Chapter 2

             Chapter 2

“Mornin Rhys”

Almost spitting out the coffee he had been drinking, Rhys whirled in his seat. He blinked a few times wondering if he was somehow still drunk as he stared at his red haired companion.

“Well suppose there is a first time for everything Trae, I never thought you’d grace the rest of Silvermoon with your presence this early.”

“Yeah actually sleeping for an entire night does things to your schedule” He waved a hand dismissively at Rhys taking a sip from his drink.

“So wait for once in your life you’re up on time to actually attend a class and you’re skipping? Man I thought you had some standards” Rhys smirked at him.

“Hey, I have important things to do today. Ever think of that.” Trae said noticeably avoiding eye contact.

“Oh like what? Another rendezvous with that little blonde waitress?” Rhys didn’t bother keeping his voice down as per usual. The staff and many patrons of the café getting to listen to their entire conversation.

“One, lower your voice. I know you don’t care what people think but still. Secondly, I don’t want to talk about it.”

Rhys grinned like a lion closing in on a kill “Come on you know I’m just going to keep digging until you tell me. Save me the half hour of bugging you and just tell me.”

“I said drop it” Trae groaned trying his best to entertain himself by staring out the window.

“Hmm something went wrong didn’t it? What was it? Another boyfriend? No…foot fetish? Bondage? Was she a dude in drag?”

“Damnit Rhys, I don’t want to talk about it!”

“Wow so what makes today so special that Traestus would dare grace us with his presence so early?” A voice interrupted the incoming barrage of questions coming from Rhysienn. A young woman slid into the seat between the two men.

“I already made that joke Anira.” Rhys informed her before turning his attention back to Traestus

"Oh hells not you too!" Traestus threw his hands up in the air "What do I have to deal with attacks from two fronts this morning?"

Anira simply shrugged as if she had no clue what he was speaking about. "What I'm simply commenting on your rather unusual appearance both at this hour and this proximity to the college you've enrolled in, though I use that term rather lightly." It was up for debate why Anira hung out with the pair, where they were unfocused on anything but girls and partying she was actually making something of herself as a top student in the ranger academy in addition to normal classes. Of course this was when she didn't get swept up in their stupid schemes, which she was happy to partake in preferring their company and adventures to those offered from the books.

Traestus grumbled turning his back to his friends for the moment "Everybody’s a comedian this morning." Rhysienn was busy ordering himself another drink, while Anira sat in her chair quietly. Trae heard Rhys come back to the table, yet the man remained quiet a rather unusual event.

"Alright what's up you two aren't exactly prime suspects for playing the quiet game all of the sudden" Trae turned around to face the pair, a look of horror shooting across his face as he saw Anira fiddling with his communicator.

"Hey give that back!" Trae cried lunging across the table. Rhys pinned down his arm as Anira danced out of the way cackling as she turned up the volume so all three could hear the voice on the other line pick up.

"Hello! This is Threska" A woman answered the call her voice decidedly unfeminine "Is it a suitor calling or someone needing me to spill blood in the name of the warchief"

Rhys let go of the Trae's arm leaving him to sit in his seat fuming as Rhysienn nearly doubled over in raucous laughter. Anira somehow managed to take the call in stride

"Wow you certainly sound like a strong...wait are you an orc?"

"Hah of course I am, the pinnacle of strength and beauty. Even my voice radiates it"

"I can tell, and I coul-" the offending device was finally yanked away from Anira as Trae decided to annihilate all traces of the serial number from existence. He considered doing the same for the device but decided against it in better judgment.

"Why didn't you tell us you got a girlfriend Trae" Rhys managed to get out as he recovered still bent over the table "She sounds amazing"

"Hey if you want to not end up barbecued I suggest neither of you ever mention this again" Trae pointed to the both of them "I mean it."

"So, wanna explain?"Rhys inquired, making it clear that Trae wasn't going to be able to avoid answering.

"That…was a wrong number," the Traestus responded evasively, avoiding eye contact.

