The recreation room is busy as ever. The fire crackles and the drinks clink and clank under the louder volume of voices, singing, laughter, and general merriment of Long Patrol hares that are off duty. Behind the bar Neville works and mingles, at the tables pairs of hares play checkers and cards, and around the fire they gossip and tell stories. There is only one part of the room that seems to be quiet and reserved. Off in the far corner, in the more dark and calm area, a lone hare sits. Buckthorn is a mountain of a hare, even as he slumps over the oak table. There is a small glass of water in his paws and he stares down at the grain of the table with a bored look on his face.

Darklett is a little late in coming to this merriment, but he's arrived nonetheless, stepping into the rec room, and straightening out his uniform shirt. He wants to look good in public, heh, even if it's just the company of his own hares. He walks towards the bar, flags down Neville, and murmurs an order to him, putting his back to the bar, elbows on its surface as he waits. He nods and represses chuckles as some of the newer recruits frantically salute in unsureness, before muttering some sort of greeting in return.

Buckthorn tilts his head to the side, angling one eye down at the reflection of the water. His large foot taps idly against the side of the table leg, causing the water to ripple and slosh. With a careful paw he raises the paw and takes a long sip. Some of the young hare at the closest table mutter and nudge each other, obviously making fun of the stiff healer hare. Buck pays them no heed and finally tears his eyes off his glass and glances around to catch Dark at the bar. He opens his mouth as if to say something, but it closes slowly.

Darklett scans the room as he waits for his drink... And of course, that's not a very long time, since the famed Neville is tending the bar! Turning to accept the drink and offer a word or two of thanks to the barhare, he has a sip, and is about to haul himself up onto the nearest stool before his eye catches Buckthorn. Hm. Well, he obviously thinks that their last little incident has been far enough in the past to have gotten over it, and he starts his way across the rec room to the table in the corner, dodging around servers and customers alike.

Buckthorn drops his gaze almost immediately as it is caught by Darklett. The hare squints his eyes and stares hard at his glass once more. His good ear turns, swivelling towards Dark. The hare takes another hurried sip of the water. As the hare nears him, he lets out a defeated sigh and pushes the chair across from him out with his foot and doesn't bother looking up. "'Lo, Dah'rk. Off duty f'th' day?"

Darklett keeps his eyes on the chair across from Buck, as well as Buck himself, as he makes his way towards the other hare. Noticing his behavior, the lieutenant actually slows down his pace, not sitting in the offered chair. "Oh, y-... No, no, not off for the day, just popping in for a quick drink. I've got to overlook some things in the training room, and stuff a little later."

Buckthorn takes a quick breath and then finally looks up. looking at him with a half-creased brow. "S'tha' righ'?" He asks, propping his elbow up on the table and leaning his ears forward. "Sure y'arr. Well, Ah won' keep y'or nything, but th chair is always open." Buck adds, motioning towards the empty seat across from him. "But I un'erstand... bein' busy an' all tha'."

Darklett hesitates here briefly, his eyes turning to Buckthorn's, and his mouth curving downwards in thought. "Well, it can wait for a while, at least." He shrugs, and cautiously takes the seat, sipping at his own drink, and swallowing. "So, what have you been up to? Just the infirmary business, still?" Still cautiously, he raps his knuckles on the table, causing quick little rolls every other second, or so.

Buckthorn scoots back from the table enough to give Dark some knee room under there as well. He chews on the inside of his lip, watching his friend settle down. "Uh... yeah, healer busniess an' tha' sorta thing. Been keepin' t'mahself. I always get reclusive ah'round fall an' winter, y'know?" He says with a weak attempt at a smile. "I mean... more en usual, tha is. 'Ow ah'bout you, eh?"

Darklett raises a brow, smirking at this statement. "Yeah, I know, I know. Don't forget how to talk, or anything." He chuckles, giving Buck a playful nudge to the shin under the table. "Me? Eh, just waitin' on my next assignment, really. I haven't heard from my brother in a while, he's usually very quick to write back. Been thinkin' about that, about why we haven't heard much from those Bloodthirsters lately. Stuff like that."

