It was risky to come into the village and do what she had just done, but even with that knowledge, Cordelia had proceeded. She had killed the woman on the outskirts and left the body there, taken her blood and her money and then gone off on her way. Considering how late it was in the evening, most villagers were asleep by now, and most likely wouldn’t find the body until tomorrow. Even if some were awake, it was doubtful that they would travel outside of town.

Her pace slowed once she was deep enough into town. Just as she had suspected, most of the candles that illuminated homes in the early hours of the evening were put out. She had to wonder if they even understood what danger they lived in, but the thought was dismissed at the thought of the newly earned money in her pocket. She slipped a hand into the pocket of her signature jacket and felt the pouch of gold coins, nodding in approval. So it hadn’t been earned honestly, but why should she care? It wasn’t like the woman would care or need it now that she was dead, and Cordelia hadn’t killed her for her money. She had simply been food; the money was an added bonus. A small smirk slipped onto her face and she pulled her hand out of her pocket, pulling her jacket down to make it look like that had been the intention all along.

In doing so however, her jacket hooked behind the hilt of her dagger. The clean, rarely used weapon glinted slightly in the moonlight, protruding slightly from its sheath on her belt. It went unnoticed by the vampire lady and she continued through the village, hoping to make it to the tavern for one last quick snack - as unhealthy as those people were - before she would have to return to Balefire.

Pattin chuckled to himself as he walked down the roads of Kellen, the cool evening air embracing him like an old friend. He was feeling rather hungry, and decided it would be a fine idea to go visit the tavern quickly. The halfling looked around as he heard a single sound near his current position. A scream? Pattin was torn. Either he could continue on his way and not mind it any business, or he could go investigate. His curiosity overcame his cowardice, however, and he darted through the roads to investigate.

Pattin stopped dead as he saw a tallish woman walking away, leaving behind the body with a purse on her belt. He bit his lip and let his big brown eyes dart back and forth. His eyes caught the gleam of a dagger, partially unsheathed. Against his better judgment, he darted around the building and took a deep breath. He began running, turning into the road with the tall woman in it. He gave a small shout as he ran into her hard, falling on his bum after a single spin.

Pattin stood up dazedly and shook his head, shaking his slightly chubby cheeks. “Sorry ma'am. I should watch where I'm going.” He said, looking at the ground. He wasn't much of an actor, and decided not to look into her eyes.

Pattin started walking away, fingers going under his light brown coat and fondled the silvery dagger pleasedly, running a finger over the dagger. Worried she might have caught on, he tucked his hands in his pockets and began walking more quickly.

Cordelia yelped when something ran into her, her left leg crossing over her right and her upper body twisting slightly. She threw her leg out to catch herself before falling, unsure what had just happened. She looked down at the ground, her eyes narrowing at the sight of the tiny being. She lowered a hand to her leg, rubbing the flesh that he had run into. For a little thing he really knew how to hurt people! “You should watch where you’re going,” she spat. She knew he wasn’t a kid; tiny as he was, the face betrayed the fact that he could be too young.

“Stupid midget,” she grumbled, observing him as he began to walk away. An eyebrow lifted at the fact he hadn’t looked her in the eye and that, as he began to walk away, his pace was increasing. Cordelia knew she could be scary, but she hadn’t done anything too terrible. All she had done was call him a midget… were people really that sensitive these days? Snorting, she rolled her eyes and turned away, a hand going to her belt out of habit.

The woman stopped dead in her tracks at the absence of her dagger. Cordelia’s eyes slowly trailed to the ground, hoping that it might have dropped while she wasn’t looking. It must have fallen out when that stupid short guy ran into her and she probably hadn’t heard it because he kept going on and on with an apology. However, there was nothing there, and it soon clicked in her head that the midget must have taken her weapon. Even if she didn’t use the dagger all the time, it had proved useful in the past, and she wasn’t about to let anyone steal anything from her.

“HEY! MIDGET BOY!” she yelled, turning around. Luckily he was still in sight, so she had a chance to get him. “Short guy! Spot! Whatever the hell your name is!” She had no doubt in her mind that he knew she was talking to him, hence why she had given up the name calling. “Get back here, you little… mole thing!” With that Cordelia started running after him, frustrated and angry. How stupid did people think she was?

Pattin's pace increased when she insulted him, then broke out in a dead run as she began yelling. His short legs carried him surprisingly quickly, darting down the road. He looked back and forth, she was still in sight.

Damn, this vampire was fast.

Pattin ran up to the inn wall, fumbling for something. Triumphantly, he pulled out a piece of chalk. With no time to be neat, he drew a large rectangular shape there. Pattin ran through and closed it, scuffing the chalk to seal it. He ran to the other side of the inn, drawing a few looks, and made another door, repeating the process. Unfortunately, some chalk remained where he'd gone.

Pattin continued running, looking back. He couldn't see her. Thank god. The halfling leaned against a wall, trying to catch his breath. He looked up to the sky and smiled, pulling the dagger out of his jacket. He looked at it fondly, feeling the smooth surface with a smile.

Patting looked back the the inn to make sure he didn't screw up and leave one of the doors open. He turned and started to walk away slowly, spinning the dagger in his right hand.

Cordelia ran as fast as she could after him, closing the distance. He was fast, for being so short and slightly chubby. She was surprised she hadn’t caught up to him by now, considering the height she held against him and the fact that she was a predator. She saw him fumbling around for something as he stopped near a wall and decided to get him while he was busy doing whatever was more important than running for his life.

That little plan didn’t work, however, and the midget walked through a makeshift door. Cordelia stopped running and stared at the wall for a moment, frowning. Magic was such a pain, but at least she could easily catch up. Cordelia laughed as she became translucent and one with the air around her, her limbs slightly wispy. The vampire stepped through the wall with ease, eyes closed until she had come out the other side.

Once there she looked around, spotting the chalk on the far wall. That must have been where he had gone, since she had noticed him drawing something the last night. Clever as the trick was, he would end up regretting his cowardice and his carelessness. Believing she had all the time in the world, Cordelia took her time as she floated to the other side of the room, not worrying about the people in the inn that were currently staring at her.

She exited through the wall slowly, looking around for the short man. She soon spotted him and a smirk crossed on her ghostly features, floating over to him to remain silent. Once she was a few yards behind him Cordelia solidified and laughed again, loud enough to announce her presence. She proceeded to jump and tackle him from behind, straddling him. “Boo,” she said in a soft, venomous tone of voice, her hands on his shoulder blades to keep him on the ground. “Now how about you give me back my dagger, hmm?”

