Air in the adventurer's guild hummed in silence; only two adventurers sat at a table. Scars lined Roth's ginormous arms. The size of his biceps were comparable to tree logs that somehow fit in his shirt. On the table, he was sharpening a knife at a methodical pace with a whetstone. Bronya watched, boredom filled her eyes whilst watching him, her cheeks rested on her palms.. Instead of her usual top, she wore a long sleeved shirt.
"Do you ever get bored of that Rothie?" Bronya couldn't help but inquire. For as long as she has known him, he sharpened, and had maintenance on his tools and weapons. Even the ones he has not used for a very long time.
"It's important to always do this." Roth said, not even bothering to answer her question. Of course, he did get bored during the process. Who wouldn't? He answered the question non-verbally. "Your axe doesn't need maintenance, so of course you wouldn't get it."
"I'm surprised you can tell that it's not your everyday axe~ But, I guess that's true, but you could be doing something else instead of working on those ." She said whilst pointing at the other knicks and knacks laying around. "I know your meathead won't like books, but you should try something else out."
Roth stopped his movement, looked at her for a moment and rolled his eyes.
"C'mon~ It's good to try something else out." She groaned. A second later, she reached over the table to grab the whetstone. "Ow! Hey- What was that for?"
"Don't touch them."
"You're no fun~"
"If you're bored, you can try your suggestion."
Over the course of the next ten minutes, Bronya attempted many, many times to disturb Roth's attention. A couple times, she tried to take the whetstone away. Her hand was met with a slap from Roth's, each time he increased the strength. The end result? Bronya rubbing her hand while giving him a side-eye. Her other attempts were halted when Roth ignored them.
"Is this how you used to have fun when you used to be a merc?" Bronya questioned, she leaned on his shoulder, while looking down at his hands. "Constantly spend your time maintaining your weapons?"
"Spending time on this is better than trying to annoy others."
Her mouth was left open after hearing that. Not even in a million years, did she expect Roth to actually quip back like that. Her disbelief was short lived when the doors to the guild cracked open.
Two familiar figures walked in, the taller one clutched onto his arm. Next to him, she kept her head down.
"Hey! Took you long enough, how are you doing?" Bronya waved towards them. "Old Rothie, are you going to say hi, or are you just going to focus on your little old man fun?"
Without muttering a word, he stood up. Bronya almost fell to the ground as a result, she stumbled and barely saved herself.
"Hi." Roth grumbled and sat back down.
"Sorry to keep you waiting." Lucian apologized.
Bronya quickly patted down her clothes, and took a moment to breathe.
"Aside from what just happened, how is your arm healing up?"
"It's healing fine."
"That's great to hear."
Bronya smiled along with her eyes closing, this showed her "joy" to hear. Both Lucian and Fei felt as if it was forced from her.
"Well, seeing how usually untalkative you both seem, I asked for you to meet up here so we can figure out our next step." Bronya said, leaning on Roth's shoulder once again; clearly she didn't learn her last lesson. Roth glanced at her and threatened to knock her off her balance once again. "Ahem, sorry. Since we'll be teaming up for a few requests, I think it would be best for us to map out what we want to do." She explained, she then gestured towards the table and continued. "Have a seat, or well, grab one then bring it over here."
Following her suggestion, Lucian grabbed two nearby chairs and sat them directly next to each other. Just after they sat down, Bronya took a seat where her original seat was.
"Now that we're all ready and sitting, let's get right to it. Seeing that arm of yours, and the nasty wound that one wolf did to it, I think it would be best for you to take a week or two off before you can go on a request again."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, first of all use your brain. Second of all, that arm will only become a-"
"You won't be able to do anything in a fight with an injured arm." Roth butted in, he brought the dagger to his eye level. Quickly eyeing it, and flipping it to the other side, yet again he inspected it before sheathing it. "Only a moron would fight injured."
"But, that doesn't mean we can't take on gathering, or any other request that wouldn't need fighting."
"Little Lucian, Thranie over there is painstakingly doing what he can as our representative. Pairing us four together is pushing the rules set as adventurers."
"What do you mean?"
