Meeting Elga

So, I kinda suck at this experiment. But I'm working on it. Here's what I had intended to post yesterday.

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Esmeralda ducked into the closest exit, which was a door leading upstairs. She hoped this wasn’t a private area. The noise of the bar was still present, but had faded to a muffled background noise, for which Esmeralda was grateful. She pulled down her hood, and walked lightly upstairs.

“Hi!” came an ebullient voice suddenly, nearly knocking Esmeralda down the stairs. “You know, you don’t have to sneak up.”

Esmeralda slid her hand to her hip, ready to pull her dagger. “Just felt a bit awkward. And trying to get away from, “ Esmeralda nodded at the brawling sounds. The woman smiled and nodded her acknowledgement. “Does this happen a lot?”

She shrugged, “Once or twice a month. Come up, come up.”

Esmeralda stared at her for a moment, not sure what to think of this lady, “Um, I’m fine here, thank you.”

 “Dear, there’s no need to sit on an uncomfortable old staircase. I just wouldn’t feel right leaving you here when you’re so clearly shaken.”

Esmeralda opened her mouth to argue, but decided against it in the end. 

At the top of the stairs was a tidy little desk with two lanterns on it. A large window let the moonlight in by the desk. There was another window at the end of the longer of two hallways, and she could see light pouring out beneath a few of the doors. It smelled like wood and the night air. It was a crisp air, or at least crisper than Fishery ever got. Letting the dry air flow into her nose, Esmeralda could almost taste the leaves of fall. It was extra refreshing after the stuffy, stagnant air of the bar. 

The woman put out the lanterns as she beckoned for Esmeralda to follow. She was lean, though she had a round, not quite chubby face. As she moved, she gave the impression that her body has and will always be moving, not so much for the sake of moving as the need to be busy and productive. Esmeralda wondered if someone had planted the soul of a squirrel with the enthusiasm of a puppy into the woman. 

 They walked into the shorter hall where Ms Squirrel unlocked one of the rooms, and invited Esmeralda to please be comfortable as she lit a lantern and closed the door. The entered a relatively plain bedroom, although it did not feel like it was meticulously laid out to be that way like the downstairs was. Messier than she’d expected. The bed was unmade, the floor was not even fully picked up. One thing she could say for the room, was that despite the mess, it smelled lovely. And she could see why. There was a bowl of dried flowers on each nightstand. Still, Esmeralda was surprised Ms Squirrel would let her in here. Grabbing the closest chair, she decided it was probably best not to get “Ms Squirrel” stuck in her head as this woman’s name.

“Thank you for the hospitality, but, umm, who are you?”

“Oh, goodness! I apologize. Introductions, yes. I’m Elga Bergin. And you are?”

“Esmeralda, um…” New name, or real name? “Hill. Esmeralda Hill.” She twitched a bit, but she felt there was no good reason to be lying about that. Besides, it might be easiest to explain if she was looking for her siblings, assuming they kept their names post-Fishery. “What should I call you? Mrs. Bergin or Elga?”

“Elga, please. And I’ll call you Esmeralda?”

“Okay.”

“Wonderful! At least for now. Hopefully, as we get to know each other we can give you an appropriate nickname. Perhaps ‘Es’ or ‘Mer’. No one deserves to be saddled with a four syllable name.”

Esmeralda shuffled a bit in her seat. ‘As we get to know each other? Does she think I’m taking up residence in Penance?’

“I’m not planning to stay in Penance for very long.”

“Yes, sorry, sometimes I get ahead of myself. But I assume you wanted to stay at least until Murgin kicked all the brawlers out?”

“Murgin was the bartender? I talked to him a bit, but then the fight broke out. We never really introduced ourselves to each other.”

“Oh yes, Murgin Bergin. He’s also my husband and owner of this establishment. Speaking of the fight, where are you from, and what are you doing here? Travelers aren’t usually bothered by bar fights.”

Esmeralda took a moment to think over how to say this without getting kicked out. Having already mentioned her siblings to her husband, outright lying was not a feasible option. “Fishery, and I’m worried my brother and sister are in trouble.”