Pattin thought he was in the clear when he was tackled from behind. He heard her voice in his ear and felt a pang of fear. How had she caught up so quickly? Pattin turned his head to look at her, squirming a bit in her grip. The dagger was about a foot away from his hand, but he couldn't get it.

Pattin looked at her teeth as she spoke and broke into a cold sweat. A vampire? Wrong person to mess with. It seemed his kleptomania had finally come back to bite him. Pattin's eyes darted back and forth, looking for a way to get out. He grunted as he tried to break free, but failed.

Looking her in the eye, he put on a whimpering look, like he was about to cry. Had he been a human, it might not have accomplished anything, but fortunately for him, he was a halfling, and thus looking quite childish if he wanted to.

“It's over there, don't hurt me, please. I don't want to die!” he said pitifully. After a moment, his eyebrow furrowed and he managed to grab his mace and make a somewhat unavoidable blow to her side, scrambling to escape. "bwahaha!" he said, squirming free.

Cordelia laughed, reveling in his fear. He was small beneath her, too weak under her strength to get free. She stared down at him, enjoying his squirming and failed attempts to break free. Not only did it inflate her ego even more than it already was, but this would also hopefully serve as a lesson to the male. How dumb could a person be to steal from a vampire, especially a vampire like her? Cordelia almost shook her head, but she was having too much fun watching him writhing to want to look away.

When he gave her that sad look, the wide smirk that had taken place on her features faded slightly. Normally it wouldn’t have done anything, but he did look like a little kid, even if he wasn’t one. She shouldn’t have been taking any mercy on a thieving midget, but the maternal side of her hesitated for a moment.

“It's over there, don't hurt me, please. I don't want to die!”

“If you didn’t want to die then you shouldn’t have crossed me,” Cordelia growled, a sick sort of satisfaction in her voice. “Why did you do it, hmm? Are you suicidal or is your brain as small as the rest of you is?” The smirk slowly began to return and she reached over to the side, grabbing her dagger. She held it in her hand, contemplating whether or not she should hurt him. He had apologized and whined about stealing her dagger, but the fact was that he had still stolen it and that couldn’t be changed. Tackling him and scaring him with words really wasn’t enough when it came to punishment.

Before she could make a move to hurt him, though, she felt something collide into her side. Cordelia hissed as the hit made contact and was knocked off of him, her dagger slipping from her hand again. Quickly she grabbed it and looked behind her, cursing the fact that he had gotten free. “Aww, is that how you do things, midget?” she called after him. “What a little snake… at least your excess of cowardice makes up for your lack of height, eh? Something to be proud of, right?” She pushed herself up off of the ground and returned to watching him, sheathing the dagger.

Pattin looked back at her, seeing she wasn't chasing him. “Well, I'd not like to call it cowardice. I prefer to call it say... Survival Instinct. The will to live.” He shrugged and winked at her. His hand reached into a pouch and he pulled out a fist, aiming it at her. He opened it, revealing a good amount of black shiny powder on his palm. He took in a big breath, well, relatively big, and blew it at Cordelia in a cloud.

Pattin smiled at her and walked a bit closer, snatching at the dagger, but missing a little. He smiled and retreated a little.

“Pattin J. Lightfoot.” He said with a little bow. “Who is it I have the... immense pleasure of meeting?” He asked hesitantly. He wasn't too confident she would actually tell him her name, but at least he could say he had been polite.

Pattin edged off, poking his tongue out at her a little like any good man would and blew a rasberry. Immense stupidity on his part. He turned to walk and tripped over nothing. With a frown, he sneezed and a little powder came out. So he had inhaled some of the hexed salt.

Smooth.

“Well, I'd not like to call it cowardice. I prefer to call it say... Survival Instinct. The will to live.”

“Same thing,” Cordelia said, staring down at him with an unimpressed look on her face. Her arms folded over her chest and her eyebrows lifted when he pulled out the powder and blew it at her. She coughed once and waved it away, not noticing him making a move for her dagger. She did step away, however, when she noticed how much closer to her he had gotten. Cordelia’s personal space bubble was only to be popped by certain people, and this little midget wasn’t one of those people.

“Don’t get close,” she warned, her right hand falling to her hip to make sure nothing had been taken from her. “And don’t you blow stuff at me, either! You should be nice to me, grateful that I spared your life!” Her eyes narrowed and she snorted, clearly not entertained by him. He hadn’t been amusing in the slightest so far this evening, so she had to wonder why she was even keeping him around. It wasn’t like it was too big of an issue, though; if he continued to get on her nerves she could just slit his throat with the dagger he had so desperately wanted before.

“Who is it I have the... immense pleasure of meeting?”

Cordelia stared at him when he introduced himself. Pattin was an odd name, though it seemed to fit him strangely enough. “Spot fits you better,” she said with a nod. “Because you’re annoying and ugly like a spot. So that’s what we’re gonna call you from now on, mmkay?” She cocked her head to the side with a slightly wicked grin, ignoring the question of her own name. Her name wasn’t very important, especially right now when the subject wasn’t even about her.

She laughed at him when he fell over, a cruel, slightly nasal sound. She inched forward, placing her hands on her knees and leaning down a bit to look at him. “Poor baby, can’t even walk, can he?” she said in a mock sympathetic tone. “Is tripping part of your survival instincts, too? Or was that a mistake?” Cordelia continued to laugh, straightening up to her full height. It wasn’t like how she stood made a difference, really; either way she got to look down at him.

Pattin groaned as he lay there, not wanting to get up yet. He looked at her with an amused face. She simply mocked him, said his name was going to continue to be spot, and stood tall. He found he disliked her closeness and arrogance a bit, but she would make a very useful friend. He needed someone like her to make sure he wasn't killed on the spot by bandits or something.

Even with all his self control and talk about the will to live, he did something completely, amazingly, incredibly stupid. He threw some hexed salt at her legs and spun around, letting one foot fly at the back of her knees.

Using his momentum, he finished the move and stood up, dusting off his jacket and pulled from it a little brown hat. He fitted it on his head and smiled pleasantly.

“You know, I hate when people make fun of my height.” He said with a confident tone, looking important, but then looked to the side distractedly. “It's cruel.” He smiled a little and chuckled.

“You know, I hate when people make fun of my height.”

Cordelia looked up at him from the ground, surprised that she was even there. One moment ago he had thrown salt at her and kicked her, and now she was on the ground. Her jaw clenched and she growled, her hands gripping the ground and pushing herself up into a sitting position. “And I hate it when people are ignorant enough to think that they can do whatever the hell they want and get away with it,” she spat at him. She hadn’t expected a little guy like him to be able to get her down, especially since she had already had him pinned to the ground once before. Didn’t he realize what she could do to him? Didn’t he understand what she was, that this was like playing with fire?

