Despite all feelings of discomfort, Farin kept a neutrally friendly face.

"Oh, we can't have a stranger pay for us. It's fine, we will simply take whatever is free downstairs."

Towards the end of the sentence, the young man turned to speak to the waiter who was hesitating and glancing at the obviously rich addition to the group. The rich man, however, had no intention of backing off.

"I insist", he said, his voice barely friendly before he addressed the waiter. "Prepare a room for four people. Hurry up."

The waiter bowed down and hurried away, the sight annoying to Farin. The one person he absolutely wanted to avoid had somehow found him down here, where he had no excuse of meeting with the temple master to leave.

Why do I feel like he's doing it on purpose? Is he planning on making me let my guard down by inviting my friends, as well?

"In that case, thank you very much." Keeping an amicable smile, Farin carefully reached out to pinch Eylir's arm. The movement was hidden only because they stood rather close, allowing him to do it quickly when the visitor glanced away.
The muscular youth tapped Skari in return, who ended up starting a conversation with the noble young man. That short interaction was enough for both youths to know that their friend was not happy with the stranger, making them wary.

The noble glanced at Farin, who was pointedly looking through the room, while conversing with Skari.
Minutes later, they had been led to the third floor of the building.

Fascinated, all three friends stared out of the windows. At this height, they could look over most rooftops, until the forest. It was a beautiful scenery. A large table was placed next to the window and a gentle-looking waitress was standing in the corner of the room to greet them. It was her job to be at the beck and call for anything the special guests might need. She had a small and soft face and professional smile, curiously looking at the very mixed group that was coming in.

An obvious noble, a scholar, a hunter and a fourth young man with questionable origins. Not exactly the most common group to get together, but it wasn't her place to question such a thing.
All four sat down around the table before the noble began to introduce himself.

"I'm happy you decided to take my invitation. Please call me Cyrille¹The meaning is 'Lord'." The host introduced himself first, prompting the others to follow. He was leaned back in his chair, legs folded over each other, perfectly at ease and yet exuding an air of arrogance.

"My name is Skari, and this is Eylir. This here is Farin." With his sweet voice, Skari took the lead in introducing all of them, relieving Farin of the duty. Skari was a great partner for a conversation and since he was intent on protecting his friend, Cyrille wouldn't be able to question Farin as much as he wanted.
Indeed, the man's face gave a tiny twitch as Skari continued to talk, perfectly playing the curious but polite scholar who would take the lead in conversing with their host.

"It really is kind of you to invite the three of us. We would never be able to enter a room on the third floor otherwise."
"Farin certainly should be able to, shouldn't he? There's no restaurant that would deny a carrier's request, right?" Cyrille tried to steer the conversation into another direction, but Skari blocked with a kind smile, taking the tea from a waitress entering the room without a word.

"Farin wouldn't misuse his new status like this. The three of us are simple men, we are satisfied with the first floor. Even just having someone serve us feels weird. After all, we are used to working for the things we want. It's rare for us to take an afternoon just to laze around."

Eylir's grin grew wider. He only held back a laugh when Farin pinched his thigh. Cyrille's eyes sparkled darkly at the implications behind Skari's words, but he controlled his facial expression perfectly. Even the glint was only momentarily.

"In the end, people just want to thank Farin for doing his work. While that is kind, he wouldn't exploit that. I don't think any Farin would, they are chosen for their character after all."
Skari gave a quick thanks to the waitress before looking over the tea set. It was a beautiful, delicate set worthy of the room.

Seeing none of the three order any food, Cyrille took on the task and ordered various dishes to try.

"I hope they will be to your liking. I quite enjoy the food here."
Under the amicable mask, Cyrille was already getting annoyed. The Farin was obviously uninterested in talking to him and the little scholar was constantly interjecting to make sure he didn't have to.

Farin hid a growing grin behind his cup of tea, slowly sipping on it. He was curious to see how long the noble's temper would last before he left. To his surprise, Cyrille proved tenacious throughout the whole meal.

"You have a special set of robes for carrying the sacrifice, don't you? Is there a meaning behind it? I heard it was supposed to calm the mind, but I don't quite believe it." Cyrille inquired, finally asking a question that Skari couldn't take over.
Glancing at his friend, Skari leaned back in his seat. Farin took another sip before he decided to answer.

"Of course there is."
Cyrille's eyes lit up. "Please don't leave me guessing. Does it have a calming effect on the Gods instead, maybe?"

Farin's smile didn't reach his eyes as he glanced up over the rim of his cup.

"Not at all. It's just that, in case the Gods are dissatisfied with me or the sacrifice, they will have a pure thing to eat."
The green eyes of the noble blinked shut. Stunned, he voiced his confusion. "What?"
"Light colors invoke a sense of cleanliness and purity, don't they? No one would want to eat something dirty, after all. If the Gods don't like the sacrifice, they can just eat me instead."

Farin answered with complete nonchalance, but he could feel his friends - Eylir, especially - tense up slightly. In their group, Eylir was the least confident about the Gods being peaceful and even Skari, who had quite some faith in them, didn't like the fact that his friend was being treated as disposable goods.
Doing things this way had been the decision of the first ever temple master.

"You mean... the Gods eat humans?" Cyrille's voice was slightly weird, but Farin was smiling brightly. "And you're looking happy about it?"

"Please don't misunderstand. It has been a long, long time since someone didn't leave the cave. The reasons might even have been completely different from what we expect. I simply believe that I am not in danger when entering the cave."

That was his honest opinion. Even before, he hadn't felt dangerous when entering the cave. Now that he had even been protected inside there, he felt even less worried about it.
Since there are other beasts inside that cave, it should be more likely that the past deaths are due to encounters with them.
Of course, he didn't say that out loud.