"That's it?" Rhys asked, but his eyebrows quirked as realization dawned on him, "That was the number you got? Ha! That blondie got you good."

"Yeah, yeah," Traestus grumbled, sulking as he fiddled with his hair. What he didn't mention was that he'd spent a good hour the previous evening trying to get a straight answer from the idiot, only to finally realize that she was not related to the waitress and clearly didn't know her. He would have hung up immediately in any other circumstance, except the bitch kept leading him on with her "I only remember strong people act."

Rhysienn suddenly shoved his hand in Traestus's face, his palm opened wide as though he was expecting something. Trae looked up with an eyebrow raised, only to be met with a demanding look.

"Now, if I remember right, we had a little bet…"

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Eva scribbled down some notes as her professor droned on about economics and the theory behind dragonhawk herd size and crop growth. Thankfully, her classes were the least of her worries at the moment, if only because she had spent the most time addressing that problem. Money was the most pressing issue as she was a week away from a paycheck and she had that sow of a landlord breathing down her neck for rent money.

The weekend was approaching so if she pulled double shifts and got lucky on a few big tips she might be able to scrape by if she spent her cash on nothing else; of course this brought to light her second problem as her grumbling stomach was very quick to remind her. It was Friday her day off, which meant she couldn't grab any free food from the restaurant today.

As the lecture came to a close Eva stared off into the high ceiling, if worse came to worse she could mooch off a friend for a few days. Of course she'd prefer if her situation didn't force her into such an embarrassing position but she had to survive right.

As Eva headed out of the lecture hall she sighed "Only three more years to go right?" she thought. That disturbingly haunting insight only further served to dour her mood.

"Hey wait up Eva!" A voice called from behind her; shockingly it wasn't some carrier of even more bad news.

"There's this party tonight" Ellua said with a grin, happy to have finally tracked down the girl.

"And?" Eva said clearly annoyed for a variety of unrelated reasons.

"Well I was thinking...."

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"Gods are you still moping about Trae" Rhys groaned as he stared out the window of the coach "If I didn't know you better I'd actually say you were hung up on this chick."

"Hells no, I'm just pissed. Bad aftertaste and what not" The pair sat in the back of Rhysienn's coach as the wheeled down the Silvermoon streets, the falling sun marking the true beginning to their day.

"Oh calm down, what would you do if you met that orc anyway? She'd probably rip you limb from limb, and that's just if she decided that she wanted to sex you up!" Rhys playfully punched Trae in the shoulder grinning "Come on we're going to a great party, they'll be plenty more chicks for you there"

Trae flicked the dead end of a cigarette out the window a predatory smirk returning to his face "Yeah guess after last night I do have to make up for lost time, what better place than some mixed university party. Commoners and nobles right? Heh, this'll be too easy." Trae was rubbing his hands together excitedly.

"I've seen that look before, at least try and pace yourself. Though..." Rhys trailed off a smirk slowly forming on his face.

"What" Traestus turned back to him as the coach rumbled forward.

"I bet you couldn't do it?" Rhys replied in a taunting manner.

"Uhhh I'm pretty sure there are scores of women that could attest to the exact opposite of that in both ability and skill." The mage replied folding his arms across his chest.

"No not that you moron, I bet you couldn't keep your hands or any other part of your anatomy to yourself for an entire night."

"So wait why after a night of getting stiffed would I even dream of taking that bet?"

"Oh no reason...unless you want me holding it over your damn head for the next month."

"Oh and exactly why would that matter? You hold just about everything over my head that you can get your hands on."

"True but..." Rhys cleared his throat adopting a very familiar voice that Trae was none too interested in being reminded of "I think everyone would be very interested to know about your strong new friend."

"Gah fine I get it" Trae growled. He could live without reminders of that particular creature, his annoyance only grew as he realized that the threat was actually going to be effective. That coupled with the fact that if he did accept the bet he would be torturing himself for the entire night. Granted that was what Rhys most likely intended.

