Heroes of Veritas: Bardic Inspiration (Book 2)

Chapter Eighteen: Forget Me Not

The next morning, Elise woke at her customary time - the asscrack of dawn - and started preparing breakfast, as well as a pair of picnic baskets for her party’s outing. They were cleverly designed with straps that she could attach to Hissabelle’s saddle, like saddlebags, though she knew the big cat would not appreciate the design.

The dungeon they were planning to challenge was nearly a half day’s ride from Pounce. There was a good chance they might not even make it back that night, and would have to camp out if they couldn’t find an inn. While the party members all had emergency provisions, the troubadour well knew how spoiled they were; the complaining would be endless if they didn’t have good food. So, like a good guild Mom, she was keeping ahead of her whiny children’s demands.

The Dire Beavers leadership team trickled into the kitchen as the hall filled with the smell of cinnamon toast, mixed berry compote, scrambled eggs and thick, greasy farmer sausages. First came Ichigo, which was no surprise to Elise. The catton wasn’t exactly an early riser, but he was better than the other night owls.

“Good morning, Number One.” Ellie said, smiling sweetly at her party leader. She slid a lukewarm mug of tea across the table to him as he took his seat. He smiled gratefully up at her in return. The tea was exactly how he liked it, with just a hint of lemon.

“Thanks.” Ichigo said, his voice still rough with sleep, though he had taken the time to dress and brush his hair before leaving his quarters.

Moltar came next, wearing nothing but boxer briefs, his long black hair snarled in the back where he’d been sleeping on it. He sat heavily, causing the chair to groan ominously under his weight. 

“Good Morning, Moltar.” Ellie chirped, slipping a piping hot cup of black coffee between his waiting hands. Moltar grunted a thanks, and blew across the top of his mug.

When Ian came in, there was no coffee ready for him. In fact, there wasn’t even a good morning, just an awkward silence from the other two men as Ellie hummed and flipped pieces of toast with a spatula. Elise still had some pettiness to excise it seemed.

Ian took a seat at the table, not really noticing the look that Ichigo and Moltar exchanged as he was still in a pre-coffee stupor. He was also shirtless, but wearing a pair of striped blue and white linen pajama bottoms.

Larkin arrived last, wearing his usual somewhat worn duster over brown pants, a simple shirt, and leather boots. Since he lived in his tower, rather than the guild hall, he didn’t always join them for breakfast. Elise beamed when he poked his head in the door, ginger ears twitching.

“Larkin! Good morning. Have a seat, buddy. You want coffee or tea today?” 

Larkin smiled and took the empty chair next to Ian, “Maybe hot cocoa, if it’s not too much of a bother?”

“Sure. I’ll have some cocoa too. Winter’s just about over, so we should enjoy it while it’s still in season, right?” Elise said, laughing lightly as she put a pot on the stove to start heating up some milk.

It wasn’t until the trays of food were on the table, and Elise sat down with her mug of cocoa that Ian realized he’d been left out. He frowned a little, eyeing the troubadour blearily. Was she doing this on purpose? It was hard to tell. She seemed like she was in a good mood.

Elise leaned forward, elbows on the table, as she chatted with Ichigo about their party’s plans for the day. She was wearing a red satin and lace nightie with a fluffy white robe open over it, and he could see the barest hint of her n*****s poking through the thin fabric of the nightie. It was incredibly distracting.

Moltar actually had to elbow him to get his attention. “Hey, did you hear what Larkin just said?”

Ian shook his head, and looked over at Moltar as he intoned,“Hmm?”

That’s when Elise noticed that he didn’t have his coffee yet. “Oh, sorry Tre. I got you.”

Before he could stop her, Elise got up, poured a cup of black coffee, dropped two cubes of sugar in, and leaned forward right in front of Ian as she set his coffee down. This gave him a prime opportunity to get a gander at the goods. Yup, they were as nice as he remembered them being the other morning. His mind might have been confused about what to make of the troubadour, but his body sure wasn’t. She was fine, and his body reacted in a way that made him scoot forward a bit and shift in his chair.

“Thanks,” Ian muttered, prying his eyes away from the troubadour as she straightened and went back to her seat.

“You know he can’t brain until he’s had his coffee, Moltar.” Elise chided the oathbreaker. “Give him a break.”

As Ian sipped his coffee, Elise glanced at him, and he swore she gave him a wink. He felt his cheeks color, but hid it by tilting his coffee mug up. What the hell was that? Had Elise always been this...flirtatious? This was flirting, right?

