Match of the Millennium

Description: In search of companions for an adventure, Queen Tanwen of Atlantis decides to find some of her friends from the New Fighting Generation to join her party. Her ambition is to explore the heart of Atlantis - the renamed and lava-flooded island of Isla Zaca. Her first stop: Hawksley Moore, who decides to take her to the logical starting point of any adventure: the pub.

[HAWKSLEY]
The sound of Fun People by Ash and Graham Coxon streams into Hawksley's ears as he repeatedly hits the punching bag. He's finished with his coaching obligations for this shift and now it's time for him to put himself through his paces. It's his favourite part of the day, when he can lose himself in the rhythm of his regime and work up a sweat before the inevitable hot shower and pint in the pub that will follow afterwards.

The light grey tank top and shorts he's wearing are already damp with exertion and his pulse is racing as he pummels away. It's a pleasurable feeling but he has to confess that sometimes he misses getting to fight with another person outside of sparring in the ring at the gym.

"I've been to Rio and I've been to Japan." Sing Tim and Graham. "Yes I have." Agrees Hawksley with a grin on his face. That's another thing he misses sometimes, the travelling. He'd visited Brian Storm last summer in Sunshine City but since then he's not left Cork.

Since the intensity of his two seasons in the NFG, Hawksley has settled down somewhat. He owns his own flat in the city and works regular hours at the family gym. He's even mentoring a young and promising boxer named Darcy Devlin. At only seventeen, she's an exciting prospect for a future in the sport.

He switches to the free weights, his ear buds allowing him to take the music with him, and closes his dark brown eyes as he lifts the barbell from the ground. As his muscles burn, he starts to sing aloud. "I look around, I don't know what to do. I'm stuck here with fun people like you."

[TANWEN]
"Hellooo!" calls the somewhat high-pitched voice of a woman who's just wandered in from the foyer, though it might not be audible over the sounds of Ash and the guest guitarist. She shifts the straps on her leather backpack, looking back and forth with a curious expression. She doesn't see anyone else, making it easy for her eyes to lock on to the Irish fella lifting a barbell.

Her expression immediately brightens.

"Hawksley Moore! It's me! Tanwen!"

She makes her way across the gym floor in her brown boots. She's wearing a red vest over a white long-sleeved blouse and a green skirt, with black thigh-high socks - an outfit that he might recognize, if her own amber hair and eyes aren't enough. The Welsh girl is looking a little older than when they would have last seen each other at the end of the second NFG season; she's been a relatively obscure figure since then, for one reason or another.

Wanting to be polite, because shouting three times is one time too many, she softens her gait and pads quietly up behind Hawksley, clearing her throat. Standing up on her tippy-toes, she'll lean her face as close as she can to his ear. Then, suddenly, she blurts out sharply, "Hawksley Moore!"

[HAWKSLEY]
Oblivious to the Welsh woman in the gym, Hawksley continues singing his heart out. "Give your life away, baby that's the price you pay. Fun people, f-f-f-fun people."

He lifts the barbell high above his head and is about to bring it back down when he hears the sharply delivered "Hawksley Moore!" in his ear.

Startled, he drops the barbell on the floor, causing a loud clattering noise. "Jesus! Feck! What the hell?"

His eyes blink open and his posture becomes tight, ready to take a swing at whatever eejit just crept up on him. Then he sees who it is.

She hasn't changed much, perhaps she's a little taller and her face is more mature? The hair is the same though and he's sure he's seen that outfit before. Maybe even in the Red Dragon, the first time they met.

"Tanwen, you gave me a shock, so you did." He clutches a hand to his heart, feeling it pound. "What are you doing here? I haven't seen you since, well, since you became a queen." He laughs, starting to recover from the shock.

He pulls out his earbuds and sets them aside, before lifting up the bottom of his top to wipe his face. "So how have you been? Where have you been? What's the story?"

