"That makes how many now, six?" Ghastly mused, almost to himself. "And that's only if you're counting those friends of ours who are actually sorcerers."
Ghastly's voice was low, but Saracen heard it nevertheless. "Why didn't anyone tell me about this?" he demanded.
"Probably for the same reason you weren't going to tell us," Erskine remarked. "It's not the sort of thing you just call someone up and tell them about. 'Hey, Saracen, guess who I bumped into today?' For one thing, you would have thought I was crazy, and for another thing, you would probably have answered correctly, and my ego just couldn't handle that."
"The matron of a strip-club?" Ghastly asked, gently prodding the subject back to what he thought was the most important bit. "What was He - She - doing at a strip-club? What were you doing at a strip-club?"
Saracen's face was growing red. Ghastly hadn't ever seen it do that before. It took a lot to embarrass Saracen even before he met the Dead Men, and after a couple of decades with them... well, the blush in his cheeks was very new. "I was giving a friend a birthday present," he said, "and getting very bored in a corner, and she came up and we got to talking. That's all."
"How did you know who it was?"
"I didn't. Not then. I just thought it was this really h- this really beautiful woman who was taking an interest in me, and I'd never met a dancer that interesting to talk to before. It wasn't until after I left that I found out."
"That you 'just knew?'"
"And thought my magic had broken, yeah. I haven't been back to that place since. And exactly how much do the two of you watch, anyway, you voyeurs?" Saracen directed the last bit at Descry and Rover, one of whom he was still sitting on and the other of whom hadn't stopped laughing yet.
no subject
Saracen stared right back. "You what?"
"That makes how many now, six?" Ghastly mused, almost to himself. "And that's only if you're counting those friends of ours who are actually sorcerers."
Ghastly's voice was low, but Saracen heard it nevertheless. "Why didn't anyone tell me about this?" he demanded.
"Probably for the same reason you weren't going to tell us," Erskine remarked. "It's not the sort of thing you just call someone up and tell them about. 'Hey, Saracen, guess who I bumped into today?' For one thing, you would have thought I was crazy, and for another thing, you would probably have answered correctly, and my ego just couldn't handle that."
"The matron of a strip-club?" Ghastly asked, gently prodding the subject back to what he thought was the most important bit. "What was He - She - doing at a strip-club? What were you doing at a strip-club?"
Saracen's face was growing red. Ghastly hadn't ever seen it do that before. It took a lot to embarrass Saracen even before he met the Dead Men, and after a couple of decades with them... well, the blush in his cheeks was very new. "I was giving a friend a birthday present," he said, "and getting very bored in a corner, and she came up and we got to talking. That's all."
"How did you know who it was?"
"I didn't. Not then. I just thought it was this really h- this really beautiful woman who was taking an interest in me, and I'd never met a dancer that interesting to talk to before. It wasn't until after I left that I found out."
"That you 'just knew?'"
"And thought my magic had broken, yeah. I haven't been back to that place since. And exactly how much do the two of you watch, anyway, you voyeurs?" Saracen directed the last bit at Descry and Rover, one of whom he was still sitting on and the other of whom hadn't stopped laughing yet.