Daphnie sat down, unbidden by Arguyle. He seemed mopey and miserable and she tried to cheer him up with small talk, but to no avail. The highlander slouched in his chair, his elbow on the table and his right hand supporting his head. In his left hand he clutched a note.

Daphnie wondered what message the note could possibly contain to make her normally happy friend so anguished. He waved a girl over to refill his mug of ale and afterwards resumed his slouch of utter dejection.


Daphnie ran out of words. Arguyle was not going to be cheered by her, her smile, or anything she had to say. With a defeated sigh she resolved to sit with him in silence. She admired the signet ring on his left hand and was about to reach out to touch it when, in the corner of her eye, she caught sight of a large celt entering the tavern.


She turned her head to see a spiky haired man in blue and grey talking to Morden. An involuntary grin spread across her face as she watched him.

"Arguyle, if you need me, please call. I'd love to talk with you, but I feel as though I'm invading your solitude," Daphnie said carefully to her friend. She stood and paused a moment as Arguyle nodded at her with sad eyes.

Smiling at him tenderly once again, she turned and headed towards the door... and the celt.

Wales took a few paces inside the tavern and stopped. Standing boldy, he put his hands on his hips and took a moment to look around the room at the various people. He saw some very familar faces, yet found it strange that they had never mentioned this place before.


Out of the corner of his eye, Wales saw an Avalonian woman approaching him. He had intended on moving out of the way, thinking that she was on her way out the door, until he noticed that her eyes were fixed on his.


The Celt cordially bowed to the woman.


"Good morrow, miss. My name is Wales and I am at your service."

Daphnie watched as Morden walked back to the bar and the celt surveyed his surroundings. She wondered if he was as clueless about this place as she was.


As she approached him, he bowed to her and introduced himself as Wales. She smiled cheerfully back at him and offered her hand. Realizing she was still wearing her chain mailed glove, the snatched her hand back and attempted to remove it.

Wales stood waiting for her response as she worked at the fingers of her glove. The difficulty came from the fact that her left hand was gloved as well, which hindered her fine motor skills.

Finally working at the fingers of her right glove gently with her teeth, she spoke to Wales in a slightly mumbled voice, "Hi! Just a second."

Eventually the fingers of her glove loosened enough that she was able to remove it completely using her left hand. As her long, delicate hand sliped out of the heavy glove however, she lost hold of it. She made an attempt to grab the glove before it landed, but sighed as it hit the floor with a thud.


Clearing her throat and offering her freed hand to Wales, she introduced herself with a smile, "Very nice to meet you, Wales. I am Daphnie McCormick of Albion."

Wales laughed at the Avalonian as she dropped her glove. He bent down to pick it up, and he took her hand with his free one, being careful to not to hold it too tightly. Sometimes he forgot his own strength, but he tried to be mindful of it most of the time, especially when around the women.


"There is no need to sigh about that. I, too, would not want to leave your hand if I were a glove." The Celt smiled and continued. "It is nice to meet ye, Miss Daphnie."


Wales pulled the glove's opening wide with both of his hands, positioning it so the fingers were towards him. "Here, perhaps it will slide on more easily than off," he said as he offered to help her put the glove back on.

Glancing towards the door, Tayana noticed the entrance of her favorite superhero and grinned. "Well now, there's trouble if I ever saw it," she chuckled. She watched as he introduced himself to an Albion lass who seemed to be having gauntlet troubles. Shaking her head, the heroine motioned to the barkeep, calling out for an ale.

Daphnie blushed as she slid her hand easily into the mailed glove held up for her. She was drawn to this Wales character - character seemed the best word to describe him as he had a certain pleasant aura of dragon-slaying superhero about him - and she had it in mind to get to know this son of Hibernia better if she could.


"So," she began and looked around the pub before leaning in towards Wales, "have you been here before? What is this place? I've never seen such a thing..."

Ayslyn chuckled softly as he leaned back against the bar. "The lad is smooth," he said to Tayana.

 

-----signature-----

"Aye," Tayana nodded in agreement, sipping her new drink. "Seems like every place he goes someone knows him, particularly the ladies. They all blush and giggle over his noble, gentlemanly ways. It can be rather amusing to watch at times."

Wales responded on Daphnie. "Nay, I haven't been here before, or even heard of it for that matter. Alas, I am not sure what is going on, but I will find out! Do ye know many people here? I am curious if they have experienced something similar."


The Celt noticed two at the bar looking at him as they talked back and forth. Using his extra sensory sight (once his eyes adjusted to the light), he noticed that one was Tayana, who he had fought along side many times in Caledonia. The super hero smiled and waved at her.

Daphnie looked surprised, "I haven't been here before just a little while ago myself. I'm not even sure how I got here! I do know a few in the crowd though." She scanned the crowd and subtley pointed with her pinky finger, "Over there is Arguyle, the large man in the kilt sitting alone looking rather sad. And over there...," she pointed across the room, "that highlander is Yual Alder, the brother of my dear friend Keisha. The dark little girl with him is Fatima, I believe. She has some kind of problem with her speech. Mute I think," Daphnie squinted and raised an eyebrow, "I didn't know she could play the flute. Anyway, they are both Guardians as I am."

Turning her attention back to Wales, she smiled, "So you know them then?" nodding towards the couple at the bar to whom Wales had waved.