"Fine fine, I accept" Trae finally mumbled out, much to Rhys's pleasure, however before he could begin gloating Trae continued "But on one condition: You don't drink for the entire night."

"Excuse me?"

"You head me Delador, what you can't handle the heat?"

Rhys chewed on his lip for a moment before nodding his head.

"Good" Trae stated "So what are the stakes?"

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Trae sat in a chair grumbling in frustration. He was on his third beer of the night and he downed half of this one in a single gulp. It was one of the few parties he could remember that he wasn't having a good time at, that included the time he had hit on the girl who was packing a bit extra down below. Leering from his seats he watched as girls ground their way across the dance floor, curvy young frames rubbing against one another.

Feeling that torturing himself was the worst possible way to spend the night he looked around for Rhys, finding him across the room chatting up a few acquaintances. He looked just as miserable as Trae did, but the grin on his face meant that he thought that Trae would crack first.

Trae wiggled his beer at Rhys sipping some more, enjoying the squirming this brought forth from Rhys. And all things considered, he probably got the better half of the bet. At least he could drink himself into a coma. This plan seemed like a very viable option until a familiar blonde head bobbed across the room.

Slipping from his chair he worked his way across the room doing his bests to keep his eyes up, along with his hands. After a tight squeeze between a rather touchy couple he found himself face to face with a familiar pair of green eyes.

"Oh come on" The girl said angrily "Is there a god up there dedicated to fucking with me or something?"

"Hey come on now, you can't be THAT upset to see me." He said going to sip from his beer only to find it empty, the nearby window providing a convienient trash bin.

"Oh and why would that be? I think most people would get the fuck off message after the wrong number, even the biggest idiots aren't that dumb."

"You know you could have just said not interested" He replied fishing a beer out of a nearby bucket.

"Look just take your whole act somewhere else, I'm not interested. Not sure how to make that any more clear."

Trae shrugged clearly indifferent "You know you'd be a lot cuter if you kept up the whole polite waitress thing going."

"Yeah sure and you'd be a lot easier to deal with if you were stuck at the bottom of some hole in the woods."

"Hmm possible, but then you wouldn't be able to enjoy my company so easily, company if I might remind you that you're still in."

Eva didn't hesitate to start walking away before Trae reached out to grab her wrist pulling her back towards him. He had sat down on the floor underneath the window and next to a bucket of beer.

"Okay maybe you're too stupid to get this but I have no intention of being your little conquest for the night so just get lost."

"Exactly" he answered flipping off the top of the beer grinning now.

The odd response surprised Eva, though she didn't let her guard down. "Explain. Now."

"Well see you're in luck, for this one night only I've made a vow of celibacy." He grinned sipping his beer. Her confused expression prompted him to continue further. "Look I made a bet, so for tonight I'm sleeping both alone and frustrated."

"Whatever" she spat back at him "How do I factor into that?"

"Well, there's about two ways I get through this. One, I drink myself into a coma which I'm well on the way too. Of course I have to wait until that happens, and after a few more of these I'm not really sure what will happen. The second is I hang around you all night, knowing I'll probably get my ass kicked or stabbed if I start playing grab hands. Since I'll probably end up killing the same amount of brain cells either way I figure I'll go with you, as it'll be more entertaining."

"Right and suppose I'm not an idiot and don't just blindly trust you here." Eva folded her arms glaring down at him, her posture somewhat relaxing though.

"Look I'm shameless not an idiot. After that stunt with that orc chick, I'm a little afraid of what you'd do next if I tried to pull anything."

Eva did her best to suppress a smirk, snorting in amusement instead. "Fine, but if you decide to play grab hands I'm breaking each finger and each bone in your hand"

Trae laughed digging into the bucket to offer her a beer "Good enough for me" He nudged over the seat towards her offering the beer "I'm Traestus Koth'Arsvent."

She stared down at him for a long moment before snapping the beer out of his hands sitting down in the chair avoiding his look.

"Oh come it's just a name! Not like I can do much with that."