“You spoke but a few moments ago about not wanting to die… yet then you proceed to challenge me? Spot, your life is in my hands right now, not yours. One little bite and it could all be over for you, hunny. Such a daring thing you are… daring, but incredibly stupid as well.” She pushed herself up to her knees and then up completely to her feet, the one minute effect of the salt wearing off. Had it not been for that salt then she probably wouldn’t have fallen to begin with, considering she was usually much more graceful on her feet.

Cordelia stood right in front of him then, leaning over to look him in the eye. She took the collar of his shirt within her hand, wondering whether this was even worth it. He was barely even three feet tall, but even with that fact established he seemed to have found a way to fight physically. He was proving to be a nuisance, but in the end there wasn’t much she could do considering that was all that he was: a nuisance. It was best to be rid of pests before they proved to be more trouble than they were worth, but in this case, what was even the point?

She released his collar roughly, then moved to stood straightly once again, peering down at him with a skeptical look on her face. “It’ll be your undoing,” she stated simply, shrugging. Whatever would happen to him in the future wouldn’t be her concern, nor would it be her place to try and do anything to stop any ill fortune that might become of him because of this terrible behavior.

“Cordelia,” she said finally, half turned away from him.

Pattin smiled at Cordelia as she got up, threatening him and calling him spot. “It's why you aren't going to kill me. Perhaps you could teach me my place then, eh?” He said with a wink at her, chuckling. He was trying to find an acceptable way to get her to allow him to tag along for a bit.

Pattin smiled at the vampiress. Cordelia eh? Well, we would have to fix that. Such a long, serious, arrogant name. Perhaps something like Cordiepie or Cordie. He can decide later. Pattin smiled at her and looked vaguely apologetic. “I'm sure that you'll never be looking up at me again.” he said, looking away.

“But it was so much fun.” He laughed, walking a bit closer to her, but not too close. He knew what she could do. But that didn't mean he couldn't poke at her. He was fairly fast when need be.

Pattin sighed unenthusiastically. “Spot it is.” He looked away. She actually underestimated him! Oh, this could be fun. He'd show her what he was capable of... Perhaps if he lost a few pounds and got better equipment, maybe learned how to really use the mace, get some more trinkets. Then he'd show her.

Pattin smiled at her. “So where shall we go? To the inn, I hope. Drinks are on me.” He winked, holding up a moneypurse.

“It's why you aren't going to kill me. Perhaps you could teach me my place then, eh?”

Cordelia rolled her eyes at the statement. She would kill him if she wanted to kill him, and right now she didn’t have the want or even the need to do so. “You wouldn’t want me to,” she said, telling the absolute truth. She might not have been the strongest person in Imythess, but she had potential when she actually tried. Besides, in her own little world, she thought she was a bit more dangerous than she actually was.

“But it was so much fun.”

She tensed up slightly when he came closer to her, and Cordelia inched a little bit away to add distance. She didn’t like being right next to anyone unless she was the one that closed the gap, and although she had already been in his face once or twice already, that didn’t mean he could just go on ahead and get close whenever he wanted. She grunted lightly at his response, looking away from him for the moment. “That fun will get you killed,” she warned once again. “There are a lot of people that aren’t as nice as I am. You know that, right?” Like Fehade, or Yaksha, or Manic. The three of them would have killed little Spot on sight if he had done to them what he had done to her. Cordelia was really just too nice, when it all came down to it. It was something she had to fix.

“So where shall we go? To the inn, I hope. Drinks are on me.”

We? Cordelia stared at him as if he had just grown another head, almost laughing at how preposterous his proposition was. She didn’t understand why he wanted to tag along with her, especially after all that had just happened. She had a feeling that he wasn’t going to just let her go, though. “I don’t drink,” she said, shaking her head, continuing to walk without looking at him. “And I don’t want you clinging to me, either.”

Pattin sighed sadly and shrugged. “I guess I tried, then eh?” He chuckled, walking behind her in the shadows. He tried to think of people who could possibly be worse than Cordelia. Nobody he'd met so far was as terrifying. She was as fast as he was, much stronger, actually had a good few things, and could likely use them. He sighed and shook his head.

Pattin smiled as he walked in the shadows, following her in silence for a bit. He wondered if she knew he was even there, just not saying anything about it. Growing bored, he spoke up.

“You're sure you don't drink? To tell the truth, I just want to hang out, really. No more stealing, I promise.” He said,throwing the purse to her. Inside, he was laughing with a vengeance, but he kept a lid on it wisely.

“Come on, Cordiepie. You know you want to.” He said with a laugh, completely unaware of what those few words could possibly mean for his health. Even yet, he didn't mind. He'd stolen her knife, tripped her, led her on a chase, and the worst she'd done so far is tackle him.

“You're sure you don't drink? To tell the truth, I just want to hang out, really. No more stealing, I promise.”

He wasn’t gone yet? Cordelia stared down at him, her patience beginning to run thin. She wasn’t about to go on and on explaining about how she was incapable of injecting alcohol. Even if she could digest it, why would she want to? It got people tipsy, drunk, and sick to their stomach – who could actually enjoy that feeling? “No,” she said, an edge to her voice due to her extreme frustration. She wasn’t about to do something stupid for some midget who she didn’t even like.

“Come on, Cordiepie. You know you want to.”

With that said, she froze in place, ceasing to breathe. Every single movement came to end and Cordelia’s eyelids slid shut as she tried to think about what to do. He had tested her, tested her, and tested her and had paid no heed to her warnings. Now, he had pushed her over the edge. The only people allowed to give her endearing little names were her friends, and she didn’t consider thieving rats to be her friends. Cordelia whirled around, looking behind her and down at him. A single, thundering sound resounded around the area as soon as she gave the release word, a bright flash of light accompanying the noise. The blinding and deafening effects were only temporary, but hopefully it would be enough to get him off her back.

“Told you so,” she snarled, even though he wouldn’t be able to hear her. Perhaps it was going a bit overboard, but Cordelia added the cause fear spell as well, grinning slightly. That’s what he got for underestimating her and for not doing what she said, and quite frankly she felt no guilt at all.

Pattin shouted as his eyes were filled with white light, blinding him and deafening him. He felt a sudden fear of Cordelia as well. The halfling fell back and grabbed at his eyes, grunting in pain. It felt like someone was stabbing them repeatedly. The halfling held one hand over his eyes, the other pushing himself up off the ground.

