Cheers

Chapter 10: Chess Moves

Baltha watched the vampire sitting kitty-corner to him curiously, smirking as the man's eyes followed Torix and his mate, Meri, to the far side of the bar. The man had obviously lived a long while, for a person who had started out as a human, seemed to understand the nature of other supernaturals far more than Tim.

Speaking of Tim, he glanced to Urdu's male mate, breaking into a grin, "hey Tim. Merk here's a sword fighter you know."

Tim gave him a blank look, clearly wondering why he should care, "and?"

"You guys, both carry swords around." Baltha offered an idle shrug, taking a drink of beer and glancing to the dark elf who, even with a glamour, didn't look all that human.

Murchadh shot him a look, raising a brow, "a lot of people carry swords around."

"Not on this world. It's kind of a lost art." Carbry offered from where he was, "Tim is a combat instructor."

"How many wars have you been in, Tim?" Baltha asked, pointedly ignoring Urdu's dark glare from across the table, where she was half pinned under a mostly asleep witch.

"One." Tim scowled at him, before turning that ire to Murchadh, who merely grinned. "Before I was turned. I've been fighting ever since."

"I mean. Murchadh's been in the legions for what... seven hundred years? But I bet you're both pretty evenly matched." Baltha shrugged and took another drink of beer, grinning fully in response to Urdu's outright fury that he could feel emenating from across the table.

"I think that a bar is an inappropriate place to find out." Carbry interjected, glancing between the two men who were now obviously considering just such a thing.

"How about the roof?" Tim offered, nodding his head upwards. "No one is on the roof."

Murchadh paused then, glancing to where Ferya was dozing on Urdu's other shoulder, the two women probably the only thing keeping the other demon from attacking him right at that moment. "I could use a spar."

"I'll watch her." Baltha tried to say as solemnly as possible, watching the two men continue to eye one another, before they nodded and stood as one, walking out of the bar without another word.

"I'm going to kill you. And I'll make it last a century if he gets hurt." Urdu growled low, still glaring at him.

"Tim needs more friends. Murchadh... well, Merk has no friends. And they both sword fight." Baltha shrugged easily, glancing to her, then Carbry, "don't worry, your friend won't get injured."

"He's an employee." The vampire watched him carefully, then glanced to where Meri was laughing with Torix, who seemed to be relaxing and enjoying herself.

"They're fine. Everyone is going to be fine. What everyone needs to learn, is that you can love someone, and be protective of them, without smothering them. Murchadh is the worst for it, but... " Baltha shrugged and looked down to his beer, "so... why do they call you king vampire?"

"I'm in charge of the American Order." Carbry offered, shrugging, "Meri has called me that since we met for some reason and Tim picked it up somewhere along the line."

"You're what... eight hundred years old?" Baltha hazard a little high, knowing it was a compliment.

"Just over seven hundred." Carbry watched him curiously, before a ghost of a smile lit his features, "Do I want to know how old either of you are?"

"We don't become sentient individuals until around five hundred." Urdu offered a shrug, though she seemed to relax, leaning her cheek onto Sam's hair and watching the two of them with a half lidded look of contentment.