"Say, how did you come up with the name for your art?" Ryder asked after all of them finished ordering their food. They were sitting with Brown in human form next to an opened window, which Green was on the opposite side of.
"The skeleton had a diary on it. I had to read it multiple times before I realized that was the name of the relic. Mhm-mhm."
"Ah huh." Initially, Ryder didn't understand why Langis mentioned the diary and not the relic itself. A few seconds of thinking later, he realized the Goddess' universal language spell would only translate the word as is if it was written in English. It's the only explanation he could think of.
"I feel like I should apologize for not believing you when you said you're famous yesterday. I really didn't expect so many customers to swarm to your stall."
"A-ha! It's all about branding, my dear Dragon Rider! When I started travelling the world, I noticed my mask stood out a lot wherever I went. So, I decided to associate it with my work. It took me 20 years, but I'm finally the famous artist I always wanted to be. Mhm-mhm!" Langis started tilting his head left and right playfully.
Blink. Blink. Ryder froze for a few seconds when he heard that. He completely forgot about the elf's curse. Even though the person in front of him looked like an effeminate teenager, it was entirely possible that he was a 30- or maybe even 40-year-old-man. That revelation made him even more unsure of how he should feel about the elf's offer yesterday.
Their food arrived and just as they were about to dig in, the elf spoke up again.
"Oh! I almost forgot. Please stretch your arm out, Dragon Rider." He pulled his long sleeve back and revealed the back of his hand.
The human looked at him puzzlingly.
"I want to thank you for saving my life yesterday and helping me out earlier, Dragon Rider." Numbers subtly glowed on the back.
"Ah. Thank you for your generosity, Langis." Ryder stretched out the back of his right hand and hovered it above the elf's. The number on the elf's hand went down while the number on the human's hand went up. When the transfer was complete, they retracted their hands.
"My offer from yesterday still stands if you change your mind, Dragon Rider." The artist grinned.
Ryder chuckled awkwardly and started eating his meal in silence. As for Langis, his torso swayed slightly, as if his upper body was dancing to a tune in his head, while he eats. Green was amused by how odd the elf was acting.
"Do you mind if I ask you a sensitive question, Langis?" The human wiped his mouth and placed his utensils next to the empty plate.
"I'll answer any question you have, o Dragon Rider. Mhm-mhm!" The elf was still chewing on his food.
"Why do you keep drawing these lewd paintings, and offering your body to me for that matter, when you don't seem comfortable whenever the customers from earlier made lewd remarks about your art and your body?" Ryder was aware it was an uncouth question, but his curiosity got the better of him.
Langis stared at him in silence as he slowly chewed his food and gulped it down. The silence lasted a few more seconds before he spoke up.
"Everyone in our tribe is forced to cover their bodies in unique clothing and masks until the day they die, even when they try to conceive children. We are never allowed to see even our loved ones' bare bodies, despite the fact that we experience the same lust and need for touch as most other races. I never thought there was beauty to be appreciated in a person's naked body until I read the relic. My worldview was shattered that day, and no matter what I did, I cannot suppress my desire to create and read art that displayed the elegance of a body as well as how it interacts with another in an intimate manner."
He took a deep breath before continuing. "I said I made a decision to travel the world, but it would be more appropriate to say I was exiled for expressing my desire as it was seen as taboo. When I made my way into the world, I quickly realized the way I see the art in the relic was different from how the rest of the world did. Their eyes were often filled with hungry lust when they gaze upon my art. It wasn't wholly unexpected as I do experience lust too. However, whenever they talked to me about what they saw, I was disappointed and even occasionally disgusted by their perspective."
"But, there are times when people appreciated my drawings the way I appreciated the relic." His tone started becoming lighter. "It fills me with boundless joy when I successfully share that excitement and appreciation for a body's beauty with someone else. That same excitement and appreciation extend to real bodies as well. I want to see my body not as a result of a foolish wish that led to centuries of suffering, but as a piece of art that can be admired and enjoyed by others. I offered my body to you, Dragon Rider, because I believe you'll be able to savor my body in an artistic and sexual manner while I do the same. That's why I continue my journey to draw, even though only one in a hundred will appreciate the relic as I did."
"...Wow. That's... quite complicated." Ryder had no idea what to say. Green was similarly overwhelmed by Langis' response too, though Brown only showed minimal interest.
"I usually don't like answering this kind of question because it makes me sound serious! I don't want to be a boring old man like my father. Bleughhhhh." The elf scowled with great exaggeration before finishing up his meal.
The human couldn't help but chuckle. He thought for a while and offered sincerely, "Even though I still don't really want to have sex with you, I'm willing to pose for you if you want to draw more of me."
"Really?! Hooray! Hooray! Let's go to the nearest inn right now! I can't wait! Mhm-mhm!" The artist's ears started fluttering like crazy.
"All right, all right." Ryder smirked.
After they paid for their meals, they went to the closest inn and did what Ryder offered. He was initially pretty reluctant for Langis to draw him nude, but he compromised by covering his genitals with a wooden board.
The drawing session continued until midnight. Ryder unintentionally fell asleep because he was pretty tired. When he woke up the next day, he almost yelped when he saw Langis sleeping next to him with only his cloth mask on. It was still pretty weird for him, but he could tell the elf bore no malicious or purely sexual intent.
Once they were all dressed up and had their breakfast, it was time to part ways, though not before they exchanged their address cards.
The first thing Purple said to Ryder when he touched down next to him was, "How was the night, Ryder?" before cackling. The dragon always knew how to embarrass his rider.
"I'm going to miss you, Dragon Rider." Langis spoke as he hugged the human. "Hopefully our path will cross with each other again. Mhm-mhm!"
"You can just call me Ryder, Langis." Ryder grinned when the elf let go of him.
"Okie!"
"By the way, what's the name of your race?"
"Oh! It's-" What followed was 10 seconds of incomprehensible noises coming out from his mouth.
"Uhh, wow. That's quite the long name."
"Is it? Other tribes have longer names, mhm-mhm."
"You know, your overall appearance resembles a race back in my home. They're called elves, or elf, singular."
"Elf. That sounds nice-nice! Elf. It does sound easier to say."
Suddenly, Langis approached Ryder's face, lifted his mask up, and kissed Ryder's cheek. He then smiled with his bare face fully visible for the dragon rider to see.
"Thank you for being so kind to me, Dragon Rider."
After that, he let his mask down again and left.
Ryder held his cheek in shock as Green was, well, green with envy, though he tried to hide it.
When the human returned to his senses, he noticed his other hand was holding something. It was a scroll. When he opened it up, he saw a drawing of Langis smiling brightly with a face that didn't resemble his actual appearance. His iconic cloth mask was lying on the ground next to him, which was accompanied by the words "Something to remember me by".
Ryder smirked and stashed the drawing into his pouch before heading to their next destination.
