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A dwarf and a halfing walk into a bar... [Haru||Verikatt] - NSFW

One bushy brow of Argus went up as Ransa spoke about the trade route, and yet he didn't press. If she didn't wish to discuss things like that in public, then he understood and didn't wish to make her uncomfortable. "We can avoid the trade route, or simply be careful. I'd not let anything happen to you, I am sure you know that. As for the elves, I would simply like to meet them. I am sure that some are good and some are bad, and that could be said of any race. I have even met some personable orcs." Argus said. He seemed to consider a moment and then added, "Ok, only one. But he was ok.... or was it a she? I don't remember." he said, and though he was only halfway teasing, Argus was smiling.

It was not long before their meal was done, and Argus would walk hand in hand with Ransa back upstairs, going to his room, and letting her go to hers so that they could pack their respective things. Argus did not have much, and downstairs Corvis had not only made them some packs to take with them full of food, but had gotten some somewhat non-perishable items to take as well; hard meats and breads and cheeses.

The pack Argus had seemed rather full, and the dwarf had donned his armor, which was light for a dwarf, and it was obvious he had a bedroll and most importantly, his beer mug and a small barrel of stout. Likely enough to fill the mug five to six times. Hoisting his axe over his shoulder he'd lit his pipe, the sweet smelling smoke tinged with the smell of cherries. "You ready Pet?" he asked.
 
Ransa nodded when Argus said they could avoid the trade route. "It's not the entire route, just that part of it. You met an Orc? I haven't met one of them yet. We'll have lots to talk about on our trip I can see."

Ransa left the food from Corvis downstairs while she went upstairs to finish packing. A long time ago, she had inherited a backpack from her grandfather. It was almost too big for her but it held a lot of things without adding extra weight. For somebody her size it totally made a difference! It didn't take her long to pack. Most of her outfits could be squeezed into almost a small pouch let alone her backpack.

Ransa looked up at Argus and just smiled when he used the word Pet again. She was going to be on another adventure but this time she had a protector. One that she loved...wait a minuted...did she just think of Argus as someone she loved? Ransa blinked a couple of time and then got a smile on her face. It was a smile of wonderment followed by a blush of realization.

"Uh huh. I'm ready. Let me take some of the food and put it in my backpack. It will make travelling a little better. " Ransa sniffed the air and loved the pipe tobacco scent that Argus was using this time. "That's a good scent. Although if you smoke your pipe early in the mornings before I've had breakfast, I won't be held responsible for my actions." Ransa didn't elaborate but her eyes turned to a deeper shade at the thought of Argus covered in the cherry scent. Instead she started to put some of the food into her backpack, watching it easily disappear.
 
"I've actually met many orcs. Most of them were trying to kill me, but once out of the mountains there are a few half-breeds that are not so bad." Argus admitted.

The two soon had met in the common room and Ransa added the food to her pack, the dwarf smirking at her estimation of what might happen if he smoked such a wonderful scent in the morning. "That might not be the only pipe that gets smoked, eh?" he asked with a grin, and puffed out twin contrails from his nostrils in amusement. "Shall we take the steam rail to spare our feet a little?" he asked, unsure of how Ransa wanted to travel.
 
Ransa giggled at Argus comment about something, or someone, else might get smocked. She just nodded and continued to pack up their food. Before she knew it she had all the food in the bag. Her bedroll was on the outside as well as her rope but everything else was inside. She turned around and shrugged into the backpack as a seasoned traveler. She looked over at Argus dug her toe into the floor.

"Ummm. Could you help adjust it a little bit? it's off center. Perhaps the bedroll shifted?"

As she turned around for Argus to help her, Ransa bounced up and down in her excitement. "Oh can we? I've always wanted to go by steam rail but never had the chance! That would be wonderful!"
 
