Author's notes: Hello and welcome to the new and improved chapter 7! I've added a bit of Xelloss in. He's been woefully absent from the rest of the story til now. I wanted to flesh out my tavern owner too, and now I have a bit. I thought adding a little conversation between the two would add some irony. The people of Lina's world are so distrustful of her, but are always willing to trust an anonymous traveling priest.

Hard Drinking and Economy 101

The proprietor of The Thirsty Baron (subsidiary of The Snoring Baron Inn) was surprised to see the townsfolk of Strylle were a bit braver than most. They'd hidden for approximately an hour. Upon noting the inn Lina Inverse had entered was still standing, some adventurous types decided it was time for a drink at the pub. He, Rollen Nomas, was going to make the most of this, possible danger be damned. Lina Inverse was terrifying enough, but she was also a celebrity. A visiting celebrity meant more business. He glanced into his rapidly filling tavern and frowned; Lina and her odd companion weren't seated at his most highly visible table. They sat back in a corner, almost out of view of the door. That didn't seem to bother the other customers, he was glad to note, as they kept coming in for a peek at them. With an obsequious smile, he nodded and took a pair of cloaks from two new customers. "Nice night for dinner and drinks folks, come right in," he waved them towards his tavern in the next room. "There's still plenty of seating." He looked behind him; Ah, another person just in! A stranger too--small as this town was, he knew everyone in it. Surely he's a traveling priest, by the look of his clothes and curious staff. Rollen smiled up at the man as he approached. "Good evening, Sir! May I take your cloak?" The man looked amused but nodded 'no'. Nonplussed, Rollen continued his spiel. "If you'd like, a room can be waiting for you once you've finished dinner."

"Thank you, but no," again the smiling priest demurred politely. "I am merely here for some small refreshment and a little gossip before I continue on."

Rollen couldn't resist a good opening, and he took it eagerly. "If it's gossip you want sir, we just happen to have a very notorious traveler staying at our inn tonight." The stranger's quizzical look emboldened him to further add, "The terrifying enemy of all who live—Lina Inverse!"

The priest's eyebrows rose, almost disappearing under his violet bangs. "Really," he breathed, but his solemnity changed in a snap. "My goodness, I've heard she's just awful," he cheerfully added, and then patted the door sill. "I see your establishment is still intact, though." His smile got even wider. He giggled and added, "Thank you for your warning, kind sir."

Rollen watched the mysterious priest as he ducked into the tavern, and was quickly and seated in a dark, quiet corner, near the kitchen. Nice, polite man, I suppose. Well, back to business. He headed off to oversee the kitchen staff for a bit, and as he passed, the stranger smiled and nodded at him. Odd one though, never stops smirking, not even when I mentioned the Dragon Spooker. He shrugged and shook off the niggling notion the man had been amused with him, and got back to work.

Lina glanced back at the room, noticing finally how crowded it had gotten. No one seemed to be interested in her conversation with Zel, thankfully. She did observe people furtively rubbernecking at them as they drank. She assumed some had gotten quite a show, too, since people had started filtering in near the end of her meal. Lina and Zelgadis were used to it though. As long as no one felt the need to listen in, they didn't mind at all.

When the meal was done and the last plate taken away, Zel mentioned why he let the news about her arrival into town slip to the general public.

Feeling magnanimous after the two pitchers of ale she'd had with dinner, she said, "It's Ok Zel, when you put it like that I can see where you're coming from." She'd slugged back the rest of her mug and added, "Those damned merchants don't even realize what a service I'm doing for them! I'm clearing the roads for their safe travel--free of charge too, damn it!" She slammed her mug onto the table--just the thought of that last item had her grinding her teeth.

Zelgadis snorted and took a drink from his mug. "I hardly think you do it for free—there is loot in the bandits' camps—which you do relieve them of." He looked down into his empty mug and frowned. "Tell me why it is I'm drinking this instead of tea? I never drink ale, Lina."

Lina poured them another round from the now emptied pitcher, then stood and turned to better get the waitress's attention. "Oy, waitress, another pitcher, please!" She turned back to face him with her hands planted on her hips and regarded him intently. "You're drinking because we're celebrating being back on the road together! And Zel, I can't believe I'm hearing this from you—you know me! That money is taken to cover my travel expenses!" She sat back down and added, "It certainly isn't to pay for my mansion in the Zephilian mountains."