"Adventurers who aren't ceramic rank can take a request one below their rank, but can't take a request that's higher ranked. The latter also applies to Ceramic ranked adventurers." Bronya elaborated, the more she explained, Lucian and Fei's expressions contorted into utter bamboozlement. Her explanation made no sense to them, at least her final point.
"How does that make any sense? You're saying we can't take a higher ranked request, yet that request we did was obviously higher ranked…" Lucian said while frowning at her. "At least to ours."
"EXACTLY SO BRONYA NEVER DO THAT AGAIN!" Thran shouted from across the hall. It echoed throughout, and what felt like a sack of potatoes whalloped Bronya's head.
She scratched her cheek, followed by her eyes aimed towards the ceiling. "Nevermind about that. Next one will be guaranteed to be safer, trust us!"
'That better be true…'
"Alright! Rothie and I will see you again when your arm's better."
Bronya stood up, ushered Roth to pack his tools. Just as they were about to leave the other to themselves, she twirled around and with a finger out she said, "I recommend shopping for armor, or some form of protection. That jacket you wore is practically useless aside from fashion sense. It goes the same for you, Little Fei."
They disappeared through the front door, Fei nor Lucian could get a moment to think as Thran rushed them out as well.
"Well, that just felt like a waste of time…" Lucian uttered under his breath whilst scratching the back of his head. "All we got was a quick explanation on how the ranks slightly work… What did we get ourselves into?" He and Thran locked eyes, the latter shrugged his shoulders. "Did you know she was like that?"
"Maybe, but by your own words, you still want to work with them." Thran responded, he stuck his hand in his pocket, a few jingles resounded around them. Fei quickly cuffed her ears and took a few steps towards Lucian. "Well, I would love to chat…" He stopped himself while fiddling with a keychain in his grasp. "But, it is getting late." He locked the front door of the guild. "Have a safe night. And unfortunately, br- Ahem, I mean Miss Bronya is right, you need to go armor shopping."
Both watched as he scampered off. Momentarily, they were stunned by Thran's avoidance of answering their question completely. A second after their stun, they left to go home. During their walk, Lucian held onto Fei's arm. Even though they do explore at night from time to time, he felt a pit in his stomach. Everything felt still, but a hidden shadow lurked between corners… Or so he thought, he just chalked it up to his imagination.
Their bed called when they entered their home. Fei changed into her normal nightgown, meanwhile Lucian switched into his normal nightwear. Simple shirt and shorts. He stared at the ceiling.
"Fei, you awake…?" He whispered to her, looking to his right Fei huddled into a ball on her side, facing away from him.
"Mmm…?"
"Why don't we go shopping tomorrow?"
"Mm…Okay…"
'She's…' Lucian chuckled to himself. 'She seems so carefree.'
Meaningless thoughts rushed around his head. Eventually slowing down, as sleepiness struck. Before they knew it, morning came. Light beamed down on his eyes.
"Damn sun…" Lucian groaned while shielding his eyes from his assailant. He kept that position for a few minutes. "Can't really go back to sleep…" His hand fell onto his eyes whilst mumbling that.
Once he stood up, the tiredness drained from his body; however, after effects of his sleep remained. Yawning, he scrounged in their closet for quite some time.
"Good morning…" Fei's voice was heard, albeit with slight difficulty as a yawn deafened it immensely.
"Good morning, how'd you sleep?"
"Mm… Good."
"You can go back to sleep, we have nothing going on this morning."
'She's always so tired in the morning…' Lucian couldn't help comment internally, he smiled watching Fei struggle to keep her eyes barely open. 'Cute…'
She swayed from side to side, nearly tipping over a few times. At last, she flopped onto the bed and quickly went back to dreamland.
Outside of their room, Lucian dressed into his daily clothes. He threw his old clothes into a nearby basket.
'Seems like it's healing nicely, the pain got better.' He noted whilst rotating his left arm a few times. While the pain was still there, the severity was better than before. Just to double check, he rolled up his sleeve and unraveled the bandages.. His arm was nearly double the size. Clotted blood littered where he was bitten, but blood didn't stream from it.
Despite its appearance, it was healing nicely. Albeit, quicker than a normal wound. Not risking the chance of it getting exposed to infection, he tightly wrapped the bandages again and pulled his sleeve back down.
