right.
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68
Sweet Inspiration
by Penny Watson
Chapter Eight
* * * *
Oskar Johann Klaus rocked back on his bar chair, precariously balanced on two feet. Deftly he tilted his head to the left as a bottle flew through the air whizzing past his ear.
It smashed on the wall behind him, splattering warm beer.
"Christ, Monie, enough to drink already? Cut 'im off now, Dag."
Dag leaned forward on the bar, resting two heavily muscled forearms covered with tattoos on the sticky surface.
"Ahh, he looks all right to me, O. Don't be such a pussy."
Oskar snapped his head back to the right as a glass arced over his shoulder, shattering behind him. "For the love of...Dammit, Monie, if you make me come over there, I swear I'll..."
Monie grinned. There weren't a hell of a lot of teeth left in his mouth. "Shite, man, you party like a Suddie." The three-foot elf waddled over to Oskar's table and shook a handful of magik pebbles on the scarred top. His belly wobbled beneath a shredded T-shirt with a ZZ Top logo, and his reddish beard was crusty with bits of food that Oskar guessed was this evening's special. Bratwurst and egg noodles.
"Here, a bit of magic for your trouble, Mr. High and Mighty." Spittle flew out of the elf's mouth as he coughed up the words.
69
Sweet Inspiration
by Penny Watson
Oskar brushed a few bits of bratwurst off of his coat and sighed. "Keep the damned pebbles, Mon. Just quit flinging glassware my way, you bastard."
Monie roared with laughter, slapped the table and sauntered off toward the dartboard.
"Why the hell you insist we come to this God-forsaken pub, I'll never know." Sven, Oskar's older brother, shook his head as two elves flung themselves off a nearby table onto the crowded dance floor. "The beer is good, but Christ, is it worth it, bro?"
Oskar laughed at Sven's startled expression as one of the elves started to break dance. "Dag just brewed up a fresh batch of stout. I don't know how the damned elf does it, but I've never had better. And after the week I've had, I could easily put down a couple of pitchers by myself."
"Your week? My entire order of pine was infested with beetles. And we only have a few weeks till Christmas. I think I'm going to have to give in and use man-made polymers for the trains. Our ancestors will be turning over in their graves."
"Yeah, well try squelching an elf rebellion after the whole freakin' village has consumed about a million gallons of Dag's Schwarz biers. Christ, my back still hurts."
Sven took a long drag from his beer stein and propped his feet up on a chair. "Well, in a couple weeks we can relax a bit. I, for one, am going on a much-deserved vacation."
"There's an idea. Where ya going, Sven?"
"Mexico. Sun, sand and tequila. And I'm not coming back for awhile."
70
Sweet Inspiration
by Penny Watson
"Maybe I'll call that girl I met last year in Vegas and see what's up." Oskar stared thoughtfully into his beer glass. "She had a really nice set of..."
"Hey!" Gregor raced over to the table and pulled up a stool. Before sitting, he wiped the seat with a tissue and glared at Oskar.
"Jesus, O, this place sucks. Has Dag ever heard of soap? I don't think it's been cleaned in here for a good three hundred years."
"Well, if you didn't wear such pansy-ass pants, big brother, maybe you could sit without wiping first."
"These pants are Armani. If you ever bothered to dress like an adult instead of a punk snowboarder..."
"All right, gentleman, that's enough. Have a beer and lighten up, Greg. What's going on?"
Gregor sat down on the stool and raised his eyebrows.
"Well, I just happened to hear a bit of gossip in town. It's so ridiculous I can't believe it's for real, but who knows? Nick's been gone a while, and nobody really knows what he's been up to. All I heard was he was checking out some cookies in New York."
Sven leaned forward. "You heard gossip about Nicholas? Is he back in Glasdorf?"
Gregor nodded. "Yeah. I heard he's not
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68
Sweet Inspiration
by Penny Watson
Chapter Eight
* * * *
Oskar Johann Klaus rocked back on his bar chair, precariously balanced on two feet. Deftly he tilted his head to the left as a bottle flew through the air whizzing past his ear.
It smashed on the wall behind him, splattering warm beer.
"Christ, Monie, enough to drink already? Cut 'im off now, Dag."
Dag leaned forward on the bar, resting two heavily muscled forearms covered with tattoos on the sticky surface.
"Ahh, he looks all right to me, O. Don't be such a pussy."
Oskar snapped his head back to the right as a glass arced over his shoulder, shattering behind him. "For the love of...Dammit, Monie, if you make me come over there, I swear I'll..."
Monie grinned. There weren't a hell of a lot of teeth left in his mouth. "Shite, man, you party like a Suddie." The three-foot elf waddled over to Oskar's table and shook a handful of magik pebbles on the scarred top. His belly wobbled beneath a shredded T-shirt with a ZZ Top logo, and his reddish beard was crusty with bits of food that Oskar guessed was this evening's special. Bratwurst and egg noodles.
"Here, a bit of magic for your trouble, Mr. High and Mighty." Spittle flew out of the elf's mouth as he coughed up the words.
69
Sweet Inspiration
by Penny Watson
Oskar brushed a few bits of bratwurst off of his coat and sighed. "Keep the damned pebbles, Mon. Just quit flinging glassware my way, you bastard."
Monie roared with laughter, slapped the table and sauntered off toward the dartboard.
"Why the hell you insist we come to this God-forsaken pub, I'll never know." Sven, Oskar's older brother, shook his head as two elves flung themselves off a nearby table onto the crowded dance floor. "The beer is good, but Christ, is it worth it, bro?"
Oskar laughed at Sven's startled expression as one of the elves started to break dance. "Dag just brewed up a fresh batch of stout. I don't know how the damned elf does it, but I've never had better. And after the week I've had, I could easily put down a couple of pitchers by myself."
"Your week? My entire order of pine was infested with beetles. And we only have a few weeks till Christmas. I think I'm going to have to give in and use man-made polymers for the trains. Our ancestors will be turning over in their graves."
"Yeah, well try squelching an elf rebellion after the whole freakin' village has consumed about a million gallons of Dag's Schwarz biers. Christ, my back still hurts."
Sven took a long drag from his beer stein and propped his feet up on a chair. "Well, in a couple weeks we can relax a bit. I, for one, am going on a much-deserved vacation."
"There's an idea. Where ya going, Sven?"
"Mexico. Sun, sand and tequila. And I'm not coming back for awhile."
70
Sweet Inspiration
by Penny Watson
"Maybe I'll call that girl I met last year in Vegas and see what's up." Oskar stared thoughtfully into his beer glass. "She had a really nice set of..."
"Hey!" Gregor raced over to the table and pulled up a stool. Before sitting, he wiped the seat with a tissue and glared at Oskar.
"Jesus, O, this place sucks. Has Dag ever heard of soap? I don't think it's been cleaned in here for a good three hundred years."
"Well, if you didn't wear such pansy-ass pants, big brother, maybe you could sit without wiping first."
"These pants are Armani. If you ever bothered to dress like an adult instead of a punk snowboarder..."
"All right, gentleman, that's enough. Have a beer and lighten up, Greg. What's going on?"
Gregor sat down on the stool and raised his eyebrows.
"Well, I just happened to hear a bit of gossip in town. It's so ridiculous I can't believe it's for real, but who knows? Nick's been gone a while, and nobody really knows what he's been up to. All I heard was he was checking out some cookies in New York."
Sven leaned forward. "You heard gossip about Nicholas? Is he back in Glasdorf?"
Gregor nodded. "Yeah. I heard he's not
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