[The tavern is a dark and warm place. It has an almost overbearing amount of unvarnished dark wood but is broken up by colours of a similar tone. There are tables and chairs taking up a majority of the space with a counter at the back and a clearing in the centre. There is a rug in the centre, with an exposed bulb hanging above it. The owner, RUAN is inside.]

SCENE 1: A few years after the war. 

[RUAN is lying on the rug.]

RUAN: If you ever wondered, this was where I ran off to. This is where I went. This is where I stayed. Some wouldn’t agree with it, but they thank me in the end, anyway. I get one customer a month and I have tens of rooms. And guess what? I like it this way. 

[RUAN sits up.]

It’s not nice. They send people, good people, but it’s not going to be enough. I’m doing them a favor. 

[pause]

But I think I should go to bed.

SCENE 2: some time later

[In the tavern, a lady in a scarlet cloak is standing at the counter. A few too many steps back from what is normal, but she has a relaxed posture. Both RUAN and the lady, TELLA, are talking. Until:]

RUAN: [measured,] Scar? You saw Scar. 

TELLA: You bet I did! Few miles. By that sign. He looked lost so I pointed him round here. Know him?

RUAN: It’s… complicated.

TELLA: Sounds like one convenient excuse if I've ever heard one.

RUAN: [with equal suspicion and amusement,] You’re not getting me to talk, are you?

[TELLA takes a few steps forward, then an extra step further. With an honest humour:]

TELLA: Darn! Is it not workin’? 

RUAN: [Like a child caught with his hand stuck in the biscuit tin,] I think It’s working too well…

TELLA: Then at this point, I’m really thinkin’ it's you more than me. Let’s hear it.

RUAN: Fine! See, not many people think much on it. They have this image and I'm tempted to let them have it, but really… Oh, you’d know! They would never see it my way if I tried. [as much to TELLA as it is to himself] Scar is not smart. He’s not even funny either. Sounds rude but that’s it. And maybe he tries, I never know these days. Expectation? I try to forget it. Scar does as Scars always do in this world. I’ve known him long enough to think that anyway. 

TELLA: And what was bad?

RUAN: [in too deep to not justify,] Look, I liked the thing we had——

TELLA: Woa! I didn’t know it was like that——

RUAN: In the war. It was in the war. Partners.

TELLA: You served? [moving to lean back on the counter.]

RUAN: You think I'm in this dump because I like it? Enjoy the scenery? 

TELLA: God——but it wasn’t like you see ’em everyday. 

RUAN: That’s because they always leave! 

TELLA: An’ what? I wouldn’t stay if I saw what they saw. 

RUAN: [With a rapidly cooling tone] What do you think they had seen? 

TELLA: Don’t ask me!

RUAN: What was it? I want to hear you say what you think we saw. 

TELLA: I didn’t mean to say that. I’m sorry. 

RUAN: Do you think it's the thing that caused all this destruction? Some fantastical monsters? Something from your nightmares, or the things you think are in the shadows? 

TELLA: I said sorry. 

RUAN: You’re not——No. 

[RUAN takes a moment to regain his bearings. He regains his composure but not much else.]

What was it? Just tell me. 

TELLA: Alright——

RUAN: If it’s not from you, I'm going to get it from someone else. So there is no reason not to. 

TELLA: I was just gettin’ to it, Y’know. They said dragons. 

RUAN: Dragons. Dragons? Oh——Oh you’d wish it was dragons. But we weren't so lucky. 

[Caught in the shifting sands, unable to speak. Until:]

They had us fight people. Blood and flesh——and I knew them too. Or I liked to think I did. Scar wasn’t bad. He was there, he was someone. But I- He wasn’t smart. And he never found a way to make up for that. 

TELLA: Interestin’, for what it's worth, sounds like a real sucky thing. Do y’reckon I could tell others? I fancy myself a little bit of a truth seeker, if you don’t mind me being so. 

RUAN: What can I say? You found it. Anybody else better do the same. Well… Only if they were being idiots. Tell them then.

TELLA: Idiots like me?

RUAN: Sure. Sure. Not every idiot is going to like it, though. 

TELLA: Maybe this idiot isn’t so bad?

RUAN: Keep going. You should know you don’t convince me of anything. [without much left to extend] Still want that room? 

TELLA: I want your best cheapest room. 

RUAN: Not that I have many… 205. A fiver. 

TELLA: I just wanted a roof over me head, if that’s alright. 

RUAN: Then it'll do. I’d assume you wouldn’t want another night?

TELLA: I’ll hope for the best, but no promises from me. 

SCENE 3: A few days later

[The tavern is populated by RUAN, alone. The light is off and RUAN is facing away from the audience in front of the counter. The desk hosts many varieties of lampshades.]

RUAN: She didn’t stay more than that one night. Left before even I woke up. It’s an achievement. That’s for sure. But it looks like I am getting another customer this month, so maybe a change in visitors was warranted. It’s not like most get this far anyways.

[A man with pristine ranger clothes walks through the entrance. The sort of man who is in a constant state of amusement that leaves the impression of only being false in retrospect.]

SCAR: Who ‘gets this far’? 

