Raine and Nikolay descended to the first floor shortly after their conversation, dressed in their black work attire.
The night had just begun its usual chorus of rowdy laughter and drunken patrons on the verge of starting a friendly brawl.
Tabitha was single-handedly manning the bar as usual, managing to keep a watchful eye on the entire establishment. The same watchful eye somehow detected Nikolay and Raine surreptitiously creeping their way down the stairs.
“Hey, you two! Took long enough,” Tabitha threw a quick glance in their direction. “It’s going to get a lot more hectic from here. Apparently, the mayor’s coming into our bar to have a look around. People are clamouring to see him- Oh, forgot you weren’t aware of our local celebrity. Everybody loves him for defending our town against a demolition proposal.”
Raine’s eyes widened. “A demolition proposal?! On a whole town? You can’t just drop that on us and not elaborate!”
“I don’t know where you come from, but it’s pretty common for the Veritas government to demand the most absurd things. Especially if you tick one of two boxes: non-sorcerer or non-Veritas. If you tick both, well…” Tabitha chuckled. “Let’s just say I’m glad that I was born with magic.”
“So… are we gonna brush past the fact that I tick both of those boxes?” Raine said, suddenly aware of his physical fragility.
“I’d be surprised if they could do anything to you. Wandering travellers like you have nothing materialistic to lose. Most times, it’s property that’s being seized or decommissioned.”
“That’s one way to compliment the fact that we’re technically homeless,” Raine scoffed lightly.
He shot a look at Nikolay, who had been silent the entire time.
“Are you alright?” Raine muttered to him.
Nikolay exhaled deeply. “…Yeah. Just surprised at how different it is in Kosira.”
Ah, that was right. Raine had almost forgotten about the whole ‘founder of the anti-human Crown Guild’ thing. Or more likely, his mind had erased it after short-circuiting whenever Nikolay did something unbelievably forward.
“I mean, isn’t this the type of world that you were fighting for?” he joked.
Nikolay averted his gaze. “Not anymore. That was a long time ago.”
Stupid, stupid idiot. Why did he think it was okay to make light of Nikolay’s past?
“Shit. I’m sorry,” Raine quickly said. “I won’t say anything like that again.”
“It’s fi-” Nikolay cut himself off, narrowing his eyes and staring at the front door of the bar.
Just beyond the door, they could hear a loud commotion getting closer — much louder than the bar, which was a feat of its own. It barely had time to spark curiosity in the indoor patrons, however, as the double doors burst open with a violent bang.
“Oh, and there’s the man of the day. The mayor himself,” Tabitha called out joyously. “With an entourage, too! You’d all better order drinks if you’re gonna make such a fuss!”
“Tabitha! It’s good to see you again,” a portly old man exclaimed. “Of course we’ll pay you back the trouble of catering for us. It’s not often that I can enjoy your well-made drinks- Oh, are these new workers? I thought you were against letting others tarnish your bar’s quality.”
He winked at Raine and Nikolay, who both hovered hesitantly behind Tabitha. “You two must be some phenomenal people, convincing Ol’ Tabi to change her mind.”
“Old?” Tabitha raised her eyebrows. “And they’re just temporary hires. I let them work for me to repay their debt.”
“Always knew you had a soft heart,” the mayor chuckled. “Let’s have a toast to that, shall we? A pint of beer for all my lads here!”
Behind him, the townsmen all roared in enthusiasm at his declaration.
In the matter of a few minutes, the tavern became twice as busy as it had been. As people settled in, the tavern’s vast amount of seats quickly filled. The limitation of seats didn’t deter them, however, as most people ended up drinking while they were standing. Even the tavern itself was struggling tonight, as more and more people gathered into a space that clearly wasn’t meant to house so many customers.
The walls infinitely echoed the cheering and the shouting and the drinks clinking, and it became overwhelming. The noises all meshed and amplified together, like a cacophony of arrhythmic dissonance. It barraged his ears incessantly from every corner of the tavern.
But with each step that he took, the more it became difficult to ignore.
The material of his uniform suddenly felt alien on his skin. Each individual stitch and seam rubbed with each miniscule movement he made. His mouth felt dry — when did he last drink water? His hands were sweaty. The formal shoes that Tabitha lent to him suddenly felt too tight.
He had to focus. His eyes darted towards a table of customers. Their eyes were all staring at him, waiting expectantly. Why were they staring? It felt horrible. Ah, right. His job.
It was so loud.
Breath in, breath out. Focus. One step in front of the other. He just had to get to the table. All he had to do was take their order.
Somewhere, somebody called his name. Or maybe it was just his imagination. Everything was so, so loud.
It didn’t matter. His feet kept moving forward. The customers couldn’t know that he was slowly drowning. Their watchful stares wouldn’t leave him otherwise.
Then, the sharp smell of citrus stuck out amidst the deafening clamour. Warm, steady hands gently guided him by the shoulders.
Finally, something familiar. He clung onto Nikolay like an anchor, in fear of losing him in the chaos.