[TANWEN]
Tanwen falls back on her heels and hops back a half-step when the barbell hits the floor, her eyes widening, but she doesn't flinch or recoil further as Hawksley turns and tightens like he's ready to take a swing. Her smile returns as he recognizes her. "Sorry, Hawksley Moore. I got a bit excited, I did. I've mostly been on Tanwen Island - I mean, Atlantis Island - and on the other islands close by, where it's easier to find food and things. Is that very heavy, what you were lifting?" she asks, stepping up and crouching down to pick the barbell up herself. "Oh, wow. It's very heavy!" she says as she hoists the weight up above her head, immediately losing her balance and starting to teeter backward. "Where did you want it putting?" she asks as she lets it rest across her shoulders, her voice strained and posture slightly hunched under the weight.

[HAWKSLEY]
"You went back there?" Hawksley asks in disbelief. "Well I suppose you did win it fair and square." He recalls, thinking of Team Atlantis besting he and Henry's Hollywood Heat in the final. "Has Chevy been there too?" He asks, though he already suspects not, given that she and Buck had plans to return to college last he heard. He feels a stab of guilt as he realises he hasn't been staying in touch with his old fighting friends. He still sees Coco from time to time but she's so busy these days with her mysterious missions that even those liaisons can be months apart.

"I was lifting three six five. I can do more, but that's a pretty steady weight for me." He explains. "You might want to..."

As the petite Tanwen threatens to topple backwards, he moves forward, offering to take the load from her shoulders. "I was gonna put it down on the floor, so I was. Just not as fast as I did."

[TANWEN]
"Well, yes. It wouldn't be very nice if the Queen was never around, would it? And there's all sorts of people wanting to visit, even though it might be haunted. It's a bit like Phlan - it could do with a bit of a clearing out." Tanwen transfers the barbell back into Hawksley's care, rolling her shoulders once they've been unburdened. "Do you mean you've been lifting this all year? That's very impressive, Hawksley Moore. I was only joking about not knowing where you wanted it, though. I watch the wrestling."

She gives a smile that's too cheeky to realise that a joke that has to be explained isn't a very good one.

"Anyways, I never even got to see any monsters on Atlantis Island before, and I know there was a secret hideout under the mountain, so I like to go exploring and see if there's any monsters or if I can get into it."

She looks a little downhearted when she reports, "Chevy hasn't been to Atlantis, though, and Winn likes to stay on the boat, so it's a bit lonely sometimes. Adventuring is supposed to mean having a party, with rangers and wizards and healers and giant miniature space hamsters."

She brightens again. "That's why I was thinking I'd come and find my friends from En Eff Gee! I thought maybe some of you guys would like to join my party." She adds quickly, "But I wanted to say hello as well! And to see what your gym is like. I've never been in one before."

[HAWKSLEY]
"I suppose so. Is there many people living there, like? You know, for you to be ruling over. Or is it all feckin' meerkats?" Hawksley wonders, carefully setting the barbell down once it's back in his possession. "Who's about visiting the place? Is it fans or people trying to solve the mystery of what happened there?"

He hasn't thought about the events on what was then known as Zack Island for some time. Maybe there's some buried trauma deep down, or perhaps he's just decided to move past it and get on with his life. Besides, it hadn't all been bad.

"Who's your favourite wrestler?" He asks with a smile.

Tanwen is soon back to talking about Atlantis Island though. "Doesn't Junko count as a monster?" He muses, sitting down on one of the nearby lifting benches. "Have you found any more?"

He gives her a sympathetic look as she says she's been lonely. "What was I gonna be again? You know, in the game you were after running before the madness started. I think it was some sort of dwarf. Is that the kind of party you were meaning, or the sort where we get langered? Those are usually more my kind of thing."

[TANWEN]
"It's mostly meerkats, but I haven't been fecking them, just feeding them," Tanwen informs Hawksley matter-of-factly. "And it's mostly people wanting to do podcasts, but sometimes it's people wanting to look around the volcano or wanting to buy property. It's only a small island, though, so I don't really want to be selling any of it - but I haven't got very much money to be building a castle on it, or houses. That's the other reason why I'm wanting to see if there's any treasure on the island before anyone else comes along."

She considers the question about favourite wrestlers for a moment. "I think the King of Dinosaurs is probably my favourite. I think that he would probably understand what it's like being maybe the last of your species, being a reptile in a world where the mammals are in charge, and what it's like being a monarch. I mean, I'm not sure if he's a real dinosaur, but if he's not, he's good at LARPing."