"Now should we go out for breakfast, or should I cook…" Lucian mumbled, turning the corner of the tiny hallway, he looked around their kitchen. It wasn't much to look at anyways, on a cabinet sat the box of vegetables they were given. No attempts were made to keep them fresh, Lucian's taste buds didn't like the thought of eating them raw."That takes that out… Plus, she really doesn't like that." He took his merry time, searching through the cabinets.
One loaf of bread, a few eggs, and a limited amount of ingredients were what he could find. With his hands on his hips, he sighed. Unless they went grocery shopping, they would just have to stop by Aiko's place.
One would ask how they kept the eggs from spoiling; Fei's magic, it was an obvious solution. With it they were able to keep them cool.
"Well… I guess that answers everything. I'm sure Aiko will be excited to see us." He said to himself, a small smile appeared on his face. "We should have plenty of money, that one request did pay well."
"Eighty copper coins left from the latest one… Yeah… We should be good for a bit."
"Mm…?"
"O-Oh, sorry did I wake you up?"
"..It's… Okay."
"You can go back to sleep again, I'm just seeing how much we have left."
"Mm.. I'm fine."
Pronounced and sharp canine teeth poked out of her mouth when she let out a slow yawn.
Over thirty minutes slipped by, Fei finally decided to get ready. Lucian assisted her, helping her decide on an outfit. Then, his most looked forward/dreaded part came: her hair. With her sitting straight up on the ground. He took a seat behind her.
Brushing it, only helped straighten it. Naturally, it stayed a frizzy mess. When Fei brushed it, it only took the frizz out, leaving a messy coagulation of hair. In their years of knowing each other, she requested Lucian do it when she's dead tired.
'Why is her hair always like this?!' Lucian internally screamed every time he had done it. Other than that, he enjoyed it. To him, it was relaxing. Finally, he brushed it perfectly, no strands poked out to the side, it was all straight with no mess. In the next step, he began to style it.
Carefully, he grabbed a part of her hair. Twisting the clump, he then grabbed a band to keep it in place. Although it was a shoddy job, he couldn't help but feel a bit of pride. Fei turned her head towards him, her eyes asking him if he was finished yet.
"Done!" He answered her with a prideful grin. "Why don't you create a mirror to see how it looks!"
"O-Okay…" Fei stammered. 'Why is my heart racing??' For no reason, she felt her heart rattling her ribcage. She didn't feel her face turn warm from being flustered. A mirror of ice appeared in her outstretched hand. '...' Nothing entered her brain upon her reflection being shown. A small thumping sound bounced around the room, and only Lucian's grin grew bigger. With her hair being put up into a slight bun, and the rest fell below her shoulder blades. And her blue button up shirt, paired with a matching skirt and tights. Fei felt happy about her appearance.
"U-Um… T-Thank you, you…"
"You're welcome!"
After an hour flew by, they left their home. Both had a skip in their step, not even the abnormal amount of gazes doused the flame of joy.
"Ah, welcome, welcome you two. Looks like you came on the wrong day, Miss Aiko's off for the day." A young woman welcomed them once they entered the tavern. "Go ahead and grab a seat, I'll grab your order."
"Thank you!"
Once seated, they took their sweet time deciding. Afterwards, the waitress came back with what they ordered. Eggs, sausages, toast, rice and a salad. They scarfed their meal down.
With twelve copper down, they left in a hurry. Waving goodbye, the next destination awaited.
"Are they even open still…? It's been a few years since we last went." Lucian mumbled in curiosity. "This time, it's clothes for you, so don't hesitate to ask for something if you find what you like, okay?" Fei looked at him, her eyebrows slightly raised to what he said.
"We're going shopping, remember?"
"N-No I, I don't…" Fei responded, her eyebrows scrunched together.
"Anyways– Oh, it is open! Let's go inside!" Lucian exclaimed, an old rickety building entered their sights. Above its entrance a logo with a shirt being thread stood. "Remember this place? I'm surprised it's still standing."
"Y-Yes…"
"Let's go in, and remember, pick things out."