Buckthorn wrinkles up his nose and shrugs. "I'll try not t'." He says with a snuffle. The hare jerks slightly at the under the table nudge. "Mrf." He grunts and grips his glass tightly. "Oh? Uh... righ'? Th' one in Redwall, eh? I really can't remember." He admits, scratching behind his left ear. "I'm sure he's fine. They get busy in tha' ol' place." The healer mulls over the thought of the Bloodthirsters. "An' I say good riddance! Rather not hear from 'em, wot wot?"

Darklett nods. "Yeah, the one at Redwall. I hope so. It's just that he's always got a letter back for me right away." He rests in his chair, gulping down a bit of his mug's contents. "Sure, I'm glad to not hear from the vermin, but at the same time, I at least know we can keep them under control. Wherever they moved on, if they did, they might be takin' advantage of more unarmed weak beasts like they did at Halyard, with nobeast around to do anything about it."

Buckthorn mulls over the words of the other, his jaw set with a concentrated thought. "Well, he is jus' busy, I'd bet. Rebuildin' tha' ol' Abbey an' all." The large hare shakes his head and takes the last gulp of his water. "That... m'afraid... is a possibility. Still, I'm more en sure th runners assigned t'keeping tracks on em will do their job an do it fine." Buck frowns. "Halyard was ah travesty."

Darklett shrugs, and nods at the other hare, raising mug to lip and tilting once more. "Let's hope, heh. I wouldn't want to have to go too far away from the mountain to fix anything that they start..." He scowls here, rolling his eyes as he raises his mug again, almost murmuring, "Although, I still have a score to settle with that badger..."

Buckthorn stares longingly at his empty glass. His eyes turn from the empty vessel, to the bar, and back. Neville wouldn't serve a drink across the room in a million seasons. The hare grits his teeth and looks to the younger recruits that were making fun of him earlier. "Eh? Oh! S'righ'... wouldn't want t'leave home. Righ' comfortable, it is..." The healer pauses. "Say... what chances do I got havin' y'pull tha' silly rank thing an' get those young rips t'get me a drink, wot?"

Darklett catches Buck's distracted glances around the recreation room, and smirks, rolling his eyes again at the request. "Whaaat? Heh... That wouldn't be fair, now would it?" The lieutenant winks, and turns around at the table, nonchalantly disguising it as stretching out his back over the end of the chair, not speaking until he's facing Buckthorn again. "Wait till they get up for more, and then ask 'em, I'm sure they will."

Buckthorn thumps the bottom of his glass on the table. Thump thud thump. He presses his claws into his cheeks, his eyes falling idly on those same hares. "Sure it would." He mutters and looking bored. "Ah, yeh'd do it f'yahself!" Buck accuses. The large hare pushes himself up and sends a glare down at the fighter. "I'll get it m'self... /Sah/."

Darklett's brow raises at Buckthorn as he accuses him, taken aback. "I... would -not!-" As the hare gets up, his eyes follow him. "You're gonna throw a fit 'cause I didn't get some other hares to get you a drink?" Darklett asks, with a tone of disbelief. "Please tell me you're joking..."

Buckthorn smacks his lips and seems to completely ignore the rants of his fellow hare. He holds his glass up, eyeing it and turning it as if inspecting a precious gem. "And what should I get, hmm? Rum... maybe a spot of whiskey? I could be boring and get more water, you know..." He mulls slowly, looking slightly amused.

"...Hey, that was uncalled for, Buck." Darklett stands up, too, now. "And I don't appreciate that." Darklett's face melts into one of seriousness. "Don't start, alright? I was actually having a pretty good day, don't ruin it for me."

Buckthorn wiggles his glass. "Please... and you call /me/ too stiff?" He says with a smirk. "Water wont do. Oh no. I think some mead. Aye... sweet with a kick. Tha's th' stuff!" He hoots out with a firm nod. "Y'need ah fill up?" Buck inquires, motioning to the others drink.

Darklett just stares down Buck for a few seconds, then reaches down to pick up his mug. "Yeah, light ale, tell him it's for me, he'll know which one." Hm. Guess it's not so bad, after all... He offers his mug to the other buck, tentatively, wondering if this is some kind of trick.

