relaxing after hard work- Vali

It had been a long day of working for Inkeri. She had spent some of the day woking on a new invention she had thought of the night before, a better stronger wagon. The invention it's self was going to take a while she knew, but if it worked out she could show it to the Viking and see if it could help them carry things around with home better on the battle field. If not she would give it to her sister to use on the farm. So she could cary the food around for the animals or other things in it. It wasn't as crazy as some of her inventions, but it was still something to keep her busy and working during the winter months. Things tended to get so boring for her when she wasn't working on houses as much as she had been working on them the rest of the year. The other half of her day had been spent woking on furniture and small things like that for the rest of the villagers. That way she would still be making money, even if it wasn't as much as she made during the summer. It would be enough for her and her sister to make it through the winter. They would not starve, and she would be able to save it up for other things. Such as better winter clothes for he two of them, or new shoes as well. All the things that their father use to be able to help them pay for, but was no longer around to help them with.

Once she was done with all that she went home to check on Ase and the farm animals. Her sister did such a good job taking care of everything for them.She was proud of how much Ase had really taken care of everything after their father died. When things were all settled with her sister, Inkeri decided that she wanted to go out for the evening. It had been a long while since she had gone to the tavern to relax and have a drink. So after all her hard work she had been doing lately she decided she was due for a night of fun and relaxation. Going over to the Tavern she goes about ordering herself a drink and making small talk with some of the other villagers. She was friends with almost everyone in the village, and it was easy for her to talk to others. Plus drinking while she was talking to them made talking to them easier. Even more so when the men she didn't want to talk to tried to talk to her. She of corse was nice to them, but made sure that they knew that they were nothing but friends.

After her third Ale, Inkeri was feel very relaxed and enjoying herself a lot. People were playing music, and laughing. Smiling she got up to move to another area when she bumps into someone. Looking up to apologize to the person she bumped into she see its Vali Sveinsson,and rolls her eyes right away. "I was going to say sorry, but seeing as its you Vali, I wont be." she e tells him before giving him a smirk and looking around to see if she was going to see Halstein as well. She smiles when she sees he's not there, or at least she hasn't spotted him yet. "You are here without your boyfriend I see, I didn't know you two went places without each other." she says to him next before letting out a short laugh at her own words. "Did he kick you to the side for a woman, or did you finally realize you could do better in your choice on friends?" she asks him next. She's being sarcastic with him, and she is sure he knows that. It was always fun to give Vali a hard time.

Vali is pretty much a fixture in the tavern. He's here nearly every night, because gods forbid he actually cook himself a meal. Vali has no idea how to cook, but he works hard every day, training and sparring and constantly striving to get better and better, and so he sure knows how to eat. The other thing he really knows how to do is drink, although admittedly that is more of a hobby and the eating is more of a necessity. There are times he eats in the great hall, but he much prefers the noise and excitement of the tavern. He loves crowds and people, loves talking and laughing with his friends and flirting with beautiful women. Vali leads a great life, and he knows he's been blessed by the gods and he's sure to thank them every day.

On this particular night, he's in the tavern alone, which is unusual, since usually Halstein and he are constant companions. But he's having an off day, and he's frustrated and quiet, which is also odd for him. Vali is a great warrior and a tall, formidable man, so people know to stay out of his way when he gets into moods like this. Most people are giving him a wide berth today, although a few of the braver women shoot him tentative smiles. He simply scowls back. He usually loves their company, although he's a smart man and so he knows they probably just spend their time with him because he's the thane, because he's a man of rank and wealth and proven valor. On most days, he doesn't care. On days like today, it irritates him.