RUAN: [Without facing SCAR] I… I didn’t hear the door. Customers ring the bell. 

[SCAR walks towards the door, opening and closing the door whilst inside.]

SCAR: There. I rang it. Golly, thought you would get a better door than that. Even a badger with the right training could sneak through that thing. I’ve gotten into carpentry, you know I have always liked working with my hands——

RUAN: Scar——stop. Not right now.

SCAR: Okay. Not right now. understood.

[RUAN sinks into the counter. SCAR pretends not to notice.]

So you’re the owner of this place, huh? Definitely broadened those horizons. [he laughs, but probes kindly] What sort of owner stands in front of his register?

RUAN: This one. 

[RUAN moves around to the other side of the counter, a standoff until the action is complete.] 

You’re not being funny playing this game.

SCAR: Who said I was trying to be funny? Now, tell me where your finest room is, sir. Only if it is vacant. If it’s taken, I'll have your worst.

RUAN: Do you realise I hate it when you do that? My finest is free. In fact, no one is staying here aside from me, so you can have the whole space to yourself.

SCAR: I am a business man! No need to starve such a fellow as I. Who knows, maybe I have business with the owner. 

RUAN: They sent you too. I’ve seen kinder folks, smarter ones… ‘smarter‘ i’m guessing——

SCAR: We do our research——

RUAN: because the scraps I find aren’t chatty. Because they can never stay nice. Well… We’re not like them. I know you don’t need to stay here. [with a strange amount of empathy] Most really do. 

[SCAR walks towards the desk, stopping beside RUAN and picking up a lampshade to inspect it.]

SCAR: [An olive branch,] But who would help you with your lame decor tastes?

RUAN: Quit it, will you? 

[RUAN snatches the lampshade off SCAR]

And when’d you give up on the fancy-talk?

SCAR: How rude! 

[pause]

Even a lampshade is too much to get help with, then? I’ll do you a favor, free of charge, this one [SCAR grabs another lampshade] won’t let much light out. Keeps this place nice and moody. Trust me, I would struggle to resist the urge, myself. If I was ever to open a tavern in what may as well be hell!

RUAN: That’s right, I spared everyone from my decor. Not like this place ever had a use in the first place. This land has never once left a good person alone, we know that——too well, mind you. This is a choice. One I have made for the idiots that walk in here, I keep it all together!

SCAR: I never said it didn’t. Why is it you, though? Why are you here? Did it ever have to be… Why?!

[The question sinks into the air.]

RUAN: You’ve never listened! You walk into my home after however many years, talking about how you’ve got it all together. You're into carpentry now, you——that door was intentional, by the way!——you come in, tell me I’m doing it all wrong and what now? You expect me to believe that stupid Scar knows all the answers and that everything is going to be alright? And especially since you’ve decided to grace me with your presence?! Take—— [RUAN snatches the other lampshade off SCAR] your grubby hands off of my lamp and get out of here. 

[SCAR is silent. He reaches out to grab hold of another lampshade.]

SCAR: This one is my favourite.

RUAN: [dumbfounded] It’s your favourite.

SCAR: [Wetly] Mhm! It is. 

[Pause.] 

Come back… please? 

RUAN: Tell me why you never came, first. 

SCAR: I wanted to give you space, okay?——

RUAN: Go home, Scar. 

SCAR: [With realisation,] Oh——

[SCAR places the lampshade onto the counter.] 

SCAR: You’re not going to…

RUAN: No. 

[pause]

Will you visit?

SCAR: Yes——definitely. 

RUAN: Okay. That’s good. I——goodbye?

SCAR: Please, not goodbye.

RUAN: I’ll see you later. I… know I will. Go. 

SCAR: Yep… I know too. I’m leaving!

[SCAR approaches the doorway, stopping to open the door and ring the bell from the inside. He laughs as the echo dies out.]

SCAR: For next time. 

RUAN: Goodbye, Scar. 

SCENE 4: a couple months later.

[RUAN sits on top of the counter, dangling his feet. The bulb above has been covered by SCAR’s favourite lampshade.]

RUAN: He didn’t come back, if that’s what you wanted to know. Been a few months, I’d admit… maybe I've been counting. It’s a bit of a trend, but I've learned to trust the impermanence. Maybe the outside got to him, he wouldn’t be the first and he wouldn’t be the last by any means. They never have a clue, do they? It’s what makes this important. I… wish I didn't have to. I wish I could leave. Maybe——

Ah. I don’t know.

[RUAN does not go back to tavern work despite everything.]

RUAN: [Like an idea unable to be contained] I want to go back…

[A figure rises out from behind the counter and leans an elbow on the counter.]

SCAR: Hi Ruan!

[SCAR’s ranger clothes are different and far from pristine. Numerous cuts and rips make the jacket unusable. A mixture of grime and other substances stain his clothes.]

RUAN: Scar?! 

SCAR: [He laughs erratically,] Oh! I was——am so glad you said that! You. You! Dimbat! Get over here. [SCAR jumps onto the counter to sit next to RUAN.]

RUAN: You’re… alive.

SCAR: And so are you! Let’s go back, yeah?

RUAN: [deliberated with too much to gain and much to lose] Yeah.