UnfortunateHobbyist

So I feel otherwise a lot better than I did before, but my brains still feel somewhat clouded thanks to that covid infection. I hope it'll be gone for reals by next week.

I slowly pull away and open my eyes.

Avilia’s cheeks are flushed and she’s breathing heavily. It seems her heart is racing and she’s looking downwards, holding an index finger against her lips as if in deep thought.

I can’t help but crack a smile. I didn’t realize I was going to surprise her like that.

… Oh. Damn it. I forgot. Of course it surprised her.

This probably was her first kiss. She really didn’t see it coming!

I can’t stop myself from blushing a little. She’s only a little younger than me. How can she be so pure?

She looks beautiful.

“… What were you thinking?,” she whispers as she raises her eyes and our gazes meet. In her flustered expression, I see hints of worry.

What was I thinking? I’m pretty sure I didn’t leave much to interpretation. I wanted to show you my feelings for you.

“What do you mean?”

“Someone could have seen us. And you know how people here are.”

Oh. Right. Always worrying about how others see her. I honestly don’t think the people who live in this village care as much as the royal types would. Not like it’s a great idea to put that idea to the test, though.

Now, Karine and Flore being a couple should make things easier for us, but who knows how common knowledge that is?

“There’s no reason to worry about that,” I say with an assuring smile, “The street’s still empty.”

“But how could you be sure?”

“Did you forget already?” I point at my eyes. “Because of my augmentations.”

Okay, it’s not like I can see or hear everything around me at all times, but I’m pretty sure no one was close enough to see what we were doing. I’ve seen at most two people on the street ever since we left the adventuring guild, anyway.

“Hmm. If you say so.”

At least I can’t see the worry in her expression anymore.

She turns towards the door and places her hand on the handle.

“Anyway, we should get in,” she mumbles as she opens the door, “This is not the place to talk about these things.”

“Right.”

We walk in and are greeted by the warmth of the inn’s fireplace. And the smell of food. I’m not sure I expected there to still be something at this hour, honestly..

“Welcome!”

It’s the elderly innkeeper, her voice coming from the counter.

“It is just us, Merise,” Avilia says as the two of us walk up to the counter. She’s back to her usual self.

“Oh? Well, good timing! I was getting worried I’d have to throw all that away,” she says, gesturing behind herself,”It’s been waiting just for you for a while now!”

Her behavior towards us has gotten better over the last couple of weeks. I wonder if it was all for show or something? But at any rate, she hasn’t made any untoward jokes about us anymore. If it weren’t for Avilia, I would’ve given her a piece of my mind the first time she did it. I mean, it got old super fast. I doubt she makes jokes like that to just any two people who show up at her inn, too. And that small bed thing was an honest mistake on my part in the first place!

“I guess our conversation will have to wait a little,” Avilia says, looking at me.

We may have originally intended to order something light to take to the room with us, but this isn’t bad either.

I nod. “Shall we?”

We walk up to the usual table and take our seats.

If nothing else, Merise keeps the tables spotless.

Honestly, it’s kind of funny that we didn’t even learn her name in the first couple of days we were here. It came up when she finally decided that she should probably write down our names to her little book. We didn’t really refer to each other by name until that time. Just “innkeeper” this and “girls” that.

Avilia and I smile at each other. I bet we’re both hungry!

“Here you go!”

Now that’s a trayful! Some kind of soup, bread, cheese and the like. And water for good measure. I could honestly go for some wine, but I can live without.

Not that drinking it would do much. I can’t even get drunk. I just like the taste, I guess.

“Thank you!”

“Thanks!”

“You’re welcome!”

Merise walks back to the counter, leaving us to our late dinner.

“Oh, since I told you about my other issue,” I start as I pick up things to eat, “I might as well tell you something else, too.”

Avilia glances at me for a moment while taking her food. “What is it?”

“I had never eaten proper food before I came here.”

An incredulous look takes over her face. “What do you mean? Surely you must have eaten before as well. You can not survive without food.”

“Oh, sure. But it wasn’t anything like this. Like, it had all the proper nutrients, but it didn’t taste like food, you know? I had no idea what real food would taste like.”

“And all that because of the climate catastrophe?”

“Yes. I even had to copy how you held your utensils. I had never used any before.”

“Ah. I did wonder why your use of them looked robotic, but I thought it was just because there might be differences between what is used here and what you are used to.”

Aw, she noticed? At least she was nice enough to not say anything about it.

This stuff is tasty. Merise knows how to cook!

Huh. It’s already been around thirty minutes since we sat down? And the Sun’s setting? Good thing I’ve remembered to keep this on the lighter side!

“I am done.”

Ten more minutes have passed, and Avilia’s ready.

Okay. I set down the spoon.

“I’m too.”

Avilia stands up and I take that as my cue to do the same.

“Oh,” Merise says as she notices us walking towards the counter, “You’re done?”

“Yes,” Avilia says as she stops in front of the counter, “Thank you as always!”

I stop beside Avilia.

“… As always,” I say with a shallow bow.

Merise looks at the two of us. “You’re welcome!”

Avilia looks at me for a moment with a complex expression, as if wondering what to do.

What’s she up to?

Oh.

She takes my hand.

Her hand is colder than usual.

She pulls on my hand a little as we start walking towards the stairs before I manage to walk next to her.

She seems… Nervous? Like she’s more aware of me than usual.

“Is everything alright?”

“Y-Yes,” she responds, her voice betraying her anxiousness, “Everything is fine. Why do you ask?”

“You seem a bit on edge, is all.”

Her grip of my hand suddenly feels stronger.

I can imagine what this could be about.

“You know,” I say, trying to sound reassuring, “We don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. We can go as slow or fast as you’d like. There’s no pressure.”

A nervous smile.

And we are at the door.

Avilia releases my hand and opens the door to our room.

It’s pitch black, until she pokes a rune stone attached to the wall. Unlike the cheaper room we had been in to begin with, this room is lit by magical lights, not candles and the like.

Honestly, it’s a lot closer to what my old apartment was like than what I’d imagine a medieval fantasy inn room to be like! I was surprised when we first moved into this room. As if we should’ve just somehow known that not just the bed sizes change, but also what’s in the room to begin with depending on its size.

The earlier room didn’t have a wardrobe to hang our coats in, either!

Not only was the bed larger, but the room was bigger and everything’s just… Better. Sheesh. If I had known, I would’ve definitely put in the money!

“So, um,” Avilia says as she walks deeper into the room, going to her personal chest on the further side of the bed, “I told you that I could help you with your power issues, right?”

Okay, it’s good that she seems to be trying to get her mind off… Things. We will go at her pace. While she’s going for her chest, I decide to take a seat at the table closer to the middle of the room.

“Yes, I remember. Why?”

“I have some devices here that can turn mana into power, and others that can turn solar energy into power. I am not sure how much they will help before you test them, however.“

She picks two devices from her chest and turns towards me.

“I will give you one of each so you can test them out.”

I nod. “Sounds good to me!”

She places the devices in front of me. They look pretty simple. But looks can be deceiving.

Avilia stretches her arms and yawns. “Should I go first?”

“If you want to,” I reply while still looking at the devices she placed in front of me, “Seems I have something to do in the meanwhile!”

She smiles. “I will not take long.”

At least she seems to have relaxed a little.