Light was beginning to shine through the single window of the room, but Gabrelle was still fast asleep. Xander gently shook her, eliciting a groan before she turn over, out of his grasp, and pulled the covers higher onto her body. Xander reached out and shook her again, finally breaking her from the spell of sleep.
“Bluughhh… oh I feel like shit.” Gabrelle managed to get out as she pulled the covers even farther up, covering her head.
“I’m not surprised. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you that drunk before.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever been that drunk before, honestly. I don’t know what I was thinking.”
Xander chuckled. “Well, I imagine this might put you off drinking for at least a short while.”
“Yeah probab- wait. Did I… I told Frazay we were going to snuggle, didn’t I? Ughhh, ohmygods, why did I do that?”
“You are a very happy drunk. I think you were just excited about it and wanted to share that? But uh, yeah. She gave me a look. Like the ‘you better not be sleeping with my daughter’ look that parents give. I don’t uh… I don’t think she proscribes to the idea of platonic intimacy.”
“Well, she doesn’t know what she’s missing,” Gabrelle said with a huff, before groaning at the feeling the huff caused her head. “Ugh.”
“What you need it water. Hydrate or die-drate, they say.”
“I don’t think anyone says that, Xander.”
“Well… not here anyways. You just… wallow in your suffering there, I’ll get you a cup of water.”
“Thanks… I will indeed be wallowing.”
Xander removed himself from the covers and stood. He contemplated miming a stretch, but it felt a little bit pointless, so he didn’t. He made his way down the stairs and over to the bar, where a man, younger and less stern of countenance than Jempta, was currently tending to the few customers that were seated at this hour. Once he procured a cup and water to go in it, he made his way back up to the room and forced Gabrelle to take the cup from him.
“Come on, drink it. I know you don’t want to move, but you gotta drink the water, Gabrelle. It’ll make you feel better after a while.”
“Fiiiine.” Gabrelle reluctantly sat up and took the cup from his grasp. She was taking a sip when someone knocked on the door.
“I got it,” Xander said to her, waving to her to stay sitting.
Xander opened the door to reveal Frazay, who leaned against doorframe in an attempt to appear casual that didn’t strike Xander as being ‘Frazay’ at all.
“Sooooo,” she said, “How was you two’s night?”
“Oh my god, Frazay, for the last time, we are not fucking!” Xander said exasperatedly.
“We were just snuggling!” Gabrelle called out defensively at the woman.
“I don’t think that’s helping how the situation looks…” Xander sighed.
Frazay held up her hands in surrender. “Whoa, whoa, I didn’t mean to get you so riled up. I was just messing with you,” she said, standing straighter. “I believe you when you say it. Plus, I mean… how would you even…” She gestured at Xander’s waist area. “You know, since you’re all… metal-y.”
Xander would have scowled if he could move his face. “Yeah… I can’t, even if I wanted to. Which I don’t. Because we’re platonically snuggling. Ugh, god. Saying ‘platonically snuggling’ defensively really just doesn’t sound convincing, does it?”
“No it doesn’t,” Frazay said, earning herself another huff from Gabrelle. “But uhh, I’m sorry if I upset you when I brought up your… condition.”
Xander stepped back, waving the comment off and allowing Frazay into the room. “No, no, I get it. You were just joking around. I’m just still getting used to… being like this. There’s still things I want to work on regarding this body, so I don’t even know what to truly adjust to, even,” he said with a laugh. “I can either laugh about it or cry, and I think I’d rather laugh about it right now.”
Frazay nodded in agreement as she moved to sit at the foot of the bed. Turning to Gabrelle, who was still grimacing and drinking her cup of water, she said, “That bad, huh?”
Gabrelle nodded, spilling a little bit of water onto her lap. “I feel worse than if I’d actually gotten hit in the head with a mace. Which I have before! Why is this worse?
Frazay chuckled. “Well, that fancy armor of yours doesn’t protect you from hangovers, and I’m guessing you don’t have a skill that gives you endurance, right?”
Gabrelle nodded.