He's fairly deep into his cups and starting to feel a nice, relaxing buzz, and he knows another ale or two and he'll be feeling relaxed. He's moving to the counter to get another ale when he feels the slight bump of a small woman jostling into him, and he looks down to see Inkeri. He's glad to see her at first, because at least she's a woman who doesn't automatically cater to him just because he's the thane. As a matter of fact, Vali is pretty sure he annoys her, although he doesn't know why. But the important thing is that sparring with her will probably improve his mood a little, and so he's actually glad to see her instead of just annoyed. He notes the immediate rolling of her eyes as soon as she realizes who she's bumped into, and he merely raises his eyebrows at her words. "It's no wonder I always enjoy your company so much, Inkeri. You're always so charming." His deep, dumb ling voice is monotone as he looks down at her.

He rolls his eyes at her next words, and is pleased to find that his initial thoughts were right. She's a good outlet for his bad mood, and getting into a little spat with her is enough to lighten his spirits. "Try not to let your jealousy show so much. I'm sure someday you'll make a friend." He shrugs carelessly before turning from her to get his mug refilled. He raises his eyebrows when he turns back and she's still standing beside him, but he takes a long pull from his ale and considers her. "Don't you have any other people to pester, or is my day about to get shittier?"

As she looked at him and waited for him to speak she thought about how he annoyed her, but was also handsome she guessed. If he could just fix his over the top personality Inkeri was sure he could be a lot more enjoyable to be around. However the way himself and Halstein that they were better then everyone for ranking up so quickly, and so young was rather annoying. Plus she hated Halstein so very much and if Vali was always around him, it made her dislike his choice in friends. She supposed he was rather okay on his own, when he wasn't being full of himself. Besides, bricking with him was rather fun, she was just not going to admit that to him. Or he wouldn't do it anymore, or he would take away all the fun in it. "It's no wonder I always enjoy your company so much, Inkeri. You're always so charming." she hears him say to her first and a bright smile graces her lips as she looks at him and then to his cup. "I am rather great company, I'm glad you realized that." she says to him in return. Returning his sarcasm right back at him. Looking up into his eyes when he looks down at her.

Something about the way Vali is acting shows her that he's not in the best of moods. So bricking with him was going to be much more fun today, then it was on other days she ran into him. He rolls his eyes at her next comment and it just makes her smile more until he speaks again. "Try not to let your jealousy show so much. I'm sure someday you'll make a friend." he says to her. Inkeri lets out a scuff at his words and rolls her eyes at him. What in the world was their to be jealous about. "Awe your cute, thinking that you have something for others to be jealous about." she says to him first before smirking at him and taking a drink from her cup once more. "I have friends too, much better ones then Halstein." she says to him next before raising an eyebrow at him and then gesturing around them. "He's clearly your only one other then myself." she says to him next before she watches him look away from her and get more to drink.

This was already far to much fun for her. Last time Lillianna visited she had asked her why she even spoked to him if she disliked him so much, but it really wasn't the case. She actually didn't hate him, even if it seemed that way. "Don't you have any other people to pester, or is my day about to get shittier?" she hers him say to her next after he takes a long drink from his ale. Smiling she just shrugs her shoulders at him. "If being around a beautiful girl makes your day shittier, then clearly I misjudged what it is you like about Halstein." she says to him before leaning forward to get her own drink refilled. If she kept up like this she was going to be drunk rather soon. "Not that there is anything wrong with it, I just was sure you liked women and not men." she says to him last before letting out a small giggle and drinking more of her refiled ale. Watching his face closely to see how he was going to react to her teasing. "But If your really having a bad day, if you want you may gossip to me. It may help?" she adds in before shrugging and drinking deeper into her ale.

Part of what bothered him so much about Inkeri was that she claimed he and Halstein were full of themselves, arrogant for no reason, and yet it became evident that she felt she was better than they were. In thinking that, didn't it make her just as arrogant as she believed him and Halstein to be? Didn't that make her a hypocrite? And besides, what has she accomplished with her life? Vali is well aware of the fact that many think him arrogant, and he knows that they're right. But he ranked up quickly, he's fought in numerous shield walls and always defeated his foes. And yet this tiny woman who has done nothing of note with her life, approaches him, acting like she's better than him, and claims he is arrogant. There's nothing Vali dislikes so much as hypocrites, fortunately, the shield wall is not a place where hypocrites last very often, and so he seldom encounters them. The one he spends the most time around is Inkeri, and he's done his best to make his dislike of her clear. Unfortunately, though she claims to dislike him, she's rather a constant thorn in his side. For someone who dislikes him so much, she spends quite a bit of time around him.

