away and began walking over to her.
"That's it, run off with your tail between your legs." Sam barked.
The curly-haired MP bayed, "Yeah - If you love it beyond the wall so much, next time just fucking stay there - you and your tongue-biting clown of a boyfriend."
Eld snorted, whipping around,
"For your information I'd be honoured to have someone as driven as Oruo Bozad for a boyfriend. He's a good man with a good heart who looks out for people. He gives his all towards making this world a better place, which is more than I can say for any of you." He eyed Lina, "What a way to treat someone who loved you. Have fun bitching and drinking away taxpayer money. Wouldn't you say that's the real waste?"
Maybe he'd been too harsh. He saw the tears brimming in Lina's eyes and she looked away, her hands shaking a little. With another deep breath through his nose, he pressed his lips together in a hard line. He was in danger of feeling sorry for her.
"Lets get out of here." He muttered to Harriet, before guiding her towards the door. Her face was etched with the same concern as when they parted before an expedition, and she gripped his hand too firmly, perhaps, he thought, to dissuade him from turning around again.
"Get a fucking haircut!" Sam shouted after them.
"What happened?" Harriet whispered as they pushed through the tavern door in to the welcome open space and fresh air of the street. The tavern patrons' horses were tied up outside in a stirring line.
"Nothing." Eld muttered, frowning, "Just ran into a bunch of entitled cunts."
The horses snorted in understanding.
next main chapter should be next sunday!