Argus could see her excitement as she shrugged into her pack, and as she turned to have him adjust some things, his hands just so happened to caress over her tiny pert bottom before he adjusted her bedroll. "Of course we can go by rail. We can catch the train here at the depot, or hike out and away from irontown for a ways and catch it further down the line."[/b] he told her, quite content with either option. The wanderlust was starting to get him again, and he was happy to have a traveling companion this time around, not to mention a female! That it was a halfling would make things more interesting for sure.
 
Ransa gave Argus a big hug when he said that they would indeed take the rail. This is what she had always wanted. Her needs were simple. She wanted somebody to spend her days and nights with, a place to dance and an appreciative audience, and somebody she felt safe traveling with. Could it be that she found most of that with Argus.

"Thank you. I've always wanted to take it. I've heard that it wasn't safe for females alone but I don't know if that is true or not. Sometimes we were told that by people who just didn't want to go out and have adventures. I don't have to worry about that now that I've met you. I know that you'll protect me although in all fairness I am not as helpless as I let on at times. I really am quite good with blades. I just don't like to have to resort to that and am quite willing to let you protect me. "

Ransa looked up at Argus with a big smile. She normally smiled but that smile seemed to have gotten larger whenever Argus was around. "I don't care where we pick up the rail at. I'm just excited to be able to take it."
 
"I'll definitely keep you safe." Argus told her, and anyone who knew dwarves knew that their word was as ironbound as their spirits. The hug from the little halfling warmed his heart and soon the couple was just outside of Irontown. The station for the steamrail was empty, and it seemed that Argus had an idea of when the locomotive might run. "So what would you like to see while we're out and about in Khorvaire?" Argus asked, a bit curious as to what might propel Ransa away from what was certainly a lucrative job with a few creature comforts.
 
Ransa smiled up at Argus and shook her head.

"I think it's all wonderful. I've never been out adventuring with somebody before. It's like I'm seeing things for the first time. So many first...so many wonderful things. Obviously I like to try out Inns. Gem shops and smoke shops. Any place that has scarves and cloth. I can make my own clothing you know. Oh...and churches with high steeples or churches out in the open. On the road rivers and waterfalls and...and...ohhhh..."

Ransa stared up into nothing as she was thinking of all the places she liked to see. Her eyes were all shiney like a young child looking into the window of a candy shop waiting for it to open. Suddenly Ransa inhaled and pointed up at the sky. "See that? That cloud right there? It looks like a pony. It's a sign that I need to see some ponies." Ransa looked at Argus. "Can we do that? If not it's ok. I just love life I can see a leaf and think of a dance. I see clouds and see shapes. I smell tobacco and draw memories and shapes from the pipe smoke. Most of the time my family thought I was left on their doorstep because they don't like to wander. They also didn't understand my shaving my feet but I found out that humans give better tips if they look at feet without hair on them. They are weird like that sometimes."
 
Puffing on his pipe as Ransa spoke, Argus could tell that the little halfling was quite precocious and loved to talk. It was endearing and would help him pass the time. Smoke trailed behind them as he puffed on the pipe and he looked up as Ransa pointed. "Now why would I be against you going to see some ponies?" he asked her with a smile. "I don't really ride much myself, but a pony might be a good thing for you if we have to cross some great distances. Or I could simply carry you. Dwarves are quite hardy you know." he told her.

Her comments about shaving her feet brought a nod. "Humans are odd ones at times, and fear things that are different than themselves. Though I'll be honest that I like your shaved feet too. I'm so covered in hair that a nice smooth woman is something that really turns me on." he admitted. His pace was easy enough for her to keep up with, and Argus followed the rail of the huge steam-powered train, knowing that later in the evening the train would be passing to the west and coming through Irontown, after which it would catch up with them pretty quickly.
 
Ransa blushed and leaned into Argus a little more. "It takes a lot of shaving to keep my feet and other parts trimmed and hairless. If it turns you on does that mean you would be willing to help in the upkeep of such a look?" Ransa was getting wet thinking of Argus leaning over her feet or pubic area with a razer and shaving cream. Slowly moving it down and around her private areas. She quietly moaned at the very thought and swayed a little towards him before she remembered they were in public.