He was as angry as he was scared and simply pursed his lips, turning around and began walking the other way, using a stick to find his way. Several times he brushed a barrel, throwing him off balance or ran into a wall, but he was making fair progress. Pattin grumbled as he walked, simply wanting to get away from the woman. He tried to remember the way to the inn, but he'd lost track of where he was while trying to make friends.

Pattin simply sat down a ways away from Cordie and rubbed at his stinging eyes. Vision was slowly coming back to him. He didn't want to cross her again. He was lucky he'd gotten away before he did something stupid enough to really hurt him.

Pattin heard something nearby, a sniffing sound. He felt a worm-like tail brush against his legs and shouted, taking out his mace and swinging blindly at the rat. It bit his hand and he grunted, feeling his mace connect but not hard enough.

Cordelia laughed at the pain he was in, beginning to relax once she saw how much pain he was in. The anger that had developed inside of her very core had dissipated, leaving a sadistic fluffy feeling there instead. She decided to stand there and watch, wanting to see how he reacted to having two of the most important senses just stripped from him. She knew what it was like to be blind, so she felt a little bit of sympathy for doing that to him, but it was only temporary. His blindness wouldn’t last for weeks; hell, she didn’t even think it would last a half an hour. Even so, she did feel a bit of remorse for that. Not being able to see was definitely a way to get to someone, especially if they were as prideful and arrogant as her.

It was that little bit of sympathy that forced her to follow him as he walked away with his stick. As funny as it was to watch him fight with the rat, she had to draw a line somewhere. She removed her poison blade from its sheath and batted the vermin away, wrinkling her nose in disgust at it. Rats were such filthy animals, covered in all sorts of diseases; she was so glad she was immune to sickness. With that done she sheathed her blade and looked down at Pattin, patting he’s shoulder lightly.

“We’ll go to the tavern, then,” she grumbled, unsure if the deafness had worn off. “But I’m not sorry. You deserved that. Don’t cross me again, got it? Then I won’t have to do anything worse.” Cordelia shrugged and started toward the inn, supposing she would take him there and wait until his senses returned. Once the effects of the flashburst spell wore off she would leave with no intentions of ever meeting the annoying little beast again.

Pattin sat, wondering why the rat had stopped attacking. It was then he'd realized she had followed him. He heard some sympathy in her voice. Wondering about it, he decided perhaps she wasn't as cruel as he'd thought she was. He rubbed his eyes once more and stood, a grin n his face. He dropped the stick and cupped a hand, muttering a string of words. It filled with cool, clear water, clean as any water could ever be. He splashed it on the wound and scrubbed it, grimacing a little.

Looking in Cordie's direction, he rubbed his eyes. “See? You're not such a bad person. I knew it was somewhere deep down there.” He laughed. “I won't call you the c-word if you stop seeing me as a grubby little rat. Deal?” He said with a wink.

Pattin continued to follow her to the tavern, he hoped. He was trusting it was where they were going, and not some remote area where she'd simply kill him off.

Pattin seized the shirt of a passing form once inside, assuming it was a barmaid. “I'll have mead, please.” He said to the figure. He felt the cloth snatched away. 'find a barmaid then, shorty.' said a gruff man's voice. Pattin shrugged, letting the insult roll. "fair enough." He reached for another figure.

“See? You're not such a bad person. I knew it was somewhere deep down there.”

Cordelia snorted. She wasn’t entirely bad, but she hadn’t helped him because there was some good in her heart. She had only helped him because she knew what it was like to be blind, but she really shouldn’t have. No one had been there to help her when she had been handicapped, so why should she have helped anyone else? “Don’t judge me yet,” she said with a light, amused grunt.

“I won't call you the c-word if you stop seeing me as a grubby little rat. Deal?”

He actually expected her to respect him? That was an absolute load of crap. An eruption of laughter emitted from Cordelia’s throat, causing her eyes to close and her body to bend slightly at the waist. “Oh, hell no,” she said, rejecting his little deal without any hesitation. All she had to do to get him to stop calling her by any nickname was use enervation, hit him with a venom bolt, or even bite him. She wasn’t going to respect him when she hardly knew him and throughout this little meeting all he had wanted to do was steal from her. “You’re a funny midget, I’ll give you that.” She lifted her left hand to wipe the red moisture from her eyes, blinking a couple of times to make sure it was completely gone.

Cordelia just about wanted to vomit upon entering the tavern. She hated these sorts of environments; there was no way they could be healthy. She had to laugh, though, when he pulled on someone’s coat, thinking they were a maid. Deciding she might as well, Cordelia called over one of the maids and ordered for him, asking nothing for herself.

“You’re paying,” she reminded him. “Because you owe me. You realize that, right?”

Pattin shrugged when she rejected his offer. “Oh well. I'll stop anyway.” He sighed, letting his hand fall from the man's jacket. He straightened his hat on his head and found his way to a table, accepting the mead from the waitress. “Thanks, dear.” He said with a smile. He pulled a few coins from the coin purse held in his hand, palmed when he'd tugged on the man's jacket.

“ Like hell I'm paying. Always have a backup plan.” He said as he put the purse away on his own belt. He rested a hand on his belly and sipped his mead, glazed eyes wandering over Cordelia, still slightly sightless. Everything was one huge blur, he could barely make out the handle of his mug.

“Very well Cordi-- Cordie.” He said, cutting himself off from saying Cordiepie. “So why are you here? Other than the obvious?” He said, making fangs with his index and middle fingers. He gave it a sort of raking motion to indicate biting.

Pattin chuckled as he listened, able to barely hear over the ringing in his ears.

“Oh well. I'll stop anyway.”

It was odd that he had just so suddenly decided to renege on the deal he had wanted to make, but Cordelia shrugged it off. It wasn’t like she was complaining; the whole thing completely benefitted her. She got to think what she wanted to, which she would have done anyway, and he wasn’t going to try and make her name anything cutesy. “Good choice,” she said. “You learn quickly, I see.” Cordelia hoped he was afraid of her. The last time someone had been genuinely afraid of her had been back at the cathedral, and even if she had been blind then, it had been quite a tangible force. Besides, fear could manipulate people. This had potential….

“Like hell I'm paying. Always have a backup plan.”

She snorted, sitting down across from him and crossing her right leg over her left underneath the table. “You think I’m paying? Hell no, little man.” Her eyes narrowed and swept across his countenance, the edges of her front teeth scraping across the inside of her lower lip. She was surprised he could see and hear already, especially since the spell was such a fun one. Either she wasn’t as strong as she thought she was, or he was strong for his size. Both thoughts disturbed her though, so she looked away, scanning the crowd for anyone and anything interested. Nothing. Of course not.

