Chapter Eighty Seven

The next morning, Joe found himself wandering the streets of a much different city. The people were bordering on manic in their celebration, people shouting and raising glasses of alcohol with an abandon that made Joe worried for their livers. He still fired off monster sense every once and a while and Joe struggled to get the instinctual need to fire it out regularly back under control. Garnedell and Zilnek walked with the group for a while but grew ever more antsy and soon became restless.

“Joe. Could we go?”

Joe looked down at them then began smiling, “Sure. I’m not holding you back. You need to make sure to get back home… oh… wait.”

Joe turned to Kilniara and Gwenvair but directed his question to Gwenvair, “Where are we staying tonight? Are we still…”

“My mother is willing to allow you to stay.”

Joe nodded, “Maybe a day or two until we need to get back to the dungeons. Let’s meet back there tonight, OK guys?”

The two guys agreed and Gwenvair stepped up to them, “Please do not lose this! Show this at the gates to enter. Also tell them you are Joe’s… the eccentric’s apprentices. If they prove recalcitrant, call for me or Joe and you should be able to enter.”

Garnedell nodded, “Thank you, Gwenvair.”

She smiled, “Its fine, but… don’t stay out too late. It will be much more difficult if you are very late.”

Zilnek leapt up and at Garnedell as he grabbed Garnedell’s arms and pulled him while calling out behind him, “Thank you!”

Garnedell smiled, “I will be careful with it, Gwenvair. Thank you.”

“Wait! Wait!” Joe called out after the two boys.

They turned back, obviously impatient and waited for Joe. He dug into his coin pouch and pulled out a rather large amount of money, “You’re going to need some money, right?”

Their impatience quickly disappeared as they smiled gratefully and reached for the money, “Thanks!”

Joe laughed and waved them on, “Take off. Have fun. Be careful!”

“Yes, Joe,” the two boys shouted out behind them, already running away and taking the money with them as they disappeared down the road, their own laughter and joy loud even over the noise of the celebrating crowds around them. Joe smiled to see them go and Gwenvair and Kilniara came to either side of him now that they were gone. Kilniara took his hand and Gwenvair slipped an arm in his. He glanced down before looking over to Kilniara with concern. Joe leaned down close to her ear.

“Kilniara… Gwenvair, ” Joe didn’t say anything else but glanced over at Gwenvair meaningfully.

Kilniara looked over and saw Gwenvair’s arm entwined in his but said nothing and looked up at Joe.

“What?”

Joe leaned down again, “Gwenvair… she is … she has her arm in mine, is that…”

Kilniara began giggling and patted his shoulder before leaning over in front of him and spoke to Gwenvair, “Gwenvair, Joe is concerned that you are holding his arm.”

Gwenvair stared up at him, then flushed deep red and looked away with red flushed cheeks. Joe blinked in shock, freezing slightly and froze. Don’t mind offering her my arm, but… why is she blushing if it’s just a friendly thing… And I don’t want to harm the friendship. Joe found himself frozen in uncertainty while the girls pulled him down the street as both were still walking. So, he found himself walking down the street in a bit of a stupor.

Kilniara began giggling when she saw what was happening and Gwenvair snapped back at her and the two verbally sparred with each other for a bit and Joe really didn’t notice much of anything as his mind both raced in maddened thoughts and stilled in stunned shock while walking down the street in stuttering shock. His mind whirred in meaningless activity until Gwenvair suddenly giggled. The crystal clear laughter brought Joe back to the moment.

Kilniara giggled back as well and replied, “Then why are you smiling so much?”

Gwenvair bashfully smiled, “It’s just nice.”

Kilniara’s laughing giggle softened and she smiled, “It is, isn’t it.”

Joe heard that and suddenly relaxed, “Friendship is important for you.”

“It is, and your willingness to offer it to us… it is truly amazing,” Gwenvair spoke sincerely, her emotions on her sleeves for the first time that Joe had ever noticed from her. He smiled and slipped his hand out of Kilniara’s to patted her hand quickly before returning his hand to Kilniara’s and squeezed it.

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Gwenvair jumped at his pat but then smiled in joy, squeezing his arm back. So, that’s going to take a LOT of getting used to. Joe found himself enjoying the sensation a bit too much and struggled to stop his mind from making connections that shouldn’t and forced his thoughts to calm. Joe chose to retreat to the conversation and moment, trying to focus on the celebration.

It took a few moments but Joe soon was able to distract himself as he watched the variety of interesting and odd individuals and celebrations occurring around him. Without context, Joe just found all the events exhilarating but quickly lost interest in them and returned to a conversation with the girls, asking them for explanations on everything that was happening.

The festival seemed mainly to be a way to blow off steam, as what he mainly saw was lots of groups in revelry. Its… a high school house party… with too much booze! The realization really hit home and Joe smiled, relaxing into the moment. While the celebrations amongst the clanners were more reserved, those in the outer city grew ever more relaxed and while not exactly raunchy, they cared little for propriety, seeking only joy in the moment as humor and laughter dominated almost every social interactions. Joe didn’t notice much in the way of gift giving, and saw that people seemed to simply find happiness in social relationship.

“A lot of happy people here,” Joe commented.