She tilts her head at the Junko question. "Is she a monster? I suppose she sort of is, but she probably had some class levels, I think. Maybe an evil outsider. That would explain why she wouldn't change her mind about being mean."

There's a bit of an uncomfortable look on Tanwen's face as her mind returns to the fall of the phoenix - which, at the end, had been at her hands.

Or horns, to be precise. Tanwen prefers precise.

"You were going to be a dwarf Paladin called Lucky who could tank for the party," Tanwen confirms from memory before crinkling her nose in confusion. "And what's getting langered? Is that another Irish word, like fecking? I suppose we can get langered if it helps with finding the treasure."

[HAWKSLEY]
Hawksley laughs loudly at Tanwen explaining her meerkat care. "Well it's good you're feeding them, so it is. I thought you might have some of those podcaster types snooping. I'm surprised more hasn't come out about what happened yet."

He runs his hand over the back of his neck, working out some tension. "Maybe you'll find some more of those Zack Coins." He suggests. "You can go wild in the island's vending machines."

He nods along with Tanwen's choice of wrestler. "That's a solid choice. Imagine him in the ring with Brian? I'd pay to see that."

He considers the question of the label he placed on Junko. "She felt like a feckin' monster that day." He grimaces. Then more quietly." I'm glad she's gone."

As Tanwen switches back to a lighter topic, Hawksley chimes in chirpily. "Lucky! Of course. I'm not sure why I was a Paladin but I'd tank for the party any day of the week. Then we could all get langered together, which is just another word for scuttered or locked."

[TANWEN]
"I've been finding lots of Zack Coins, but they're mostly melty and don't fit in the machine anymore," Tanwen admits woefully. She tilts her head a little at Hawksley's assertion about Brian. "Brian? Do you mean the one who turned into Bacon Storm? I'm not sure if a pig versus a dinosaur is a very fair fight."

Tanwen tucks a bit of her hair back behind her ear. "I think she was just a bit tired. Some creatures get very angry, or hungry, or scared, or greedy, and then they start ruining things for everyone else. And that's not just humans, either."

She rubs her chin thoughtfully, then smiles. "Oh! You mean like an escape room? Yes, that's probably good practice for in case we get trapped in a real dungeon. Shall we go get locked now, then?"

[HAWKSLEY]
"That'll be the volcano." Hawksley sympathises, recalling the thrill he'd felt at getting a coin that allowed him to hear music by his favourite band.

"Yeah, that's the fella." He confirms in relation to Brian/Bacon Storm. "He's not really a pig though, you know. Just like the dinosaur is really just a lad in a costume."

Hawksley decides not to comment further on what may have caused Junko's bad mood. He can certainly recognise the triggers for grumpy humans though. "Yeah, we all have our bad days, I suppose."

He's briefly confused by the mention of an escape room, then realises where the confusion has come from. "Nah, not a room with locks, like. I mean drunk, Tanwen." He mimics lifting a drink to his mouth and knocking it back. "You're welcome to come to the bar with me, so you are, but I'll need to get a shower first."

[TANWEN]
"Oh! How come you didn't just say 'drunk,' like?" Tanwen asks, tipping her head to one side with a confused expression. "Well, I'm not supposed to be drinking, but..." The temptation of the invitation wars on Tanwen's face against the words of her guardian Winn.

'Stay away from the booze, Tan. You know what happened to the Christmas tree when you had the mulled wine that one year.'

But Winn is across the ocean - or at least the Irish sea - and Tanwen is older now. She just had another birthday, and she's practically a Young Adult dragon now.

And adventures almost always start out in the bar, don't they? Either that, or in prison. So, really, it's responsible of her to go to the bar with her potential new party member - that's better than being in jail.

"...nevermind! I'm a big girl, I am." She's not a big girl, really, but she has grown an inch or two since last time Hawksley saw her - putting her at slightly-below-average height. "Can we try the escape room after the bar, though? I've always wanted to try one, I have. Or we can do some roleplaying!" she proposes. "Or maybe we can go looking for pots of gold. I reckon I might as well see if I can find one while I'm here."

