They both stirred at the same moment as the rays of the morning sun slipped through the threadbare curtains. They both also mumbled something about "damned fruits" and each proceeded to continue snoring lightly at their respective places, small splotches of drool on the pillow or desk accordingly.
Some hours passed and the sun gained height. The unlikely duo woke up near lunch time, causing Emil to grimace. "We should been gone already."
"Is it a problem that we aren't?"
"Yeah. We might have to pay for another day. Money we ain't got."
"... oh. That would be... troublesome." She willed herself out of bed, her disheveled hair pointing in any direction it pleased.
Emil chucked, "That's not the worst problem." His hair was pressed flat on the side he'd slept on. Kaitlyn had a hard time keeping a straight face until his next words doused her budding jovial mood. "I'm guessin' you ain't good with crowds."
Her reaction was pallid silence, and it was everything Emil needed to see to know that he'd have a fairly large headache coming on. Leaving her would be easy, but doing so would undo all of his efforts over the last day to ensure her safety, not to mention the fact that he'd have to return to Kazamir empty-handed.
"So... how bad is it?"
"Our situation, you mean?"
"No, my bedhead. Of course, I meant our situation!"
"Oh... I was going to say the bedhead is..." Every fiber of Emil's being warned him to not finish that sentence as he'd originally intended. He glanced at the window. "Based on the shadow of the window, I'd say it's 'bout noon, so, lunch time."
"...and we'd rather not travel openly in broad daylight."
"Well, there's that, but also getting out of here."
"Couldn't we just put on the cloaks and walk out?"
"We could try, but lemme ask ya somethin': it's lunch time, you have a tiny bit of coin, and you're hungry. Where ya gonna go?"
"To the place with the cheapest palatable food, of course."
"I don't know what 'palatable' means, but as for the cheapest..."
As if on cue, the front door downstairs could be heard being thrust open, along with a collection of boisterous voices.
"We... may be here a while..." Kaitlyn's expression soured even further, giving way to shame when her stomach released a gurgle that was undoubtedly just as mortifying for her as the last time it happened. "And then there's that."
Emil took the last of his coin down to the tavern to get food for the 2 of them. Kaitlyn was hard to deal with normally, and being hungry or hangry certainly wouldn't help. Being hungry was also bad for decision-making, so going broke to avoid the extra potential trouble while plotting an escape was more than worth it. The plan was to get food, wait out the lunch crowd upstairs, and leave as soon as it was relatively safe to do so.
All that had to be done was get the food, go upstairs, eat, and make sure Kaitlyn got out without anyone seeing her eyes.
He'd made it to the bar, and the same barkeeper from last night was there. He'd noticed Emil come from upstairs. Coming from the upper floor of a tavern at the start of lunchtime wasn't exactly normal.
"Oi, how was it last night? I see the lady ain't with ya. Couldn't walk?!" The barkeeper and surrounding patrons laughed heartily. Emil managed to keep a straight face.
"She's a bit of a late sleeper. Was gonna have lunch in our room before leaving."
"If ya tilled her that good, ya might need another day's stay!"
Before Emil could respond, he felt a presence beside him, an angry one, cloaked, and a head shorter than him. He had a bad feeling, and the now familiar voice that followed confirmed his intuition.
"Do you speak of all your guests that way?!" The words were loud, seething, and unmistakably feminine, the only woman who in the establishment who wasn't employed there.
"Aye, lass, tis all in jest! Never met a wench who batted an eye some tomfoolery."
Emil sighed, both inwardly and outward. The headache he'd predicted was approaching fast. He tried to calm the now incensed Kaitlyn, "Now calm down, he's just..."
"A crass, perverse man is what he is!"
Emil could quite literally feel both the tension and danger rising in the form of her divine aura. If the barkeeper looked anywhere near under the hood of the cloak, he would undoubtedly know. He had to do something to stop the barkeep from looking and calm her down enough to return to normal, but by the time he'd made the mental checklist of what to do, the bartender saw, never giving Emil a chance to attempt to figure out how to accomplish any of it.
The astonished look on the barkeep's face and muttering gave it away, "golden-eyes..."
A nearby patron quietly reached over and pulled back her hood, leaving her orange hair and glowing golden eyes on display.
The fires of Kaitlyn's rage were instantly quenched as the sides of her face were exposed to the open air. Every eye on the room, save Emil's was on her. He was watching everyone get up or turn towards them.
Emil tried to ponder how to escape this situation when it went from what most would consider 'dire' to a level of unfortunate so high that most would think the gods toying with them. The very same 2 guards from the gate the previous evening walked in. They took 1 look at Kaitlyn's profile and knew.
"You lot are coming with us!"
Emil debated if he should choose the frying pan or the fire, it was the barkeep who unexpectedly offered a lifeline, "You start the fight, you pay the damages AND the tab. Thems be the rules."
One of the patrons, likely a regular, called the bartender by name and spoke in a rather insulting manner, "Sod off, Lutz! A payday like that and I could buy meself a better bar!"
The 2 guards at the door drew their weapons, which radiated with some sort of magic, "They're comin' with us, and anyone who gets in our way will either be cut down or come too."
Another patron spoke to one of the guards, "Gunther, we all know you're one of us, and you really think we're just gonna let you waltz out of here with our payday? Besides, it's not like you can take all of us."
One of the guards, which Emil assumed to be Gunther, flinched. "You'd go against an officer of the magistrate? Have you gone mad?!"
The response was the 2 guards, and everyone else, glaring at each other. This tense scene held for a handful of seconds, but felt like an eternity. It finally broke when someone knocked a cup off of their table and that was the trigger. The most vocal of the patrons charged at the guards, followed by 4 of his friends.
The guards brandished their weapons, cutting 2 of the men down. Screams followed, and a handful more, now blinded by rage, leveled their weapons and joined the fray.
Emil took this chaotic moment to casually flip backward over the bar, pulling Kaitlyn over once he'd done so. They, along with the barkeeper, stayed below the bar as weapons, chairs, cups, people, and anything else that was not secured flew across the bar.
The 3 of them looked at each other, nodded, and moved. The barkeep made a hasty exit, passing through the kitchen, which did not go unnoticed by Emil, who, nimbly, carefully, avoided combat while climbing the stairs. He collected their meager belongings and ran back downstairs to find Kaitlyn holding all the food she could reasonably carry while still being able to run. They stuffed their rucksack full and even took a few small bags of fruit, bread, and dried meats, before following out the same door as the barkeeper.
As they left, the sounds of glass, wood, and people breaking could be heard, as well as weapons clashing.
They put several streets' worth of distance between them and the bar, moving as inconspicuously as a cloaked man and woman carrying sacks of food could, before ducking into an alley and watching a group of guards run by.
Emil finally spoke. "That wasn't how things were supposed to go, but we did get some food out of it. Surprised you didn't gripe about not paying for it, though."
"I'd feel better if they destroyed the place. Then I could say I saved it, but we don't really have options, do we? It's not my first time, and I doubt it'll be my last. I've only stolen food, though."
A hint of surprise showed on Emil's face, "Is that right? Welp, I guess between what I got left and your coin, we might be able to hire a horse. Best get now while the guards are busy."
Beheads, a brawl, and escape!