“Yeah, that would do it. Plus you’re a lightweight. I’m surprised you even made it up the stairs to get in your room.”
“Xander had to carry me…” She said, pouting slightly.
“She was not going to make it up on her own,” Xander chimed in.
“I still think I could have!” Gabrelle defended herself.
“You almost bashed your head on the stairs!” Xander retorted.
“Okay you two, no need to argue like a married couple if you aren’t doing the deeds of a married couple,” Frazay joked.
“Ugh, Frazaaay!” Gabrelle said.
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“Yeah…” Xander said, the mention of marriage reminding him of something. He placed his hand up to his chest as the realization fully hit him. His wedding ring was gone. How had he not thought about it before? No, how dare he not have noticed it before? Was it somewhere on the field outside of Thrask? Buried or burned with his body? Had some scavenging soldier taken it from his body? It had been over three years now. There was no way he was ever going to find it. He leaned against the wall he’d been standing near, and sank to his haunches in a squat, still thinking.
“… Xander?” Frazay called out to him.
Xander shook his head, realizing that he’d completely zoned out thinking about his ring. “Huh?”
“You okay there? You got quiet and then you didn’t hear what we were saying.”
“Sorry… I, ah… You mentioned marriage and I just realized something. I don’t have my wedding ring anymore… It’s gone. And I doubt I’ll ever find it again. It’s either under the ground somewhere at Ilbek or in some soldier’s pocket, I’d guess.”
“Awh, Xander,” Gabrelle said. “I’m so sorry… I wish… I wish we could have gotten it for you on that day.”
Frazay nodded. “It’s not fair, I know. To lose something like that, especially after being lost to the person it was supposed to bind you to. That’s got to be hard.”
Xander sighed. “Yeah… just another piece of me that got lost that day…” he trailed off, avoiding the pitying looks of his two teammates. He shook his head, trying to banish the thought, and changed the subject. “Anyway, what brought you here, Frazay? You said last night you were going to let us know when we were heading out for the day, right?”
“Mmhm, that’s right,” she said. “Graffus has probably already dragged Atrax downstairs to force some food down his throat. I suggest we do the same for Gabrelle.”
“Hey! I don’t wanna. My stomach feels… not great.”
“Trust me, some food in your belly will help,” Frazay said.
“I’ll step out and head downstairs while you get dressed, Gabrelle,” Xander said.
Downstairs, Xander found Graffus and Atrax at the bar. Atrax was sullenly eating something that looked like porridge, while Graffus was eating some bread. Graffus waved at him as he came down the steps and Xander moved to go sit beside the dwarf. He waved off the barman who had started to head in his direction.
“Sleep alright?” Graffus asked him.
“Uh, well I don’t really sleep anymore. But laying in bed was still nice, I guess.”
“Huh. Well I guess that’s good at least? You seen Frazay and Gabrelle?”
“Yeah, they’re still upstairs. Gabrelle is getting dressed, they should be down soon. She’s gonna need a bowl of whatever it is that Atrax is having, I expect.
Atrax grumbled something indistinct through his mouthful of porridge.
Xander sat with the two men, enjoying their company in silence. Not long after he settled down on a barstool, which had creaked threateningly under him, Gabrelle and Frazay came down. Gabrelle was not in her armor for the first time since he’d seen her at her parents. She had on a light blue robe of thick material that looked like it was quite warm, and also had a hood hanging down on her back. Frazay was dressed in a brown, warm-looking vest and long-sleeved shirt, with dark green trousers. Taking stock of Atrax and Graffus, he noticed that they, too, were out of their armor. Well, Graffus was. Atrax was wearing a set of robes like usual. The dwarf wore a light coat, black of color, and trimmed with black fur. His pants were a dark grey. Xander was starting to feel awkward as the only person not in armor.
“Should I… not wear armor?” He asked, looking back and forth between his four friends. “It feels weird to be the only one wearing armor. But it also feels weird to not wear armor… people are going to stare at me since I’m made of metal.”
“Xander,” Atrax said, finally speaking up. “People are going to stare at you for wearing black plate armor with a skull face, too. It just depends on which you’d rather be stared at for more.”