Nikolay led him into a room behind the bar and shut the door behind them with a resounding click. Almost instantly, the sounds from the tavern transitioned to a muffled buzz. Nikolay kept silent, allowing Raine to gather his thoughts.
“Thanks,” Raine whispered.
“I can use my magic to cast a ward around your ears. It’ll help with the noise.”
Raine paused. He didn’t want Nikolay to overexert himself — he’d have to deal with the colossal number of orders like Raine, on top of managing the spell. On the other hand, he also didn’t enjoy the idea of constantly being on the verge of cognitive dysfunction.
Nikolay quickly guessed the source of his hesitation. “It won’t affect me at all. I have a large magic reserve. But ultimately, it’s your choice if you want to carry through.”
Raine’s mind flicked back to the sheer overwhelming environment hidden behind the door.
“…Fine. As long as it actually doesn’t affect you.”
A faint smile appeared on Nikolay’s lips. “I promise. Stay still.”
He placed his hands on either side of Raine’s head, covering his ears completely. Blue strands of light travelled along his arms, swirling in the air before concentrating at his hands.
Raine felt his ears turn hot. He had no idea whether it was the magic, or the warmth of Nikolay’s hands, or if he was just blushing because they were so close to each other in this dark room.
“You’re so warm,” Nikolay murmured, his breath brushing against Raine’s nose.
Raine’s eyes widened in astonishment. He opened his mouth to respond, but the unformed words stuck in his throat, blocking any chance of coherent speech.
Before he could string together a response, Nikolay had already gone back into the main area.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
“Stay here for as long as you need. I can take care of things while you’re gone,” Nikolay said over his shoulder.
Which was a complete lie, considering that today was the busiest the bar had ever been. But it hardly surprised Raine to hear such a bold proclamation from Nikolay. He’d better get to work though, otherwise Nikolay might work himself to death while trying to uphold his promise.
Raine took in a deep breath, willed the panicking thoughts to calm down, and stepped back out into the chaos.
The difference in atmosphere with Nikolay’s spell was immediately apparent. All the sounds seemed quieter, while still maintaining enough clarity for conversation to occur. The background noise was almost completely cut out so that the only audible sounds were those that he focused on.
Right. Back to work, then.
A familiar customer waved over at him, a menu in hand. Raine internally groaned when he saw them wink and shoot a wolfish grin at him. But alas, he had to do his job.
“Well, isn’t it my favourite waiter?” Gremory purred. “I was looking forward to meeting you again.”
Thank god Nikolay had placed the ward on his ears to keep his head level; otherwise, Raine might’ve just started a fight with Gremory right then and there.
“Still trying to act as the effortless flirt?” Raine asked flatly. “Even after what happened this morning?”
“Oh, please. I tell you a little sob story, and you’re all over it. Don’t disappoint me, now. Here, I thought you had at least a bit of common sense behind those pretty eyes of yours.”
“You-”
“Shhh, no need to spit out any retorts. Let’s save you the trouble, shall we? I’ll get straight to the point. Why don’t you ditch your job tonight, and come with me?”
What a dumb proposition. The tavern was clearly the busiest it had ever been, and Gremory wanted him to leave even more work for Nikolay and Tabitha? Not to mention, he didn’t want to go anywhere with this stuck-up narcissist.
“Why would I?” Raine asked frankly.
“It’ll be fun,” Gremory insinuated. “We’d go to my place and… get to know each other.”
Yeah, right. ‘Getting to know each other’ wouldn’t be the only thing that they’d be doing. Like he’d go to a complete stranger’s house at night, anyway.
He stared at the look on Gremory’s face and had the feeling that he wouldn’t take no for an answer.
Instinctively, Raine looked back towards the bar to find Nikolay.
He had no idea when this habit started, but he was feeling like a blunt — and maybe threatening — remark from Nikolay would solve this situation immediately.
To his dismay, Nikolay was busy talking to a patron seated at the bar. They looked immersed in their conversation, and the patron was gesturing wildly as Nikolay made drinks for about ten other customers.
When Raine whipped his head back to the table, he saw Gremory’s eyes also flick back from looking over at Nikolay.
Oh, no. He’d just made a huge mistake.
Gremory flashed him a predatory grin, lips pulling back to reveal sharp teeth.
“Looks like nobody can help you now,” he casually remarked.
The words chilled Raine to the bone, and yet Gremory acted like they were just having a friendly chat.
“So… what’ll it be? I’m being very lenient, you know. Consider yourself lucky that sentiment is getting in the way.”
“I- No,” Raine stammered, suddenly feeling his hairs on his neck stand upright. “I won’t go with you.”
“Wrong answer, Raine,” Gremory leered. “Come on, I know you’re smarter than that. Might I remind you that nobody is watching us?”
To illustrate his point, Gremory reached a hand out and reached around Raine’s waist. His fingers explored downward to the hem of Raine’s shirt, then snaked their way underneath.
Before he could get any further, Raine tore himself away from Gremory’s grasp.
“I’m not interested in you,” he scowled. “Did you not hear me say ‘no’ the first time?”