Buckthorn gathers up the glasses with a curt bow and whirls around, trucking it back to the bar and mingling for a few minutes with a doe drinking some wine. He returns shortly with two tankards. "Light ale f'yah... heavy sweet mead f'meh!" He announces, slumping back into his chair and taking a long draft of it. The hare jerks his head towards the doe. "Nice, eh? Pretty eyes, wot!" Buck says with a sly smile.

Darklett sits back down, watching Buck go to get the drinks. "...Huh." When he returns, he accepts the beverage with a smile, and a nod. "Thanks, Buck-o." He continues to warily watch him, though he tries to be inconspicuous about it. "Ah, yeah, from the looks of it. Don't know about her eyes, can't see through her head, but otherwise, yeah."

Buckthorn leans back, hooks his arm over the back of his chair, and lets his feet hook over each other. He looks... oddly enough... like the rest of the bar patrons. "Eh well.. y'should try iffen y'have ah chance. 'Leaset for I get t'her. Eh eh?" He jokes, grinning over to the wary looking hare.

Darklett relaxes a little, still eyeing Buckthorn, but less suspiciously. "Ah, but why wait for me? You give it a try, see what you can do, heh." He seems casual enough, now, tilting his head to the side in a gesture towards the haremaid.

Buckthorn tries his best not to look disgusted at the thought of giving the doe a try. He clears his throat and drops his gaze, his bluff having failed miserably. "S-sorrel's been ah'round lately... I think she still likes me... or somethin'..." He chuckles nervously.

Darklett snorts. "Ah, don't worry about her, eh? You never let her bother you before, have ya?" He peers at Buckthorn over the rim of his mug. "...Unless you like her back..." He pulls a wry grin, and nudges Buck in the shin under the table. "Do ya?"

Buckthorn takes a smaller sip of his drink, watching the dark, amber liquid as it churns in his tankard. The buck shakes his head slowly, his mouth twisting up as he drinks idly. At the mention of liking her back, the buck sprays the moutful of ale from his mouth. "Wha'... wha'?!" He demands, staring right at Dark, his ears up and his eyes wide. "You know I don' like do-... uh, uh... Sorrel!" Buck fumbles, nearly letting out a rather hidden secret into the air. "Geeze..." He mumbles miserably, sliding low into his chair.

Darklett's eyes widen at Buck's near-slip. "Yeah! Of course you don't like Sorrel!" The lieutenant covers for the healer buck rather quickly for being taken by surprise. "And since you don't like -Sorrel- it should be that much easier to not care about getting her off your back, see?" His eyes are still kinda wide, as he takes a rather large draught of his ale.

Buckthorn slowly swipes an upper arm, clearing his chin fur from the droplets of spewed mead. "Er... yeah... s'righ'." He mumbles, staring down at his lap. His ears flop down around his shoulders. "It won' be... but still... I don' like bein' mean, Dah'rk." Buck reminds his friend.

"You don't have to be -mean- about it." Darklett slides forward, rather glad that brief little episode is over. "Just be honest. Honesty's not mean at all... I mean, she might cry about it, throw a fit, grab a bow and arrow and shoot you while you're walking away, but that's all on her, not on -you.-" :P

Buckthorn sinks even lower in his chair, his eyes turning up to Dark. "She'd kill me... an'... hey!" The healer grumbles and takes a sip of his drink. "Yeh'd like tha', wouldn't yeh?" He says with a weak laugh. The hare stands up and rolls his shoulders, not at all feeling comfortable here after that too close of a spill. "Um... I bettah get back t'work. Night shift." He mumbles quickly and goes to leave.

Darklett twists his face to the side in thought. "That's... entirely possible, Buck... Well, you can't just let her keep hanging on you like that, it's not good for either of ya." As the other stands, he nods understandingly. "Right then, I'll catch up with you sometime. Don't work too hard, you hear?"

Buckthorn bobs his head, though it looks as if he really isn't listening. "Mm? Oh... yeah... f'both o' us. Not good." The hare blinks a few times. "Word hard? Oh... erm, I try not t'." Lie. He walks away, deposits his empty tankard on the bar, and makes a perfect beeline to the door.