Cold Introduction

A few snowflakes drift down from a chill grey-black sky over Alexandria, and evening means that most vendors are shutting up for the day, folding stalls and blankets. The clack - click - clack of stone storefronts being locked up one by one, curtains being pulled, signs being pulled in and criers collecting their pay and heading to their homes and families. Even the shoppers for the most part are drifting away, pulling cloaks around wrapped parcels and baskets as their errands conclude, and the bustle of the day has turned to a quiet murmur.

From the middle of the street, among the shoppers drifting in the direction of the mighty Highbridge, a male voice pipes up. "Where did you find that ridiculous piece of haberdashery, anyway? Will it even fit through the door of your barracks?"

There's a quick response to the querry, an eye roll and fingers running along the brim of the 'piece of haberdashery' in question. It's a hat, mostly black in color, but with a colorful ribbon of bright green around the edge set to place with golden embroidery. The left side is folded upwards and stuck in that side coming out the back end are two feathers. One brilliant green and the other black. "It goes with my coat don't you think? And of COURSE it fits." It is a bit of a wide hat, but the man wearing it seems quite pleased with his purchase.

His hand falls from the hat adorning his head to his coat, emphasizing the fact that they match well. The coat is green as well, and together the pair of items bring out the warm green of his eyes. "You just don't know FASHION Lheo. You in your dreary robes."

_Dreary_ is an exaggeration to refer to the other man, who could be a mirror image of the hat's owner, with warm green eyes and short-cut raven hair. Indeed, were it not for the clothing, the pair could be near-perfect copies of one another. The one named Lheo rolls his eyes, as if he's heard this one a thousand times before. It's true that he is dressed in darker colors, his ankle-length robes a hunter-green wool against the weather stitched with gold thread. "It's called _class_, Theo. Fashion is not looking like you're dressed in something out of Ossil the Merry's slime experiments." He tugs the woolen cloak a bit more over his shoulders against the snowflakes drifting down. His own hat is a good bit less bright, a wide-brimmed affair of tooled black leather that shades his eyes.

"I know I've been insulted when you bring up some obscure mage as an example." Theo places a hand over his heart as if he'd bee struck there by an arrow and shakes his head. "I won't be dissuaded though, its a _fine_ hat and it keeps the snow off my head _and_ shoulders. Which I'm grateful for given our recent weather."

Here the more brightly-clad twin shudders at the cold and looks around at the shops that are closing up. "What are we doing here anyways Lheo? It's freezing!"

"I suppose you'll at least be visible if it storms in earnest." Lheo smirks as his remark strikes home, clearly claiming the point in their verbal tennis match. He glances again at the hat in question, then turns away, clearly feigning disinterest. "You wanted to go shopping, remember? And now we've done that, and it is _absurdly_ cold, and the air tastes like snow. I say we drop into that pub and warm up a bit." He jerks his chin at the door to the Fernwood. "I've got time for one, maybe two, before curfew."

Theo eyes his brother, but doesn't argue back which if nothing else proves that Lheo has indeed won his point. A particularly strong gust of wind threatens to tear the hat away, and he puts a hand up to keep it safe as he winces at the fact that being cold is his own fault. "A-a w-warm pub sounds excellent to me!" His teeth chattering a bit he makes for the Fernwood with all due haste.

Lheo is not slow to join his brother in that, a shudder rippling through him in turn. Before long, the door to the Fernwood opens and closes behind them, green hat and all.

Pausing just inside the door to the Fernwood Pub to allow for eyes, ears, and in general adjustment, Theo immediately and by habit doffs the hat that he's wearing before making toward a small table as close to the fire as he can get. Unfortunately he's not the first person to want such a thing, and the pub is quite busy. Still the fact that he's not looking to occupy a larger table means he's luckier than some in locating a place to sit.

He makes his way comfortably through the bar, but takes his measured time so as to not lose his brother somewhat behind him in the place. Considering the number of people rubbing shoulders at the moment, that wouldn't be terribly hard. Theo also immediately waves down one of the waitresses, knowing it'll be a few moments before they can be torn away from other business to attend to him and the man who looks identical to him - if not for the difference in clothing.

The man trailing behind also removes the much smaller and less remarkable hat he'd been sporting as he ducks through the doorway, and wastes no time in actively closing the door behind them. Patrons near the door are most grateful for this, and turn back to their mugs with only a few dirty looks once he has done so.

"Just don't catch that hat of yours in the fire," he calls, threading his way through the press and working hard to keep up. When they finally get to the table, he flops down into one of the two chairs at the tiny table, drops his own hat on it, and unclasps his cloak. "It's absolutely freezing out there, and smelling like a storm, too, brother, and I'm smelling a kettle of spiced wine."

His nose isn't wrong, either - the delicious smell of hot spiced wine floats out from the back room, and judging by the mugs and glasses being provided by the servers, the idea is a very popular one.

