"♪♪♪Ninety-nine ways that you're willing to die, Break your mama heart now she startin' to cry♪♪♪~
"Come on, Huck, for old times' sake!"
"A-a-alright, why not?"
Though the bar was quieter than it had been before the riots, the jukebox's crackling tune drifted through the room alongside the sharp strikes of pool cues and the clack of billiard balls disappearing into pockets. Tankards sloshed as laughter rose and fell, the scent of stale ale mingling with pipe smoke and cooked meat. A few patrons still wore fresh bandages beneath rolled sleeves while others leaned on crude wooden crutches or favored an injured leg. They laughed just as loudly as everyone else, choosing to treat their wounds as little more than an inconvenience for the night.
"S-so how are the kids doing?" Huck asked after taking a large swig, wiping the foam from his lips.
"They've gotten better. Powder and Ekko are still grieving," Vander's tone dropped sympathetically. "Time will help."
"You c-c-could always give them a job," Huck suggested. "T-that always c-cheers them up."
"♪♪♪That's when everything wеnt wrong, Now that's when еverything went wrong♪♪♪~"
"Not yet." Vander slowly shook his head. "Got to let things settle down more. There's a shakeup among the noble houses from what I'm hearing. The Enforcers are stirred up."
There was a pause as a man laughed loudly after a pool ball stopped just in front of a hole on the billiards table, blocking another man's shot at sinking a striped ball.
"Beginners luck!"
After a brief glance toward them, Huck's eyes settled on the amber liquid swirling inside his half-empty mug. His fingers traced the damp rim in nervous circles before he quietly asked, "Do you think it will spill over?"
"I don't know." Vander frowned, dragging a cloth across the worn wooden counter before wiping away the ring of foam left by a freshly poured mug. "But we have to act as if it will. Wouldn't surprise me if some start callin' on their less than reputable connections to cover their arses."
"♪♪♪Sippin' on a beer 'til my friends came looking for me♪♪♪~"
"A stranger?" Huck asked, his eyebrows arching in surprise. "Asking around about Orion?"
"Aye, up topside. 'He was claiming to be his family, but I knew his parents. Whomever he is, he needs a right arse kickin'."
"Do you think his m-mother...?"
"Let's not go there..." Vander answered grimly before the bar doors jingled open. "Welcome to the Last Dr-"
A young, pale, scarred, malnourished, and tired-looking man stepped through the doorway. His loose rags hung from his thin frame while his tattered trousers were stained with dirt and soot from the Undercity. Despite looking as though he hadn't eaten or slept properly in days, a crooked, amused grin tugged at the corner of his lips. The crackling song from the jukebox slowly faded, as did the sound of billiard games and rambunctious laughter as every eye turned toward the entrance.
Pool cues stopped mid-swing, tankards hovered halfway to waiting lips, even the boisterous laughter died in people's throats as heads slowly turned toward the entrance.
"...Bloody hell!"