After coughing a little bit to clear her head she looked at Argus and smiled as she put her tiny hand on his chest. "Just don't shave this. *I* love the feel of it. It's like sleeping on a live warm rug. I love to hear your heartbeat through it and feel my body rise and fall with your breaths."

Ransa just inhaled the smoke scent and was quiet and content for a couple of minutes. Finally she sighed in contentment. "A pony. They are good and perhaps we need one to help carry things? Or if one of us gets sick and can't walk right? I know some healing but you never know if it will be enough."
 
Argus was a little surprised that Ransa might ask him to help in the upkeep of a certain look, especially one so intimate as actually helping to shave her, but he had no qualms with it. "I'll help shave you Pet, though you might have to guide my hand a couple times. I'm definitely not a dwarf that is used to shaving!" he exclaimed with a grin, and would drape an arm about her shoulders to give her a squeeze as they walked. "I won't be shaving any time soon, if ever, so you have nothing to worry about. You help me keep this beard clean and braid it for me now and then, and we have a deal!" he told her.

Continuing talk of a pony had Argus scratch his chin. " am sure we could get a pony. They're quite hard if you get the right kind, and would be a good pack animal. On the other hand, between the steam rail and magic, we can probably get just about anywhere we like. But a pony might still be nice." He certainly wouldn't mind it, and letting Ransa get some rest by riding would be a good idea as well.

Just then, a gentle sort of thrumming rumbling sound could be heard and Argus shielded his eyes as he looked up in the sky, the huge airship overhead moving by at a smooth pace, much faster than they were moving. The thrumming of the engines and lack of belching steam told them that this was one of the newest technology ships, no longer running on coal, but harnessing the power of auracite - a condensed sort of coal that held the power of the elements.
 
Ransa was in heaven. It seemed that all the things she had wondered about were being planned and might come true. Now she knew she had done the right thing and left home when she did.

"Oh that I can certainly agree to. It's hard keeping trim by myself but I won't let anybody cut your beard. Maybe trim it and your hair a bit but I can do that. Nobody else is allowed to cut it. They would take too much off. Can't have that."

Ransa snuggled into Argus side when he slipped her arm around her. It was such a comforting feeling and she soaked it in. "A pony would be nice but it can also be an unnecessary expense. We don't HAVE to get one. That would just be me wishing but Grandfather always said that I was spoiled enough and shouldn't get things I wanted."

Ransa might have said more but then she heard the hum. It scared her a little bit and she scooted to the other side of Argus automatically before she realized that he didn't appear to be concerned. She looked up in the same direction he was and gasped. It was an airship and it was the largest thing that Ransa had ever seen.

"Wha...what..." Ransa couldn't even imagine how large it was. It looked like her entire village could fit into!
 
The immense airship was quite a sight to behold, and in truth the little halfling's thought were probably close to true. The ship might not cover the expanse of her village, yet the interior could easily hold her entire village, and maybe even Argus' people as well. The crew of the vessel was more than three dozen people, and that did not count passengers or the cargo hold.

"That's quite the sight." Argus commented, having seen a few airships, but none that large, and most of then belching steam. That this was one of the cutting edge ships meant that whomever was aboard was likely very important indeed. The two had stopped in their walking and the ship sailed on, soon out of sight. "I guess that's that." Argus said, and would pat Ransa's bottom to get them moving again.

It really wasn't long, perhaps another thirty to forty minutes, when the rumbling of the steam train could be heard and Argus looked back over his shoulder. The train was one of the newer models, and there were several that ran the rails, and this one was quite a sight. The engineer had seen the two on the tracks and was already slowing down, used to picking up folks on the rail, and the huge automaton engine was quite impressive.

"Going West?" the engineer said as he stuck his head out of one of the side ports.
 
