Cuddling on the sofa after their meal, the two had curled up together and Clio was dozing in his arms. He brushed her hair with his fingers as her head rested on his chest and felt himself getting drowsy. However, he would not be allowed to join her in slumber land as there was a knock at the door. Clio stirred and looked up at her husband.
"I'll get it," he nodded and winked before getting to his feet, "it's probably for me anyway."
"Urgh," Clio shook her head as she sat forward and rubbed her eyes, "can't they tell you in advance?"
Kurym shrugged but decided to drop the subject as he knew how mad she got with his employers on this. He was security at a bar in the town that did have the tendency to get a little rowdy some nights. He'd lost count of how many times he'd had to break up a fight between two locals who were forever at each other's throats... Any night he was called in, he wished they wouldn't turn up.
"Look, I'll be into work in a few hours just..."
Clio listened to Kurym's statement as he opened the door but when he trailed off into silence, she looked up to see who was on the other side of the door. Her eyes widened at the sight of them and immediately she got to her feet, marching over towards them.
"Hey, if you're not going to work for a bit, fancy letting an old friend in for a drink?"
"Jolark?!" Kurym barked in almost excitement and picked up his friend for a gigantic hug.
"Hey," the visitor laughed and coughed as he felt his lungs getting crushed from the strength in the friendly embrace, "you're squashing me, man!"
Releasing him with an apology, Kurym scratched his greying blond hair and shrugged as he admitted he often forgot his own strength. Jolark laughed with him, shaking his head.
"You haven't changed a bit, what's it been... a year?"
"At least that."
Jolark looked beyond Kurym to the voice behind him. Ah, the ever beautiful and wonderful hostess.
"Clio." He smiled a winning smile at her and with Kurym's permission to enter the house, he walked over to her and hugged her tightly. "We've missed you."
Just then, Ulo ran in to the apartment and jumped up at Kurym. Startled, the big man jumped back in surprise but was soon in absolute happiness at the sight. Scooping him up, he cuddled the little one to him and released his happiness vocally. Ulo rested his head against his and closed his eyes.
"Ulo..."
"Good to see you're both doing well." Jolark crossed his arms and leant against the kitchen cabinets behind him as Clio poured him a glass of her 'famous' lemonade. "It's good to see the old boy so happy. He didn't seem to be doing so well last time I was here."
"No, but it was a long road of recovery." Clio sighed as she recalled how difficult it had been for Kurym to forget what he'd been through in the war and then getting used to what happened to him in Arbo. She handed Jolark the glass and tilted her head at him. "With plenty of rest and consideration from everyone here, and for the most part that was almost all of them, Kurym's made it back to his old self and put his past behind him."
"Certainly seems like it." He sipped the drink and rolled his eyes in ecstasy as the wonderful taste tickled his tongue. "Can't be easy to lose an eye. The big guy was scary enough already."
"Hey," Clio flicked a tea towel at him and shook her head, "he's not scary. He's amazing."
Jolark giggled and drank more of the lemonade. He watched Clio carefully as her face changed briefly but he knew that in that moment, her thoughts were with Kurym and how he had fought back from losing an eye and his self confidence in life. They were stronger together, everyone who knew them would agree. When they were apart in the war, Jolark would often hear of the 'howling officer' in Arbo on his travels. He knew who that was instantly.
"Ulo seems happy too, I'm glad you took him with you on your travels." Clio smiled again allowing Jolark to relax again. Jolark nodded, watching her leave the room temporarily, her tail swaying side to side as she did so. Only a few canun left in the world, but at least two had found one another. Jolark looked out the window overlooking the stairway up to the apartment as the night sky twinkled outside.
As he suspected, the bar was busy that night, thankfully he was standing outside in the warm night air. Inside it was a cauldron of heat and alcohol consumption; a bad combination. Kurym flexed his neck muscles, by tilting his head to both sides and he found himself humming along to a corny song blaring out from the jukebox. "It's in his eyes..." He sighed a little and shook his head.