"I'd rather keep company with Hel than you, but seeing as she's not here, I suppose you'll do." It's a welcome respite to turn away and get his ale refilled, because if she's going to keep hanging around he's going to need it. He still doesn't understand why she bothers him so often, if she really thinks he's as terrible as she claims. Maybe she likes him, and this is just her way of covering up his feelings? He sighs. That would make sense, but it's an option he doesn't want to consider. He meant it when he said he would rather keep company with the half-rotten corpse goddess than Inkeri. He raises an eyebrow when she claims she has friends much better than Halstein, then does an exaggerated show of looking around for something he can't find. "Oh? And where are these friends, then?" He leans down closer to her, whispering conspiratorially. "When my sister Anja was a small child, she had imaginary friends, too. I won't tell anyone your secret."

He watches as she gets her ale refilled, thinking that maybe Inkeri should lay off the alcohol, but he doesn't say anything. He doesn't care if she gets sick, or wakes up tomorrow with a headache. In fact, he sort of hopes for it. Maybe that will keep her from drinking in the tavern for a while. He shakes his head, giving her a look of disappointment when she makes her statement about him and Halstein. He takes another drink before he answers. "I do enjoy drinking with beautiful women, but unlike you I am not shallow. Beauty is in personality, woman, and yours is lacking." Perhaps he's being mean, but he finds he doesn't care. Inkeri has never been pleasant to him anyway, and so why would he show her his manners? Besides, he really is having a shitty day, and this little argument is enough to lift his spirits. "I do not gossip, and certainly not to you." He realizes she was maybe attempting to be polite, but he thinks it far more likely that she only wanted to try to find something to use against him later. He isn't going to give it to her.

Inkeri watched him to see what his reaction to her saying she was good company would be, and he did not disappoint her. "I'd rather keep company with Hel than you, but seeing as she's not here, I suppose you'll do." she hears him say and she just rolls her eyes at him and his comment. She can see that she is annoying him, and she has a good idea that she does it a lot, however she hoped that most of the things she did were jokes for heavy sarcasm on her behalf. Sure he annoyed her, and his personality needed a little bit of work, but she knew he was a decent man under all of his arrogant behavior. Yes he had done a lot in his life and fast, but that didn't mean he should act like he was better. However she was only a Carpenter and inventor. Inkeri didn't have the ranking that he did, so maybe if she had became a fighter like him and the others she would have the same outlook, she wasn't sure. "So glad that I'll do, because I am what you have." she says to him in return before the conversation turns to be about friendship and her also having friends. She watches him as he does a dramatic look around and then speaks more. "Oh? And where are these friends, then?" he says to her before he leans down and whispers "When my sister Anja was a small child, she had imaginary friends, too. I won't tell anyone your secret." to her and that makes her a little mad.

Shaking her head at him she takes another drink before taking a step away. "As you know one of my dear friends is in Kattegat at the moment, and the others don't drink that much, and are most likely home or doing something else, but what a funny person you are." she says to him before rolling her eyes and looking around a bit before looking back toward him. Maybe she should just finish her drink and go home, he had actually hurt her feelings for once, and that was never how this worked out. They bickered back and forth for a while and then they would go about their days. Inkeri guessed that the amount of alcohol in her system was why Vali's comment about friends hurt her, or maybe it was because she really didn't have a handfuls of them. After her mother died she had to work a lot more to help the family, and now that her father was dead she was working even more. So she would support herself and her sister Ase. She lost a lot of friends that way because she was never able to do anything, or she never saw them. In the end family was always more important to her, and that would be something she would have to remind herself later.

