Aurelinne Village. A small, secluded village that lived separate from the towering cities of Veritas, in the east, and Marque, in the west. Notable landmarks included Lake Litchmere, a few patches of dry grass, and a small hill.
As soon as Raine and Nikolay neared the area, the abundant smell of fish and sea salt hit them like a brick wall.
“It smells like a cleaner version of Marque’s air,” Raine commented. “And more fishy, too.”
“I’d wager that all the fish in Marque might have died from all the booze that its citizens tossed overboard,” Nikolay replied.
“You wouldn’t even be exaggerating, too.”
It didn’t take them long to locate an inn. The village itself only consisted of a few streets, whereas the fishing docks and associated market were inflated in proportion to others of its nature.
The inn didn’t have a name posted anywhere. Instead, there was a wooden sign nailed above the doors that said ‘INN AND TAVERN’ in carved cursive writing. To be fair, Raine supposed that there wasn’t a need to come up with a name, considering that it was the only inn and tavern inside in the entire village.
Stepping inside the establishment was like entering a whole new world. Outside, the streets were dark and quiet, save for the occasional bird call. But inside, there was a loud and almost overwhelming racket of cheers, laughing and talking.
It was a stark shift from Ascrythis’ closed down tavern that they saw a few days prior. Somehow, the bustling atmosphere felt all the more sobering for Raine and Nikolay.
“Haven’t seen you two before,” a voice called out from behind the bar. “Got lost?”
They turned to the source of the voice.
The sole bartender looked at them with a welcoming grin. While her eyes never left them, her hands were continuously moving and making drinks. Raine noticed a sunset orange aura around her hands, occasionally materialising into tangible objects to help her.
Internally, he felt even disappointed at himself for not having magic. She used it so casually, as if it wasn’t something that most people didn’t even have.
“We’re not lost,” Nikolay assured. “We’re just looking for a place to stay at the inn. Apologies if we’re disrupting your other business, though.”
“Inn?” she asked. “Oh, that damn sign out front. Hate to break it to you, but that’s from the previous owner. We don’t do inn stuff here.”
“Do you know if there are other inns in the village?”
“There aren’t any inns here, but you can find fancy resorts away from the village. They’re popular for tourists visiting here. Real nice rooms, I’ve heard. 5 stars.”
“I’m not sure if you noticed,” Nikolay said. “But it’s rather late to be hiking all the way to a resort.”
“Oh, fine. You’re asking because you know that there are still rooms from when it was an inn, right? Damn smart tourists, trying to swindle a bar owner. I’m Tabitha, by the way. You better remember it, because I have a feeling that you two might be more trouble than it’s worth.”
Raine hadn’t even realised that Nikolay was aiming there, so Tabitha was already miles ahead of him. If she was dumb compared to Nikolay, then what the hell was he?
“I’m Nikolay, and this is Raine.”
“Let me ask something first before I can agree to letting you sleep here, though,” Tabitha said.
Nikolay crossed his arms, not liking the implication. “As long as it isn’t too personal.”
“Guess how old I am,” she grinned. “And be honest.”
Raine and Nikolay sighed simultaneously. No matter where you went, apparently there would always be a middle-aged aunt who was chasing their youth.
“Eighteen,” they recited in unison.
Tabitha rolled her eyes. “No, I’m serious.”
Nikolay frowned and scrutinised the woman in front of him. “A little older than us. Probably in your late twenties or early thirties?”
“Phew, you looked like you were going to say forty for a second,” Tabitha laughed. “Alright, you picked the correct answer. I’ll let you two in.”
“Correct? I thought you wanted us to be honest?!” Raine squawked.
Nikolay slapped a hand over Raine’s mouth and said to Tabitha, “I’m sure he would’ve guessed even younger. Thank you for your hospitality.”
“Sure, sure,” Tabitha said disbelievingly. “Back to the matter of you two rooming here. You can’t stay here for free, you know.”
Raine tore Nikolay’s hand away from his mouth and asked, “How much?”
