Debauchery at The Drunken Cod — March 2020 Challenge Winner

[Lady Mysaria]

Spoiler: Faolan - Auld Tavern Song

Debauchery at The Drunken Cod​

The sweet sticky scent of lavender ale and perfume wafted out from the main entrance of The Drunken Cod as a man and woman stumbled out. They were wrapped into each other's embrace, too caught up in their drunken bliss to care. The Drunken Cod was the only excuse for a Tavern in this piss poor town. If anything it was more of a village, perhaps even that was too kind a name. There, poised at the entranceway was a young lad with his hands cocked on narrow hips. The boy could naught have been much past his eighteenth year, standing greasy and covered in muck outside that silly little tavern.

The boy puffed out his chest and licked his palms to smooth back the stringy brown hair that had fallen in front of his green eyes. With one final bode of self-confidence, the boy wiped his hands against his stained trousers and stepped inside The Drunken Cod. Tonight was going to be the best night of his life. It had already been decided by the young lad and he was terribly stubborn. He had even made the exception of spending his best night in the dump that was The Drunken Cod. The slam of the main door caused the small tavern-post sign to sway in the night.

Inside, the tavern was alive and churning; slumbering on the exterior, but the interior was awake and loud and devilishly tempting to the gaudy young boy as people bustled about and a bard sang bawdily of the voluptuous women of the Eastlands. Dressed swished gracefully against twisting legs as dancers careened about the room.

The boy pressed himself against the wooden wall to get out of the dancers' way. As he turned to move further into the chaos of the room, the boy had to duck. He managed to avoid hitting his head against a wooden tray of full tankards being carried by a petite barmaid. Her eyes, as blue as the ocean outside, sparkled with laughter as she passed. The young lad spun to watch the woman, caught in her spell. Her plump pink lips turned up delicately at the corners when she smiled over her shoulder at the transfixed lad. Her hair was like liquid gold, spiraling down her back. The boy's heart thumped unevenly as he watched her go. In his stupor, the poor lad had yet to take notice of his surroundings.

One step...Two steps...Smash.

The poor lad had backed straight into a large sailor whose arms were thick and sunbaked from years spent at sea. The boy ducked his head and covered his eyes with his fingers. Ale had flown all over the sea-salted sailor, soaking into his shirt and stinging his eyes. Thick brown liquid dripped from the ol'sailor's crooked nose and his crusted eyes settled on the young lad with untamed rage.

"B-beggin' your pardon sir," the boy managed to stutter. Stumbling back away from the overgrown sailor as he rose from his seat at the bar. "Here let me clean this up for you." Before the drunken sailor had time to fully react the young boy was dabbing at his wet shirt with a dirty handkerchief he had found in his pocket. All the handkerchief managed to do was make the sea-hollowed stranger even angrier. "There g-g-good as new," the young lad stuttered nervously, feeling the tightening grip of the burly sailor at his throat; the man's meaty fingers curled like iron into the boy's jacket. The boy's eyes were glued to the man's massive fist as it came propelling towards hi face like a god-damn meteor.

Nope.

The young lad slipped his arms out from the inside of his jacket and his feet slipped back to the oak floor with a quiet thud. Covering his head with his arms and biting his lower lip, the young lad watched as the sailor's fist continued to sail forward. Much to the boy's own chagrin, he watched as the sea-crusted sailor walloped someone else in the back of the head. The ol'sailor's face fell to the boy, and as if time itself had slowed, he was propelled backward by an unknown flying fist. The boy watched in relieved horror as the old sailor smashed back against the bar. As if by some cosmic law the entire room broke into all-out chaos.

"Can't just be hittin' strangers, old man!" A robust gentleman spat, rubbing the spot at the back of his head where the sailor had punched him. The ol'sailor spat blood onto the floor and slammed his fists into the bar, heavy with his anger. "Are you hearing me, old man?" The fat drunkard crowed again at the ol'sailor. That was all fatty could manage to choke out before he was tackled by a very frail-looking elderly-man. The elderly man was hooting with laughter, the boy noticed, as he was swallowed by the roiling crowd of brawlers.

The ol'sailor had ignored the stranger addressing him as his eyes searched the crowd relentlessly. He managed to dodge a few unsteady blows from the random men around him, pushing another drunk sailor out of his way. There, hunched at the feet of the other brawlers, was the boy. He was scurrying away, crouched with his hands over his head to protect himself.

"Stop that kid!" The sailor shouted in fury, pointing one of his sausage fingers to the poor young lad, who until just recently, had been making a very daring escape. The boy squinted up at the ol'sailor and he smiled sheepishly as others turned to eye him; some of the brawls halted so the surrounding crowd could take in what was happening. "He is the cause of all thi-!" The old man's words were cut off curtly as he took a swinging chair to the back. The blow flattened the ol'sailor to the oak floor and he groaned in pain.

His gray eyes rolled in his head and a rage unmatched by even Posidon rose up in the ol'sailor's chest, causing his cheeks to flush a deep red. The young lad had disappeared again and now not only was the sailor's shirt wet, he had a bloody nose and a few broken ribs to accompany it.

Unknown to the sailor, the boy had actually been saved by none other than the golden-haired barmaid from before. She had slipped her supple hand into his, holding him tight. She dragged him through the crowd, swift and unflinching, to the back entrance of The Drunken Cod. The two of them smashed out into the chill night, the salted scent of the sea replacing that of lavender ale and perfume. Both of them hunched over trying to catch their breath before the young lad caught the barmaid's eye. Her smile was dazzling and full of sweetness.

"That was some shite show you started in there," the barmaid chuckled breathlessly. She straightened and adjusted her dress; inside the shouting, grunting, and furniture-breaking barfight rumbled on. The young lad felt more alive in this moment than he ever had. "What's you're na-..." The barmaid was speaking when lips pressed gently to hers. Her shocked gaze was submerged in an ocean of green before they slowly closed. Heat rose to her cheeks and when the young lad broke away from her she was left breathless once again.

Perhaps The Drunken Cod wasn't such a piss-poor excuse of a tavern, after all, the young lad thought in exhilaration as the fullness of the barmaid's lips caught his again.

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I just wanted to write something fun and spontaneous. Sorry for any errors you may encounter and I hope you enjoyed this goofy short story about my fictitious tavern. Have a lovely rest of your day. ~ LayMys <3​