193 - Canyons

The tavern Xun suggested didn’t look interesting one way or the other. Larger than most, but not an establishment that catered to either Titled or lowlifes. Vivi couldn’t help but eyeball the building as she stood outside of it. 

I’m ninety-nine percent sure the ‘share a few drinks’ thing was to get a rise out of me. He wants to talk and get a read on who I am. It’s not a date. 

She really did believe that. Unfortunately, she knew she didn’t have the sharpest mind when it came to social complexities, so her ‘ninety-nine percent sure’ wasn’t reliable. 

Regardless, Xun would find out fast that she wouldn’t entertain those types of shenanigans. 

It’d be nice if he did try to pull something. Then I can leave early and not feel bad.

Taking a breath, she steeled herself and strode up to the tavern’s doors—then through. A wave of noise and visuals hit her, and she scanned the interior to take it all in.

It was a rowdy atmosphere, though that was true of most taverns in the evening. Nightfall hadn't arrived, but those who had intended to drink had begun some time before. It was packed inside. The tournament had drawn an incredible number of visitors to Meridian, and where else would they be crowding except at places like this? 

It’ll be worse when the tournament starts, she thought.

The qualification matches weren’t drawing a fraction of the audience that the real events would, since civilians from across the world would flood in for that. But the bouts were pulling the adventurers who had come to participate themselves, and in great volume. 

Despite how crowded the tavern was, she spotted Xun Vey within moments. Her visual processing abilities were pretty extraordinary; she was becoming more and more in tune with her physical boons as of late. The old man had made the recreational area of the tavern his den. She noted that it boasted a lot more billiard tables, dartboards, card stations, and other games than the usual establishments did. 

Is that why he chose this place?

She felt an inappropriate amount of relief at the idea. Occupying herself with a game or two sounded far more appealing than sitting at the bar with nothing to do but talk. While taking on the Sorceress’s mantle had forced her into being many times more social than before, it didn't come naturally to her. 

Xun Vey stood a fair distance from a dartboard, and a group surrounded him—mostly men, but some women, all with builds either lithe or muscular, suggesting they were adventurers. He was blindfolded. With a dart poised between his fingers and an affable grin on his lips, he let himself be spun around by two men, one on either side of him.

When they stopped spinning, Xun adjusted his blindfold, shuffled a few steps as if to steady himself, then snapped his head toward the dartboard. His hand shot up into a throwing position, and without any hesitation, he released the small projectile with a flick of his wrist.

The dart hit dead center.

Stunned silence.

“You’re shitting me,” a blond man said. “How… how is that even possible?”

The rest of the group looked dumbfounded too, then burst into cheering. They jostled a laughing Xun Vey around, pushing and clapping him on the back.

Three of the viewers began counting out coins, shaking their heads but seeming so amazed that they didn’t care they’d lost an apparent bet.

Meanwhile, Vivi narrowed her eyes. She had sensed a subdued spark of mana erupt from the center of the dartboard the moment Xun’s dart had hit the bullseye. The ripple had been extremely faint, no doubt invisible to anyone below Titled, but unmistakable to someone like her.

Xun made a show of declining the losers' coins, rubbing the tops of their heads, and scolding them. Afterward, he bowed in Vivi’s direction. The action drew confused looks from his audience, since Vivi stood dozens of paces away at the entryway of the establishment.

She couldn’t help but be a bit impressed. Not so much at the dartboard trick—she had her suspicions there—but at how he’d heard her come in, known it was her, and given a bow despite the distance.

She walked over. Rather than greeting the man, she approached the dartboard, inspected it, then pulled the ensemble off the wall with a spell. She found what she’d suspected on the backside: a thin and flat disc-like artifact where the bullseye would be.

She peeled it away, sealed the board back where it belonged, and quirked an eyebrow at Xun Vey, forcing even her reluctant body to comply with the outrageously expressive action.

His audience seemed confused, and he cleared his throat and clapped his hands. “My dear Lady Vianora. So glad to see you.” He extracted himself from the now-suspicious group, but since he’d declined to accept any coin from them, none were offended at the unspoken implication of cheating. “I have a woman to entertain,” he apologized to them, “but I’ll be seeing you all around, I’m sure.” He waved as he left.

“You cheated?” Vivi asked from a safe distance. She’d thrown up a sound barrier, as had become second nature.

“You accuse me of such scandalous things without evidence?”

She raised the silver artifact.

“Merely because there’s an odd object behind the dartboard?”

“I’m a competent enchanter, Xun.”

“Who said I put it there?” he pivoted without missing a beat.

“I don’t even care if you rigged the game,” Vivi said. “I’m not offended. I’m asking why. I’m certain you could’ve done that without a trick.”

Vivi had never seen such a flattered look on a man’s face, and she was sure he put on the expression as a farce. “This Xun Vey’s new companion is far too generous with her praise. Could this humble man perform such an astonishing feat with no underhandedness? One would surely need to be Titled to manage something so impressive!”

Times like these, I really do wish my face could do more, Vivi thought. Rafael might understand I’m looking at him flatly, but strangers can’t.

“You’re ridiculous,” Vivi said aloud as a replacement. “Why would you con your way through something you could do normally? It makes no sense.”