[HAWKSLEY]
Hawksley shrugs with a broad grin on his face. "I'm just speaking like I speak, Tan. I'm glad we got there in the end though." He watches as a war wages on the Welsh Woman's face but she finally succumbs to temptation. "Good one. I'll introduce you to the lads."

He stands up from the bench and clasps a hand on her small shoulder. "Course you are, cailin. I'm not sure about this escape room malarkey though. Puzzles ain't really my thing. I suppose it could be a bit of a laugh though if we're langered. Just promise you won't let us be locked in all night. I've had enough of that to last me a lifetime."

Hawksley's mind flashes back to a memory of a night in a cell after a particularly boozy and brutal bar brawl.

"You might be let down by the gold though. If there's any leprechauns around here, they're on the shy side."

He starts to head in the direction of the showers, eager to get freshened up now there's a pint on the horizon.

*****THIRTY MINUTES LATER*****

Hawksley pulls open the heavy door to his local pub, The Corner House. He's been drinking in here since he was fifteen years old, the owner turning a blind eye to his boyish face on account of him being a close friend of Liam Moore, Hawksley's father. As the two fighters enter the pub, the warmth hits them, contrasting with the coldness of the Cork early evening outside.

The room is noisy, loud voices competing with the jukebox playing classic rock songs. The décor is mostly dark timber, with low-hanging lamps throwing a yellow glow over the bar area. The wooden beams overhead are darkened with age and the walls have a soft, uneven look that comes from decades of wear and tear.

The bar itself is solid and scarred in places - marred by old ring marks and nicks in the wood. Stools are positioned alongside it with strategic spaces to allow customers to come up to the bar to place their order. Behind the bar is a middle-aged redhead with sparkling green eyes. This is the landlady, Nora Buckley.

"Hawksley Moore! How're you doing, darling?" She leans forward so he can plant a kiss on her cheek. "You're a bit earlier than usual and who's your little friend? Are you after seeing her, so?" She gives Tanwen a warm smile and automatically reaches for a glass to pull Hawksley a pint of Guinness. "What are you having?" She wonders of his companion.

[TANWEN]
Tanwen adjusts the straps of her backpack as the sound of Thin Lizzy's "Whiskey in the Jar" hits her. "Oh, I like this song," she either reveals or decides on the spot, making her way up to the bar. She quirks her lips as Nora asks Hawksley about his little friend. "I didn't think I'd be getting called little in Leprechaun Land!" she says without irony to her companion, before turning her face up to Nora's. "Ie, he's been seeing me!

Only today, though, like. Did you know Hawksley Moore does lifting every day?"

Her eyes light up with opportunity at the question she's asked. "Oh! Do you have any Evermead or Wyvern Whiskey? Or some Shadowdark Ale? I want to try them all," she says with mounting excitement.

[HAWKSLEY]
"Yeah, it's a classic." Hawksley agrees as Tanwen shows her appreciation for the Irish rock anthem. He's less appreciative of her name for his country though. "Jesus, Tan. You can't be calling the place that around here. Anyway, you are pretty little." He remarks, his expression softening somewhat.

Nora looks amused at the exchange, reaching for a whiskey glass. "We've got Jamesons." She tells Tanwen, pouring her a double. "I've put an extra shot in for you since he's probably paying." She winks at Hawksley, holding the machine out so he can tap it with his card, and then turns away to serve an elderly man with an impressive white beard.

Before he can even have a sip of his pint, a loud and rowdy roar comes from behind Hawksley. "How the devil are you, Hawkman?" Bellows a lanky lad with thick strawberry blond hair and freckles. "And who will you be, cailin?" He checks with Tanwen.

[TANWEN]
"Oh, sorry!" Tanwen reacts to Hawksley's indictment, though she's not sure what she's sorry for. "I meant on the Emerald Isle. Though, I've not seen any emeralds /or/ any leprechauns since I've come over, like." She exudes a sigh at the state of affairs, but it quickly passes as she's passed the glass. She raises it up to her nose and gives it a sniff, crinkling her nose, then trying a sip. "Oh, it's nice, it is." Surprisingly, for someone who's never been allowed to try spirits, she doesn't have much of a negative reaction to the potent and pungent liquor.

