The Harvest Tavern was as lively as ever.
Free from the caution demanded by dungeon worlds, the Lone Wolves let their guards down among friends. Amber liquor gleamed in raised glasses, golden roast meat filled the plates on the tables, and Hans played an accordion as he sang in front of Cole.
Cole lowered his head, chuckling softly.
Around them, Lamont, Rhino, Blair, and Galvin clapped and whistled from time to time.
Clearly, Hans and Cole were almost done pretending no one knew. They would probably make their relationship public any moment now.
Levin, "The Recluse," sat in the farthest corner of the tavern as usual, cradling his cat. With his head lowered, he gently stroked it and hummed a simple tune, apparently in an excellent mood.
Lawless scrubbed the already spotless floor hard with a mop, occasionally glancing at the boisterous crowd with longing in his eyes.
Whenever he did, Lamont and the others grew even louder, and Levin's humming rose in volume too.
"What happened?"
When Qin Ran entered, the Lone Wolves he knew raised their glasses in greeting. He nodded back, then naturally took a seat at Lamont's table.
"Lawless got caught sneaking a slice of the cherry cream pie Rachel had just made."
"After Rachel beat the stuffing out of him, she put him to work twenty-four hours a day, without a break."
"For about a week."
Lamont grinned, reveling in his misfortune.
"You're this happy just because of that?"
Qin Ran was puzzled.
Wasn't Rachel beating up Lawless perfectly normal?
Was that really worth getting so excited about?
"That cherry cream pie was a gift Hans had prepared for Cole."
Rhino leaned over.
"After Lawless sneaked some, Rachel had to make another, bigger one."
Blair added to the explanation.
"And it's free."
Galvin continued.
"I'm