“Very well Cordi-- Cordie.”

“I thought you said you weren’t going to call me that,” she said, lowering her voice to a threatening tone. She placed her right arm on the table, lifting her left to rest her cheek and chin in her palm. She had to admit, the fake fangs were slightly amusing, though overall proved as just another annoyance. “I’m not a bug,” she said with an exasperated sigh. The way he had done it made her look like she had some sort of antennae, which she most certainly did not.

“And I’m only here for the obvious. There’s nothing more to it.” She didn’t have to let him know that she had sympathy for the blind. That would just make her look weak in his eyes, and despite the fact that she didn’t care what people thought of her, she didn’t want to be looked at as anything but the heartless rock that she was. “You’re here to steal, am I right? Eh, of course I am.” Cordelia was almost bored with how predictable this was turning out to be, but she had to endure it for at least a little while longer.

Pattin slid a few coins to the waitress and laughed. “I never said yo were paying, did I, my dear?” He said. “No, tonight's drinks are on that generous man there.” He said, pointing behind him with one thumb at a man who was looking at a waitress as he patted himself for gold. The man Pattin had tugged on.

“Say what you like, it's an easy life. Except for the occasional chase and being tackled by a big heartless bloodsucking wench like yourself, no offense.” He said, looking at her. He wanted to get a better look at her, but his vision was still extremely blurry. He sipped at his mead and chuckled, leaning back in his chair. “It's all in good fun.” He said happily.

Since he hadn't killed him yet, Pattin was fairly sure she wouldn't. Not many people could kill something that looked even remotely like a cute, innocent child. Except for the hairy feet, slight beer belly, and dress, he might have been a child.

Pattin laughed as she said she was right. He raised his hands to his sides, palms up. “But of course. Couldn't have It any other way, now can we? Can't let the short guy be right. No, that would defy the law.” He said unsuredly. “Does it? I'm not too clear on these things, as much as it may surprise you.”

“No, tonight's drinks are on that generous man there.”

A smirk tugged at her lips and Cordelia looked down at the table to avoid the man’s gaze should he look in their direction. She was an exceptional liar, but she doubted they had anything to worry about. The chances of him thinking it had anything to do with Pattin were slim. Not only were humans incredibly dumb, but none of them would expect a midget to be able to do anything. “Smart,” she mumbled.

“…Except for the occasional chase and being tackled by a big heartless bloodsucking wench like yourself, no offense.”

Her eyes narrowed and her lower lip stuck out in a slightly angry pout. “Watch yourself, Spot,” she warned. Her patience had renewed since she had cast the spell on him and hopefully would remain for the rest of the night. Causing harm to others always made her feel better overall, even if it was just something simple like flashburst. The effects were quite visible and that was really all that mattered. When he said it was all good fun, she couldn’t help but roll her eyes. “That’s what you say until someone actually winds up killing you. But, hey, not my place to say anything. I’ll just laugh when it happens.” Cordelia lifted her hands, palms to him, and folded her hands behind her head to stretch out her arms and relax herself.

“Does it? I'm not too clear on these things, as much as it may surprise you.”

“You think I’m any better with the law?” Cordelia’s hands slipped over her neck and once again came to rest on the table as she began to laugh. “Think about it, Spot. Just think about it before you make me think you are as stupid as your height may imply. All I know is that I am always right.” She sighed and tapped her fingers against the wooden surface. She was a bit fidgety, but what could she say? Inns made her uncomfortable.

Pattin sighed. “I'm not dying anytime soon, I assure you.” He said, holding up his mace and standing with a frown. “He comes near me an I'll tear his nipples off.” He said with a concentrated look. Following his vision may have led one's eye to one of the women in the bar. He shook his head and smiled. “I love this inn. Such a... friendly place.” He laughed. “All these women... but that's neither here nor there.” He winked at Cordelia.

“I don't think you're always right, girl.” He said, giving her a strange look, as if she were a mutant. “For instance, you decline having a drink. If you think you don't need one, woman, you're very much mistaken. Come on, it's free. Doesn't even have to be alcoholic.”He smiled at her.

Pattin waved over a waitress. “This woman has an order, I believe.”

“I'm not dying anytime soon, I assure you.”

“So you think,” Cordelia said, opening her mouth a little wider than necessary to display her fangs. She had no intention of killing him, but keeping him in his place couldn’t hurt too terribly much. It made her feel too good for it to hurt or for her to feel guilty.

“I love this inn. Such a... friendly place.”

Cordelia wrinkled her nose. That shouldn’t have surprised her, really. Everyone seemed to love taverns and inns and these sorts of places except for her. She hardly thought a place full of drinking idiots was a friendly place, especially when half of those idiots didn’t have manners. “Give me a break,” she said after he finally mentioned the women. “This place isn’t that great. You fit in here, though, so of course you’d like it… you little drunken midget.” The words weren’t entirely supposed to be an insult, only partly.

“I don't think you're always right, girl.”

A shocked look came to her face, as if she had never heard those very words before. Not many people dared to tell her that she wasn’t always right. The only people that ever said that were people that hated her, hence why she could never really believe them. Enemies always tried to bring a person down. As soon as he called the waitress over Cordelia hissed. “No, I don’t. I’m not drinking. I can’t digest anything in this dump, is that so hard to understand?” Cordelia clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth in annoyance, looking away from him and toward the door.

“If you weren’t blind I’d be gone by now,” she muttered bitterly.

“Well, considering I've been drinking for a while now, yes, that is hard to understand. Blood has to get a little old after a while.” He said, ignoring her various threats. He looked at the waitress, who appeared fairly spooked. “Very well then. I guess i'll have an ale.” He said, finishing his mead. He smiled as the girl walked away.

Pattin watched a man at the bar staring at them with a lopsided grin. He was obviously drunk. The man caught his eye and got up, walking to their table with the mixture of a waddle and a limp. He leaned over their table, beer heavy on his breath. Fairly cheap beer at that. Pattin scowled.

The man looked at pattin, then at Cordie as he spoke. 'h-hey midget, it looks like your lady friend is fed up with yer.' he said , giving a pitiful hiccup. 'hw about you come with me? I'll show ye a good time, lass.'

Pattin stewed and stood up on the chair he was at, jumping atop the table, and ran across, sort of tackling the man. He wrapped his legs around his torso and cracked him on the head with his mace. The man kind of screamed as he fell back on the floor. Pattin got up, straightened his hat, and sniffed.

