Meral Ravenous looked bored. “That again? Shit, I gotta update my playlist.”

“Don’t look at me,” Haj say, faintly embarrassed. “I have a date on WoW in thirty minutes. My avatar’s got to look her best.”

“What?” Mika says. “This isn’t the cosplay lounge?”
“No,” the bartender says.
“It’s a couple of buildings south of here,” Meral says without looking away from her ipod.
“I gotta go,” says Haj.
“That’s what happens when I listen to you!” Mika screams at Eric and dumps her drink on his head as she leaves the pub.
As a sopping wet Eric turned to chase after Mika, they could hear him muttering, “The cleric gets no respect!”

“It looks like I must take matters into hand,” the bartender says after an awkward pause.

Cue heroic music and dramatic close up.

The pub’s straw thatch roof bursts into flame then there is a beating of wings.