One moment, his fingers were touching warm, smooth, velvet skin. The next they were twitching in the air as pain split wrist, elbow and shoulder as his arm was torqued painfully back agaisnt the bar behind him. Had he not known better, he would have thought a wild animal--or maybe his nephew--were suddenly attacking him, particularly given the throaty growl that accompanied his newfound pain.
Well, at least the drunks who had been hitting on his fiance had been deterred.
It was difficult to say when the growling had given way to actual speech, as it sounded similar to Gamlen regardless, but he focused his eyes on Elissa's over the broad shoulder that stood between them, slate brows rising, his own eyes reflecting equal amusement despite the obvious pain and irritation that lay over it.
"Intervention wasn't necessary in her case anyway. Trust me when I tell you, she'd do far worse to me than a fist to my face if she didn't want it," Gamlen drawled, the tension slow to unwind from his voice once he was released, shaking out his hand and wrist.
The kiss did far more to alleviate what had ailed him, and he returned it almost dazedly. "You're cruel!" he called in the wake of her teasing words, his teeth pinching his bottom lip as he watched her leave the tavern.
At his enormous assailant's words, Gamlen's sneer darkened but drew wider. "I don't know. Seems pretty standard to me. Man and woman meet and have a romantic, fated dance..." he gave the proper wistful tone--or as good he could manage it, anyway--before dropping it into something grunted and realistic for the next string of commentary, "And then fall out of contact for eighteen years, re-meet, do some dumpster-side flirting, save each other's lives," he resumed the wistful tone, though it was accompanied with a wink and a waggling of eyebrows, "Fall in love. Nearly get engaged." The one was dropped again for a casual one with a dismissive wave of his hand, words moving faster, "Break up, get back together, deal with an obsessed ex, endure life's standard trials..."
He snagged Dastan's drink, sniffing it as he took on the wistful tone one more time. "Get engaged for real..." his voice flattened, though there was humor in it, "Vow celibacy until the wedding..." he trailed off, wrinkling his nose and shaking his head before handing Dastan's drink back and making his way behind the bar, leaning against it near the other man.
"Pretty ordinary. Or is it merely strange to think she'd go for someone like me, rather than someone like you?"
There was no bitterness, defensiveness or lack of confidence hidden beneath the words. They were simply entertained, curious, and frankly understanding.
Yes. It was strange. And he certainly wasn't complaining.
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