“About… six hundred a night. That’s how much hotels cost, right? Pretty reasonable, if you ask me.”
Raine’s jaw dropped. “Six… six hundred?!”
To say that they were broke was an understatement. A severe understatement, in fact. They’d been staying in accommodation whenever they had the chance, and the hotel in Veritas wasn’t very cost efficient, to say the least.
Combined with the fact that they were still getting along with the funds provided by Navi all the way back in Marque, it was safe to say that their supply of money was swiftly dwindling. Irideis, of course, only provided the minimal amount of support, which definitely didn’t include money of any sort.
“What, can’t pay up? I thought you two were loaded. Who the hell comes to Lake Litchmere if they’re not a rich businessman on a holiday?”
“I would assume that these ‘rich businessmen’ wouldn’t need to ask an innkeeper for lodging,” Nikolay interjected.
“You have a point. I’ll lower it to 550. How does that sound?” Tabitha wagered.
“I’m afraid we still can’t pay that much, especially considering that we’re unsure of how long we’ll need to stay here.”
“Any lower and you’ll be robbing me. Tell you what, I can cut you a deal. You work for me while you’re living on my property. Instead of paying you, I’ll take your salary as rent.”
Raine exclaimed, “That sounds like a scam-”
“Sounds good. But you already knew that, considering we didn’t have another option,” Nikolay said.
“Yep,” Tabitha replied shamelessly. “I’ve gotta get by somehow. Do any of you happen to have any experience working as a bartender?”
Raine shook his head. There was no way he would willingly go anywhere near a bar, let alone work there. He’d heard too many stories about spiked drinks and terrible one-night-stands.
So, it surprised him to see Nikolay reply, “I’ve done it a few times before.”
Tabitha nodded. “Then Nikolay can help me at the bar. I could use another pair of hands helping me with mixing drinks.”
“Wait, what do I do then?” Raine asked. “If it’s not the bar…”
“You can be a server. You have the looks for it.”
“Sounds fine…” Raine said, still wary. “As long as there’s no ridiculous catch. The uniform better not be something stupid, like a maid outfit.”
Nikolay then made a noise somewhere between a snort and a laugh. He swiftly covered his mouth with a hand, waving away the gaze of Raine and Tabitha with the other.
Tabitha grinned. “Hah! You don’t have to wear a maid costume. Though it would be funny to see Nikolay laughing his ass off the whole day.”
“The scenario can stay in his imagination,” Raine said, a smirk tugging at his lips.
Nikolay dodged the accusation by changing the subject. “How about we get settled first, before we begin paying back our debt?”
“Alright. Here are the keys. Room 12, up on the second floor. Try not to mess with the other storage rooms.”
As they ascended the stairs, Raine couldn’t help but notice the stark shift in quality of the floor. What began as polished mahogany turned into rickety oak after they left the view of the patrons. To be frank, he couldn’t blame Tabitha. After all, even she only saw this floor once in a while.
On the second floor, they passed a few locked doors, presumably storage rooms like Tabitha said, before reaching Room 12. After taking off the rusted padlock, Raine pushed open the door and flinched at the sharp squeal that emanated from the unoiled hinges.
“She wasn’t kidding when she said it was old, huh?”
“The interior looks… better than what we’ve had in the past.”
Sure enough, it wasn’t particularly dusty or mouldy. The wooden floorboards were dull, but they didn’t show any signs of splintering or rot. Tabitha must’ve kept it in order, if only for the sake of her bar down below.
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The bed was a bunk bed — thankfully, no more single bed fiascos.
“Okay, I top and you bottom,” Raine announced, climbing onto the side ladder.
Nikolay grabbed Raine’s collar and dragged him back down. “First of all, phrasing. Second of all, I’m sleeping on top. There is not a single universe in which I’m letting your shoe-wearing ass make both beds dirty.”
The next few minutes took place in silence, as they began to perform their practiced routine of unpacking.