"OH! Welcome new customers! Welcome to my store!" A woman in a lavish black dress welcomed them, she waved towards them with a friendly smile. "Please! Take a look around, I have plenty of options for you to look through!" Both instantly recognized her, she looked a bit older than last time. "And if you need any questions answered, come to me!"
"Thank you! And we will!"
Rows, upon rows of clothes lined the interior. Shirts for women took over the first row they looked at. Lucian watched Fei's gaze, nothing caught her interest. Next in line were jackets; which they skipped since it would be a waste.
"Oh, I would recommend looking over there. Your tights look like they're just about to rip, I have some in stock." The lady appeared just behind them, her arm pointed towards the opposite side. Lucian jumped from the sudden voice, instantly turning around as his hands were prepared to punch something. "Ah, and if it's the cost you might be worried about, they're cheap. Only a few copper coins, that's it." She explained while clapping her hands.
"I-I See… T-Thank you."
Guided by her directions, they found what she was talking about. Fei sifted through, her gaze lingered around many. Each one felt soft to the touch.
"Those will fit you, that's a nice choice!"
"Can you give us a warning next time?!" If she didn't, Lucian felt like his heart would burst from the absolute terror that was driven into it.
"O-Oh, sorry!"
Lucian took a deep and elongated breath.
"Is that what you want?"
Fei nodded after a brief period. Her heart skipped a beat when answering.
"Hold onto it, there's other things we need to get for you."
Searching around for a couple of minutes, they stopped in front of a rack of cloaks. Lucian watched as Fei's ears stood tall, and her eyes lingered on them. Silently, Lucian pulled a couple out and held them to his sides. One was pure white, it matched Fei's hair and fur. The second was one of pure black, polar opposite of what she preferred.
Lucian shook his head at his mistake, put it back then pulled out a third. However, Fei quietly watched, trying not to show her interest in them.
"C'mon, I said we're going shopping for you, pick one; I know you want one."
"U-Um…"
"Knowing you, you want this one?" Lucian raised the first one. Fei stared at it for a moment and lowered her gaze. Her cheeks became rosy as she nodded. "Good, uh.. Can she try this on?" He inquired, his voice filled with awkwardness. The lady watched not far from them– It couldn't be far due to the size of the interior.
She had a huge beaming grin, with a thumbs up and a hand on her hip she allowed it.
With some assistance from him, Fei tied it around her collarbone.
"So, Mr, what do you think of how it looks on her?"'
"Looks cute on her…" He commented, watching as Fei jumped in shock. Then, her face quickly turned red.
"Right?! It's perfect, the length hides her tail, plus with that hood her ears could be hidden!"
"Mhm-"
"I think that it's perfect, oh– since you put it on now you have to buy it, that's the store rules~"
Lucian covered his face in response to her words. 'What else did I expect?'
"How much would it be?"
"4 coppers, along with those tights your total will be 7 coppers."
"That's pretty cheap for the quality…?"
"Don' fret about it." She waved as a way of dismissing his concerns. "They will last for a long time, don' give me that look."
"Whatever."
In a bit of an awkward silence, the lady looked around. With a hand on her chin, a thought and question came to her mind.
"I got a question for ya, what job do you do?"
"We recently became adventurers."
"Hm… I may have something for you, lookin' at how you are, you fight up close?"
"Yes."
She beckoned them. Once at the front counter, she bent below it and popped back up. Within her hands were a pair of gloves. Texture wise seemed soft, just where his knuckles sat laid a thick padding. They were perfect for protecting his knuckles when fighting hand to hand, and pretty basic for coverage for his hands and fingers.
"These ones will cost you three copper."
"Why are you selling them for such a cheap price?"
"For no reason."
After a bit more persuasion, she convinced them to buy the products. With 22 copper down, Lucian felt a slight chill come from Fei. He rushed to say goodbye.
"Ah! Just one moment, please!" The lady yelled towards him, and rushed to his side. With her finger she commanded him to lean down. "Keep an eye on her, there have been rumors about demi-humans around this area that have gone missing." She whispered into his ear.
His eyes widened upon hearing her words. Slowly, he took a step away. Fei felt a weird prang deep in her chest.
"Mhm, good luck out there and have fun on your endeavors!"