"In his eye." Scowling as he remember how he lost his right eye, Kurym's mind was awash with images from the battle when it happened. He had been protecting a younger soldier who had been lying in absolute fear on the sand, his rifle in his hands but unable to move from fright. A sea serpent looming over like a giant, fangs beared and ready to strike. Being the officer in command of the troops, Kurym felt it his place to defend the young soldier, so he could carry on with his life after this brutal war ended. He had picked up a large, heavy and pointed splinter from the smashed pier and was tearing off towards the enormous snake with it, intending to pierce the belly with the make-shift spear. However, the serpent saw it coming and with one flick of the tail, an equally sharp but thankfully smaller shower of wood flew back and he had no choice but to drop his weapon and cover himself. Most had bounced off the armour he was wearing but three made their mark; one in the back of the knee where the armour was weak, one scraping across his neck and the last one, found his eye. He remembered the light disappearing and a quick jolt of absolute agony before falling into darkness for what seemed like an eternity. Apparently he had been dragged off the beach when the sea serpents had gone back to the ocean, in fear they said but he didn't believe that. Something had scared them off but he doubted it was the forces on the beach...
"YOU WANNA TAKE THIS OUTSIDE?!"
A loud shout and equally noisy crash from inside the bar interrupted his thoughts and his remaining eye snapped open, immediately washing away any watercolours of the past. Sighing heavily, Kurym flexed his arms to wake them up and wandered inside to the sticky humidity of Rune Oasis. Standing just inside, Kurym looked around to find the source of the trouble, making eye contact with Beri, the owner in his usual stance, behind the bar with a towel being wrung between his fingers. Beri was such a nervous fellow, nobody understood why he took on the task of running this busy bar. His partner seemed equally as confused but often took it upon himself to keep things going when Beri gave up as he frequently did. While Kurym continued to find the problem in the crowded bar, he felt a strong tap on his shoulder.
"They're over there, near the pool table."
The hired help for troublesome customers, turned his head around only and nodded at Duri, equally as tall as he was but not as well built. Following his point, Kurym saw the trouble.
"Them again."
"Yes," Duri cursed and crossed his arms as he stood beside his employee, "I'm sure you can guess what they're squabbling over. Like every other time..."
The two tall men both sighed in unison as another loud crash came from the pool tables swiftly followed by more shouting. Kurym rotated his shoulders and started to walk over to the argument. When would these two learn to move on or just move away... he smiled, that would be better for everyone in the valley. They were troublesome kids with no idea how to behave in public. Ducking quickly, Kurym let the thrown chair sail past his head and a wide grin spread on his lips as he approached.
The two combatants stood staring with rage at one another across the pool table. Kurym looked over towards the slightly taller Adanas; his usual curly, shoulder-length light brown hair tied up in a pony-tail he guessed so it was out of the way for the game or fight that was imminent. He was carrying a sneer on his thin lips and his green eyes were full of the fire for releasing some tension with his fists or the pool cue in his hands. Switching his vision to the other, Kurym sighed as he watched Etad drink the rest of his beer before slamming the bottle down on a nearby table. Flicking his painted thumbnail across his lower lip to remove any excess liquid, the thin but muscled young man glowered back at his rival. His eyes, a very dark grey with speckles of blue were on fire, and as an ex-militant Kurym knew the only solution to put it out was a fight. However, he was not about to let these two clowns smash up the place. Not twice in one week.
"I'll show you Etad, I'll show you what a real man is."
"Oh yeah? You got a mirror, 'cause I'm the only real man at this table."
"Oh ho," Adanas laughed and spun the pool cue in his hands, "you're quite a cocky one tonight. You do realise you're going to end up on the floor again, right?"
Kurym stared straight ahead as the two continued to taunt one another with pathetic statements. How to deal with these two idiots without causing a scene.
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