Once everything seemed to be set out in a way that appeased Nikolay’s strict regulations, he headed towards the bathroom. It was sub-par at worst and moderately decent at best, landing somewhere smack bang in ‘not ideal, but I’d live here if it was cheap’. And it was cheap, so nobody was complaining. Least of all Nikolay, who just needed a private space to check on his wound.
He unwrapped the bandages slowly, with the care and patience of handling a fragile egg. It had improved significantly since the first time that Raine changed it, all the way back at the waterfall near the Temple of Space. Blood no longer permeated every bandage layer, and the dirtiest part was from previous stains.
“Is it still sore?”
Nikolay jumped at Raine’s voice. “Do you have to follow me everywhere?”
“I was bored.”
Even though Nikolay hadn’t turned to face him, Raine could vividly picture the exasperated expression on the man’s face.
“Your idea of enjoyment is pestering me?” Nikolay sighed. “No, don’t answer that. I already know.”
Raine casually slung an arm over Nikolay’s shoulder and peered at the scar. “It healed nicely. All your obsessive care paid off, huh?”
“It wasn’t obsessive, it was necessary,” Nikolay said while opening and closing his left hand.
“Yeah, sure. Mind if I have a look?”
Nikolay wordlessly held out his left arm. With a gentle touch, Raine caressed the healed wound delicately, as if it were made of thin glass. He ran a thumb along the entire scar, feeling no significantly raised bumps on the skin. Impressively, the gash had left virtually no trace, save for the white scar tissue. His hands lingered for a moment, unwilling to break contact so soon. As usual, Nikolay kept quiet, betraying nothing of his thoughts.
Raine remarked, “It’s beautiful, in its own way.”
Nikolay didn’t respond, apparently thinking about something else. He kept his eyes trained on his scar, where Raine’s hand had left a phantom sensation.
“We should go downstairs,” Raine sighed, pulling away from Nikolay. “I’m sure Tabitha is waiting for us.”
“…Yeah.”
—
In terms of their job training, it went wholly untouched. As in, Tabitha let them go with a wink and a smile, saying not very comforting things like ‘You’ll learn on the go’ and ‘The customers won’t mind. And if they do, I’ll have a ‘talk’ with them’.
Given their severe lack of preparation, the first few hours passed relatively uneventfully. Nikolay seemed to pick up the art of mixing drinks quickly — or had he never forgotten? — while Raine noticed that his current role bore striking similarities to his first minimum wage job.
In the middle of a lull between orders, Raine squeezed in a short break at the bar where Nikolay stood.
“You look like you’ve been bartending here for years,” Raine joked.
“And you act like you’ve been working here since its construction, considering that you’re standing here and chatting with me.”
“Rude. Anyway, I heard that it’s common to drink along with the customers in some places. It makes them feel more welcome or something. So… you should pass me a drink. Free of charge, of course. It’s helping the business, after all."
“I think you had enough alcohol a couple nights ago to last you a lifetime. And then some.”
“True,” Raine conceded. “And besides, I’m a bit of a lightweight. Drinking with every customer might not end well.”
Nikolay frowned. “If you knew that you were a lightweight, why did you drink so much that night?”
“Because I trusted you to be the sensible one,” Raine lightly joked. “I figured you would stop me from stumbling off a cliff or something. Sorry for whatever I did, though. You seemed a little shaken up by it in the morning.”
Trust. Raine trusted him. And what did Nikolay do? He almost took advantage of Raine, stupidly letting the alcohol poison his brain and turn his common sense against him.
And here Raine was, apologising for something that Nikolay utterly failed to carry out.
“…That’s fine,” was all that Nikolay said.
Suddenly, a flicker of pain crossed Nikolay’s face. It disappeared as quickly as it had appeared, but even the smallest hint of emotion stood out like a glowing beacon to Raine.
“What’s wrong?” Raine prompted. “And don’t brush it off.”
Nikolay rubbed his temples. “Headache. It hasn’t gone away.”
“Still?” Raine frowned.
It wasn’t unusual to have the occasional headache, but definitely not at this intensity — knowing that Nikolay wouldn’t complain about minor pain — and for this long.
