***
It was late but the conversation was still going on. Glint was enjoying his time in a way he rarely did outside of a fight. The mixture of laughter, the atmosphere in the tavern, and the playful challenges the men had with each other, these things relaxed him. Smoke shielded them from the outside world and its stress. The others did most of the talking.
“There is no way,” Jim started, looking a bit the worse for wear after he lost a knife throwing bet against Mark, another of the men in the room, and had to drink three mugs of ale as a consequence “that you can beat me in arm wrestling!” The declaration was aimed at Glint, who just laughed and patted the large man on the back, motioning him to the table.
“Let's do it!” the warrior exclaimed, waving his hands in the air to get the four other men to come over and watch. It wouldn’t be the first time Jim lost a bet to him.