“Mmm… that’s fair. Also I kind of have to wear the mask… It’s what has my binding on it. Speaking of my binding,” he pulled the three platinum disks, complete with leather necklaces, out of his inventory, “I made these for you. Gabrelle already has one, but these disks have the series of runes that is binding me to, uh…” He looked around and lowered his voice, “undeath.” He resumed speaking at a more normal volume, saying, “So, that way if something happens, I should get pulled to one of these!”
He handed out a binding talisman to Atrax, Graffus, and Frazay, each of them taking their time inspecting the runes on the piece before stowing them away. Atrax opted to wear his around his neck, but Frazay and Graffus both tucked them into pockets inside their coat.
“Wow… thanks, Xander.” Frazay said.
“Feel’s like you’ve entrusted me with your life,” Atrax commented.
Graffus just solemnly patted his jacket where the medallion lay in a pocket.
“So what do you four think? Clothes and then I have to wear this mask anyway, or just stick with the armor?”
Graffus shrugged. “Armor sounds easier for you.”
“And wouldn’t you have to take apart your helm just to wear the mask?” Gabrelle asked.
“Armor it is, then,” Xander said.
Frazay explained to Xander that they had planned to swing by the guild and pick out a contract, and then to go shopping for anything they might need to complete said contract and prepare before heading out the next day. Evidently, they’d been waiting for Gabrelle to return from her trip before starting another contract. They picked up Freyja from the stables, and then they were off.
The walk to the guild hall in Rock’s Bay was not far, and Xander soon found himself looking at the building. It was not nearly as resplendent as the guild hall in Anlet had been, but it was still large. The building had the air of a business, matching much of the rest of the town, and was constructed of grey stone. Inside, it was quiet, mercenaries tending to their business and quickly leaving. If the outside had felt like a business, the inside felt like a library to Xander.
“Why’s it so quiet?” He asked his teammates, finding himself whispering.
Frazay shrugged. “I don’t know. Place is just like that. Come on, let’s go look at contracts.”
This time, all five of them moved as a group to peruse the contracts posted on the boards around the walls.
“Mmm… no more bodyguard contracts for a while,” Graffus said, moving on from the contract he’d been looking over.
“What about this one?” Gabrelle said, pointing at one of the slips of paper.
Kill Contract: Sea Drake
A sea drake has set up a nest on the coastal cliffs to the North of Rock’s Bay. It has begun to attack boats that stray too close to the cliffs.
“A sea drake?” Xander asked curiously.
“Type of dragon,” Graffus said, scratching his bearded chin in thought.
“There are dragons?” Xander asked in disbelief.
“Of course there are, haven’t you heard about them by now?” Frazay responded.
“Literally not once has anyone told me that dragons exist in this world since I’ve gotten here,” Xander said.
“Well, there’s dragons. Not too common round populated parts of the world. The big ones, anyway,” Atrax explained.
“Is a sea drake a big one?”
“Heavens no, they’re… medium? Ish?” Frazay said.
“Define ‘medium-ish,’ please.”
“Ehh, larger than a gryphon, but not by much.”
“So large enough to hoist a man into the air easily, then. Still, seems a bit odd that it’s attacking ships as a whole, you’d think something so big would deter it.”
“Mmm, if it’s set up a nest, it likely has a clutch of eggs. Any kind of drake or dragon is extremely territorial when it comes to their eggs… which, actually, makes me think,” Frazay said, pausing for a moment. “Hmm… I did recently get [Druidic Bond], which will let me bond a creature that trusts me sufficiently. There’s no way we’d get a full grown dragon to trust me, of course. At least not safely or in any reasonable timeframe. But an egg. If I could get one of those eggs to hatch, I bet I could raise it and bond with it.”
Xander could see the gears in Frazay’s head turning as she pondered having a ‘medium-ish’ dragon as a bonded companion. It would be a powerful boon in a fight, surely. Once it grew up, anyway. But the downside was that you’d have to take care of a dragon. They were already taking care of one large, predatory animal, though. Maybe it could be friends with Freyja?