[pre-story]Last musing of the month is another installment of Lien's Adventures! Lien visits and old flame, and things quickly get heated! Clickbait aside, though, there's no actual sex in this one, just a fight scene I enjoyed writing way too much to stop, with some relationship-establishing dialogue in there. Next time, though, I can get straight to the fun stuff.
I always worry when I post stuff that isn't at least 50% sex. I figure you guys are here for the smut, after all, so I try to deliver that. But then, I suppose stuff like this is just going to happen from time to time, and stressing myself out over it isn't going to do anyone any good. Inspiration is a fickle mistress.
Anyways, I hope you enjoy!
As always, if you like what you see [redacted][/pre-story]
When you ask a mainlander to describe a pandaren, they usually use words like ‘honorable’, ‘friendly’, ‘wise’ or ‘fat’. Rarely is ‘intimidating’ on the list. Kenneth, however, was learning the hard way that it was very appropriate, at least, when Cheng Stoutbarrel, honored brewmaster and his boss, loomed over him with a fire burning in his eyes. The pandaren man’s massive bulk, impressive height, and broad, powerful shoulders were plenty intimidating on their own. But add to that the man’s legendary status and position, his sheer presence, and the suddenly-clear memory of that one time he punched a hole in an oak barrel, and they all combined to completely overwhelm the smaller human. Kenneth flattened himself against the wall, shrinking away from the brewmaster’s infamous wrath. “I- I’m sorry, sir, I-”
“YOU WHAT?!” Cheng demanded with a mighty roar, cutting off Kenneth’s stammering apology. “YOU DIDN’T FUCKING THINK, THAT’S WHAT! LOOK AT THIS!” He commanded, gesturing wildly at a nearby keg,half-buried in a mound of rapidly-expanding foam, more and more pouring out of the open tap-hole. “IT’S FUCKING RUINED! I CAN’T FUCKING SERVE THIS SHIT! OM NOM, DID YOU EVEN LOOK AT WHAT YOU WERE ADDING? ARE YOU FUCKING BLIND?” He bellowed, lapsing into Pandaren for a moment to properly express his fury. “GET THE FUCK OUT! GET OUT OF MY BREWERY! YOU’RE FUCKING FIRED!”
As Kenneth broke down crying, a new voice called out from behind the furious pandaren. “Om nom, Chug, still got that temper, huh?”
The brewery went dead silent, both brewing room and drinking room. You could have heard a pin drop. Brewmaster Stoutbarrel was legendary for his temper, he was a true master brewer, but half the appeal of his brewery was getting to listen to him snap at rude customers and incompetent employees. But there was one word that didn’t just get you a half-terrifying and half-hilarious tirade, it got you a beating, and that was his old nickname. The massive pandaren was silent for a moment, but one could see the muscles tightening in his shoulders under his shirt, his paws balling into stone-breaking fists. He whipped around, eyes burning, fists raised. “WHAT FUCKING NOM CALLED ME-”
Lien leaned her elbow on the counter, chin resting on her paw as she shot him a teasing grin. She was still in her travelling leathers, supple hide tailored to fit her equally supple curves, a green bambus staff resting against the counter next to her.
Cheng froze, stunned, blinking with surprise. “-Lien?” He finally asked, lowering his fists.
“It’s been a while, Chug.” She purred in Pandaren, grin widening.
Cheng grinned back, chuckling slightly. Suddenly, his limbs moved like striking vipers, ripping a pair of casks off his belt, hurling one at Lien while he popped the cork off the other with a thumb and tossed it back, drinking it down in a single gulp. The cask exploded on the counter where Lien had been leaning not even a moment ago, covering everything within ten feet in thick suds. Lien was suddenly standing on a nearby table, paws spread out into a low stance, staff at the ready, the customers sitting there staring up at her with open-mouthed shock. “EVERYBODY OUT!” Cheng howled as he planted a hand on the bar top and effortlessly vaulted his enormous bulk over it, barreling forward toward Lien with a fire in his eyes and a grin on his lips.
Patrons scrambled to their feet, knocking over chairs in their haste, the nearest two narrowly avoiding being trampled as Cheng’s massive frame barreled into their table, sending it flying across the barroom into another. Lien was already in the air, and as Cheng passed beneath her, she twisted around, swinging her hips around to bring a powerful bicycle kick into back of the charging brewmaster’s head. Or, at least, that was the plan, but he stopped on a dime, throwing up a hand, and her shin hit his forearm, stopping dead. It felt like she’d kicked a tree. She caught a glimpse of a smirk on his lips as time hung there for a moment, then his arm twisted, paw clasping around her ankle in a vice-like grip. Lien reacted in an instant, thrusting her staff out to plant it on the ground as an anchor and rolled her body around, swinging her other leg wide and then bringing it down, hammering her heel on the crown of his skull. His grip loosened as the blow rattled his teeth, and Lien slipped her ankle free, vaulting away on her springy bambus staff to land lightly on the bar counter, grinning widely.