“I'm not a midget.” He said, kicking him in the groin before getting back up in his chair. People were looking at the drunkard as Pattin sipped his new ale.

“Well, considering I've been drinking for a while now, yes, that is hard to understand. Blood has to get a little old after a while.”

“Not much I can do about that,” she said. Cordelia was fine with blood, anyway. The warm, slightly metallic liquid was all she had ever consumed and she had become accustomed to it. Strangely it never got old, but then again the sounds of agony and being the force to take away another’s life was empowering. For a vampire with an ego as big as hers, she needed that empowerment to survive.

Her eyes flicked over to the drunken man that walked over to their table. Cordelia’s jaw clenched as she stared at him, smelling the alcohol on his breath. Her stomach twisted at the cheap smell, the urge to vomit sudden and yet understandable. She glanced to Pattin before he spoke, wondering if he comprehended now why she hated taverns. These places were sick, filled with people who were more twisted than her. Cordelia at least had a few morals.

'how about you come with me? I'll show ye a good time, lass.'

Immediately, at the very utterance of those words, Cordelia’s eyes shot open with a sudden fire. Her chin dropped slightly, feeling as if the wind had been knocked out of her. How dare he; who did he think he was to come over and say such things? Perhaps the other women in this place lacked any sort of modesty, but Cordelia wasn’t one of them. She got all worked up and screamed about violation when she was just given a simple kiss – what this man had just said was a lot worse than what Manic had done.

“You…” Cordelia stood then with such speed that the chair fell back onto the floor. Her hands slammed onto the table and she sucked in a deep breath, the anger swirling in her core like a storm with that simple inhale. She lifted her arm and was about to pound him when Pattin jumped up over the table and got him first. While he was maiming the man, she removed the berserk potion from her pocket and took a quick swig, setting the opened bottle on the table. Once the midget was off of the man, she lifted her leg and with a greater amount of speed and strength than she usually had and brought it down to kick him a few times in the ribs. Only when she heard a few cracks was she satisfied. Cordelia stopped then and kicked him in the groin just as Pattin had, her chest heaving with each breath she took due to how angry she was. Her hair was abruptly a mess, with strands flying in every direction.

Sure now that the man was done for the night, she spun around and sat back down in her chair, huffing and closing her eyes. “Deserved to die,” she grumbled.

Pattin watched Cordelia open-mouthed as she viciously kicked the man. Looking at the potion, his eyebrow shot up. He was somewhat afraid of the woman's temper now, but now that that was established, he could mess around a bit.

Why waste the perfect opportunity?

While Cordelia was busy with the drunk, Pattin ran over, grabbed an unsupervised bottle of moonshine, and dumped a bit into the potion. He hid the bottle under his chair and returned to his open-mouthed stare as she sat down.

“Quite.” He said dryly. She was quite vicious for someone hitting on her. She looked a mess now, after going berserk like that. Pattin let himself smile on the inside as he raised his glass. “Cheers to a victory!” he said cheerily.

((forgive the crapness))

“Cheers to a victory!”

Cordelia looked at his raised glass, then at her berserk potion. She did deserve a victory swig, didn’t she? It wasn’t like that would hurt her, since the liquid was made up of just magic. She managed a smile and lifted the bottle the potion came in, lifting it to her lips and taking a gulp. It sort of stung on the way down her throat, causing her face to scrunch up in a look that resembled pain. Once the liquid had finally slithered down her throat, it settled in her stomach like a rock, which wasn’t what had happened before. Cordelia took a deep breath and coughed a single time once she thought she could, blinking multiple times after she had.

“Odd,” she said, running a hand through her hair. “Very… odd.” She blinked at the potion and popped the cap back on with little difficulty, then put it back into her pocket. The rock in her stomach was slowly melting away, turning into something warmer and fuzzier that was beginning to spread through her limbs.

The vampire woman wasn’t quite sure what had happened. Just a moment ago she had been fine, and now she was suddenly feeling… different. She wasn’t quite sure she had ever felt like this, and she was even less certain of the fact that it had been the potion. It was the only odd thing she had ingested all night, though, unless something had been wrong with the blood of the woman she had killed. Even so, if something had been wrong she would have thrown it up already.

A quiet hiccup came from her throat, followed by a soft laugh that was completely out of character for her. “Well, then,” she said, unsure where to go. Her head was feeling just as fuzzy as her stomach was, making it a little bit hard to think. “Are you feeling all right? From the flashburst, I mean. Hope you’ll forgive me for that, by the way. I get angry too easily, don’t I?” Cordelia hummed lightly, musing that fact to herself while she pushed her index fingers together.

Pattin smiled as she took a drink. The moonshine was strong stuff, enough to get a donkey drunk with a couple drinks. Sure enough. Very little time passed until the effects of the moonshine became visible. Pattin watched her interestedly as he took a drink of ale.

It hit her harder than normal though, it was obvious this woman didn't drink much, if ever. He smiled and gave himself a silent toast for the plan. The woman was much too uptight and needed a little relaxing. He chuckled as she spoke.

“Ah, I'm fine, dear friend. You do get much to angry quite quickly, however. At the least—” he sipped his ale “-- you could be nicer to me.” he chuckled. A little drunken persuasion could go a long ways. Temporary or permanent, it didn't matter to the halfling.

“How're you feeling, dearie?” He asked, taking a mid-sized gulp of ale.

“-- you could be nicer to me.”

Cordelia laughed again, hiccupping halfway through. Her face was a little red, flushed from the laughter and from the warmth of the alcohol. “Aww, I’m plenty nice, darling!” she said, waving her hand in the air to dismiss what he had said. The only thing that she had done that wasn’t very kind had been getting him with the spell, but he had said he was fine now. Clearly, all was forgiven. “You just gotta get used to be… me, I mean. Me.” Cordelia’s eyebrows furrowed at the stumble over her words and she lifted a hand to her head, rubbing it lightly. That warm feeling was turning into a sort of numbness, starting in her toes and her fingertips.

There was suddenly a terrible taste in her mouth and her stomach made a loud, obnoxious, grumbling noise. Cordelia shifted slightly in her seat and looked down, eyes narrowed as if to chastise the organ. “Bad tummy,” she said, just to drive the point home, the two words slurring together to the point where they didn’t even sound like individual words. Her language clearly wasn’t as sharp as it would have been had her potion not been spiked. She hadn’t even realized what had been done to her yet, even if she did feel a bit off. She had issues trusting other people, but she never would have suspected that the Halfling whose life she could have easily taken would try to introduce foreign objects into her system. Perhaps it had been naïve of her, but surely any other person would have made the same mistake.

