It was late that evening when Firion and I had just finished getting ready for bed. Though… it was kinda embarrassing since both of us don’t have sleeping wear and instead choose to just lie in our undergarments. Which would be normal if we weren’t together, in the same room, sleeping with- no, near each other. I was already hiding under the blankets of the bed and Firion was facing towards the front wall. Something that Firion didn’t exactly need to do, I mean we are mature adults so it’s not the end of the world but, it’s just nice. My face is red hot so I can’t begin to imagine what Firion’s looks like. Since for such an outgoing and charming character he can be quite shy.
Firion has finished arranging the room for the most comfortable sleeping arrangement, placing his sleeping bag over two couch pillows. He squirms himself inside the sleeping bag then zips it so that he can still move his arms.
“Goodnight, Ashla. Please get at least some sleep, I’m not carrying you if you get tired and I’m not risking a midday nap with those guys coming back for us.”
I giggle and say goodnight back.
30 minutes later
“F-Firion?” I murmur, trying not to startle him.
Firion rolled over to look at me. “What is it?” He says earnestly.
I sigh, now that I mention it I can’t seem to describe this sense of unease I’m feeling.
“Can I talk with you about something?”
Firion nods, I can just see it in the dark.
“I, well, this is nowhere near where I always stayed. I mean everything about this hotel is better than my dingy little cave homes but… it’s like, I feel uncomfortable- uneasy- about being here. It’s this feeling of something not being right, like my body knows where I am isn’t… home. For lack of a better word.” I chuckle. “As sad as it is, my three small dwellings were the only places I could call my home, and not being there is hard. Do you… get it or am I not making sense?”
Firion smiled reassuringly towards me. “Yeah, I get it. Lots of people say things like that when they’re someplace brand new, it’s just a feeling that goes away after a time. When we travel farther, eventually you’ll come to the point where you don’t think about it, trust me.”
His words encouraged me, even though I still felt a little nervous. His kindness made me feel… safe. He seemed to speak from a lot of experience.
I decided to ask him a question that retrospectively might have been too close to him. “Before you joined that group of heroes, when you were a kid, did you have a home?”
“I- did. Then I had to leave. Now I don’t need a home.” Firion’s voice was so icy and… almost harsh, that I knew I’d hit a sensitive nerve I shouldn’t have. He turned back over and went slack on his side to sleep.
I was hitting myself mentally for asking such a personal question when I knew he had a hard past. I should’ve known better.
“Sorry.” I only said delicately, wanting to end the conversation.
“It’s okay. Firion said. “Just please don’t ask about that again.”
I didn’t.
...
I woke up that day, on my comfy, luxurious, sleeping bag, with the sun shining brightly through the window blinds. Firion was already awake, he had slept in the same clothes he was wearing last night, his hair was ruffled all over the place but he looked lovely as ever. He was sharpening his sword, with our bags sitting next to the door. I yawn as I crawled out of the bag and greeted him.
“Good morning, Firion!”
“You too. I already got everything ready for our journey! Locke’s going to meet us at the breakfast bar so you should get ready.”
After putting on my tattered robe we gathered our weapons and gear, put our packs on, and went to meet Gregory.
“What took you two so long?” Locke said, chomping down on an egg and cheese burrito as big as his head.
Firion and I rolled our eyes as we sat down at the table he was at. I looked down and picked the a large pamphlet that was in front of me.
“What’s this?” I asked curiously.
Firion gave a sigh and said. “That… would be a menu. It has a;; of the food you can order on it.”
“Oh! I’ve heard of these!” I beamed. “That’s really convenient for knowing what they have to eat!”
I excitedly flipped open the menu and looked at all of the contents inside. I read them all until I came the one on the bottom.
“Buttermilk… pancakes? And it says here they come with something called soyrep, or, I think people call it syrup...”
Locke was laughing to himself as Firion leaned over to me. “I’d bet you’d like that the best.”
I looked at Firion and said. “Okay! Let’s try it!”
We called over the waiter and ordered the food. Firion got a medium sized bowl of oatmeal and Locke got a Third order of everything. After waiting for what seemed like an hour it finally arrived. The waiter set down Firion and Locke’s food first before he gave me mine. I had my hood covering my head and borrowed Firion’s gloves to conceal my appearance so we wouldn’t risk making a scene. The hotel dining area was very nice, with gas powered lights and green and blue walls. It was very bright and everyone was talking to themselves, a stark contrast to The Inn. The Dwarf was wearing his purple cloak with the hood down and Firion was looking as he usually did, although he was slightly cleaner than before.
I have never fallen in love before, but now I think that I understand what love feels like. Because when the waiter set down those warm, fluffy, light, pancakes soaked in that thick, juicy, dark brown substance called syrup. I felt my heart skip a beat. As I slowly cut the three layered tower to paradise, I smelled the creamy aurma, inviting me to take a bite. When I was done the buttermilk pancakes were cut into seemingly thousands of squares drowning deep, deep in syrup. And then, I devoured them! LIKE AN ANIMAL! I LOVE THEM!!!!
“Hey Ashla, how's the pancakes?” Firion said.
“Pretty good.”
