Wildfire Riders

((Paxie, Keltyr and Verdus all helped write this!))

“Hand’s off!” Dorri slapped Keltyr’s fingers as he made another grab for her slice of pizza. To prevent another attempt at thievery, she took a large bite. Then she waved her hand in front of her mouth to try and cool it off. “Hot!”

“I told you to wait.” Verdus commented as he poured all four of them more beer.

Sitting on a stool next to her, Paxie giggled, “Obviously the answer is to drink more beer to cool it off faster!” Keltyr put a mug down in front of her and attempted to steal a piece of sausage from Dorri again.

“If I don’t eat it now, I won’t get a bite. And then you’ll bitch again that I never eat.”

“I did not bitch about it, Dorri,” replied Verdus. “I was just commenting that you were perhaps getting a little too thin for your own good. You know, if you don’t eat enough, your body starts to consume its own muscle for sustenance, right? I can’t imagine that would be something you want. I’m just trying to help, honest.” The druid gave her a helpful innocent smile, completely devoid of any possible teasing. Honest.

Paxie put a hand alongside her mouth and whispered loudly to Verdus, “It may take more beer to convince her.” She was answered with a knowing and unsubtle wink.

“Yeah,” Dorri took a long drink of her beer. “I do eat, though.” She ate more of the pizza just to prove her point. “And my muscles are just fine.” She flexed her arm to show off.

Verdus couldn’t help but chuckle. “Fine, fine, no arguments here, Dorri. Anyway, how do you like the pizza? I’m using a new sauce recipe. Something a little spicier and less sweet than normal. Good?” Finally cutting a slice for himself, Verdus took a big bite and smiled in satisfaction.

Paxie nodded, her cheeks bulging slightly with a mouth full of pizza she quickly washed down with a swig of beer.

“It’s better than most of the crap on the Drag.” Dorri finished off her slice, which was only missing a few toppings.

“The lizard kabob stand has good food.” Keltyr said as he grabbed another slice of the pizza. “Not as good as this.”

“That place is a rat hole.” Dorri reached around Keltyr to grab his mug and drink from it.

Paxie twitched an ear, “I hear in Stormwind you can buy rat kabobs...”

“You eat noodles out of box!” Keltyr snatched the mug, spilling beer on his hand.

“So do you. You’ll eat just about anything.” Dorri slipped the slice of pizza off his plate and took a bite before letting him take it back. “It was better when we had someplace to cook.”

Verdus looked at the blood knights in confusion. “Your rooms in Orgrimmar don’t have a cooking hearth? Not even a fire pit? Wow, I’m not sure how I’d live if I had to eat food from a stand in the Drag all the time. There’s really just no substitute for fresh-made.”

“Of course there’s a fire pit. Have you even spent any time in Orgrimmar? It’s hot!” She didn’t notice Keltyr rolling his eyes. “And I am so tired of fried fish.”

“Shouldn’t have told Teevi that I could cook with them then. I could always cook something from the so called mystery meat they keep trying to get rid of.”

Paxie glance between the two and wisely kept her mouth shut, though mystery meat did not sound like something she’d wanted, cooked or otherwise.

“That’s disgusting.” Dorri drained her mug and held it out to Verdus to refill. “But this,” Dorri took another slice of pizza and began eating. “This is really good.”

Verdus seemed a little taken aback by the straight-forward and unbarbed compliment. “Thanks! I don’t get to cook for groups much these days. The beer’s homemade, too. I’ve been studying brewing a little, and this is the most successful batch I’ve had so far. The rest... well, it didn’t turn out so well.”

Dorri did not bother to hide her smile as Keltyr started quizzing Verdus on how he made his beer. She even shared a laugh with the goblin as the two men started discussing the still, including a heated debate over the role of high explosive compounds in the brewing process. Food and drink and laughter flowed through the room until well past the witching hour, by which time everyone was feeling the effects of the alcohol.

As a lull arose in the conversation, Verdus’s face began to sprout a look of uncertainty and concern. “Look, um...” he said, feeling all eyes turn to him, “I don’t know if it’s really my place to ask about this, but what’s going on between you two and Ghaar and Then’liath? I mean, I know you all don’t exactly get along, but... Well, it’s felt different for the past couple of weeks. Like something really serious is coming down the pipe. Is everything okay?”

“Something different all right.” Dorri elbowed Keltyr in the side.

“Right, because being a harpy is new and different for her, just inflicting it on people who she doesn’t even think have it coming.”

“I don’t understand,” Verdus answered. “I mean, I know she can be a little haughty sometimes, but I’ve never known her to hurt anyone that hasn’t tried to hurt her, and Ghaar doesn’t seem like the type to throw the first punch. Am I missing something?”

“Haughty doesn’t even start to cover it. And its not like Keltyr started anything with her. The priest used to say that she was scared of Kel, and then she’d do something nasty.”

“But what is it that you think she’s actually done? That’s what I’m missing here. Something about the mail?”

“She’s hiding everything Dora’s sent to Ghaar from Shattrath,” Keltyr replied, “something in all those letters probably shows she’s full of it.”

Dorri snorted. “All she has to do is open her mouth to show that she’s full of it.”

Verdus just looked more confused. “I can almost see why that might cause her to mess with Keltyr, or maybe even you Dorri, but Ghaar? Her own guildmaster? He’s never done anything to her, right? So why? It doesn’t make any sense. How do you even know it was her?”

“Cause Dora told us she had sent letters to Gharr through my sister, hells if I know why.” Dorri rolled her eyes as she spoke. “She was pretty upset, thought that Gharr was angry at her for some reason. Can’t say I blame her. He’s been an ass to us for years for no reason.”

