Farin walked through the bustling temple with a smile plastered on his face.

This is actually really bad, isn't it?
"Greetings, Farin, have you seen Ives?" "Yes, he is in the lower courtyard with the children." "Thank you!" Farin nodded to the seamstress carrying different rolls of cloth around. Ives needed robes, but he hated standing still for the measurements.

He continued on. I can't allow myself to fall for him. Gender isn't even the problem here.
"Ah, sheesh! Where do I have that stupid..." Passing by a young woman searching for something on the ground, Farin stopped, directing her gaze below the chair by pointing at it. "Are you searching for that?" "Eh? Yes, I am! Thanks!"

Strolling out of the room, he made his way through the kitchens. 
Problem number one is the mountain. It's impossible to wander in and out freely, so one side would have to leave their life and family behind. Isn't that too cruel?
"Oh, we are having stew today?" "Yep. Smells nice, doesn't it?" "Sure does. I'm looking forward to it." Do they even allow one of theirs to be together with a human? Humans surely wouldn't allow me to go after a God.

The day was cloudy, looking like rain. Some children who didn't have lessons where playing, nonetheless.
"Don't be so rowdy, behave." "Waah! Farin! We're sorry!" And that's all not even considering the large possibility he wouldn't even be interested in me. Physical contact seems normal to him, it's nothing special. 
"I understand you want to play, but remember that this isn't some playground, alright?" "Hmm, we will remember!"

Farin looked around, taking in the sight of the well-kept temple grounds. Everyone had their tasks here, no one had a troubled look on their faces. The adults up here knew what they wanted, and the children were in the process of finding it.

No matter what, it would be disadvantageous to me. The best would be to behave as a carrier should. Do my work, nothing else.
Farin allowed his facial features to derail for just a minute. "Damn it", he breathed out soundlessly, rubbing his temples. Feelings don't work that way.

It was a worrying situation for him, but since his behavior had already started to transcend any boundaries of logic, he was probably beyond saving. Since he was already risking his life by interacting with a being he knew near to nothing about and breaking more than just law, how could he even think he'd stop just because things would get more troublesome? The very second that giddy feeling of seeing Alvarr for the first time had taken over his body, the way out was cut off.
All he could and should do was try to keep the negative effects to a minimum.

If Alvarr won't get too interested in me, the whole thing won't be a problem anyway. I can just wait and see how things develop. For now, Farin just shoved the problem to the back of his mind, deciding to ignore it. With slow steps, he made his way through the courtyard, letting his mind wander.
A small figure saw him acting like that and hopped over. When the short arms circled his waist, Farin almost habitually reached out to pat her head.

"Can I help you somehow?", Lori asked into his clothes. Farin poked the back of her head. "You could not cling to me, that would make walking much easier." "You know I don't mean that! Do you want me to get your friends? Talking to your friends is helpful when you're troubled."
The carrier had thought about asking his friends to come up. Never before had he wanted to just have all his loved ones close around him so badly; he really needed some other opinions on his situation. At the same time, he couldn't just drag them out of their daily lives.

"Could you bring them a letter from me?", he asked Lori after contemplating. Since his friends knew the basic situation, he could explain his plight in a way no one else would understand. Or, well, at least Skari would understand and explain it to Eylir.
Lori was happy to be asked for help and nodded hurriedly, showing her teeth in a wide grin. "Whatever I can do to help! It's no problem at all!" "You won't have time to play with your friends, though." "Ehh, those guys... They're being stupid right now, anyway!" "Hm? What's the matter?"

Lori pouted, crossing her arms. "I dunno! They're suddenly saying that a girl can't be part of their group and are doing all kinds of stupid things. They even stole food from the kitchen!" She stopped, slapping her hands over her mouth and glancing up at Farin. "...You didn't hear that."

Farin smiled gently. The cooks know immediately when something is gone from the kitchen. Since they didn't report it, it's fine, but this is a bit... "Didn't hear it. But you say they cut you out of their group?" The little girl nodded with a dejected expression, letting her foot slide over the ground. "It's probably nothing permanent. If you want to, I'll give you some extra lessons until they've calmed down."

Contrary to richer children, orphans like Lori regarded lessons as a reward. The girl's face indeed lit up again. "Yes, please!" "We'll do it like that, then. Will you come along while I write up the letter?" "Hmm!" "Good, then let's go to my room. Also, Lori, if you notice the boys are up to something dangerous, then tell me or Ives, okay?" "Okay?"
Lori tilted her head in confusion, but Farin felt slightly troubled. If the boys were forming a tight group and doing planned, unusual things, they might have started doing tests of courage. He knew how badly those could get out of control, so he decided to keep tabs on them for a while.

Her small steps quickened to keep up with him. Since she often came to his room, the guards were nonchalant about seeing her, merely giving a short tilt of their head in greeting and otherwise ignoring them. 
Farin found some paper and ink in his room, quickly penning up a message. The text had almost no information, making it sound like gibberish for someone who didn't know the backstory. Once the ink was dry, Farin tightly folded the piece of paper and lit a candle. The wax melted easily, allowing him to drop some onto the edge, sealing the letter. Once the wax had nearly cooled, he quickly pressed his thumb into it - leaving his fingerprint on the wax. The diagonal line that split his fingerprint would be identification enough; it was a thin scar he had gotten when handling a knife and his friends would recognize it. He didn't find it necessary to use any more means to keep the letter safe.

"Here is it, hide it in your clothes. Do you know who my friends are? It's best if you visit Skari, he will be in the library", the carrier cautioned, handing the small letter to Lori who immediately slipped it into a hidden pocket. "I know who he is. I won't give the letter to anyone else, don't worry. Should I go now?" "If you can." "Yep, I don't have anything to do! Then I'll be on my way now." "I'll ask the cook to keep something nice for you as thanks." Lori giggled and waved as she jumped out of the room.