"You're trying to tell me it's out of the kindness of your heart, and not because you enjoy brutalizing bandits—uh-uh Lina, I've seen you having fun doing it."

He tried to imitate the carefree way Lina had emptied her mug earlier and ended up sputtering. The next table over, two drunks saw Zelgadis's plight; after a short discussion one leaned over to help by pounding on his back. After three thumps Zel was better, but the man leaned back shaking his hand and wincing painfully. Zel waited for the man to ask what kind of freak he was; he'd heard it all. The man grinned at Zel and said, "Wow buddy, you sure are tense… Have another ale!"

Lina wanted to laugh, but she held back, knowing the man had unwittingly touched on a sore subject with Zel. Amazingly, she saw him turn back to her with an odd smirk. Zel's face spasmed into an unaccustomed grin as he said in a light tone, "I'm tense. That's one I haven't heard." He sounded a little flabbergasted with such a simple notion and they both lost it. Their whoops of laughter swirled away into the general din of the tavern. Lina was so happy Zelgadis was having a good time she ordered another pitcher for the other table as well. This earned appreciative slurring praise which further raised Lina and Zel's spirits.

The night and the debate about Lina's role in the national economy went on for four more pitchers. Finally Lina mentioned to Zelgadis he should stop drinking since he was looking a little fuzzy. Rather than point out the obvious hole in her logic, Zelgadis suggested they both call it a night. As they got up Zel caught a glimpse of a familiar amused smile and a flash of violet eyes at the tavern door. Xelloss?! Just as he was about to act, Lina lurched into him, almost knocking him off balance. When he looked again, none of the group of exiting tavern patrons resembled the mazoku priest at all. He knew better than to mention it to Lina, as he knew the drunk and staggering sorceress might… react badly. Just the thought of the possible damage she might inflict gave him a cold sweat. Better to sleep on it, he mused, the ale might be getting to me--after all, I am tense.

The first thing Lina heard were songbirds twittering in the morning. She yawned and stretched, then opened her eyes. Sunlight streamed through her window, and that meant a good day for traveling. She was already beginning to like Strylle a lot more than she had when she'd trudged in the night before. Not enough to stay another day, though—she felt more refreshed after one night in a comfortable bed than she'd thought she would be.

She stretched again, just to make sure the ale hadn't caused any aches and pains. She'd drank enough of it, but it was worth it. I can probably count the number of times I've seen Zel laugh on one hand she mused as she got out of bed. She swayed a bit as she stood, but other than that, things were fine. Grabbing a robe and towel, she headed down to the women's bath.

Zel was already up and drinking tea when she entered the common room. The waitress from last night was talking to him as she wiped off nearby tables. Lina had a feeling this was a morning ritual for them while Zel had stayed here, judging how easy their manner was towards each other. She almost felt she was interrupting when Zel saw her and straightened up in his chair, blushing. This caused the waitress to turn around and blush as well, as she saw Lina walking towards them.

So it went during breakfast: Lina teased Zel about his new 'girlfriend' and he drank tea and tried to downplay the entire thing. Finally Lina figured Zel had had enough teasing and it was time to get down to business. She leaned back in her chair as stacks of dishes were removed from their table. As soon as Glory--found out after more teasing than her chimera friend could take--had walked away, Lina leaned in and said, "You know Zel, we could get started today, instead of tomorrow. I know I've paid up til then, but I'm sure you're ready to go after waiting a week."

"No, I don't mind, besides, you may have paid for two days' stay, but you've definitely eaten two days' worth of food…" Zel ignored Lina's irritable glare, "but if you're ready to go, you're right, I am."

"Ok. Meet you back down here when we're ready! Just you wait Zel, this'll be fun!" Lina said as they got up to retrieve their belongings.

Zel sighed as he followed her upstairs. At the very least, the trip won't be dull.

Author's notes Part Two: Er, I do realize they're having a very lucid sounding conversation while drinking. But if I can do the same and speak perfectly well and still be drunk, so can they. Plus, it's a pain in the ass to write (and read fer crissakes!!!) slurry, drunken dialogue—so I won't.

Next Chapter coming soon—and let's hear some reviews—I can't work in a vacuum you know….