“Should we go see a doctor? Is there even one in this village?” Raine anxiously thought.
Like a miracle that descended from the gods, a seated man dressed in formal attire leaned over the bar counter.
“Did I hear somebody in need of a doctor? There’s one who happens to be sitting right here,” he said.
Raine turned to the customer with a hopeful expression. There were faint green motes drifting around him, similar to Nikolay’s blue waves, albeit far less bright.
“Would you mind sharing your thoughts on what’s causing his headache?” Raine inquired. “It’s been puzzling us.”
“I’m off duty at the moment, so I can’t offer you any insurance if I’m wrong. That being said, when did it start?”
Nikolay replied, “It started roughly a week ago, but it’s gotten progressively worse since then.”
“That’s strange. It’s mostly unheard of to have a headache continuously become more painful, especially over the course of a week. Does it ever waver? For example, it gets a little better and then gets worse after.”
"No. Since I’ve noticed it, the headache hasn’t let up at all.”
The doctor frowned and stroked his chin, lost in thought.
Elsewhere, Tabitha shouted to them, “Pass me a shaker, will you?”
Nikolay kept his gaze fixed on the doctor’s expression, while a blue strand emerged to toss a cocktail shaker in Tabitha’s direction.
Tabitha caught it a few inches away from her face, sporting a playful scowl.
“Manners! Jeez, didn’t expect such a composed guy to be so careless,” she said as she rolled her eyes.
The doctor seemed to have a vastly different reaction, as his wide eyes stared at Nikolay incredulously.
“You had magic this entire time?” he spluttered out. “But I couldn’t even see a single speck of your aura!”
Nikolay dipped his head in acknowledgement. “That isn’t your fault. I’ve been suppressing my magic ever since…”
He grimaced.
“…Ever since my headache started,” Nikolay finished.
Suddenly, everything made sense. The doctor enthusiastically nodded, happy to have reached a conclusion.
“Yes, that explains it,” he said. “Magic is like water coming out of a fountain. The more you suppress it, the more pressure builds up inside of you. Of course, it gets worse if you have more magic — pressure builds up faster if there’s more. You’re lucky that your magic must be under the threshold, because most people would’ve fainted from exhaustion after a few days. A whole week might’ve even killed them.”
Raine glanced at Nikolay with a concerned expression. He shouldn’t even be alive right now if the doctor was correct. In all fairness, Nikolay had a tendency to push through things with sheer, stubborn determination.
“Extremely lucky,” Nikolay said with a convincing poker face. “I suppose having a large magic reserve can be a hindrance in some circumstances.”
“One of the few and far in-between drawbacks that these prodigies seem to experience,” the doctor replied jovially. “Though I suppose they wouldn’t have many reasons to hide their wonderful gift to begin with.”
“Is that so?” Nikolay replied with a raised eyebrow, his blank façade cracking slightly.
“Have you visited Veritas in your travels? You will notice that there are many more… talented sorcerers in the city as opposed to other areas in Kosira. Since the city is so magic-orientated, they consider it a point of pride to show your magic.”
Ah. They hadn’t noticed, because they didn’t have the ability to see magic when they were in Marque or Veritas. It made sense, though, considering the attitude of the librarian in Veritas.
“I see,” Nikolay mused in false concentration. “Thank you for your insightful knowledge. And for curing my headache, of course.”
“No worries. It is my job to help people, after all.”
The doctor finished the last of his drink, then left a tip as he walked out.
The instant that the door closed behind him, Raine elbowed Nikolay sharply in the ribs. The victim barely budged, merely sighing in response.
Nikolay’s eyes impassively flitted over to Raine’s scowling face. “It wasn’t on purpose this time.”
“Doesn’t make it better,” Raine retorted, his scowl involuntarily softening under Nikolay’s gaze. “You were giving yourself a killer headache — literally — over a ‘no distractions’ rule you made up ages ago.”
“The headache was nothing. Besides, I still need to hide my magic either way. My aura is too strong to be discreet.”
