UNDER CONSTRUCTION
Introduction
"Wounds of the flesh
a surgeon's skill may heal,
but wounded honor's
only cured with steel."
It was just another quiet day in ASSD's Taverna Bar. Various patrons, authors and fans were discussing the usual range of topics. An eavesdropper could hear discussions of patriarchies and matrilinial descent; the etymology of Celtic versus Roman deities; the dearth of customers at the take-in window; even the delightful serendipity of loosely directed searches in search engines. Some people were even discussing (gasp) sex.
Desdmona and a rotating crew of ichthyologists were gathered by the Aquarium, pondering whether the contents could be made more esthetically pleasing by changing the color balance of the gravel at the bottom, or maybe changing the names or types of guppies - not all agreed with every comment, but the exercise was both fun and productive.
Another crowd at one of the tables were discussing tupperware and toys, to someone's embarrassment, and several of that crowd got up to refresh their drinks.
Gary staggered in the door wearing his Naked Through The Snow tee shirt, his face dripping whipped cream. He tripped, nearly dropping what appeared to be a Tobasco Pizza on Denny. Gary wound up seated near Souvie, wiping his face while greeting the red-headed Texan happily.
Denny, who'd been peacefully reading My Beautiful Angel looked up to see a round red missile (and not a torpeanut!) descending upon him, followed closely by a bearded sailor-type. In Denny's scramble to avoid the slices, he tangled his feet and his 32-oz, 4-shot, triple Mocha arced toward Jacques.
Jacques miraculously caught it without spilling more than a teaspoon, took a big gulp, set it down, and picked up a convenient key-lime pie. He hurled it at random.
Random, of course, wasn't in the Taverna Bar, so Alexis Siefert, who could NEVER resist a fresh key-lime pie, especially when enjoyed alongside a mocha, thanked Denny for sharing and intercepted the pie. However, there was a bit of aggressive activity in the room that day, and as she brought the pie to her lips for the first sharp, tangy bite, a hand pressed against her back startled her enough to jostle her off her stool. As her feet hit the floor, she grabbed the bar railing for balance, but missed the rail. Whose fingers were those that just goosed me?!? she asked herself. She knocked the bowl of roasted cashews, sending it flying right at Souvie.
Souvie looked down at the pile of cashews in her lap. She knew Rui had said something to her recently about people starting to go nuts around here, but really! Shrugging her shoulders she reached into her lap for a handful of nuts and popped them into her mouth. Salty but delicious. Deciding a drink was needed, she started to get up from the table, but her heel was on her skirt and a loud ripping sound made her face flame red. She heard laughter from behind and as she turned around to confront the guilty party, she bumped into a waitress, sending a tray of strawberries and cream crashing down upon yet another patron.
That comedy of errors might have continued indefinitely, but a more serious situation was developing at the bar, where Alexis, her balance regained, seated herself near Selena Jardine.
Regular patrons are well aware that the two had recently acted as seconds to two of the other authors during a certain Duel. One might wonder if any lingering animosity might make their proximity... interesting.
For his part, Gary wondered, When should I point out the interesting effects of passing one's mouse over italicised words?
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