"Excuse me, mister Irishman. Are you a wizard--" Tanwen is asking the elderly man with the impressive beard when the rowdy roar interrupts. She turns around to the strawberry blond-haired fellow, blinking a couple of times. "Oh! That depends. What will we be playing?" she asks, looking between the two mates. "Are you friends with Hawksley Moore? Did he tell you that we're starting a party?"

[HAWKSLEY]
"The place is sorely lacking in emeralds and leprechauns." Hawksley admits. "We sometimes get rainbows though."

He takes a long swig from his pint and lets out a sigh of satisfaction. He starts to take a second and then spits it back into the glass when Tanwen asks old Seamus if he's a wizard.

"I used to be a wizard at hurling." The old man claims. "I've lost my magic now though, so I have."

The now recovered Hawksley looks at Tanwen with surprise when she seems to like the whiskey. "You're a natural." He praises. "That stuff is made in Cork."

The blond lad rubs his hands together in enthusiasm. "I'm game for whatever. Pool, darts, cards. Maybe we can play a round of something before this party. Where's it at?"

As he awaits an answer, the taller man slips an arm around Hawksley and kisses him on the crown of his dark-haired head. "He's my best friend in the whole feckin' world. Are you that lass from the competition he was in? I'm sure I've seen you before."

[TANWEN]
"Oh, that's amazing," Tanwen says to Seamus between sips of her double shot. "So you used to be very good at fecking, then?" Her expression waxes sympathetic. "I hope you can be getting your magic back, like. Fecking is fun. So is being fecked."

Her glass is already empty, so she turns back to the landlady, pushing it toward her and smiling. "May I have another, Missus Barkeep?" she asks, before turning back to Hawksley and his friend. "Oh, cards? I haven't brought me Magic with me. I do have all of me manuals, though." She pats the backpack on her back with her palm, resulting in a fairly solid-sounding thump. "Oh, we were in the same competition, yes. I beat Hawksley Moore AND Junko," she declares proudly, puffing up her chest a bit. "I don't think you'll have been seeing that, though," she realises. "I can't find the videos on the internet."

Finally, because no one has asked her name yet, she announces, "I'm Tanwen." After a moment, she corrects herself. "Queen Tanwen."

[HAWKSLEY]
"I was a first class fecker." Seamus reminisces as he sips his stout. "I think my magics gone for good now, but God bless you for your wishes, lass."

Nora raises her eyebrows at Tanwen's term of address. "Ah sure she's a character isn't she?" She comments to Hawksley and his freckled friend. "Another double Jamesons coming up. You'll be carrying her home, Hawksley if she can't handle it, so."

Jimmy bows low as Tanwen introduces herself. "Queen Tanwen no less. I'm Jimmy, no title, unless you count what this fecker calls me when he's had a few." He nudges Hawksley playfully. "Do you do tricks with the cards, like?" He's obviously not familiar with Magic the Gathering.

"My boy is used to losing to cailins. I saw him in that final." Jimmy jests. "You're right though, I haven't seen you fight him. That will have been on that island? They've probably burned the footage from the bits I've heard."

[TANWEN]
"He'll not have a problem carrying me home. I don't mind," Tanwen assures Nora as she takes the second double of Jameson. She looks at the glass, then turns a hopeful expression up to Nora. "Do you think I could have the next one in a bigger glass, like? I've always wanted to try drinking out of a tankard, like."

Turning around and glugging down her drink, she listens to Jimmy. "Oh, no. I wouldn't do tricks. I'm not a cheater," she assures him. Suddenly, she hugs her stomach tight and closes her mouth, fighting back a belch before it can escape her fully. Once the danger has passed, she says, "I was on Chevy's team. She beat Hawksley two times! I think it's because water is strong against fire."

She turns to Hawksley, who's been seeming a bit quiet, and steps up to his side, leaning up to whisper in his ear. "Did you tell Jimmy about the Atlantis Island quest? Do you think he'll want to come too? Or do you think he's wanting to play Dungeons and Dragons instead?"

Not wanting to be rude, she turns her attention back to Jimmy. "If yous two were hobbitses, do you think you'd be more of a Samwise to Hawklsey Moore's Frodo, or more of a Frodo to his Samwise?"

