Without even opening his eyes, Declan knew he was swimming back up to consciousness, because he could hear the giggling again. That damned imp still going. He (if it even was a 'he.' Declan never knew) never slept in his head.
He felt a fresh stab of pain behind his eyes, not from the unwanted occupant in his mind, but leftover protests from his body from the night before.
He put a hand to his forehead and felt something stuck there. Something flat, like a playing card. He plucked it free and pried his eyes open just enough to look at it -- The Juggler.
He was about to dismiss it and toss it away when he turned it over and saw the note. The name woke him up as if it had been shouted in his face: Gaedren
He sat straight up and had only an instant to register the hard floor before his head smacked against something that felt even harder.
A table, he thought. I'm under a table.
As he rubbed the spot on the crown of his head he blinked, bringing the rest of the room into focus. The tavern was quiet, with only one or two other poor slobs passed out, but at least they sat upright.
Now he remembered -- he was celebrating another successful job (He defined "successful" as a job not thwarted or otherwise interrupted by the laughing thing inside his head), and he'd paid his long-running tab and bought a few bottles for good measure, bottles that were now empty and rolling around under the table with him.
He looked down at the card and the note. Oh, yes, he indeed knew Gaedren. They went way back. If it weren't for Gaedren turning on him, he wouldn't have been forced into self-employment. That, of course, led to the job where...
The giggling came on, harder this time, his mind going fuzzy in the process, like it always did when the little wretched thing pushed through. Declan tried holding it back, but the giggles crept out anyway, small at first, then building in pitch as they burst forth.
He fought it again, like he did countless times, the gibbering, accompanied by whispered voices, sounding like they were right in his ears. He jumped, looking right and left, even as he got the giggling under control.
His outburst had gotten Vonn's attention. The half-orc was wiping down the counter, and narrowed his eyes at Declan, muttering a curse.
Declan leapt to his feet, fighting the swimming sensation in his head, either from his hangover or the imp, he wasn't sure.
"Hey, barkeep," he said, "how bout a breakfast beer for the road?"
The big man jerked a thumb at the door. "Piss off, ya mad fool!"
"What?" Declan offered a real grin, along with a dramatic shrug. "I settled up wit' ya last night, didn't I?"
"Yeah," Vonn said. "Now, get outta here 'fore ya run up another tab I gotta wait forever for you to pay!"
Declan made a show of straightening his meager clothes, and offered an exaggerated bow. "I bid you, adieu!"
"Yeah, yeah," Vonn growled now pointing at the door. "Just a-doo it now!"