They keep on talking about random things and then she tells him at least he has a beautiful person to spend time with his response annoys her more. "I do enjoy drinking with beautiful women, but unlike you I am not shallow. Beauty is in personality, woman, and yours is lacking." Vali says to her and she looks away from him, and makes no further comment on the subject. His words were hurting her for some reason today, and she liked it less and less the more she stood here. "I do not gossip, and certainly not to you." she hears him add in last after she had attempted to be nice to him and offer him someone to talk to. Inkeri drink her refiled ale finished very quickly before setting it down and shaking her head that she wanted no more. "I was actually trying to be nice just then, but I no longer care." she says to him before letting out a huff of art at him and closing her eyes for a moment. "I'm not shallow by the way, I was making a joke, giving you a hard time." she says to him next before her world starts to spin a little bit more, and she starts to feel more and moe drunk.

"I am well aware you don't see me that way." she says to him next before leaning on the counter."Don't worry, I don't see you that way as well. Just a friend I like to bicker with."she says next before running a had over her face and becoming quiet for a few moments. "I don't like you very much today however, you actually hurt my feelings for once, thats not how this works. We bicker and then leave less stressed out." she says peeking up at him. Not even sure why she told him that, had to be all the ale running her mind and not her actual thoughts. Now he was going to just poke at her more, try to hurt her feelings more.

Vali only rolls his eyes when she says that she's what he has. Her presence is doing nothing to boost his mood. He only wanted to come here and drink, to relax alone in the corner. It's rare that he's in a mood like this, and when he is, most people know to avoid him. He's honestly surprised that Inkeri approached him. They've never been close, and especially when he's in this mood, people seldom approach him. He spends enough time in this tavern that the serving women here can read his mood pretty easily. They keep his ale constantly filled and leave him alone to sulk in his corner, and he pays them well for this. There are other nights he pays them well for their company, but tonight is not one of those. Apparently, Inkeri isn't aware that on nights when Vali is sitting in the corner with a face like thunder, you avoid him. All the time they've spent bickering with each other, and she's never seen him in an actual bad mood before.

He only raises his eyebrows at her when she says he should know one of her friends is in Kattegat. "I do not keep track of the whereabouts of everyone in the town, how am I to know that one of your friends is in Kattegat?" He can't resist pointing out that he generally likes to stay out of peoples business, especially if they aren't one of his fighters. He takes considerably more interest in their lives, because he wants to make sure his shield-brothers and sisters are alright. If they're having an issue in their personal life, it may impact how they fight in the shield wall or how they perform in training, and that is most definitely his business.

Vali has to work hard to suppress a sigh when she says she was only giving him a hard time, because he can see that he's actually hurt her feelings. As far as he knows, that's a feat he's never accomplished before. If he were in less of a bad mood, he might feel worse than he does. As it is, though, he feels like maybe it's justice. She came over here wanting an argument and he gave it to her, and then her feelings got hurt. Was he just supposed to roll over and let her say whatever she wanted without retorting? Was he supposed to be her punching bag, and not defend himself? What is the point of picking a fight if your skin is so thin, your feelings are going to get hurt? He finally takes a large gulp from his ale and quietly moves Inkeri's cup away from her,. noting that she's already emptied it anyway. "You must be drunk, if you let my words hurt you." It/s more of an observation than an apology, but his voice is softer than it was before.

He signals to the woman behind the counter and she sets a loaf of bread before him. Vali cuts a thick slice from the end and offers it to Inkeri like a peace offering. He gives her a small smirk as he holds it out. "Bickering only works if nobody's feeling get hurt." Vali isn't necessarily great at apologizing, and this is about as good as she's going to get. For all his arrogance, for all his attitude, he never actively tries to hurt anyone's feelings.

