Private Tales Biting Back Bile

[Taugdorm]

He'd take a quiet chuckle; in Voxmire, it was the little wins that mattered most.

Without further preamble Taug crouched over the body, a prickle of shame creeping up the back of his neck as he began to swiftly search through the pockets of the deceased underboss. He didn't feel particularly good doing it, and he doubted that he'd feel much better thinking about it later but they were in too deep to back out now.

"The whole neighbourhood will have heard, the guy was hardly whispering."

His search unearthed a few marx, square brass coins officially known as Voxmarks that constituted as currency around Voxmire. That was, if you were rich enough, most of the worst patches tended to operate on barter systems, Bile Hollow included. Taug pocketed those and kept looking, his eyes settling upon a silver locket that sat around the man's neck.

Bloodied hands glanced over a small tube that turned out to be a scroll as he plucked it out and immediately unfurled it, his gaze confounded by symbols instead of words; a coded message.

"Hey My, take a look at this will you," Taug announced before throwing the scroll to his best friend, hoping that it wouldn't end up, like everything else, in the shit.

 

[Myna]

Myna caught the scroll with a swift motion, quickly clutching it to make sure it didn't fall into the muck. She glanced at it with a frown, looking at the odd symbols and slowly shaking her head in confusion.

"These don't look like what Mama Maz taught me." The girl said with a deep frown.

Voxmire, shockingly, did not have an education system. Myna had never been taught to read as a child, mostly because a mother like hers didn't bother with that sort of thing. Not when she was busy handing out the lashes. Mama Maz had seen fit to correct that mistake of course, the angel of a woman blessing Myna with at least a bit of an education.

Still, even with her lack of learning she could still recognize some things. A frown touched her lips for a moment as he noted one of the symbols. "This is a mark that the Scarves use on their Ether."

She pointed out. Plenty of the branded vials ended up all over town, and when you grew up within the city walking on them wasn't all too uncommon. A few of the children even played with the damned things.

"It shows up a few times." She noted. "Think this is important."

Though Taug had probably already guessed that. He was smarter than her.

 

[Taugdorm]

The moment Myna was distracted by the scroll Taug swiftly tore the locket from the behemoth's thick neck and pocketed it, choosing to spare his friend from any additional guilt. He'd at least try and make this right, for both of them, maybe his mum would help him out.

"Yeah, it's just weird sym-"

Oh! He stood up and looked towards his friend as she made the revelation, his expression reflecting her eureka moment. He had presumed it was a coded message of some kind, but knowing what one of the symbols mean was half the battle.

"You're right, this could be major," Taug nodded as if they had somehow found a diamond in the middle of their shit sandwich, "might just be enough to cover our asses at any rate. Great spot, My."

He cast an awkward glance over his shoulder and towards the body, as much as he was trying to play big brother he didn't have the answer for everything here, shit, he barely had the answer for any of it.

"Uhhh, do we just...leave him here?"

 

[Myna]

Myna smiled a genuine smile as Taug complemented her spotting of the symbol, her eyes lighting up slightly. It was rare that she received praise of any sort, rare that anyone down here did. Tauv and Mama Maz always made sure to let her know she was appreciated, and the words sent a jolt of joy through her near every time they were spoken.

With quick deft hands Myna rolled the scroll back up. "Best keep it safe then."

She said, tucking it away. If this was their ticket out of this mess then making sure it got back in one piece had to be the top priority. Myna doubted they'd be let off the hook completely, but a small smack across the face was much better than a knife over the throat.

An outlook many Voxxers shared.

As Taug glanced back at the body Myna peered around his massive form. She frowned for a brief moment, studying the corpse and then just shook her head.

"Guess we leave him for the scavs." She said with a shrug. "Think if we drag him about town or try to throw him into one of the pits it'll just draw more attention."

Myna pointed out, and Taug had been right. The man had been practically screaming, most of the neighborhood would have heard the scuffle. It wouldn't be long before someone came looking. "Let's just get out of here."

She said softly.

 

[Taugdorm]

There was a twang inside of his gut; the idea of leaving the man's body behind striking a rotten chord within the half-orc. He froze for a second, chewing the bile and blood on the inside of his cheek as he stared at the corpse. He could see the disappointment on his mother's face already, but Myna was right, the last thing they needed was the Scarves coming for them right there and then.

They'd no doubt find out eventually.

"Let's get that message to Rise," Taug suggested as he began to walk, wishing to wash his hands of the entire situation, "then hopefully we'll be all square with them and we can put..." he thought about glancing over his shoulder, "...all this behind us."

The air, putrid as it was threatened to become heavy once again, so Taug chose to change the subject.

"Did you hear that Annie apparently got her hands on a cask of Imperial golden ale?" Taug asked, the scabs at the side of his face getting no respite to heal as he grinned knowingly, "She said she's going to crack it open tonight, that we're welcome to come and get our fill."

Annie, locally known as Annie Nigma, was Bile Hollow's resident junk magnet. A woman who somehow always came into possession of the strangest things, although most of the time her discoveries left a lot to be desired. This could have been a cask of golden ale, but a cask of piss was just as likely.

 

[Myna]

Myna nodded. "Lets."

A part of her still doubted that they would be completely out from under the rug, but hoping wasn't something she was completely done with yet. A small part of her still wanted to see the better side of life, keep to the shred of optimism she had left inside of her.

Even if it was as slim as a Mire Mite. "Imperial Golden Ale?"

Myna balked with a shake of her head. Pulling their thoughts away was good. Filing away what had just happened, what they'd done to the man...it was for the better. Dwelling on such things would only make it worse in the end.

They'd offered him a deal, he'd rejected it, and...that was that. The situation hadn't been their fault.

"I'll bet you a fucking marx it's not real." Golden Ale didn't make it's way to Voxmire. They got Rot Ale, and maybe occasionally just ale. "It's probably the usual swill just in the nice cask."

She only had so much optimism to go around. "But...I bet I can still drink more of it than you."

Myna challenged with a smile.

 

[Taugdorm]

That first bet he'd be a fool to take, he snorted at the thought of even being so foolish.

Annie Nigma was unreliable at worst and chaotic at best. There could have been anything in that cask; piss, vinegar, syrax, hell, it could have really been Imperial golden ale. Of course, there was always the chance that Myna was right and it was just the regular old, rotgut in a fancy cask...

Not that they'd turn it down; beggars can't be choosers and all of Bile Hollow were nothing if not beggars.

"You sure you wanna take that bet, little My?" Taug retorted with a toothy grin, drifting over to bump into his best friend to highlight their sheer height and weight difference. "How about three marx? Make it interesting."

He offered a faux-modest shrug, trying to goad his friend into taking that bet as they walked out from The Gutter Run.

"I won't judge you if you back down," Taugdorm teased, smirking all the way, "and I'm sure mum would appreciate not having to nurse your sorry arse back to health the next day."

 

[Myna]

Myna had nearly tumbled to the ground as Taugdorm gently nudged her, the sheer difference in their size enough to almost entirely throw her over. "Ey!"

She called to him as she righted herself. A second later she aimed a punch at his arm, though only half as hard as she actually could.

Her lips split into a smile.

"Three, huh?" For a brief moment she considered, mostly because she'd only actually managed to stash six marx away over the last few months. It was a tidy enough sum, but not near enough for what she wanted. "I could do that."

Taug was bigger. He had more con-constimation? Constitutioms? A big word that Mama Maz liked to use when it came to talking about how her son took hits better than the smaller Voxxer. But Myna was entirely sure that she could outdrink him. "I could do that on a bad day."

She boasted, the corpse they had left behind already filed away in some deep crevice of her mind.