Ransa watched as first one and then another technological wonder appeared in front of her. As she watched the airship move on she looked up at Argus. "I thought that they would have sails. Sails would have been a nice touch I think. It is a ship after all." Before she could get disappointed with a ship with no sails, Ransa felt her butt being lightly swatted as an indication they should move on. She gave an exaggerated jump as if she was surprised and then giggled. She did however, take some steps forward but then another wonder came by...the rail train.

"Ohhhh. It's like an Iron Giant in the front." She still stayed on the other side of Argus as if that made everything all right, which of course it did, and peaked out from behind him to watch. When it started to slow down she held her breath. Would this be the last train today? Did that mean she wouldn't get to see any ponies? Which would she rather do? So many questions and possibilities that Ransa just looked up at Argus.

"Are we taking it now?"
 
Argus just laughed at Ransa's comment and nodded his head. "Some of the airships do look just like a sailing ship. That was one of the newest models, likely with someone very important on board. Those are powered by magic and not coal." he said.

Though after a time, and seeing the immense train slowing, Argus waved off the concerns of the engineer. "I thank you for the offer, but I think we will walk awhile."

"Suit yourself. The next train will come by heading this way on the morrow, sometime in the afternoon." the engineer said, and ducked back inside, the train steaming and hissing and then starting to pick up speed again as he controlled the throttle of the huge conveyance.

Standing still as the locomotive moved past, Argus would puff on his pipe and keep Ransa close and safe. Once the train passed them, several children waving from the passenger cars, Argus would smile at Ransa. "Maybe we can go and find you a pony, Pet." he said with a smile.
 
"Magic is good and all that but I still like to see the sails and the rigging. It is so much fun to climb on them. It reminds me of home sometimes. Oh not the sails but the rigging. It was a fun game for us to play when we were children. The adults would get rigging and string it out between trees or poles and then us children would have races to see who was the quickest to climb them. Then we would try to walk it. Now I see that they thought of it as a way to teach us coordination. I've seen human babies and some children toddle along like they will fall any minute. We had that stage too but I think it was for a much shorter period. Plus this taught us not to be afraid of heights and hiding and things. Key things to know as an adult. Even today I can scamper up nets, ropes, and pipes probably quicker than most."

Ransa waved back to the children on the train, keeping it up until they were out of sight. She loved children and was quite often taken for one if she wore baggy clothes. It was easy to see why when she clapped her hand in excitement when Argus said they might go see the ponies and even get her one. "Oh that would be most exciting. Do you like to ride Argus. I know some dwarves who do but they don't normally ride ponies. They ride broader animals that are good for the mountain terrain."

Seeing a bench up ahead, Ransa ran to it and jumped up on it. She waited for Argus to come on over to her and when he did she just smiled, gently tugged on his beard and drew him to her. She kissed him and whispered against his lips "Thank you for giving me such a wonderful day."
 
The story that Ransa told was interesting and Argus gave a nod. "I think that all the races have their own ways to raise their little ones and teach them to walk." Argus said, and waved back to the kids too, though soon was walking beside Ransa once more. He shook his head at her question. "There's not many animals to ride for us, though there are some large salamanders as well as some rams." he told her, and thought about revealing a bit more about himself but decided to remain mum.

The day toiled on and they stopped close to the tracks to eat a couple of times, each time delving into the fresher fare that Corvin had prepared for them, knowing that if they didn't that it would be much faster to spoil than the hardy rations they'd brought. That, or the cheese would melt in the heat and simply make a mess of things.
 
"Ohh. Rams! Yes that is what they rode. A Salamander though? I wouldn't have thought about that. Are they easy to train?" Ransa loved walking and talking with Argus. She couldn't, however, control her yawn the first time they stopped to eat. By the time they had finished the second meal, the yawns were back.

"Oh my! I think all this fresh air is starting to get to me. Do you think we could take a nap? I didn't get much of one earlier when we tried to freshen up before breakfast.


Ransa chuckled and blushed at the thought. "But I can wait until we get Sage. I think that will be my pony name. I would call her Flower but somehow I don't think you will want to ride a flower. Although it is mine so perhaps you'd want to ride it after all."