“Didn’t he just apolo-gah!” Verdus started as he accidentally spilled some of his beer on his pants. “Dammit, I just washed these too... Anyway, didn’t he just apologize to you two about that earlier tonight? I mean, he thought that Doratea had basically been disappeared by the magisters, right? I’d be pretty bitter about that too if it happened to one of my friends.”

“Right, and who told him that? It couldn’t have been Then’liath, she was getting letters that told her otherwise.” Keltyr emptied his drink and slammed it down. “Of course it was her! She’s a liar and a bitch and a liar!”

“RIGHT!” Dorri slammed her mug down as well and leaned against Keltyr drunkenly. “That is some amazing beer.”

Finally picking up on the steady increase in the room’s tension, Verdus welcomed the opportunity for a change of subject. “Um, thanks. Remind me in the morning to send you home with a few bottles. ‘Cause, ‘cause, um... yeah, there’s no way I’m lettin’ you two walk around the bluff like this. Pro’lly fall off an’ break your necks.” Verdus got up from the table, trying to move carefully so as not to disturb the passed out mage, and motioned for the blood knights to follow. “C’mon, over this way. I’ve got a couple of beds set up for guests.”

“Bloody hell.” The drums that beat out the hour on Thunder Bluff pounded in time with her headache. “How the hell do the cows sleep with this noise?” Dorri’tow Firebloom muttered and pulled the kodohide blanket over her head. Sadly, that was not enough to get back to sleep.

Keltyr was face down on the bed beside her. It was tempting to poke him in the side until he woke up. Dorri glared at her lover, but all he did was snore softly. He deserved to be woken up, bastard. She began planning her angle of attack

… What was that smell? Usually she hated the smell of food before noon. The head wrecking drums had just sounded off the ninth hour of the morning, but whatever that was it smelled good. Her stomach rumbled in agreement. Fine, let Keltyr sleep. She was going to investigate that smell.

Dorri got up off the low box bed and searched the floor. She threw Keltyr’s shirt on and wandered out of Verdus’ guest room, following her nose downstairs. Mornings on Thunder Bluff were still cool and there was a slight breeze that drifted through the house. The wooden floor was well worn but smooth. there were simple curtains on the windows and little bits of framed art on the walls. It was rustically homey.

“I wonder if we could stay here next Midsummer?” Provided that they could get out of Orgrimmar. Light, she was tired of politics.

She could already hear Paxie’s voice from the kitchen and Verdus’ lower counterpoint. The sin’dorei watched them through the doorway. The goblin and the Tauren were finishing cooking something in one large skillet. Paxie was standing on a tall stool searching a cabinet. “I’m telling you, it needs red pepper and I saw some just last night.”

Dorri smiled as Keltyr’s arm wrapped around her waist. She leaned back against him. “I didn’t want to wake you.”

“Strange bed. You weren’t there.” Which meant that he would not have slept.

“HAH!” Paxie’s tinny voice rang through the house! “I found it!” The goblin mage dangled a glass shaker and almost toppled off the stool trying to get Verdus to take it from her.

Keltyr’s snort of amusement revealed the loitering blood elves.

Paxie turned in such a hurry that she almost tumbled off the stool again. “Good morning you two!” the mage greeted them brightly. How she had managed to avoid a massive hangover was anyone’s guess, especially considered her diminutive size. “We’re making breakfast!” She paused, “Okay.. that much was obvious! Um.. Verdus, what are we making again?”

“Omelettes!” Verdus exclaimed, not looking up from the eggs cooking on his stove. Paxie hopped off the stool and dragged it back over to the stove. She offered up the grated bowl of mixed cheddar and swiss cheeses with the unspoken demand that more be added.

“Did you add the peppers yet?” The goblin glanced down into the pan.

Verdus picked up the skillet and tilted it letting the egg yolk run off itself to sizzle merrily before folding it in again. “Yes, yes, I added the peppers already,” Verdus replied before adding with a grin, “Jeez, you’re demanding.”

Paxie gestured to the pair in the doorway, “Come in, come in. Sit down! There’s orange juice!” She indicated a large sweating jug of orange liquid surrounded by four glasses on the table. Verdus began serving up the delicious-looking omelettes onto individual plates as everyone else took their seats.

“I could get used to this.” Dorri commented as she fended off Keltyr’s attack on her omelette. “Hells, we have to be back in Orgrimmar this evening.”

“That’s simple enough! I could open a portal whenever you’re ready! I’ve got them mostly straightened out now!”

Verdus looked up from his food, a little nervous and embarrassed. “Could you, um, maybe do that outside? The last one kind of... well, you remember.”

Paxie’s ears drooped and she looked at the floor, “Yeah, I’m still really sorry... I haven’t had one do that in a long time though!” She gave them her most convincing look and handed Verdus the salt when he held out a hand for it. He accepted it with a very guilty expression.

“It’s better than spending hours on the zeppelin.” Dorri accepted the offer, after a long stretch of quiet.

“Right,” Keltyr agreed. “Enough time for a nap.” Dorri glared at Keltyr, not that he noticed.

“My cousin works for the goblin post.” Three forks paused as Paxie kept talking. “Maybe we could talk to him.”

“Wait,” Verdus said, “you heard that? I thought you were... well, passed out by that point. You drank, what, half your weight in booze?”

“I was dozing. Kind half asleep, half not. Plus, I don’t think I drank as much as you think I did.”

Verdus’s eyes unfocused a little as he tried, and failed, to recall the previous night’s drinking in more clarity. “Okay, fine, sure. But... your cousin... you say he works for the post? Do you think he’d be willing to help us?”

“He’s a goblin? As long as you’re willing to pay a possibly exorbitant amount, he’ll help.” She heaped a big pile of omelette into her mouth and munched on it.