“That hits the spot!” Jenny slammed an empty mug onto the countertop, as Alan expertly wiped off the spray as it landed, and handed her a fresh one.

She grabbed it, nodding and smiling at him as he collected the empty mug, surreptitious checking to see if it (and the bar) had become damaged from her…enthusiasm.

Theo sat where he normally did, and next to him sat Bruce, Jenny, and Simo. Duncan had politely declined, but they had chatted until they reached the Outskirts, where he disappeared to engage in some (presumably) charitable action.

Many thoughts swirled through Theo’s head. It had been a hectic day. Actually, two, if he counted the whole legacy and incident in The Woods. Actually, a whole week considering it was his first week of classes at the College of Song. Theo re-assessed the chaos that had become his life ever since that day he met Sparrow.

And now he was back in The Pub once again, where it all started. He chuckled to himself, and sipped from his own beer, trying not to grimace (especially with Alan right there). By the time he returned to the present and raised his head, Jenny had finished another glass.

“Don’t let her have another drink. Once that happens things will not end well.” Bruce tried to convince Alan to stop serving Jenny, which could have worked at another establishment, one without a high concentration of competent warriors, some of whom were itching for a fight to cap off the night (and spectators here specifically for this reason, ready to egg people on).

“I only cut people off if they run out of money or if I run out of drink. And the second isn’t going to happen.” Alan put another mug in front of Jenny, and as she reached a hand to pass some coins to Alan, he frowned. He withdrew the beer, just before Jenny could reach it with her other hand.

Bruce chuckled. “Good thing that first one is a possibility then.” His relaxed smile fell from his face, as he realised Jenny was starting to argue with Alan (and potentially get them all kicked out).

As he started bargaining with Alan to let them remain, Theo turned to Simo, who was beside him watching the chaos, and chuckled.

“Are they always like this?” Theo looked at the almost-silent member of the trio, quietly sipping from his own beer. Simo paused, staring into the frothy head of his mostly-full drink.

“…mostly, yeah.” Simo didn’t even tear his eyes from his drink as he replied. Bruce was now arguing with Jenny, as Alan went back to cleaning glasses.

Silence built a bridge between Simo and Theo, as they watched Bruce and Jenny verbally wrestle, unaware that Alan had already left and disengaged from the conversation.

“So, what’s your story?” That got Simo to look at Theo. Theo shrugged his shoulders. “You don’t have to share if you don’t want to.”

The silence returned.

“I grew up around here. Played around The Pub as a kid, and one day Alan saw a scrawny dirty kid with nowhere to go and nothing to do and decided to take a chance on him.” Theo supplied, not looking directly at Simo. He found him nodding, which was a good start.

“I was pretty bad at all the jobs, so he told me to play music to distract the regulars. Ended up getting good at it, and one thing led to another and here I am.” Theo found it funny to sum up his life the way he had, with none of the tension or stakes or drama to grab.

In, fact the more time passed, the less anything felt real or important.

More importantly, Simo started to open up, as the regular crowd started to trickle in.

“I had a knack for throwing things. Grew up in a hunting family, very useful. Got very good with a bow, and the College appreciated that. Family wish I was shooting animals over people, but...” Simo trailed off with a shrug. Theo nodded along, pretending he knew what having a family was like.

“Plus, if you do missions from the Guild of Magic, you can still hunt animals anyway.” Simo nodded at that, as they watched Jenny sullenly sip at a beer, Bruce letting go of a deep breath as he turned their way.

“What are you guys talking about?” Bruce ignored Jenny’s presence, still sulking.

“How we got here.” Bruce nodded at Simo’s quiet response to his question. “How we grew up, or what we do, or what?” Bruce directed those towards Theo.

“How we grew up, but I’m also curious what you do.” Theo admitted.

Bruce cracked a smile, as he grabbed his beer and counted the coins in his pocket. Flicking his eyes briefly over at Alan, he turned to face Theo. “I come from a family of martial artists, so I grew up training my body. Joining the College was a natural progression.”

“What’s the difference between a warrior and a martial artist?” Theo wondered aloud.

“What are we talking about?” Jenny leaned heavily on the bar right next to Theo, and awkwardly repositioned her body so that she could face him while still keeping her elbow on the countertop.

“How we got here.” Theo repeated the question again, studying Jenny all the while. While she didn’t flush or slur her words, there was a definite smell of alcohol on her breath. She paused to consider it for a moment, staring uncomfortably at him all the while (and trying to sneak glances at his body with the subtlety of a cactus).

“I’m the youngest in a big family. I got into fights with my brothers, and grew up knowing how to take a hit and keep going. Esther saw me one day, recommended me to the College and took me on as an apprentice.” She shrugged her shoulders, trying to casually sip her beer (while still heavily leaning over and looking as comfortable as a random citizen would be in a war).

Theo’s face twitched at the mention of Esther. He could see the parallels between them. He also found that odd – weren’t families supposed to protect and nurture you, not fight? That felt like a question that shouldn’t be asked here, so Theo shelved it.

Jenny didn’t seem to pick up on the twitch, to Theo’s relief. That was another odd situation that he wasn’t sure how to approach, let alone explain.

“What about you?”

After a moment, Theo repeated what he’d said to Simo.

Jenny paused. “So that dude took you in and make sure you grew up okay is that asshole over there?” She gestured at Alan with her thumb.

Theo nodded, apologetic smile at the ready. Jenny paused.

“Excuse me.” She held up an index finger, before finally taking her weight off the bar and swaggering back to Alan. He looked confused as she apologised and dumped some coins on the countertop before coming back to stand/lean next to Theo.

Alan counted the coins, shrugged, and continued polishing glasses.

“So, this question has been burning a hole in my head all day – what internal magic do you know anyway?” A look of hunger occupied Jenny’s eyes.

“Uh, Endless Song, Striding Wind, Owl’s Eyes, Bat’s Ears, Dog’s Nose, Self Awareness, Meditation, Stoneskin, and Iron Bones.” Something told Theo that it would be best to omit the second-tier internal magic and save the existence of those for emergencies.

Jenny’s eyes widened. “You’re the one Grant was grumbling about!” Theo haltingly pointed a finger at his own chest with a confused look on his face.

“Yeah, he was complaining about this kid who had potential, and instead wasted it on becoming a b…” The looks on everyone else’s faces told her to not continue with that train of thought. “A baker.” She finished lamely.

“Anyway,” she coughed, “I focus on tempering my body. I harden my resolve, my skin, my soul. I hit hard and I’m harder to put down.” Jenny almost recited that last part. “So Iron Bones, Stoneskin, Momentum, Rest… All that good stuff.”

The silence that stretched between them was not as friendly as the ones that had come before, and Theo pointedly tried to ignore Jenny’s gradually-flushing face.

“To uh, answer your previous question, a warrior fights in wars. A martial artist is an artist who paints with war as their canvas. Anything at all that could help me fight I use. I prioritise efficiency over raw strength, using internal magic such as Striding Wind, Sure Footing, Deft Hands, One-Inch Punch, Hair Trigger, and Acrobalance.” Bruce took the focus off Jenny, and brought it back to safer (and less embarrassing) territory.

“But I will use any tool that helps me fight better. Hence going to the focus magic audit.” He paused, almost expecting someone to interrupt as he glanced at Jenny. She didn’t respond.

“Simo here is an archer.” Simo nodded in agreement with Bruce’s words. Theo shrugged. If that was the best way to explain what he did, then so be it.

Another uncomfortable silence stretched out, as the background noises of the hustle and bustle grew louder and they all stared into their respective drinks thinking their respective thoughts.

Theo broke the contemplation.

“Another round?”