Ransa chuckled again at her double meaning and fell against Argus while she did so.
 
"The salamanders can take the heat of the forges. They live far below ground and near lava. They're not too hard to train, but they don't like to come above ground at all, and they're fun to ride since they can stick to walls. You can even ride them across ceilings!" Argus said, his eyes bright as he shared a bit of his homeland with Ransa.

The way Ransa yawned had Argus grinning and he said, "So you're susceptible to the food coma huh? The 'itis. as we call it. I didn't know halflings succumbed to that, since your folk eat so much that's all you'd get done! eat and sleep! Maybe make little halflings now and then." he said with a laugh. Then Ransa seemed to almost fling herself at him, laying across him, and Argus wrapped her up in his arms to hold her. "Take a nap Pet. I'll keep you safe." he said.

Argus was just about to kiss her when a resounding crash followed by a plume of smoke and debris could be seen from the direction the locomotive had disappeared from sight.
 
"Oh salamanders sound like fun. Just think of riding them across ceilings and up the walls!" That news woke up her a little bit but she was still tired. She tried to be indignant about the slander to her people but on the other hand it could have been a compliment. She grinned as Argus picked her up.

"Oh I am not normally this tired but it has been a long time since I've been outside for a period of time. I hadn't noticed it as much until I met you. I would nap in the afternoon after practicing my dancing that I would do. I guess all of this exercise with walking and stuff made my body think I had practiced so therefore it was time for a nap. Besides I have this hot dwarf close by that I just love with sleep with. It is NOT because of food!"

Ransa had closed her eyes and tilted her head up for Argus kiss but her eyes flung open when she heard the crash. "What was that! Oh no. I hope those children are ok. We need to go see if they need help!"
 
Argus just pulled Ransa close as they talked and was quite content to cradle her in his arms. The sound of the crash startled him however, and he gave Ransa a curt nod. "We need to see if they need help." he agreed, and would help her up, gathering his things as well. In moments they were off, following the tracks as a quicker pace than before, urgency in their steps.

In this instance their shorter legs made the travel along the rails a bit less timely, and it was over thirty minutes before they would come into sight of an accident.... though it was not the train like they had thought, but the airship that they had seen before the locomotive. It was laying on its side, a huge hole in the side, the bent metal and hull exploded outward from the inside. Smoke billowed from the vessel, though there was no immediate sight of a fire.
 
Ransa wanted to look at the wreck but at the same time didn't. She knew there had to be people on the ship and that meant injuries. Still she held the halfling principle of help others when you can.

"Do you think there are survivors? We should help. I can help bandage if need be. I could crawl into tight spaces to help pull out people or to see if people are there too."

She looked up at Argus to see his opinion. He was more versed in the ways of the large folk and knew these contraptions better than she did.
 
Argus didn't panic when he saw the ship lying on its side, but his expression was grim and one of concern. He gave a curt nod to Ransa and said, "I'm sure there'd be survivors, but I'm more concerned what caused that breach. That's not where the engines are located." he said, and sure enough, where the magicite powered engines were, everything seemed intact.

Even as they approached Argus let his pack drop and kept his axe and looked to Ransa. "You stay out here for now Pet. I'll give a holler if I need you, but if anyone comes out of that breach they may need help. Better a pretty halfling than a hirsute dwarf." and with a kiss to the top of her head Argus headed toward the ship.

Even as he got closer a person could be seen partially crawling, partially stumbling, from the wreckage. A young woman, her clothing tattered and burnt, but of obviously very fine make, stumbled from the breach, her face covered in black soot and one arm obviously broken as she tried to hold it close to her body. Collapsing onto the grass outside of the ship she laid on her back, chest rising and falling as she tried to get her breath. Her eyes found Argus and she seemed to plead, "Please, Master dwarf, you must be awa..."

