[Tad, during the party]

Sighing with relief as he downed another glass of wine, T'drim allowed himself
to relax.  That girl in the streetrat costume hadn't recognized him.  She
hadn't even gotten a clear look at his face.  But her kiss....

He sighed once more.  How did those other men do it?  Standing there, kissing
a woman, without turning tail and running...without the girl laughing....  The
mask had given him the courage to dance, to have fun, without anyone knowing
it was him, and thus without any risk of being laughed at.  But that kiss had
been something different.  Something more personal, even if she hadn't known
who he was.  And that was what had frightened him.

Tad leaned back against the wall of the Dining Hall, stretching his feet out
in front of the bench on which he sat.  He glanced at the empty glass in his
hand.  He'd rarely ever tasted wine in the past, but he found he rather liked
the way he was feeling now.  Relaxed, like he could handle anything.  Maybe it
was time for more dancing.

<tag, anyone who wants to get a quick dance in before midnight>

***************

It was an effort to remove the mask when the countdown ended.  It was an
effort to remain standing upright, for that matter.  But his trouble with the
mask was due to more than just the effects of the wine.  What would people
think when he removed the marvelous golden lion face and everyone saw the real
him?  

He took a deep breath, and before he could lose any more nerve, gave an
uncoordinated tug on the ribbon that held it on.  The mask slid away, into his
other fumbling hand, almost making a quick detour toward the floor.  

The young alchemist's head swam as he stumbled around and looked at the other
people removing their masks.  He had to get out before people realized who
they'd been dancing with and started to laugh!  

Tad was making his shambling way toward the door when he suddenly found
himself on the brink of losing his already-precarious balance.

<snip of John's post>

"Oh, I am sorry," she said, reaching out a hand to help steady him. Landers
were always surprised by how much more solid her people were than they
appeared. Then she recognized him. "I fear that I was distracted. My name is
Tanami, by the way." She wondered if most people in the warren thought she was
really Saleida, Ythfaru's consort. 

<end snip>

"Um...pleased to meet you," the young man managed to get out, surprised beyond
belief that the contents of his stomach had stayed in place. "I'm T'drim."

"T'drim?" she asked. "The one whose potion helped cure the seadragons?" 

She had heard of him?!?!  It now seemed that maybe his last meal *wasn't*
going to stay put.  Tad swallowed several times as he nodded his head.

"T'drim, I too was in the water with the seadragons, and it caused my gills to
become a bit inflamed as well...and this on top of a previous problem, from
breathing in sand and silt that was stirred up by a storm out at sea. Right
now, I can go only a very short time underwater, and I do not know that
Bonsai's flame would help one of my kind...might your potion be the answer?" 

"'S worth a try," he gasped out.  "S'more in my workshop."  He managed to
contain his belch until he'd finished the sentence and could cover it with the
hand that held his mask.  With his other hand he gestured for her to follow
and staggered his way onto the Green.  

He would have fallen there had the waterbreather not caught him from behind. 
She wrapped his arm around her shoulders and hers around his back and under
his other arm, supporting him.  The inebriated man gestured toward the stairs
leading to his apartment, and the two of them made their way forward.  

The movement seemed to help, and before long T'drim was able to stand on his
own once more.  But walking along, he couldn't get his slowly-clearing mind
off of how soft and pleasant the woman's pale skin had felt.  How he wanted to
lean his head back down on her shoulder.

*********************

The two finally arrived at the top of the stairs, and the young man led the
greenish-haired girl forward to his workbench.  He gestured to a large beaker
sitting on the counter, filled with a cloudy-white liquid.  

"That's it.  It was made for dragons, though, so you should only need a few
drops.  Just sprinkle some into your gills and breathe it in.  It should
help,"  Tad instructed, his mind all but clear now that he was discussing his
specialty.  He still couldn't move as coordinately as he would have liked, and
his stomach was still doing laps around his rear end, but at least the room
had stopped spinning.

"Thank you," the exotic woman said, giving him a kiss on the cheek opposite
the one that had received similar treatment earlier that evening.  

T'drim's body picked that moment to betray him.  The cool of the night was
replaced by the warmth of urine soaking the leg of his pants.

<tag, John!>

*******************

Respectfully Submitted,

David H

T'drim, Jasra Warren
Forrellyn & Pekin, Telnor Warren
Admin/J'adoube, M/X Warrens
D'tagnan & Bonsai, Jasra Warren (at the moment)


YOU NEED TO BELIEVE IN THINGS THAT AREN'T TRUE. HOW ELSE  CAN THEY *BECOME*?  
-Death, "Hogfather" by Terry Pratchett

"I play the game for the game's own sake."
                   -Sherlock Holmes

____________________________________________________________________
Get your own FREE, personal Netscape WebMail account today at http://home.netscape.com/webmail