"Set it there - there - by the, the nago - the drum thing!" Heavy footsteps echoed the order and Edward set down a polished cherry wood drum stand, more gently than one would imagine for his well-muscled frame. Michael gave his brother a brief nod and went back to inventory as more and more boxes and items were stacked on the stage.
Dust and noise was everywhere. An office off the kitchen and the bar area were still being built- rebuilt, really - but most of the tavern's main floor was now in clean-up. The room was filled with giggling and teasing, whispers and laughter, as four of Heloise's friends assisted her in the sweeping and mopping of sawdust. The dwarven workers hammered and sawed in a vaguely hostile clot around the bar. The girls' incessant noise was driving them slowly insane or so said the foreman but the place had to be cleaned, and so. Michael spared a laugh of his own as a high-pitched shriek at some juicy tidbit or revealed secret cleaved the air and at least three dwarves winced and stuck fingers in their ears.
Insistent knocking sent Edward to the door for the fifth time that afternoon, only to repeat words that had become a mantra; "I'm sorry, our remodel is nearly through but we are closed until further notice. We'll be sure to spread the word when we re-open. Thank you for your patronage." Over and over in the last week, his smooth bass just the right amount of soothing and his height and muscles enough to discourage further argument on the availability of a drink. Paddy appeared just after, in that sudden way he did, throwing a shy smile at Heloise before returning to his chosen task of window security and additional measures to confound lock-pickers (except for himself, of course). The smile was returned by the pretty young woman; Michael did not miss his brother's sudden scowl and wondered, again, how this would end if she chose the slight lockpicker over the less charming but much larger bouncer.
A thought for another day, though. Andrew and Tyr'riel were on Mistone; Shiff had left under a cloud after his ill-chosen jaunt with Ty, and Elly was still in Hlint although Andrew had sent word that she lived and sent her love. Heloise especially took the news well, scrubbing the clinic and polishing the floors until the room sparkled. It was her design in the absence of the woman she now called her mentor and she was desperate for Elly to be happy with it upon her return.
A discussion was brewing by the bar on how far up to put the rail; the dwarves were naturally setting it for their own feet and Edward was, in a reasonable tone, suggesting that would leave most humans with their knees around their ears. Things were starting to get colorful. He set down his list and went to mediate the dispute, one of dozens a day that formed the core of his duties while the tavern owner traveled. Andrew had said it wasn't so much owning an inn as having a family and all the things that come with it. He was beginning to understand.