She got no further when a scorching hot ray of light beamed out from the breach, catching Argus full in the chest, the young human female screaming as Argus was thrown back, the smell of burnt hair hanging in the air as Argus landed on his back to skid several more feet. As he came to a stop a trio of armed and armored figures began to energe from the debris as well. Soldiers by the look of them, perhaps even guards, but how they came to be on the ship was not a question for the moment as they leveled their guns at the young woman, and also toward Argus himself.

Already the hardy dwarf was getting back to his feet, teeth bared as he grabbed his axe.
 
Ransa looked in horror as Argus was thrown back and she could smell the burning of hair. HIS HAIR! Oh no. She couldn't stand for that even if it meant disobeying Argus statement of staying where she was. She started to move towards the accident scene as was many others. One of the men there noticed her plight of moving Argus pack and offered to carry it for her. She had seen him at the Inn plenty of times and nodded but took it back before she reached Argus.

When Ransa saw that the guards, for that is what she associated them with, were starting to target Argus, she started to cause a diversion. She knew, as did all halflings, that if the large folk were threatening, use your short height to its advantage. Make them seem to be the enemy of everybody. Don't face them alone. So Ransa did what she knew best. If they wanted attention, she'd call attention to them. If they were really with the law they would hold their position and concentrate on the gathering crowd and not one individual. If they were bounty hunters or assassins, they would flee because they did their work when nobody stood up to them.

"Oh help me. Please somebody help me? M'Lady is injured. Oh what am I to do? Please help me. HELP ME! Please help. She is injured. Over here!"

Ransa was by the ladies side and sat on Argus pack so it wouldn't be stolen. She put her hand on the lady as she continued to cry out for help and even managed to cry a little. That might have been more due to the smoke but if it worked it worked. As she patted the lady, she tried to find out if the lady had any weapons that she could use in defense or to help bind her injured arm.

Ransa was pleased to hear a couple of the men start to shout back at the trio in uniforms and hoped that they would leave for she wasn't sure that the lady COULD be healed. "Here there. What happened. What did you do to that lady. Pick on somebody your own size."
 
The armored man in the lead, flanked by the other two, swiveled his head to face Ransa and chuckled, the sound hollow and malicious under his hemet. "Oh yes, her? Of course she's hurt you dumb halfling bitch. We were the ones that put her in that shape. Now it's just a matter of blowing her brains out of the back of her head and our work will be done. You really don't know what you've stumbled onto here, and now you're just going to have to be killed as well. No witnesses you see. You have no idea who you're fucking with."

A rumbling snort from the direction of Argus would draw attention to the dwarf, who now stood on shaky legs, swaying a little bit and sporting a smoking wound in his chest. "That's really funny, coming from you. I think it's you who has no idea who you're fucking with." Argus said, and with a bellow, mostly born of rage it seemed, he hefted the axe and charged the trio. But as he went, a strange transformation took place, and it took just a couple blinks of the eye.

One moment the dwarf was covering the distance, closing with the trio, and in another he'd almost seemed to shed his dwarven skin and grown more mass, more hair, and glowing runes covered his body. Where booted feet had stomped across the ground, now hooved ones churned up the dirt, and though the axe remained, the hirsute dwarf had grown even moreso as his new form charged the group.

A roar of anger, bloodshot eyes of the boar settled on the man in the center. Not known for their even temperaments, the boar barreled toward them, and though they got off a few shots, the charge was not slowed in the least and Argus crashed into them. He was taller now, a full six feet in height, muscles more dense and quite resistant to most injury, and though he had tried to keep this little secret under wraps, the threat to both himself, but especially to Ransa, had garnered the attention of the Beast, and now it called for blood. Tusks ripped through armor, great furrows appearing in the metal as the beast tossed its head and the axe punctured through the leg of another, the scream of pain from the man reverberating slightly beneath the helm, and though the female of them tried to scramble away, one huge hand shot out to catch her ankle, a squeezing twist breaking bone and rending muscle as Argus refused to let her escape.
 
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