“Two reasons, and both make plenty.” He smiled. “First, there’s a certain thrill to illicit acts.” He waggled his eyebrows to make sure the innuendo wasn’t missed. “The second, I leave as an exercise to my fair elven maiden.”

“Don’t call me that,” Vivi shot back, though without as much heat as she might’ve given otherwise, because the implicit challenge intrigued her. 

The first excuse did make sense, unfortunately. Xun seemed like someone who would cheat at things ‘just because it was fun.’ Suyin did say he would praise her for the trick against Ember.

What was the second, though?

“You wanted to see if I noticed,” Vivi said.

“That’s right.” He clapped, not mockingly, but it felt that way regardless. “This old man is a bit of a conniver. Aren’t we learning so much about each other in such a short time?”

“This evening is going to test me, isn’t it?”

“Not if we get drunk enough.” Xun threw his head back and roared with laughter. “You have some catching up to do, I’m afraid. I’ve already gotten started.” He walked over to where a mug had been laid aside and gulped down the amber liquid. It emptied from mostly full to a third. He wiped foam from his mustache and flashed her a rakish smile.

And yes, she’d had a suspicion he’d begun early. The wizened white-haired swordsman certainly wasn’t drunk yet, but there was an ease about him beyond what their couple of interactions had established.

The behavior didn’t disgust her or anything—she just wasn’t outgoing and rowdy herself, and sometimes she found the conduct a bit exhausting to deal with. That said, such an energetic and affable attitude could scarcely leave her frowning and annoyed.

“I’ll go grab one of my own then,” Vivi said.

“I’ll bribe our way into a table,” he replied with a sweeping bow.

A table? she wondered, initially fearing against her earlier assumption that they would sit down and chat face-to-face. But the old man swaggered off toward where three billiard tables stood in a line instead. All were occupied, and she mentally sighed in relief, even though the game wasn’t her first pick.

A visit to the bar later, she had secured her first drink. She took a sip, wondering how much she should indulge. Her last session hadn’t led to disaster, since all she’d done was send off a fireworks spell, but her inhibitions were obviously loosened while drinking. That was a concern for everyone, though maybe doubly so for the Sorceress, who could reverse time and unanchor the spatial fabric.

A few won’t be the end of the world, she thought, the sip turning into a gulp. People called alcohol ‘social lubricant,’ and someone like her needed that advantage.

She returned to Xun to find him standing beside a billiards table, a cue in his hand, balls arranged in their starting positions. 

“How’d you get a table?” she asked. The games had all been underway, and though there’d been a bit of a wait at the bar, she didn’t think matches went fast.

“Such an accusing tone.” He tutted at her. “I accept denouncements when they’re deserved, but I’ll defend my honor when I’ve been wronged. It's not as though I threw them out. Coin speaks, and I have far too much of it given my… lifestyle.” He grinned to soften his not-that-sharp words. “A handful of silver to prevent me from keeping a woman waiting? Well spent, in my eyes.” 

“Ah.” Vivi felt suddenly embarrassed. She hadn’t thought the man had bullied the previous players away, but maybe it said something about her mixed opinions that she hadn’t assumed a harmless approach. “My apologies. But… I should make it clear that I’m only here to talk.” She fixed him with a look.

He found the statement immensely amusing. “If I were flirting, I’d be far more obvious about it. I can’t help but act like this. Do you know how a canyon is made?”

She was almost getting used to the abrupt questions that didn’t seem to link to anything prior. Cinereus was especially fond of that strategy. Maybe all old monsters were.

“From rivers. Over a very long time.”

Xun smiled. “Quite right.” He stroked his mustache. “Yes, they’re made as a river cuts into the earth, year after year, century after century. You know, rivers sometimes reroute themselves, but not after a certain point. Once you’re dug in deep enough? There’s only one way to go, and that’s down.”

“That’s bleak.”

“Maybe. But what I really meant is that we entrench ourselves. It’s our nature, without exception. Even the common folk are so mule-stubborn by fifty or sixty years they refuse the evidence of their own eyes. How about those of us who’ve lived a hundred? Two hundred? Five?”

He went quiet for a moment.

“More?” Xun said, softly. Then he shook his head. He plastered on his waggish grin once again. “Point being, this Xun Vey swears on his honor he won’t harass a woman not interested in him. It’s not his style. But he can’t change his attitude either.” To Vivi’s surprise, the man dipped into the lowest bow she’d seen yet, one that seemed genuine. “His tongue will get away from him as a matter of habit, but I assure you I’m here only to learn more about the woman who’s wandered into my daughter’s life.”

Vivi was taken aback, but after a moment, she approved. “I’ll trust that you mean that.” Prior to arriving, she’d have been disappointed that her best excuse for fleeing early had gone up in flames, but she didn’t find herself nearly as apprehensive as before. Perhaps she wanted to stay to see how this evening developed.

She eyed the billiard table. “I’m afraid I’ve never played, though.”

Xun seemed shocked, and not as an act—the reaction was more subdued, and it wiped away fast. “Really. It’s a common game throughout the Kingdoms. Not inclined?”

“Just never have,” Vivi said vaguely. The real answer was that she’d been maybe one step removed from a complete shut-in… but so had Vivisari in some regards. I wonder, did she ever play?

“In that case,” Xun said, with interest sparking in his eyes, “how about a wager between new allies?”