[HAWKSLEY]
"Boy, I could carry Tan even if I was half-cut." Hawksley claims. "She's fierce small."

Nora nods. "That'll be all that lifting the lass was talking about." Turning to Tanwen, she shakes her head. "Not if you're wanting me to fill it, so. I'm not after having a dead body on the premises. It's bad for my reputation."

Jimmy listens to the Welsh woman with a broad grin on his face. which breaks out into full on laughter when she tries to hold back her burp. "I didn't say you'd be cheating now." He assures her. "I mean, more like Derren Brown. Although, I suppose he kinda cheats when he's tricking his audience." He ponders.

"Three times." Hawksley corrects regarding his record against Tanwen's mentor. "She beat me in Abigail's place in the first season too."

When Tanwen leans up to whisper to him, Hawksley obliges by bending down a bit. "I'm not sure Jimmy will be into either of those, Tan. You could ask him though."

Meanwhile, Jimmy has decided which part he'd play in Lord of the Rings. "I'd definitely be Frodo. Hawksley's my Sam."

[TANWEN]
"I won't be letting anyone cut you," Tanwen assures Hawksley with an expression that she's fierce, even if she is small, looking around to make sure that there's no threat of that happening.

Turning to Nora once she's assured herself of his safety, she offers a pleading look. "But I really want to try drinking out of a tankard, though! Can I be having a tankard of mead instead, then, like? Or a tankard of ale? I'll have a tankard of anything, really.

She sets her empty down on the bar and pushes it politely toward the barmistress. For now, at least, she doesn't seem to be showing any major signs of inebriation. At least, if one assumes her smile is always that friendly and bright-eyed.

Turning back to Jimmy and Hawksley, Tanwen tilts her head again. "Well, I've not got me Magic cards anyways, so I suppose it doesn't really matter," she decides. "Oh! I wasn't there that time. I was only counting the ones I saw for meself."

She has a torn expression at the conflict between Jimmy's report and Hawksley's remark. "Well, would you like to join our fellowship, like? We're either going to Atlantis Island to find treasure, or going to be playing the Dungeons and Dragons. First, we're going to be drinking while we look for party members, though. We could use a Frodo, even if Sam's the one that's more the hero of the story."

[HAWKSLEY]
"My hero." Hawksley smiles warmly at Tanwen, clutching a hand to his chest. "Did you hear that, Nora? Tan is looking after me, so if any bad lads come in, I'll be grand."

"You're the bad lad around here, Hawksley Moore." Nora murmurs as she sets about fetching a pint glass from the shelf and holding it up to Tanwen. "That's the best I can do you for. I've not got any of those tankards around the place, but if you bring one back with you next time, I'll fill it for you. There's no mead but there's ale. I can give you some Smithwick's or Lucky's Fiery."

"I'll join your fellowship, Queen Tanwen." Jimmy decides. Shall we stick to the Dungeons and Dragons for now? I've not had my passport renewed yet."

Hawksley perks up at the idea that Sam is the hero. "There you go then, that sounds about right."

Then comes the confession. "I've never read or seen Lord of the Rings."

[TANWEN]
"What? Hawksley Moore is the bad lad around here?" Tanwen is shocked by this twist in the tale. She turns to face the Irish fighter with a bewildered expression. "Hawksley Moore, I thought that you were more of a Chaotic Good sort of person, I was. Are you really secretly a bad guy, or are you only Chaotic Neutral? If you're actually evil, then we can still play Dungeons and Dragons, but I'm not sure we can be friends anymore."

She turns back after letting that sink in to quickly add, "Oh! I'll have a Lucky's Fiery."

She turns back to Hawksley and Jimmy.

"Oh, that's tidy, that is! What class do you want to be playing, then? Actually, me and Hawksley haven't decided what we're going to be yet, this time."

She looks completely flabbergasted at Hawksley's confession. "Really? Oh! We've got seven or eight films to be watching, like! Unless you prefer reading. Maybe we should start by watching the new Lord of the Rings while we're having our drinks?"