Inkeri tries not to roll her eyes at him when she hears him say to her that "I do not keep track of the whereabouts of everyone in the town, how am I to know that one of your friends is in Kattegat?" to her. She was sure he would know that Yrsa was in Kattegat seeing her brother. For were they not friends and fellow fighters, maybe she had been wrong. Something that she could admit she did do on occasion, not that she was going to tell him that. No, Vali would hold that over her head for far longer then she wanted him to do. Giving someone you bicker with for fun something to use against you was about the dumbest thing anyone could do, and Inkeri simply was not dumb. "I was talking about Yrsa, but you know maybe you two are friends like I thought." she says to him while shrugging her shoulder and drinking more of her drink. More then aware that she should probably stop drinking at some point or another, or she was not going to make it home safely. It was not like she could let Ase know she needed help if she got too far gone. Besides she was not going to call her younger sister out to get her aways. Not at night, and not when she knew that her sister didn't like to go into thesis types of places.

They keep taking, and she keeps drinking. However then something happens that she was sure had never happened before. Vali hurt her feelings and she isn't at all happy about it.Maybe he stuck a nerve, or maybe she should really stop drinking for the night. Inkeri isn't sure, all she does is finish her drink and tell him what he's done. She watches as he takes a drink of his own cup, before he slowly moves hers away from her. Inkeri guesses that she was now done and cut off, and for some reason she does not fight him about it. "You must be drunk, if you let my words hurt you." Vali says to her and Inekri shrugs her shoulders and then nods her head. If she was being honest with him and herself, she was pretty drunk at the moment. Everything was so slow, and she was feeling more sensitive then she normally did right now. "Maybe I am drunk." she says to him begrudgingly. Hating to simply agree with him, but facts were facts. She was pretty drunk, and the drink she had just finished was just going to make it worse.

Vali waves his hand around and then like magic he had a loaf of bread in front of him. She watches him as he cuts a piece of it off, and then turns towards her and holds one out for her. Inkeri is a little shocked at first, but she looks to his small smirk like smile and slowly raises her hand up to take it from him. "Bickering only works if nobody's feeling get hurt." Inkeri hears him say to her and she smiles just a bit before taking a bit from the bread. He was right, that was not the point of their little bickering. She thought it was rather nice of him to do, to offer her bread so she wouldn't be too drunk, and so it would soak up some of the ale. "Thats true, It doesn't work at all." she says after a few moments of eating the bread. Her words sound normal in her head, but they are actually a little slowed down and messy sounding.

"I drank to much, my fault..." she says to him next as she looks toward him."I was thinking about daddy, and the earl...and the others who went missing..." she tells him next before frowning. Why did she telling him that, he was just going to poke fun at her. "I just hope whatever happened, it was fast and daddy didn't suffer..." Inkeri says to Vali next before shaking her head. "I am way to drunk, to be talking about this with you." she adds last as she lays her head down onto the counter and groans.

Vali feels like an idiot when she says that her friend in Kattegat is Yrsa. Of course he knows Yrsa is in Kattegat, it just never occurred to him to connect the dots. He vaguely remembers that Inkeri and Yrsa are friends, but Inkeri is a constant thorn in his side and so he tries not to pay too much attention to her. He simply shoots her a mildly offended look and takes a long drag from his ale. How is it that somehow, he always ends up bickering with Inkeri? He's tired tonight, and already in a foul mood, and he simply doesn't want to argue. Usually it helps him feel better, but not tonight. Tonight he's feeling drained, and beginning to think that maybe he should have just gone home rather than come to the tavern.