"Now, what should I do?", the left behind man muttered to himself. "Might as well find Ives." Since he had seen him not too long ago, Ives should still be in the other courtyard.

After a while of walking, Farin reached the lower areas of the temple grounds. Several older children, teenagers, were walking around, looking at each other with troubled faces.
"Five", three of them suddenly shouted, almost at the same time. Groans rose from everyone in response, prompting a smile from Ives. "And again." Silence descended again as the teenagers began pointing around, gesturing wildly. Farin passed them and sat down next to Ives on the bench.

"It's a game. They need to do a rollcall, but as soon as two people say the same number, mess up the order or speak at the same time, they have to start over. They also can't say anything other than the numbers." Farin gave an 'Ooh' in response. Since the teenagers were obviously forced to keep on moving around it was impossible to simply follow the order of their positions. Some teenagers were also trying to show dominance, often shouting at the same time because they wanted the earlier numbers while others were to shy to even try calling out.
"Is there a reason for doing this?" "Did you know that the sign of our temple isn't based on the sun but rather a cogwheel? The temple works like a clockwork. The people here need a good understanding of each other to work together so well."

That made sense. Fights were almost nonexistent up here, as was people going against the rules. The temple was filled with immeasurable treasures and, as a place linked so closely to a race of deities, couldn't allow any mistakes. The only reason why it was functioning despite missing a strict rulership was that everyone watched out for the others. Everyone knew all the tasks and all the people.

Quietly, Farin leaned over to whisper something to Ives. "How long have they been doing this?" "Almost an hour. If the time my group needed back then is any use as a standard, then they're still doing rather fine. No food for them until they manage to get at least halfway." "I didn't need to do anything like this..."
Ives glanced at him with glowing eyes, his smile holding some sort of hidden meaning. "A Farin isn't part of the clockwork. You exist around. There is no need for you to be trained as a cogwheel."

That was the truth. If the temple was the clockwork, then the carrier was the puppet that the clockwork kept running. The temple prepared everything the carrier needed, it even supplemented the perfect mindset and knowledge. The carrier was just expected to walk that one line and return right back, not interfering with anything else. Farin pursed his lips.
"This place really does work differently than any other in this world."

Ives sighed, his tired eyes closing. "Yes. Humans mustn't ever come close to the Gods. Only a clockwork temple and a walking puppet are allowed up here." His eyes opened again. "Well, I'm still learning how to be the key that winds it all up. How do you think I'm doing?"
"Good, I'd say. I always worry that you might fall asleep while walking, but you have a talent for finishing your work when no one's watching", teased Farin, causing Ives to give a good-natured laugh. "Sleeping is nice, you know?"

The teenagers once again messed up at nine, still a bit from the needed half of 28.
"I'm a bit surprised, did we really have that many teenagers up here?", Farin wondered out loud. Ives explained in his soothing voice. "Almost all of these are teenagers that come up only for lessons once a week. Only a small part of them will stay here, the others leave for bigger cities where they find work. We still want them ready, though, in case a larger batch of older people decides to leave."

The temple was a completely unrestrictive workspace. The Farin could decide to stop their task at any time, given that they declare their intent to quit at least one month before leaving. Every worker had the same set of rules; as long as there was someone to fill up the position, they could leave immediately, otherwise, they'd have to train up a successor.
Only the temple master was expected to stay in the temple until old age and personally train an heir. The position had too much power in the country to be played around with. Their knowledge was too precious to be shared between more than two people. Farin reckoned even the royal family didn't have full intel on everything the temple master knew.

"Hmm, I understand that." "I hope you'll stay around for a while. Switching a Farin makes everyone nervous." After a moment of stunned awkwardness, Farin cleared his throat. "I think I'll indeed be around for a while."

"Fourteen! We did it!" A collective sigh was heaved from the exhausted teenagers as they let themselves fall to the floor. They had been walking in wild circles for an hour, the constant turning making them dizzy.
"Good! Next week, we will do the full run." "Ehh?! Seriously?!" "It's not that hard if you actually know each other a bit better. What do you say, Farin?"

Over two dozen pairs of eyes fixed on the carrier, who flinched softly at being called. With a crooked smile, he nodded. "At least that'd make it easier, I believe?"

"Why, though?"
"Well, if I take my friends... My hot-blooded friend would definitely want to go first, so I'd wait for him to talk. The other one would let me go before him, so I'd go next, and then he'd call his number. If I added Ives to the mix he'd probably be last because he'd have no desire to push himself up front. Uhm, if Lori was in there, too, she'd be even before the hot-blooded guy because she's playful and would want to be first and he'd let her." Farin tilted his head. "If you know the character of the people around you, you can guess when they're likely to call out. That lowers the chance of accidentally calling out at the same time by a lot. After all, you can retry as often as you want to."

'What, so I gotta get to know these people?' was written all over their faces. Some social butterflies seemed fine with the concept, but there were shyer or more arrogant teenagers in the mix that wouldn't make it easy.

"Cyrille would probably go last because he'd refuse to participate as long as he could", Ives whispered loud enough only for Farin. An amused tremble went through the young man. "That's true. I couldn't imagine him willingly playing such a game."
"It's fascinating to see how different people turn out just because of their surroundings." Ives shook his head.

Owl

Actually, the main storyline won't be that long, but I think I'll write several short, episodic extra chapters that are mostly fluff afterward :'D If you have anything you wanna see, you can poke me about it :3 I do take suggestions

Some cryptic things being said here, but it will make sense in the end. Ives isn't just talking nonsense~
The game is real btw, and actually surprisingly hard to do in a group of people you don't know too well. That was my experience with it anyway, even though it was rather fun!