She sighed as she popped the top to her drink "Eva."

He clapped his hands together grinning "Oh see I knew you could do it."

They sat in silence for a bit, Traestus gazing out longingly at the wilder partiers, while Eva was content to sip from her bottle and making sure the man wasn't trying anything. The mage wasn't one to sit still for long though, and tried to get his overly stiff companion to chat.

"So, why are you here, anyway? Doesn't seem like your kind of place."

"Why? Just because I'm not some sexed up party girl doesn't mean I'm a total loser," Eva shot back, still having the bite to her voice.

"Right…so that's why you're over here?' Traestus replied, gesturing to their window and bucket. The blonde glanced away sheepishly.

"Free food and beer," she muttered.

"Funny reason to go out partying."

"I was unaware I needed a reason to go partying besides you're here in the midst of a bet which forces you to do the exact opposite of what normally goes on at a party."

"Well, guess you're not too uptight," Traestus said, laughing again after looking her over for a moment, "But you might as well be having some fun if you're going to be here. Or maybe…that number was your girlfriend's?"

The mage snickered as Eva choked on her drink, glad to have a little bit of payback. Eva tried to regain her composure, coughing to clear her throat properly.

"One shut the hell up, that's NOT anywhere close to true. And if I recall I'm the reason you're in this stupid bet, which sounds like a stupid bet to take in the first place"

"It's a matter of pride," Trae stated matter-of-factly, "Especially after you cost me the last one."

Eva looked to him curious. "And how'd I do that?"

"My friend thought I'd strike out with you, I thought I'd strike it rich, you should know how that turned out. Not that I mind losing the cash, but it definitely sucked," the red head said, smiling, "Of course, I think you ended up on top in this one."

Eva just grunted, not sympathizing in the slightest. "How nice for you, being able to throw money around like nothing," she said scathingly.

"Hey, if you got it, spend it, right?"

Eva looked ready to argue, but paused, thinking for a moment.

"How much you got on you?" she asked suddenly. Traestus stared back, wondering what had brought on the sudden attentiveness.

"Enough. Why? Hope you’re not planning on mugging me now."

Eva rolled her eyes. "Look, you're bored, and I could use some quick cash -"

"Well, sure, if you really want to…but I really don't want to lose the bet…"

Eva narrowed her eyes at the implication, shooting daggers at him with her eyes. "Gods, is the only thing you think about sex you pervert? How 'bout another bet: Everything you've got, if I can drink you under the table."

"Drinking game is it?" Trae asked slowly, considering it. "And if I win? Can't say that money interests me much."

"Fine then, what do you want?"

Traestus tapped his chin thinking for a bit, making Eva briefly regretting making the offer. "If I win, we get your drunken butt on the dance floor - naked."

Gulping, the blonde girl looked ready to back out, but quickly nodded before she started thinking too hard. "Fine."

"Well, let's see what you've got then, lightweight."

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Trae groaned as he sat up, pushing against what was an unfamiliar and rather lumpy mattress. His head felt like there was a herd of Hawkstriders pounding against it. He managed to slowly start opening his eyes, light barely sneaking into the room yet it seemed unbearably bright. Finally able to make out the decor of the room he realized he hadn't a clue where in the hells he was.

Rolling over so he could sit, he looked around trying to gain his bearings. He reached out to steady himself only to collide with another form which was hidden underneath a blanket.

He sighed Rhys had clearly won the bet, something he wouldn't let go for weeks. At this point the only thing that could salvage the situation was if his companion was particularly attractive.

Sliding the blanket back some, he was met with a groan as a familiar blonde head popped forth from underneath. The shifting having awakened his companion. His eyes shot wide, as the girl's bloodshot eyes began to open wincing at the light. She shook her head once clearly hung over as she gained awareness of her current roommate.

Sadly for Trae, Eva wasn't nearly as slow to react to the bizarre situation as he was, her expression shifting from dull pain to murder in an instant.

"Oh....shit"