“How're you feeling, dearie?”

“Iuno…” she said, squeezing her eyes shut before opening them, the world blurry around the edges. Pattin suddenly seemed so far away, although he was just right across the table. Again her stomach groaned, though this time it was louder and actually hurt a little bit. Cordelia whimpered quietly and grabbed hold of the edge of the table, fumbling for a few moments before she could actually grip it. Shakily the vampire lady rose to her feet, the world spinning as she did. The warmth was suddenly gone, turning into a sickness in the pit of her digestive tract. Her skin felt in places like she was being jabbed with tiny needles and a cold sweat began to break out on her face.

“Yeahhhh… I feel sick…” she finally decided, looking around. She was glad to finally be able to pin a name on that feeling and she hiccupped for a third time. “Where’s the… thing… that you walk out of…? Door, right? Yeah. Where’s the door?” She could hardly see at all, but she knew what was coming, and she didn’t want to start vomiting in front of everyone at the tavern. It couldn’t be good for business.

Pattin watched her concernedly, not sure what happened with vampires and alcohol. Sure enough, she grabbed her stomach and looked fairly sick, asking where the door was. By this time, Pattin had realized what was happening and had begun laughing. “Bwhahahaha!” He said, eyes watering, standing and leading her outside.

He wiped a tear from his eye as he held the door open. “Wassamatter, dear? Can't hold yer alcohol?” he asked, leaning against the post. For a halfling, Pattin had some fairly dwarflike points to him.

He straightened his cap and patted Cordelia on the shoulder. “It was fun while it lasted.” He said, referring to the murder to come. The woman was not dumb and would eventually realize he'd spiked her drink.

But it was well worth it.

Cordelia wasn’t quite sure what the laugh meant. If she had been in a more sober state, she probably very easily would have pieced it together. Hell, had she been in a sober state, this wouldn’t have even happened. As soon as the fresh air from outside hit her she took a deep breath, trying to coax whatever was inside of her to stay there. Throwing up wasn’t very fun, especially when it came to her throwing up. Although she hadn’t been sick too many times in her life, and most certainly couldn’t remember the last time she had been, she certainly recalled how much it hurt to purge her body of toxins.

“Wassamatter, dear? Can't hold yer alcohol?”

A look of confusion crossed her face as she looked down at Pattin. Slowly it pieced together, and while she wasn’t sure how he had done it, she knew he had somehow gotten alcohol into her system. The look of confusion turned to one of subtle betrayal and she looked away from him, unable to say anything. How could he have? What was the point of it? Surely she hadn’t been so mean to him that night that he had to go and be so unnecessarily cruel to her. With one last rumble of her stomach, Cordelia ran to the bushes just off of the steps, falling to her knees and ducking into them. As much as she didn’t want to be sick, she supposed it was best that it was out of her system. This was mortifying, though, and as the alcohol came up her esophagus and out her mouth, burning the whole way, she couldn’t help but feel extremely bitter.

“Enjoying… this?” she snapped angrily, her voice cracking. Her body began to shake and she stayed concentrated on the plants. This couldn’t be good for them, but keeping that stuff in her body wasn’t good for her either. “Freakin’ sadist…” Those words were followed by another round of retching, this time with less alcohol and more of the potion. The potion should have just dissolved, but he just had to go ahead and completely ruin it for her, didn’t he?

Relaxing for a moment, Cordelia took in a few deep breaths, saliva dripping from her parted lips. She spat it out then groaned, wanting to say something to Pattin so badly but lacking any and all of the words. At first she had been confused, then betrayed, and then finally bitter, and that bitterness had yet to melt away. How was this even funny? It was just plain revolting and she wasn’t sure why he had even done it in the first place. There couldn’t have been a point, other than to get back at her for the flashburst or to make her suffer. She had told him that she couldn’t digest alcohol, and yet he deliberately went against what she had said. “You think this is a joke?” she said, her voice low and weak, glancing at him from the corner of her eye. “Go ahead; just laugh your arse off. I didn’t do anything to you that wasn’t uncalled for. What a spiteful, vindictive little midget you are… you want to go stab yourself for me so I’ll be rid of your presence?”

Cordelia’s stomach twisted again and she groaned, looking down again and gripping at her abdomen. She hoped it was over, but she had a feeling that it wasn’t quite yet.

Pattin smiled at her as she spoke. “aye, but you had fun while it lasted, no?” He said, sipping his ale thoughtfully. “it could have been much worse, lass. I could have poisoned it, no? Or simply killed you while you were drunk. I'm sure you have better things than that little dagger of yours.” He said, not moving.

When she suggested he stab himself, Pattin set his ale down and shrugged, walking over and taking the dagger from the helpless vampire. “Where shall I do it?” He asked, turning it to face himself. “The eye? The leg?...The heart?” He asked, moving the blade to each area as he said it.

Pattin thrust the dagger in between his arm and his heart, catching it in his shirt. He spit out a mouthfull of ale, looking like blood in the night. For all she knew, he'd actually done it.

Pattin fell to his knees and onto his side, feeling the cold blade against his side.

“it could have been much worse, lass. I could have poisoned it, no? Or simply killed you while you were drunk. I'm sure you have better things than that little dagger of yours.”

Cordelia’s eyes narrowed. She wasn’t a very wise person to threaten; didn’t he understand that yet? While she did have other things to steal, like her poison blade and a few trinkets, she doubted he would find any use for them. All of her possessions, aside from the dagger, were meant to be used by normal sized people. “Poison would result in this as well,” she informed him. “And to kill a woman in front of a whole tavern wouldn’t have been very wise.” She didn’t think he had it in him to kill, anyway. She was weak now from the constant vomiting and the alcohol, but if he did decide to try anything all it would take would be a simple spell. Of course, that spell might drain her, but she was right by an inn. If she had to stay the night, then she would.

“The eye? The leg?...The heart?”

She snarled when he came near her and took her dagger. Cordelia made a move to swipe at him, but she missed due to her current lack of coordinateness. “How about all three?” she asked. She would have loved to do it herself, but she couldn’t really complain. As long as it was with her dagger then she was happy. She looked away, a rush of blood spewing up from betwixt her lips. She wasn’t sure if it was hers or the blood she had drank earlier, but either way it didn’t matter. When she heard another liquid hitting the ground, her gaze returned to the annoying midget that was now on the ground near her. The woman stared at him, surprised that he had actually done it. She laughed; amused that he had done it. She reached over and pulled the dagger free, not noticing at first that there was no blood on it. The stench of the blood that had been in her stomach mixed among other things was strong enough to cancel out anything else.

