"Annie, my dear, I don't want to interfere in your business, but why do I have to wear a formal dress? You know I don't like it." Matthias Floating Barrack's blacksmith entered the living room of their apartment.
"Because I have distinguished guests coming. It's not every day that someone from the greats visits me." Marianne, the most famous tailoress in the West, explained as she set the table. "By the way, I think it looks very good on you." She chuckled.
"I'm not going to put on my adult form just so you can drool all over me. You know I won't see you at all then." The young-looking man shook his head and folded his arms in front of him.
"Maybe I can convince you to do it after they've left." The tailoress stepped in front of her husband and adjusted the metalwork chain on his chest.
"How many of the Eastern dress designs have you made?" The blacksmith took the woman's face in one hand.
"You know me too well. I only have four sets left to make." Marianne giggled.
"There are eight of them. You're only half done? That doesn't seems like you." The man put their foreheads together.
"Only two of them need clothes. They're going north for field work, but you know how long it's been since I made undersea-walker sets. I couldn't resist making them a southern set too." The woman explained, making Matthias laugh.
"You wouldn't be yourself if you didn't, my dear." He smiled at his wife when a throat clearing interrupted the couple.
"Excuse me." Came the man's voice, causing the couple to take a step back from each other. "I didn't mean to disturb anything." The guest grinned.
"Come on, you didn't disturb anything." Marianne waved.
"I didn't know we would be hosting you." Matthias narrowed his eyes when he recognized the energies of the person who had been to his forge not so long ago.
"Believe me, I don't like being here either." The stranger grimaced, then looked at Marianne with a cold gaze. "I don't like being around deserters." The bald man in black said in a sullen voice, which made the tailoress freeze.
"You're talking about my wife. I'd be happy if you didn't insult her in my own house." The blacksmith stepped forward to the woman.
"What courage in such a little thing. Do you even know the truth about your wife?" The strange guest bent down to get to the same height as Matthias's face.
"Spider's thread is the strongest thread in the world and my wife is the best tailoress. And I recommend that you don't forget that I'm not your average blacksmith either." Matthias' hands clenched into fists, and the room began to shake around them.
"Calm down, dear, there's no need to stir things up." Marianne whispered, grabbing Matthias' shoulder.
"Look over there, our little wild predator is protecting his mate, how sweet." The stranger snorted.
"Oh, Altaro, didn't I tell you not to scold my favorite tailoress?" A new voice came, making everyone look in his direction.
"Another predator." Matthias muttered under his breath.
"Your Majesty!" Marianne nodded politely.
"Your Majesty." The bald guy bowed as well.
"A new style, Marianne? You look very good." The green-eyed, white-haired figure, dressed in white to the ankles, giggled while he looked over the tailoress, who was wearing green and blue clothes contrary to her usual brown and red attire. This way the couple looked pretty much alike, like two pieces of a puzzle.
"Thank you. I designed them for our wedding. A little bit of both of our cultures." Marianne explained with a smile.
"It turned out wonderful." The new guest smiled broadly.
"Why didn't you tell me that a wild predator was your favorite tailoress?" Altaro asked the white-haired one.
"She's my only tailor, that should mean something. I always get cold if I don't wear her clothes." The newcomer shrugged.
"So you're the famous predator leader?" The question suddenly came from Matthias's mouth, which made the white-haired one turn to him.
"The one and only." He got the answer.
"Don't be offended, but I didn't think you were that young." Matthias grimaced.
"Well, Matt, are you the one who judges at first sight?" The tailoress put one hand on her chest.
"My dear. I know that it usually don't cause any trouble, but if you had forgotten, I can't see." The blacksmith shook his right hand in front of his face.
"Then for the first aura." Marianne giggled, but her husband just shrugged.
"It was a logical conclusion." He left it at that.
"I'm much older than I look. Marianne is still a little girl compared to me." The white-haired stranger giggled.
"Predators." Matthias shrugged. "May I know what you're doing in our city? I somehow doubt that you came because of Marianne. So far, you haven't been looking for her and she hasn't revealed her identity to anyone except me." Matthias explained with a sullen face.
"Oh, the only reason we're visiting you is really because of Marianne. I wanted to see our little globetrotting spider. But you are right, we're not in town because of her. We have reliable sources that a very dangerous cibő has appeared in the city. We need to look into the matter." The white-haired man spread his arms.
"Cibő?" Matthias grimaced.
"Vampire" His wife explaned in one word to him.
"Oh, I see. But I still don't know why the big guy is here." Matthias added, which made the white-haired figure laugh.
"Normally I wouldn't have come, but I was the closest. It made sense." The stranger finally chuckled. "I'm Arctic Fox, the current leader of the predators." He extended his hand to the blacksmith.
"I'm Matthias Mullen, the blacksmith of Floating Barracks." He introduced himself too.
"And this is my right hand, Altaro the snake." Arctic Fox pointed at the bald man.
"I think, dear, you should be glad that you're not being referred to as Marianne the spider." Matthias turned to his wife with a kind smile on his face.
"It's good to see that Marianne has found happiness beyond the Mountains.' Arctic Fox said in a kind voice.
"It took me a while, but I found my place." Marianne chuckled. "How rude of me. Let's sit down. I've prepared dinner." The woman clapped her hands, and the men sat down at the table as well.
"I've never heard of a blind undersea-walker." Arctic Fox supported his chin with one hand as he looked at Matthias.
"I didn't know that predators poked their noses into other people's business besides vampires'." Matthias growled. "Don't take this as an insult, but your little right hand was the one who called my wife a wild predator earlier. I hope you understand that I'm not in a good mood." He forced a smile onto his face.
"Don't be so grumpy, dear. You know that strictly speaking he's right." Marianne appeared with the dinner she placed in the middle of the table. "I left the Mountains and I don't keep in touch with them, in their eyes I'm wild." The woman shrugged.
"As a matter of fact, you're just not called. I let you out." Arctic Fox remarked.
"If I remember correctly you said. 'I can't go, but if you want to see the world, go. I'll hold them up.'" Marianne repeated the words that had been spoken to her long ago. "I was only a hundred years old, but the world called me. Although I don't know where I would be now if I hadn't met you two hundred years ago." She gave the blacksmith a quick kiss on the cheek.
"If I know you well enough, far east." Matthias sighed. "But I'm glad you found me. Now let's start eating, because it would be a shame if it got cold." He pointed to the food. "Bon appetit, gentlemen." He nodded, as a result of which dinner began.