The hat goes over the edge of one side of the back of Theo's chair, and the coat follows a moment later, shed for being wet from the snow. Underneath is long-sleeved shirt of black that looks quite warm. Theo had dressed for the weather it seems. He sets down with an amused look for his brother. "Just don't _set_ it on fire mmmm Lheo?" He lets out a light laugh at his words and is surprised when the waitress comes over a moment later.

"Spiced wine for the both of us, and an order of the house special; whatever it is for me. Are you hungry Lheo?" Theo looks at his brother for confirmation that he wants something else.

Seeing that Theo has more neatly hung hat and cloak, Lheo sighs gustily, picks up his hat, and hangs it over the back of his chair in much the same fashion as his brother. "It's this or the dining hall," he answers equivocally, clearly debating the matter. "Half a plate of what he's having? Or can I have just bread and butter?"

"Half a plate of the house special and a slice of bread," the waitress repeats. "That's easy."

The wizard sighs and shakes his head, but lets it go. Lheo not eating much is not unusual, especially when he isn't in the field.

Theo seems to debate speaking up for his brother, but the waitress is already gone by the time he's decided a second later. Too late. Theo shrugs, and looks around the busy establishment his eyes lighting on a few interesting individuals before returning his attention to Lheo. "So, how's the Arcanists Hall? I've heard some weird stuff about it from those in the barracks. Though I'm sure most of it's just talk."

"Compared to Rune, it's positively dull," Lheo answers, flicking a snowflake from the corner of his cloak and then the fitted sleeve of his wizard's robe. The cut is a little unusual, but on a man so thin, the more typical bell sleeves lose him in their folds. The cut instead is savvy to his particular build, and as a result, he looks much better.

"I suppose the main difference is that they have the Artificer's Guild to fight with, and that keeps things interesting. They don't have to out-weird each other for fun. And the artificers really do come up with some ingenious pranks - well, they would be if they weren't so crude."

"Hopefully they'll keep things entertaining then." Theo opines, looking his brother over a little bit. He nods to himself and grins. "You should show them a few of your tricks brother, they'll be stumped for weeks trying to come up with something better." His hands rub together for warmth, the callous' on his palms making a dry rasping noise.

Lheo's still shivering convulsively from time to time, but manages a smirk. "I'm not sure I want to waste some of the better stuff on these people yet. We'll see. What about you? -" He pauses, as if something occurred to him. "What do your barracks even look like? It just occurred to me that I have absolutely no idea where you're actually staying."

Theo waves a hand at the question shrugging. "Barracks are barracks once you've been in one you've been in them all I swear. It's a gray room with a bunch of beds and six other guys all sharing space." He shakes his head a little and gives his hands another brisk rub to try and get some warmth into himself. "I'll be grateful if the rumors were right and working for this 'Adventurers Guild' nets us enough money to move out of such public housing."

After a minute, Lheo grabs his hat off of the back of his chair and tucks his hands inside the cap itself in hopes of warming them up. The fire is starting to work its magic, though, and he gradually begins to relax. "Yes, we should go by there tomorrow and sign up. I'm _so_ looking forward to doing something more interesting than classroom stuff, and moving out of the Arcanists' Hall sounds like a _grand_ idea. I might have liked it - a decade ago."

It's then that their mugs of spiced wine arrive, and Lheo wastes no time at all wrapping his hands around one of the mugs.

"Ah!" Theo gratefully wraps his own hands around his spiced wine, warming them before even considering tasting the stuff. Though that's not far behind considering that he wants the warmth where it'll do the most good. "You're right. Tomorrow, I'll come by the Arcanist's Guild early and we can sign up." He eyes the door briefly. "Weather permitting. I'm not sure how much snow they get here, but if it keeps coming down it might actually pile up and make getting around difficult."

Lheo, mind you, is doing nearly the exact same thing his brother is doing, which involves getting a certain amount of warmth inside of him as well as outside. "I doubt it's anything they can't clear quickly. It's a coastal town. If it were in the mountains, I'd worry much more. It was just flurrying a little, nothing to worry about." He lifts his mug two-handed to his lips, and it wont be long before he is calling for a second mug.

With the wine quickly disappearing there's a comfortable lull in the conversation, and they both have a chance to warm up considerably from the cold. Food comes, and it disappears as well, and they're both given second glasses of spiced wine to enjoy at a more comfortable pace. "When's your curfew?" Theo asks, giving the time a good 'feel'.

"Eight bells for the students, nine for the adults so they can close the doors. They don't track me as closely as they do the kids, but I don't want to get locked out on a night like this."

He's got about forty-five minutes, and the snow is starting to pick up.

Theo wrinkles his nose. "We should get you there then." He looks mournfully at the rest of his spiced wine and sets about drinking it more quickly than he had before. "Last thing we need is to get lost in this city or something. In the dark, and get you locked out."

-End