[HAWKSLEY]
"Ah come on now, Tanwen. Look at this face, do I look like a bad lad to you?" Hawksley asks, doing his best to appear as innocent as possible. It's pretty hard to pull off giving the cheeky expression on his face.

"He's not evil." Nora admits. "Just a bit naughty, like."

The landlady fills the pint glass to the brim with Lucky's Fiery Ale. It's a drink that The Corner House has been stocking since Hawksley got his sponsorship deal back in the first year of NFG. "There you go. It makes the tongue tingle, so." She warns, sliding it towards Tanwen.

"I'll be whatever I was gonna be before, since I never got to play it." Hawksley decides. "A paladin dwarf, tanking with a tankard. I'm not watching or reading all that Lord of the Rings shite though. Life's too short, so it is."

Jimmy looks a bit lost. "I don't actually know anything about Dungeons and Dragons." He admits. "Other than there's probably dungeons and dragons. Can I be a dragon, like?"

[TANWEN]
Tanwen's dubious expression falters a little when Hawksley tries unconvincingly to persuade her that he's not a bad lad. How does one roll Sense Motive in real life? She feels like she should be doing so right now.

When Nora steps up to bat for him, though, she concedes: "In that case, we can still be friends, I suppose. I've been a bit naughty meself sometimes. Never on purpose, though." She takes the pint glass, raising it to her lips. "Well, usually not on purpose," she murmurs into the ale before taking a slurp.

This time, her nose crinkles a bit.

"Oh, that's not as nice," she decides, but she keeps slurping it up anyway - right up until Hawksley says that life is too short for watching Lord of the Rings. She smacks her drink back down on the bartop, a fire surging in her belly, and possibly in her brain. "Hawksley Moore! You can't be saying that about the Lord of the Rings! It's the most important story that's ever been written, it is! Without it, there'd be no Dungeons and Dragons!"

She scowls and huffs, crossing her arms over her chest. "Life's too short to not be watching or reading the Lord of the Rings! I'm only forty-nine, and I've watched all the movies loads of times!"

She turns her attention to Jimmy, her expression brightening as her mood flips at the opportunity to proselytize about her personal belief system. She unslings her backpack on the bartop and pulls out a large, brown hardcover that looks like it might be a guidebook of some kind.

Unfortunately, it's in Welsh.

"You can be one if you like, I suppose! It's only fair if I get to pretend I'm a human. Even if dragons are a bit Oh-Pee." She pushes the book into the blond lad's hands, freeing herself to take another swig of her ale. Letting out a pleased sound and wiping her mouth with the back of her sleeve, she announces, "Actually, this is sort of nice, it is."

[HAWKSLEY]
"There's nothing wrong with being naughty, so." Hawksley declares, before putting down his empty pint glass and requesting another Guinness with a gesture. "It keeps things interesting. Either way, I'm glad we can still be friends, Tan."

Perhaps not for much longer though.

"I thought The Bible was the most important story ever written." Hawksley counters. "I suppose that didn't have Liv Tyler in it though."

To be fair, Hawksley would be grand living in a world where there wasn't any Lord of the Rings or Dungeons and Dragons, but he can see how important it all is to Tanwen. "Maybe we can watch it in parts?" He suggests. "So it doesn't feel as long."

"You're forty nine?" Nora asks in disbelief. "Jesus, we're the same age. You're gonna have to tell me what cream you use." She peers a little closer at Tanwen. "I thought you were twenty at most. I almost asked you for eye dee."

Jimmy rests his elbow on the bar for support. "Pretend you're a human? Oh, you turn into a dragon don't you? In the fights, like." He takes the book from Tanwen, fingering the cover before opening it at a random page. He doesn't understand the writing but there's a picture of a barbarian. "This looks like Hawkman when he's raging." He grins.

[TANWEN]
"Definitely Chaotic Neutral," Tanwen solemnly assigns Hawksley's alignment when he says that there's nothing wrong with being naughty.

Her head cants to one side, bright amber tresses spilling with the motion. "The Bible's a lot more boring, though, isn't it? The exciting bits are mostly at the very end."

Most importantly, there's no dragons in it, and like all the other human propaganda, the main reptile is cast as a villain.

