Calaistas

Day Two

Leandrios smiled as he saw the roll of the dice. Why had Lady Luck only now decided to grace him with her presence? But he wouldn't complain.

His adversary's look of shock was almost worth more than the coins that filed into his bag. The next look was less rewarding. Luckily, the inn carried an honor machine so the money was honor-bound to come to whoever won it fairly. The man across the table looked much less than honorable. He probably would have gotten into a fight to avoid payment, and that would have been unfortunate for both of them.

However, the look didn't change, a look Leandrios knew well.

"Fair is fair, Gogwin," he said, holding up his hands.

"So is unfair," Gogwin growled.

"Actually, no." Leandrios stared at the beefy man, squinty-eyed. "They're not the same. Really. At all. They're the exact definition of not the same. Opposites." Discreetly, he tugged on the string of his bag, closing off the money he won.

"You must be right. Fair is what's going to happen to me, and unfair is what's going to happen to you." Gogwin stood up, the stool he was sitting on clattering to the floor.

Leandrios sighed. "Let me spare you the trouble." He tossed the man the coins.

Surprised, Gogwin just held it. Then he grinned and pulled the string. And pulled it again.

"You really aren't aware of how honor works," Leandrios muttered. "You see, that money is honor-bound to me because, you see, the honor machine actually thought you had some honor, and probably intelligence, but, that's irrelevant." He rubbed the back of his head, giving a nervous laugh at his opponent's snarl. "What I mean is, clearly I don't have the intelligence to cheat the machine, so I did win fair and square. Honor intact." He put a hand over his heart, holding out the other tentatively.

"How 'bout this, you give me the money back, honorably, lying little rat, and I'll let you leave here with your face intact. How 'bout that?"

"My face is one of my most valued possessions, but I still have to say no, not too tantalizing an offer. Perhaps if you could offer me your lovely face... no?"

Leandrios ducked as Gogwin threw a chair at him. He wished it didn't have to come to this, but then again, he didn't really. He rolled under the table, kicked out the man's legs from under him, and jumped up again. Off balance, the oaf reached out but Leandrios grabbed his hand and twisted his arm behind his back.

"Will that be all?" Leandrios asked.

There was a rumble and then a sputter. Leandrios could see Gogwin's feet as they lit up and let out a puff of smoke, and he knew what it meant. The two suddenly rocketed towards the ceiling, growing closer until they smashed into it. He clung to Gogwin's back as he was pummeled against the ceiling, enduring the blows, until Gogwin hovered back to the floor, another splutter as his mechanical, flying feet turned off.

Leandrios slid to the ground, watching the commotion they caused through the rest of the inn from the corner of his eye. The innkeeper was shouting from behind the counter about gambling and fighting, how the honor machine was supposed to minimize this kind of damage. Then Leandrios saw a fist coming from the other direction and ducked. It still clutched the bag of coins.

Leandrios kicked at Gogwin's ribs, watching his instinctive flinch, and spun around so the heel of his foot collided with his jaw. The bag flew out of Gogwin's hands as he reacted, stumbling backwards a second before roaring, and the tell-tale sound of clicking ensued. Then, a light started flashing from Gogwin's wrist.

Leandrios looked around quickly. One of the guests was still sitting at his own table, trying to mind his own business with his lunch in front of him.