“Of course. We live to see another day,” Kilniara explained.

Gwenvair nodded, “Life is not easy. Surviving is its own reward.”

Kilniara scoffed at that, shaking her head, “Clanners are so stuffy!”

Gwenvair whipped her head around to stare at Kilniara but she noticed the smile on her face and huffed in good humor, “We are not stuffy. We are… refined.”

“Refined to stuffiness.”

“That… that doesn’t make any sense!” Gwenvair shot back.

Kilniara shrugged and replied with a giggle, “Us commoners understand it quite well.”

Gwenvair’s huff this time was a bit more forceful but closer to humor as she failed to hide her chuckle behind the huff of anger, “We are not stuffy!”

Joe chuckled at that, shaking his head and speaking to Gwenvair, “Refined people always appear stuffy simply because they exert significant self-control. Good discipline leads to success, but it can also lead to an inability to relax.

“However,” Joe continued sharply and turning to look at Kilniara, “No self-control leads to a very poor life and is a very poor way to live!”

The two girls both were smug and chastised each in their own turn as Joe spoke and he chuckled, “Being refined is not bad. There are times when a certain celebration needs a gravitas to make the celebration and moment meaningful, just as there are times when a celebration needs to be freeing and … not stuffy!”

The girls looked at Joe and nodded, Kilniara hugging into his side. Joe slipped his arm around her shoulders and she stiffened a bit, looking up at him before smiling shyly and relaxing into his side. Joe paused when he saw her concern.

“Is this… not good?”

Gwenvair replied shyly and softly, “It is… more intimate.”

“Oh… should I not do that?.”

Kilniara immediately shook her head no, “I like it. It’s OK.”

Gwenvair stared across at Kilniara, concerned but Kilniara shook her head, “I am unconcerned.”

Joe narrowed his eyes as he heard that and looked down between the two, “OK. Explain. Is this something to do with what your Mother said?” Joe finished by looking towards Gwenvair.

Gwenvair opened her mouth to speak but Kilniara shook her head and hissed. Joe frowned and let go of Gwenvair’s hand to slip his finger down her nose in a soft flick that was more a brush than a flick.

“Don’t do that. I need to learn. Don’t keep me from learning of your people and ways. And, she is only trying to help.”

Kilniara looked away and frowned sulkily before glancing back up at Joe with a sigh, nodding her head and replying with a whine, “But I like it!”

Joe dropped the hand he’d booped her nose with back to his side and Gwenvair quickly caught it and slipped her arm in his as she turned to face them.

“It seems… very enjoyable, and there is nothing truly wrong but if you wish to allow a good image… It seems you are claiming her, and she you. But you have been clear,” and Gwenvair looked at Kilniara with a pointed frown, “that you wish to cautiously develop this relationship until you are certain and while developing the relationship, you wish to allow the option to … retreat… from this relationship without harm to the girl. People seeing this will… assume things.”

Joe nodded, sighed, then pulled his hand back. Gonna have to be careful then… gonna have to learn more of the romantic differences here.

“I’m sorry, Kilniara. I really don’t want to make it hard for you in the future. I promise. I have every intention to see this through, but… this is wise.”

Kilniara pouted and took his hand, intertwining fingers but her pout proved to be one in good humor, although she did seem sad, “It felt… really nice, though.”

Joe chuckled, “Maybe we can do it when we are in private, but I really want to make sure you are still respected by those around. And… I want to still be respected by others as well,” Joe ended with a quirked eyebrow at Kilniara.

The three returned to watching the various parties as the continued walking down the street. Joe remained silent, watching on with avid interest, but the two girls began chatting with one another as they grew bored with what was obviously a bit of a normal situation for them. He’d remained at their location for a bit when Gwenvair noticed that he seemed a bit uncertain and quickly reassured him.

“We’ve seen almost everything. Go where you want. We’ll follow you.”

Kilniara giggled, “I want to see the Epics, but other than that, yes. You may go where you want.”

“Oooh! The Epics! That is going to be… fun!” Gwenvair laughed in agreement.

Joe looked at the two of them, “Then let’s go to the epics?”

Gwenvair shook her head, “Just look at what you want. You’ll find the Epics sooner or later. Enjoy yourself.”

With that, Joe shrugged and began wandering the streets, heading ever further and further from the inner clan wall. The girls stayed by his side, holding his hands and speaking to each other while Joe simply walked and explored. He found himself drawn from street to street as he reached an intersection, noticed something unusual, and then would turn to watch out of curiosity. As time when on, he lost himself amongst so many people simply in exuberant celebration.

After wandering for some time, Joe found himself in a crowd that soon found itself flowing in a direction and let himself be pulled along. It wasn’t noticeable at first, but as he got closer to what was drawing everyone in, the pull of the crowd grew ever stronger, like a current that grew as it came closer and closer to the whirlpool at the center. Suddenly, they found themselves pulled into a rather large square with exuberant celebrations in every direction, punctuated by performers of almost every kind he could think of: clowns, jugglers, magicians, and elemental throwers of every kind. Huh… not just fire throwers… this… is cool! Seeing all this left him in dazed wonder, but Kilniara and Gwenvair immediately began pulling him towards the center.

“See! You found the Epics!”