Bits & Snatches: Nothing pleasant

“Well, an’ haven’t you got the nerve! Showin’ up like this after betrayin’ the lot of us!”
--

Source

--

I gingerly eased my shoulders back and forth as I searched for a proper simile. “I feel as though I’ve been run over by a train - a long one - and then maybe drug behind it, just for...laughs.”

“What did they do to you?” He asked suddenly, as if the question had been wrenched out, unawares.

--

“But...but...you were a lad. And...now ‘tis a skirt you’re wearin’?”

Thatch laughed. “Well, Janus, you do get about!"

--

Thatch shifted his knapsack to his back, then offered me his left arm in a gallant gesture. We proceeded out of the shadowy alley and into the rectangles of light glowing from the windows and doors of pubs and bawdy houses. There had been few people in the back streets, but now the way was full of passers-by and loiterers, all seemingly in various stages of intoxication.

“These sailor men certainly do take advantage of their time ashore.” Thatch observed.

--

I had marked him as a simple, kindhearted old windbag with a ridiculous affection for an ugly little boat.

--

[He] sized me up expertly. “‘Tis a mercy you’re small. There’ll be room for you, but not much else beside. What’s like to be the penalty for helpin’ you?”

Thatch and I exchanged glances. “Nothing pleasant.” Thatch said.

--

The first-comer seated himself, then flung back his hood to reveal the typical Namiran features: strong and proud with eyes of palest blue. He was an older man, with wrinkles carved deeply around his eyes and the hard set of his jaw. His head was shaven to reveal the twisted lines of blue ink that traced across it. Most striking of all was the head of a raven, tattooed so that its eyes were just above his own and its beak curved down over the arch of his nose. The bird afforded his countenance an expression of pure menace.

--

I shrugged. “To tell the truth, I don’t exactly know. Crab is a very…” I groped for the right word. “Persuasive sort of man."

--

“Please. Don’t you go, too. Don’t leave me alone in the dark.”

FYI: The next bits & snatches will probably be from a different novel. This one needs some plotting help, and I'm taking a breather from my work on it as I consider what needs to happen. So, I've resurrected God of Wind and Fire, which you can read more about HERE if you've an interest.