Surprises

Writers: AmajoS, Eimi
Date Posted: 6th August 2007

Characters: Daigoro, Lynson
Description: Daigoro and Lynson barter for a bottle of wine, each planning a surprise.
Location: Vintner Hall
Date: month 5, day 3 of Turn 4

Lynson carefully poured a small quantity of pale white wine into a glass and then stoppered the keg again. The wine was aging in the oak barrel, along with several others nearby, and was very nearly ready to be bottled, Lynson had begun checking on it on a regular basis. He was meticulous about it though, as so few of these barrels had survived the earthquake in the first place.

Hearing a noise behind, he glanced over his shoulder and nodded at the Hallsecond in greeting, a smile on his face.

"Are we close?" Daigoro asked with a nod towards he keg.

"They'll be ready to bottle within the next two days, I'd bet on it,"
Lynson gently swirled the wine in the glass and watching it carefully as he spoke. He took a small sip and nodded with a satisfied smile before offering the glass to the Hallsecond to see for himself.

"Thank you," Daigoro declined with a wave of his hand, "but I just ate some very spicy stew. My taste-buds are in shock as it is." One of the benefits of being married to the Hall cook was that he got to sample everything ahead of time.

Lynson laughed, "That's why I stay away from that sort of thing generally." He quickly swallowed the remainder of the wine in the glass and nodded again before setting the glass down on top of one of the barrels. "So, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Well," Daigoro cleared his throat, suddenly feeling a little silly being there. "I was wondering you could recommend a bottle of wine.
Something sweet and light. It's... for a special occasion."

"Hmm," Lynson thought a moment before beckoning the Hallsecond to follow him. "How special an occasion is it? There are a few bottles of Iced Red left..." His voice trailed off, considering how many of the precious and expensive bottles had been lost in the earthquake. It would take turns to rebuild the stock, due to the difficulty in producing it.

"That might be... A bit extravagant." He might be Hallsecond, but Daigoro was still sensible! It wasn't their _true_ anniversary, after all! Or did the occasion call for such a gesture? After all, it had been six whole months. Some of the most wonderful months of his life, despite the tragedy... "Well, I'll keep it in mind. Do you have anything else that is special, but perhaps a bit less expensive?"

"Well, I've got a very nice dessert wine. It's a blush, very sweet but there's a dry after-taste. It'll go good with anything sweet, but especially berries or fruits."

"That should do." Though where Daigoro was going to get fruit without Cinale knowing was another problem. "A lady would like that, wouldn't they?"

Lynson laughed, a great barking laugh and replied, "Hallsecond, I've yet to meet a lady who doesn't like sweets." He shook his head in amusement before beckoning Daigoro to follow him to his private stores kept in the cellar below. The area was clearly marked as his own and he kept a strict tally of every keg and bottle of wine found within it, which wasn't nearly as many as before the earthquake, unfortunately. Of course, other Journeymen and even Masters had faired worse, so he could hardly complain. The bottles he was currently looking for were in the back.

"Ah, here we are," he blew some dust off of two bottles made of green glass.

"That looks rather expensive too," Daigoro frowned. But it was sweet, and Cinale _would_ like it....

"Not too bad, I've a few bottles of this. The Iced would have been pretty dear, but this bottle's only a mark." He thought quickly and added, "Of course, if that's too much, we could always barter."

**Shards, a whole mark???** Daigoro had known their remaining stores were precious, but not _that_ precious! "Barter?"

Lynson paused, considering if he had anything he particularly needed.
Then he smiled, realizing that he did indeed have something he'd wanted to do, and now was perfect timing too. "I've a pendant - rather my wife does. It's broken. If you could get it fixed and get a new chain for it... I'll let you have the bottle."

"Yes, I think I could do that." After all, it's not as if he had to buy a completely _new_ pendant!

"Excellent!" Lynson smiled, imagining the surprised and pleased expression on his wife's face when he presented her with the repaired pendant on a shiny new chain. The pendant had belonged to her mother and her mother's mother before that. He knew how important it was to her and well worth the cost of a bottle of fine wine.

"Here you are, Hallsecond." Lynson gently pulled one of the green bottles from the rack and handed it to the other man. "I'll bring you the pendant tomorrow."

"Wonderful, Lynson, thank you." Cinale was going to be so surprised!
Now he just had to make arrangements for a meal to be specially made, without her knowing, and their evening will be complete. "I will have that pendant fixed right away, don't you worry about that."

Lynson nodded with a smile and then winked, replying, "You enjoy that wine now."

Last updated on the August 7th 2007

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Surprises