As Kenneth, eyes still red and puffy, pushed out through the brewery doors, leaving the room empty but for the two pandaren, the pair squared off in tense silence, Cheng strafing sideways with slow, cautious steps, looking for an angle as Lien subtly shifted her footing on the bartop. “Looks like you’ve been keeping up with your training.” Lien commented, idly.
Cheng chuckled, darkly. “It’s not easy. I get a little practice on rude customers here and there. But SOME PEOPLE have responsibilities, like running the family brewery. It would be easier if I had some COMPETENT HELP… ” He replied in an accusatory tone, glaring at her for a moment, then relenting. “Not everyone gets to go on crazy, stupid, dangerous adventures in exotic lands... and even fewer have the luxury to keep doing it forever.” He added, a little bitterness creeping into his tone.
Lien shook her head slightly. “You know why I couldn’t come back with you. You wanted to settle down... and I’m not done exploring yet. I’d have gone crazy, knowing how much was out there that I still hadn’t seen...” She explained, eyes going distant for a moment.
Cheng’s toe-claws dug into the wooden floor, curling over the edge of his sandals as he launched himself forward in the moment she was distracted, accelerating his massive frame with incredible speed, bringing his fist around in a mighty haymaker. “Don’t you get it?! There’s always more! It never ends!” He snarled, his voice snapping Lien back to reality just in time spring out of the way of the slow, powerful swing. “When is it enough?!” He demanded. Her paws touched down on the counter again, she could feel something wet on her pads… but as soon as she realized her mistake it was too late. She landed in the suds of his earlier cask-throw, and her feet found no purchase, sliding out from under her. Cheng was on top of her in the blink of an eye, his bulk looming over her as he drew his fist back. “What about our future?! What about US?!” He roared as he swung an uppercut.
Lien’s staff came up just in time to block the brunt of the blow, but without solid footing, she was at the mercy of physics. Cheng was more than twice her weight, and with all that weight behind a lightning-fast-punch, she went flying, arching through the air, she twisted and spun in midair, using her staff to try and get into position to land, but then she clipped a crude chandelier with a resounding ‘thunk’ and any hope of recovering was lost. She landed, hard, on a table, which promptly folded in a way it wasn’t made to, splintering as she crashed through it and hit the ground. She groaned, trying to get her bearings, eyes opening just in time to see Cheng bearing down on her from across the room like an avalanche. “Shit!” She cursed, planting her hands beside her head and pushing off, managing to kip up just in time to pivot around his swinging haymaker, the side of her hand brushing his forearm aside as it passed. She carried the motion through, spinning around, pivoting her staff around her hips and swinging low and hard, the whipping, bendy bambus striking him in the back of the knee with a sharp smack. His leg folded, and his momentum sent him sprawling, sliding along the wooden floor.
Cheng slid a few feet before he managed to stop himself, planting his paws on the floor. He abruptly pushed himself up and rolled over, swinging his leg around to sweep it into Lien’s, only to find she wasn’t there. She was in the air above him, but not for long. She put her feet together and kicked down, putting every ounce of her weight and the full force of her kick straight into Cheng’s round belly. Her feet sank deep, and he let out a ‘hoof’ sound as the air was driven from his lungs with the force of the impact. She bounced off him as his belly returned to its usual shape, landing feather-light at his side, then stepped forward, planting one paw on his shoulder to hold him down (symbolically, of course, even her full weight wouldn’t have been able to pin him down), both hands on her staff as she aimed it, threateningly, at his face. He glared up at her, the fire still burning in his eyes, and reached his hands up, moving to grab her leg… until she twisted her grip on the staff, and from its tip thrust a long, straight blade, snapping forward into place in an instant, its gleaming point stopping just inches from his snout. He froze, hands stopping dead in midair, then glanced up at her, and finally, he relented, letting his arms fall to his sides and laying his head back on the floor, closing his eyes and letting out a heavy, resigned sigh.
As soon as Cheng surrendered, Lien re-twisted her grip, the blade snapping back into the staff with a metallic sound, and she lifted her paw off him. “I...I don’t know.” She confessed, quietly, then shook her head. “But I know I’m happy when I’m traveling, and that I wouldn’t be, if I was stuck here for the rest of my life.” She declared, firmly, planting her staff beside her. “For what it’s worth, though… I do miss having you there by my side.” She finally added, looking down at him with a small, sad smile, as she reached out a hand for him to take.
He took the offered hand after a moment, and together they heaved his bulk up off the floor. “Om nom, I’ve gotten soft…” He muttered, shaking his head. He swept his paws through the air, gathering some faint wisps of emerald mist, before planting them on his back lower back and arching it, stretching out all the newly-formed kinks and letting the healing mists take care of the rest. Lien laid a hand on his shoulder, and he looked back at her with a look of resigned respect. “Fair’s fair, though.” He sighed. “You won, so the drinks are on me. What’ll it be?” He asked, walking around the bar and grabbing a pair of giant mugs.
Lien smiled, settling in to sit on one of the bar stools with a wide, cocky smirk. “Might as well tap a big keg of your finest brew, Chug. We’ve got a lot of catching up to do.” She said with a laugh that echoed through the now-empty brewery, broken tables and spilled drinks left forgotten by the wayside as the two began to talk.
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