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Date Posted: 23:16:42 11/12/01 Mon
Author: Rowan
Subject: Tia? Tia who?
In reply to: Ravin 's message, "In the kitchen with Rowan" on 13:44:58 11/12/01 Mon

Rowan sat across from Ravin on the kitchen floor, his back propped up against a marble counter. He popped the cork off the small bottle of brandy he’d swiped from the liquor cabinet, sniffing it experimentally before taking a sip. It was potent, even by his standards, but since he didn’t generally hold his liquor all that well, he might not make it to the bottom of the bottle before he keeled over shit-faced for the night.

Can’t do that anyway, he thought, uncharacteristically grim, Gotta go take care a Kazzy, too But he pushed the queen out of his mind, tilting his head slightly at the mumbled curse Ravin gave. He took another swallow of the fiery brandy, thinking that the other thief was about to say what was bothering him, but instead, Ravin looked up, the somber expression already vanished, and began giving pointers on how to be the perfect thief.

Rowan just couldn’t keep the excited look off his face. He wanted so badly to be the best thief ever! All his life, his parents, teachers, and friends had assured him he was too airheaded and too flaky to conform to proper elven society. But this he could do! He knew he could be a great thief, if he only tried a little harder. Quiet, he could be. Clever, he could do, as well. But maybe thoughtful…he needed to work on that. It was the thinking things through that usually ran Rowan into a rut. Half the time he was just too damned excited to bother thinking up a fail-proof plan!

He recalled with vivid detail the predicament he’d gotten himself and Jeremy into a while back. The heist had gone terribly wrong, for not only was the full moon out, bright and glaring as ever, but the two of them had both indulged in two or three or maybe even four glasses of ale before proceeding. Sure, yeah, so he had the occasional embarrassing flop---but he was the one who had captured the infamous Feruz the Clever! That was one incident Ravin didn’t yet know about, and Rowan stored it away to fully expound on when the time proved proper for him to do so.

He looked away and laughed a little under his breath at Ravin’s first few words of advice: don’t get caught. Okay, so maybe he was a little shoddy at that part, too. He’d been in more jail cells in the past few years of his life than he could remember, and a couple times he’d even made it to a scaffold. But, he was still alive today, wasn’t he? and there was a little to be said for that.

Fast-talking, he could definitely do. Hell, before he’d even considered taking on thieving as a livelihood, the clever dandy named Rowan Silvertree had been able to fast-talk his way in and out of a date faster than the smoothest bard! (And yes, he’d had to talk his way out of just as many dates as in---his father’s inheritance and position made him a most desirable catch in the marriage market!)

Now the trick with the bar brawl was pretty clever. It was definitely one thing he would have never thought to do in a million years. Stealing the keys from the guard was yet another good point. Damn it, he wished he had a pierce of parchment so he could be getting all this stuff down! He glanced around quickly, searching with his eyes for something to write on, but as his vision was beginning to get a little fuzzy, the attempt only made him feel slightly dizzy.

He snapped his attention back to Ravin when Tia’s name was mentioned. “I been thinking about taking on an apprentice,” Ravin was saying, his own eyes starting to look pretty bloodshot. “Do you think she'd go for something like that?”

Rowan almost dropped his bottle of brandy, so complete was his surprise. Oh nooo! First Corum wanted to take his adorable little Tia away, now Ravin! And to make matters worse…well, he was hoping he could tag along behind Ravin on his next job, and consequently be the one learning from the seasoned professional. Hmm, maybe he should have thought of that before throwing out Tia’s name like that….

He shook his head, letting his mouth fly open without giving the words that came pouring out any prior thought. “I’m sure she’d love it,” he blurted out, realizing how hard it was getting to stay focused on Ravin’s face. “But…but...but um…” Yes? And was there a point to this fine speech he was trying to give?

“Tia’s my friend,” he said, touching one hand solemnly to his heart, only he forgot that hand was holding the brandy bottle, and he ended up poking himself in the face with the neck. “Ouch,” he muttered, rubbing his cheek. “What the hell was I sayin’?” He scratched at his head before grinning. “Oh, yeah. As I was sayin’ before…Tia is…my friend! And she…” he paused, his silver eyebrows coming together in rather intense concentration. “She trusts me,” he finally managed, smiling proudly at his reasoning. “Conser…consher…con-sher-quin-shilly,” He grinned; that didn’t sound right, but oh well. “I should go along to accompany her, so she’ll feel comfort…comforter…” He sighed and frowned, taking another sip of the brandy. “Comfy. So she’ll feel comfy.”

“To you, Mr. Rue,” he added, raising the bottle in a lopsided toast before taking another swig, “My hero, after my sister, who hates me.” His shoulders slumped forward, and he was suddenly overcome with an overwhelming sense of melancholy. “Crap,” he muttered, staring at Ravin with slightly confused blue eyes, “Man, you got me feelin’ all shitty all of a sudden. I lost my girl to a fool, an’ now I got you looking all down in the dumps. Why you so gloomy, huh?”

Rowan stopped to take another swallow, anxious to hear what it was that could make an expert thief like Ravin seem so depressed all the time.

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