"Oh, that's easy! It's already in parts! We can do one movie at a time, or we can read some of the books every night. That's what I usually do."

She pushes her fresh empty across the bar to Nora. "Only in human years. I'm not a very old dragon, like," she clarifies. "We can get to be over a thousand if we don't get murdered first. May I be having another one of the Jamesons, please? Or perhaps two?"

She leans over the book, shoulder brushing into Jimmy's space. "Oh, that's a barbarian. Hawksley Moore's not a barbarian; he can read." She looks over at Hawksley judgingly. "Well, perhaps he's got some levels in sorcerer as well."

[HAWKSLEY]
"There's nothing boring about The Bible." Seamus pipes up. "That book has got it all. Violence, sin, romance. What more could you ask for? Dragons I suppose." He adds, as Tanwen remarks on the lack of them.

The talk of the villainous serpent has Hawksley's mind drifting to Coco. He wonders what she's doing right now. Maybe he'll try and call her tomorrow. He could make a trip to wherever she currently is sometime soon.

He realises Tanwen is talking to him and shakes his head. "Feck no. I was meaning we could break each part down into parts. Then it would be nine movies like Star Wars."

The mention of the movie franchise has him again thinking of his girlfriend. He laughs aloud at the memory of pushing her in the sea when he was Hawk Solo and she was dressed as a TIE Fighter pilot.

Nora fetches a double Jameson for Tanwen, looking at Hawksley expectantly for him to pay. He again taps his card on the machine.

"I can be a bit of an old dragon myself." The landlady remarks. "Especially first thing on a morning."

Seamus is now looking thoroughly confused at the conversation happening between the three young people. "Are they on drugs?" He asks Nora.

[TANWEN]
Tanwen crinkles her nose at the suggestion of turning the Lord of the Rings into nine movies. "Well, nine is a good number, but if life is too short, then wouldn't it be better to just watch /all/ the Lord of the Ring movies in one go and get it sorted?" she proposes, taking her drink off of the bar and looking curiously up at Nora. "Really? You don't seem much like a dragon to me. Not that I mean any offense!" she remarks with alternating brass and apology in her voice. The drink almost subconsciously finds her lips, glugged down with reckless abandon. After all, the faster she finishes it, the faster she can order another.

The glass hits the bar again, pushed across with a full lean, fingers splayed this time, that same beseeching smile lifted to Nora.

"I've never tried drugs," she tells Seamus as she takes one step away from the bar. "Are they nice?"

And, suddenly, she's tipping toward Hawksley, all sense of balance completely abandoning her. "Hups," she half-exclaims, half-hiccups.

[HAWKSLEY]
Hawksley is about to object to what to him sounds like a horrific way to spend an evening, when he sees Tanwen toppling towards him. He catches her with ease, saving her from falling to the bar's wooden floor.

"She'll be wanting the room upstairs, so." Nora states. "There's clean bedding and the heating was on earlier, so she'll be grand."

With a nod, Hawksley relieves Tanwen of her surprisingly heavy backpack and slings it over his shoulder. He then lifts Tanwen fireman style to carry her up the narrow staircase at the back of the pub that leads to the spare room upstairs. It's not an official rental. It's kept purely for this purpose. Many customers have stayed there over the years when they've been too banjaxed to make it home, or simply when they can't afford anywhere else to sleep.

"I'll be back soon." Hawksley calls to his drinking buddy.

Watching the scene with rheumy eyes, Seamus answers the question too late for Tanwen to hear. "They can be but you've got to be careful."

[TANWEN]
Tanwen's not quite out of it completely as she's being hoisted over Hawksley's shoulder and carried off. "Oh! Are we going to watch a film now, Hawksley Moore?" she asks in a daze before making an 'urp' noise as a rumbling rises in her contorted belly once more. Unable to stop it this time, she lets out a belch - sending out a jet of flame behind Hawksley's back that, fortunately, doesn't manage to catch anything flammable. "That sounds grand," she murmurs as her body slowly becomes heavier - and soon, the sounds of gentle snoring can be heard whistling out of the Welsh lass's airways.

Log created on 14:04:06 02/01/2026 by Tanwen, and last modified on 13:57:39 02/05/2026.