Ian had always been a nerd. Ok, so he was a huge nerd - but he was also a gym rat. His particular combination of hero complex, fed by a childhood of rpg adventure games, and a serious addiction to fitness led him to a career as a firefighter. Despite the stereotypes of the nervous, inexperienced gaming nerd, Ian had never lacked for female companionship, and as such flirting didn’t normally have this effect on him.

A mix of luck and more experienced partners helped Ian figure out what he liked early on, and he didn’t have all that many hang ups. He’d only ever had one rule about dating, or hooking up for that matter. That rule was simple: no guildies.

It was a rule he’d rarely been tempted to break over the years, mostly because of his position. There would be no bullshit or favoritism in his guild; he wouldn’t allow even the shadow of a rumor. He’d seen too many guilds implode from that kind of crap. 

In his old life, Ian often ended up dating women who had no idea he was a gamer, and when they found out they were less than pleased. Would it be easier to date someone who understood, right out of the gate, that yes he did in fact have a raid scheduled three days a week? That he had to keep up with his dailies, and that the wootube videos he was watching for raid homework were, in fact, important to him? 

This was the crux of why most of his former relationships collapsed; his unwillingness to give up something he loved and his former partners’ incessant demands that he change for them. He’d almost done it once; given up the hobby he loved for a woman he thought he loved more - but that had imploded in the worst way imaginable and left him with deep emotional scars.

He imagined that having a relationship with another gamer would be better, but most of the women gamers he’d ever been close to were guildies. Despite the loneliness he sometimes felt creep up on him, he’d stuck to the rule.

Now, here was a woman, a smart one, a gamer, already firmly embedded into the fabric of his guild...who he had to admit he felt an attraction toward. It made him seriously question the one rule he’d always lived by, especially seeing how happy Moltar seemed when he was with Mercenades. Moltar had been a huge proponent of the no guildies rule; what was it that changed his mind?

The guild leadership chatted amongst themselves over breakfast, giving minor updates to their projects, until they finished clearing their plates. 

“I’ll take care of the dishes since you were so kind to cook for us,” Larkin said at Elise as he gathered up the dishes.

“Mmmm, thanks Larkin.” Elise said, leaning back in her chair. She rubbed her full tummy looking satisfied with herself.

“I hope you didn’t eat too much, Ellie. We’re going to have a long ride.” Ichigo said, chuckling softly at the troubadour’s expression.

“I’ve been up all morning, Ichigo. I needed those calories.” Ellie said. Then, she gave an impressively loud burp. She covered her mouth, looking briefly embarrassed before she gave a snorting laugh.

“Nice.” Moltar said, reaching out to give her a fist bump.

“How very ladylike,” Ian said, chuckling a little.

“Good thing she’s not one.” Ichigo said, stealing one of the troubadour’s favorite lines.

“Hey! That’s my line,” Elise pouted. “And you’re not even a rogue.”

“Perhaps Echo is rubbing off on me,” Ichigo said, getting to his feet with a small grunt. Apparently, the catton had eaten a bit too much himself. “Come on, we need to round up the rest of the party.”

“I don’t think I can go out to the barracks looking like this, Number One. I’ll scandalize the villagers. I’ll change first, then join you.” Ellie said, sighing a little as she got to her feet as well.

Ichigo nodded, then headed on out of the kitchen. Instead of following him, Ellie went to the counter to give her baskets a once over. 

As she was looking through the baskets, she said ever so casually, “Moltar, did you know that Sweethearts Day is tomorrow…?”

Moltar paused in the middle of drinking his second cup of coffee, and set it down. “I did not.”

“Mmm. I’ve heard that Mercenades really likes chocolate covered strawberries. There may or may not be some in the freezer.” Ellie said as she reached into one of her baskets.

“Did you know you’re the best frenemy a douchebag could have?” Moltar said, his expression and tone completely deadpan.

“Pita loved you both. Think of it as a gift from him.” Elise said, smiling a little. Then, she held out the little bag she’d withdrawn from her basket to Larkin. “This is for you, in case I don’t see you tomorrow.”

Larkin, who had been conducting the dancing sud-covered dishes in the sink with his wand, paused to see what the troubadour was offering him. The dishes clattered as he reached out to take the bag of cookies from her hand. He sniffed them excitedly, and said, “Cat mint cookies! I love them already. Thank you.”

Ian blinked at Larkin and Moltar, then turned his face away, putting a hand over his chin and mouth. He felt his jaw clench as that spark of jealousy flickered up in his chest. Before his irritation got out of hand, he felt a small hand fall on his shoulder.

“Don’t worry, I didn’t forget you, Commander.” Ellie said, her hot breath on his ear as she’d leaned in close. As he turned to look, she set a box in front of him with a velvety red ribbon wrapped around it. 

“Think of me when you eat them.”