However, as she fingered the metal, about to put it away, she sighed when the soft, relaxing feeling of blood on her fingertips didn’t come. “Going away and leaving me alone would work too, Spot,” she said, lifting an arm and wiping any residue away off of her mouth. She didn’t feel as sick, though the feeling of weakness and vulnerability had yet to disappear. “Why do you insist on annoying me? Isn’t there anyone else you could torture? Someone less… murderous, perhaps?”

Patten opened an eye as she took the blade out. “Yes, but that's not quite as fun, now is it?” He said with a wink. He got up and yawned, looking around lazily. She seemed to be getting used to his antics by now. He sighed.

“You know, I don't think I can bring myself to do it. Nope, I can't.” He said. “ You're a good pal, Cordelia. I don't think you'd have it in you to kill... well... me anyway.” He chuckled at her. “I saw that hesitation when I pretended to cry. I'm just so adorable you can't stnd not having me around.” He closed his eyes and nodded. “Yep yep, I see the signs. You even gave me a nickname, Cordie.” He chuckled.

Looking at her and back to his empty mug of ale, he groaned. “You owe me half an ale.” He said, picking up the mug and tipping it upside down, pointing out the nothing coming out. “see all this nothing? There used to be a beautiful drink there. Now it's gone. And it's your fault. I even defended your honor.” He said, inspecting his nails.

“I saw that hesitation when I pretended to cry. I'm just so adorable you can't stnd not having me around.”

Her eyes narrowed the moment he opened his mouth to speak. She did so have it in her to kill him, but she couldn’t very well do it without any sort of good reason. Besides, in her weakened state, there was nothing she could do. This had nothing to do with the fact that he was ‘adorable’, but more with her own weaknesses. Cordelia averted her eyes from his form and huffed, almost ashamed of herself. He wasn’t a child, even if he could pull off looking like one, so why had she hesitated? If she had just done it and gotten it over with then she wouldn’t be in this predicament. “Just because you have a nickname means nothing,” she said. “You aren’t anything special. Don’t let your ego get bigger than you’re body.”

When he continued on and on about the ale, Cordelia couldn’t help but roll her eyes. “I don’t owe you anything,” she snapped. “Perhaps you should rely less on that disgusting crap.” How could anyone even enjoy that? She should have known just by the thick taste that he had spiked her drink. “It isn’t my fault that you decided to spill it just to try and play a trick on me.” She wasn’t taking responsibility, she wasn’t paying, and she wasn’t going to do anything. She didn’t owe him a single thing after everything he had gotten her into that night.

“… I even defended your honor.”

At that, the vampire woman threw her head back and started cackling due to how ridiculous that statement was. The laughter soon turned into a choking, coughing sound however, since her throat was absolutely raw. She swallowed, lifting a hand and lightly massaging the front of her neck to try and ease the throbbing. “The only thing you defended was the fact that you aren’t a midget,” she said bluntly. “I don’t need you to defend me. I’m completely capable of protecting myself.” Well, maybe only fairly capable, but capable nonetheless. “What are you, anyway, if you aren’t a midget? Or are you just a sensitive midget?”

Pattin sighed. “You're awfully full of yourself, woman. Have you ever-- no, that's a stupid question.” he said, shaking his head. “How often do people tell you that?” He asked, eyeing her. She laughed at owing him a drink.

“Aye, but it is your fault it didn't work.” He said, nose upturned, looking at his balled up hand. “Are you done spilling good moonshine, or shall we sit out here fer another few days? He asked, rubbing his arms.

As she rubbed her throat, Pattin chuckled. “serves you right, woman.” He sniffed proudly.

Pattin looked at her critically. “Not a midget. A halfling.” He said simply. Looking her up and down, he snorted. “Aren't you short for a human?” He said, matching her snobby tone.

The very second he opened his mouth Cordelia felt the urge to punch him in the face. Could he, for just once, hold his tongue and not attempt to push her further? Even if silence was a sign of weakness, she would have preferred that over the high spirited midget that he tried to be. She should have killed him earlier and made the world a better place without him. When he mentioned something being a stupid question, her eyebrows lifted out of sheer curiosity. Maybe it was better that he had cut himself off, but she was a firm believer in the saying ‘if you have something to say, say it’. “Say it,” she commanded, willing to beat it out of him if that was what it came down to. She might have been exhausted at the moment, but it was clear who would win in a battle between the two of them. If anything against him could even be called a battle, what with how short he was.

“Are you done spilling good moonshine, or shall we sit out here fer another few days?”

“You do realize that stuff rots your insides, right?” Cordelia scoffed, and then heaved a sigh. She was pretty sure she was all better now. After throwing up the alcohol, the potion, and a small portion of blood that had already been partially digested, she didn’t think there was anything else left in her to be vomited. “I’m fine. You wouldn’t have to sit out here if you hadn’t done that, so don’t you even dare try to blame me. Such hypocrisy.” Cordelia shook her head as she thought about it, not going to elaborate. To her it was obvious, and if it wasn’t to him, then that was just simply too bad.

Halfling… Cordelia wasn’t quite sure what that race was, but she figured it had to be synonymous with midget. He had probably just come up with some fancy word to make himself feel better. When he attacked her height, Cordelia just laughed. That was a pathetic excuse for an insult. The vampire lady put her hands on the ground and slowly pushed herself up, a wave of dizziness coming over her again. She stood still for a moment, allowing it to pass before she spoke. “Hun, don’t talk about things you don’t know,” she said. “And I’m not human. Don’t relate me to those idiots.”

Pattin laughed at her comment. “Rots my arse.” He smiled then frowned. “Wait. It might at that.” He shrugged and ran in, grabbing the bottle and running back to Cordelia's side, plopping his fat bum on a chair outside.

“Bah. Hypocrisy makes you feel fuzzy inside. Makes you feel kingly.” he said with a highly unfitting noble tone.

“Say, Cordie. What would you say if I told you I was a prince of a land owned by halflings?” He asked curiously, a serious face on. He sipped at the moonshine carefully before scrutinizing the vampire, whose appearance was incomplete disarray.

“Not that I am, of course. I just wanted to know what you'd say.” He shrugged and took a gulp of moonshine. The sudden rush of alcohol made him gag and sputter, coughing violently. “Argh, it's too strong. Must've been an orc, the man I st-- erm borrowed this from.”