He's surprised when she admits that maybe she is drunk, because Inkeri never simply agrees with him like that. He gets the attention of one of the serving maids, and when he slices the bread and holds it out to Inkeri, she takes it without protest. He's relieved, because he doesn't want to be arguing tonight. He goes still at the mention of the earl. He had been a staunch supporter of Rigas, and it was under Rigas's reign that he had obtained his rank. Every day since Rigas and the others had gone missing, Vali had felt an intense amount of guilt that he tried very hard to hide behind a veneer of arrogance. He sighs heavily, drains his ale, and immediately signals one of the girls for a refill. He drains half of that immediately and looks at Inkeri, slurring her words, drunk and sad, and he's now sad and not drunk enough to deal with it, and maybe it's his guilt speaking, because Vali should have been there. He should have been one of the ones gone missing, vanished with his lord.

And here he is, sitting with the daughter of one of his friends, a man he'd fought and laughed with, and he's gone but for some reason, Vali is still here. But despite that, the bodies have never been found, and Vali still holds on to some wild, irrational hope that they're alive. One look at Inkeri, though, at her sad eyes and her frown, and something in his chest feels like it's crumbling to dust. Wherever his lord and his friends are, that's where Vali should be, but instead he's here and he can barely bring himself to look at the daughter of one of his missing shield-brothers. "Only the gods know, Inkeri." His voice is slow and heavy, not from ale but from grief and guilt. He gulps down the second half of his ale and cuts himself a slice of bread, hoping maybe soon the subject will change.

She wishes she hadn't brought up her dead father as her head is now laying on the counter. It made her even more sad and depressed then she had been before. Thinking about what could have happened to him and the others that went missing. Why everything, even their bodies were impossible to find when people had gone out to look where the Earl had said he went hunting at. Inkeri did her very best to be as strong as she could with her sister Ase, however Ase was not here. She was here, at the tavern, with Vali of all people having to try and fight off the tears that wanted to come to her eyes. Inkeri just didn't understand why the gods decided to take her mother and her father away from her. It was hard enough when her mother had passed away and left them here alone, but when her father went missing Inkeri had to put on her brave face for her sister. She had to start working more and harder then she had before. So she could keep supporting her sister and herself. The farm brought in good money, but not in the winter. So she had to make sure to work hard enough that when it was winter that they didn't have to worry about the short money flow. All of this made her more stressed out, and the more stressed out the more she would seek out Vali to bicker with him. For some reason fighting wth him made her feel a little better. Maybe because he could dish is out and she could normally take it back with him. Today was the first time ever he had ever hurt her feelings.

What she hears Vali say next however has her slowly lifting her head from the table to look at him. "Only the gods know, Inkeri." he tells her, and its the way he tells her that sobers her up just a bit. He's sad about it too she is sure. For she knows he and Halstein both had been close with the Earl. "I wish they would tell me.." she says to him in return, just as grief filled as his words had been to her. The alcohol was making her feel things she normally did so very well to hide from others. It was making her weak, and open to him and the world. She knew that was why his words had hurt her. "I'm sorry...that I'm a bitch to you sometimes." she says to him next. Somewhat out of no where as she looks at him with raw emotions. "I shouldn't be so horrible to you all the time...it just helps me feel better...which is just as shitty of me. I wouldn't be surprised if you actually hated me...I hate me sometimes too." she says to him next before groaning and shaking her head at herself and her mouth that seems to be making her seem weaker and weaker to him. Something she was sure when she was sober she was going to regret. "I don't hate you however, just so you know." she says to him next.

Shaking her head again she looks at him for a moment before biting her lip and speaking "So if you want me to leave I suppose I can. I think Ive annoyed you and made a fool of myself enough for a life time." she says to him with a small laugh. She was sure she was a lot to drunk to walk home alone, but she also was just feeling shittier and shittier the more she sat here. She had come here to relax and ease her mind, and in turn she had made herself upset and embarrassed herself too. Maybe if the gods were on her side she wont remember any of this in the morning, however Inkeri was sure that she would never be so lucky. "Or you can bitch to me and tell me what was upsetting you before I came over and bugged you." she says to him next before shrugging and leaning back in the chair. Tying to sober up for her long walk back to the farm.