"I see."
Cyrille fell deep in thought, turning much quieter for the rest of the meal. After some time, he began to say his goodbyes.

"I shall see you during the weekend, Farin", he said, watching the youth's reaction. Farin merely smiled in return.
When Cyrille had finally left, they sent the waitress out as well. Only then did they all relax. Eylir grabbed some more pieces of meat for himself before looking at the carrier.

"So, what's up with that guy?"

"He came to the temple for work, accompanying a family member. Master warned me he might be interested in messing things up."

Not much more explanation was needed. His friends looked at him in worry.
"Is it going to be dangerous for you if he makes the Gods mad?"

"They're not dangerous", Farin said, slightly too resolute. Skari left his seat, pushing his chair around the table to Farin and sitting right in front of him with squinted eyes.

"Hmmmm?" He dragged the questioning sound for a long time.
"What? What is it?", Eylir complained, not understanding what was going on but scooting closer to an awkward Farin anyway.

After a long round of staring, Farin gave in with a wry smile. "Promise me you won't snap."
Determined, quick nodding.

"I might have ended up meeting one directly."

Silence.

"What. You mean, like, a God? Face to face?"

More silence.

"Maybe. It's not like I can safely say he was one, but he was inside the cave and taking some of the sacrifice."

Stunned silence.

The carrier watched as the faces of his friends kept on changing. While Eylir's jaw had just permanently dropped, Skari's mouth was flapping open and shut continuously.

"Just to clarify, it was an accident. But he seems like a nice person, so I want to try getting along with him." A smile. Skari groaned and slapped his hands in front of his face.
"Farin! You're not seriously planning to do that, are you?! Are you even aware of what you're doing?!"

"Hm."
Farin nodded. Of course he knew how ridiculously dangerous his plan was, but even if it failed, it shouldn't implicate anyone else.
"Going by all the things you have done in that short life of yours, I'm pretty sure you're missing some things in your brain. A sense of fear, for example. And of danger." "That's actually not that unlikely..."
The blue-haired carrier laughed softly. Maybe he really was a bit too relaxed about all of this.

"But I have reasons for not worrying. Actually, that Alvarr saved my life." His friends jolted, prompting him to quickly recount the story. When he was finished, telling them about both encounters, they were hanging on the table with shaking heads.
"Your luck is ridiculous. Who would have thought those things are inside the mountain..."

Eylir shuddered. Skari and Farin had only known about the mutated beasts thanks to drawings and stories, but Eylir, as an apprentice hunter, had already met them. It was the number one reason why hunting was only allowed in groups. For a long time, no one had given the beasts a name at all, the mere mention of 'the beast' being enough for everyone to know what was being talked about. Nowadays, some people called them Demons, though an official name was still missing.

"I admit I hope that this one encounter with them will stay my last. I can't hope for an Alvarr to be around the next time."
"He seriously killed it alone?" 
"Instantly, even. It was a child's play for him, even though he didn't look that strong."

Their foreheads were creasing when trying to imagine the figure Farin had described. Thoughtfully, Skari nibbled on a piece of chicken. "It's nice that he's not threatening you and all that, but you should know the danger of not sharing a language. If you do some kind of movement he sees as hostile, he might attack you."
Farin nodded in agreement. "I know. I already noticed he doesn't like me bowing to him, or at least that's what it appeared like."

"Does he have a completely different body language from us? You'll have to take notes or something. I mean, having a tail and movable ears is probably convenient for conveying all sorts of reactions, but only to someone who can read them."

Troubled, the three looked at each other.
"How do you manage to attract so much trouble in just a few weeks when others have been carriers for years with nothing happening?" Despite Eylir's grumbling, Farin wasn't very worried that he was genuinely irritated. The tall youth was glancing at his friends with a serious gaze. "You absolutely can't let anybody know about this. Not my family, either, or they'll drown in worry and drag me right off the mountain."
"Alright." "...Fine."

Farin sighed in relief when the two gave their word. Much more relaxed, he glanced over the table. Most dishes had been eaten and the tea was cold by now. The view was just as nice as before, but they had wasted quite some time here.
"Shall we leave? Everything is on Cyrille's tab, but I don't want to owe him any more." "Yeah, let's go. I still gotta help my Dad with some animals that need to be skinned."
Skari shuddered at the image. "Ew!" "Oh come on, someone's gotta do that job. Otherwise, where would you get your nicely packed meat from, hm?"

A small round of bickering began while all three stood up at the same time, carefully pushing their chairs back. Maybe hearing the sound, the waitress came in and smiled at them.
"I assume that you are finished? Was everything to your satisfaction?" "Yes, thank you very much. It was really tasty."
The waitress was beaming at the compliment, leading the three out with an honest smile that made Farin sweatdrop. Were the servants up here really treated that badly by their noble guests?

I could see him take offense at the slightest thing, Farin thought, remembering Cyrille's haughty behavior. The Alvarr looks less troublesome than him. He even took the fruit that fell to the ground without a complaint. Actually, maybe I can sneak in some other food for him to try?

The youth didn't even notice how the thought that Alvarr would come by again had already settled. Maybe it was because he unconsciously sensed that the young God was just as curious, that he had such a feeling. The only shame was that he couldn't enter the mountain freely yet, that would give him much more freedom in learning the other's body language.

Making his way down the winding stairs, Farin glanced at the numerous people on the first floor.
Humans often bonded over food, so maybe that was a path he could take with a God, too?

Owl

I always found those small theatres that authors added under their stories super fun. Have one, as well~

Small theatre

Spoiler

Alvarr (in a different language): "Aren't we on the eye level? Can't you tell I'm not hostile?"
Farin: *Begins to lower his body
Alvarr: "???"
Alvarr: "You're not making any sense"

[collapse]