“But you won’t do it fully anymore, right? Just enough to fly under the radar,” Raine stressed.
Wordlessly, Nikolay placed his hands on either side of Raine’s face, cupping his cheeks. Raine became a statue in Nikolay’s hold, as silent and unmoving as stone. He could only watch with wide eyes as Nikolay’s thumbs gently tugged upwards at the corners of his mouth.
“Smile more,” Nikolay whispered. “You look better when you’re not worrying about me.”
As if you don’t do the same thing, Raine scoffed internally.
Externally, though, he was too paralysed by Nikolay’s intense stare to say anything.
Tabitha popped out again. “Alright, you two, back to work. You don’t get paid for flirting at the bar.”
“We weren’t-“
“Yeah, yeah, I don’t care about whatever excuses you come up with. Doesn’t change the fact that y’all are doing jack shit. Chop chop, now.”
Without another word, Raine reluctantly picked up a tray and began wandering amongst the tables.
He was used to working in restaurants when he was younger, so it came back easily to him. The bar didn’t have too many tables, and Raine quickly wrote down all the orders in a flash.
As he walked back to the counter with the orders in hand, a customer waved over to him. Raine immediately noticed that he looked remarkably different from most of the other patrons. He carried a regal posture that suggested that he was still sober, and more importantly, from a wealthy background.
Not to mention, his clothes were striking, even for a regular customer. A dark brown coat covered most of his figure, despite it being slightly too hot for winter fashion. Peeking out from the opening of the coat was a plain black collared shirt and a silver necklace. Neither screamed nobility nor aristocrat, but nonetheless, stood out from the usual clothing that Raine had seen in Aurelinne Village.
Raine swiftly made his way over to the table. “Hello, how can I help you today?”
The man who had called him flashed an ostentatious smile. “I’d like to order, thanks.”
“Sure. What can I get for you?”
“Hmmm,” the customer theatrically tapped his chin in mock pondering. “Do they happen to have a breathtaking waiter with a face that could capture my attention for eternity, and ocean blue eyes that I would willingly drown in?”
Tacky much? Raine fought the urge to raise an unamused eyebrow. He’d have to take a page out of Nikolay’s book for this one.
“Unfortunately,” Raine evenly replied, “We do not. Is there anything on the menu that you’d like to order?”
To Raine’s disappointment, it didn’t seem to dissuade him much.
“What a shame. I was really hoping that they would,” he sighed. “After all…”
The man took Raine’s free hand in his and gently cradled it. Raine was shocked to find that his hands were freezing cold to the touch, even though the inn itself was warm.
“It would truly be a pity to miss such an opportunity,” he continued, his breath warming their hands.
“S- Sir, I’m going to have to ask again. Do you want anything from the menu?” Raine queried, awkwardly pulling his hand away.
“Then… I’ll have an old-fashioned. Surely they have those?”
Raine laughed nervously. “Yes, they do. If that’s all, I’ll be leaving now. Tables need to be attended to.”
“Ah, calamity has struck,” he dramatically bemoaned. “But I’ll see you again soon, I hope. My name is Gremory, if you happen to need it.”
On the other side of the room, a certain dark-haired sorcerer looked as though he was about to kill somebody.
Tabitha noticed Nikolay’s fixed stare and followed the direction of his gaze.
After realising the situation, she tutted sympathetically. “Raine’s getting quite the attention from that patron, isn’t he? I feel cheated on your behalf.”
“Actually, I couldn’t care less,” Nikolay replied in a tone that suggested he cared a lot.
“Cheer up, hon. I’m sure the customer is just physically affectionate with everybody.”
“We’ve touched each other much more intimately than that,” Nikolay sniffed, as if it were a competition.
Tabitha stopped polishing the glass cup and turned to face Nikolay with a baffled expression. After receiving a standoffish look from the blatantly jealous man, she snorted and went back to cleaning.
“What?” Nikolay demanded. “Do you not believe me? I-”
“No!” Tabitha exclaimed, covering her ears. “I don’t want to know what you and Raine get up to in your spare time.”