He must’ve been firmer than he thought, because Gremory immediately retreated and put his hands up defensively.
“Alright, alright. No need to get so upset about it,” Gremory replied. “Just take my order and go.”
That was supposed to be his line, but whatever. Raine turned on his heel and strode away. His hand was clutching the paper so hard that it threatened to tear, but he didn’t give it much thought. Worst-case scenario, Gremory’s order got lost. Which wasn’t much of a ‘worst case’, to be honest.
He passed the order, along with a few others, to Tabitha over the counter. Just as he was about to turn back to the
“You holding up alright, sweetie?” Tabitha said, concern furrowing her brows. “I saw Nikolay drag you to the back room earlier. You looked a lil dazed.”
Yikes. Tabitha had seen that? That was embarrassing on his part.
“Haha, yeah. I’m fine now,” Raine nervously laughed. “You probably have a harder time making all of those drinks.”
“No need to compare,” she chuckled. “We all have our burdens.”
“…Right.”
The next few runs passed without a hitch. Or at least, as seamlessly as communicating with drunk people could be.
At any rate, running back and forth between the tables wasn’t new to him; he just had to squeeze between a few more people tonight.
While in a rare moment of stillness, Raine scanned the tables and noticed an abnormally large cluster of emptied shot glasses. Was he really that bad at his job? No, they definitely weren’t there a few minutes ago. Either way, he’d better get to clearing the table before somebody left a bad review on Tabitha’s bar. Uh, did they do reviews in such a small town? Probably more like word-of-mouth gossip.
Raine walked closer to the table, and then belatedly realised the cause behind the sudden influx of empty shots.
“If it isn’t Tabi’s new waiter!” the mayor cheered. “Come, come. Put all of these small beans on your tray, and then bring a couple more to replace them.”
Surprisingly, the mayor didn’t seem the least bit drunk. Raine eyed the men surrounding him, and they seemed to all avoid the shot glasses like the plague. It really did look like the mayor drank them all himself.
…Huh. Raine wished he had half the liver of this guy.
“I’ll get you some new shots right away,” he told the mayor with a trademark customer service smile.
Raine managed to pile all the shot glasses onto his tray and then made his way over to the bar. He dumped the shot glasses into a nearby sink and gestured for a refill to Tabitha.
“Does the mayor usually drink that much?” Raine quietly asked Tabitha while she put more filled shot glasses on his tray.
Tabitha started laughing, but covered her mouth to muffle the sound. She beckoned for Raine to come closer.
“I dilute all his shots to near water,” she whispered in his ear. “It makes him feel better about himself. The fool still hasn’t picked up on it after all these years.”
Raine flitted his eyes down to the tray in his hands. Now that Tabitha had let him in on the trade secret, he did notice that the colour was a little transparent.
Tabitha then gave Raine a wink and a hearty pat on the shoulder. “Off you go, then.”
He hesitantly followed Tabitha’s command and walked back to the mayor’s table. Somehow, Raine felt like he shouldn’t have heard that. How was he supposed to keep a straight face when serving them? His head was still trying to wrap around the trade secret while he made his way across the tavern.
Suddenly, something stuck in front of his leg and pulled him off balance. Raine stumbled forwards with his free leg, trying to keep himself level. His efforts weren’t enough, however, and the tray — already on the verge of spilling without an external disturbance — tipped away from him.
It wouldn’t have been that bad if it all crashed to the floor. Raine could sweep all the glass debris afterwards. But since he was on his way to the mayor’s table, all the alcohol and its glassware fell right on top of the seated mayor.
With the spectacular sound of shattering glass, the mayor’s suit became drenched in liquor and glass shards. The commotion was so loud that it immediately silenced the entire bar. Almost everybody turned their heads to observe the source of the disruption.
Crickets chirped, and owls hooted outside, but the inside of the tavern had never been more silent.
The mayor peered down at his stained suit and exclaimed loudly, “Well, that’s one way to cool down after a round!”
Murmurs arose at his declaration, filling in the previous silence. The mayor gave Raine a smile and leaned close to him.
“Don’t worry about it, lad,” he whispered to Raine. “They weren’t worth much, anyway. Really, there’s only about a drop o’ liquor in each shot. Don’t let Tabitha know that I noticed, though.”
Wait, he knew about that? No, that wasn’t the important thing right now.
Raine whipped around, trying to find what caused him to trip over. His eyes snagged on a signature dark coat before it disappeared into the crowd of onlookers. Of course, it was Gremory. Nobody else would have a bone to pick with him.
But there was no way to catch Gremory within such a thick crowd, and a hostile one, at that. They were all staring at him, and the broken glass, and the mayor’s sopping suit.
“Mayor! Let me take your suit coat,” one of his companions slurred. “I can clean it up. What a clumsy waiter — who let these phonies serve the mayor?”
“Don’t mind him, he’s just had a bit too much to drink,” the mayor sighed. “Why don’t you take the tray away? I’m sure Tabitha can handle the rest.”
It might’ve come off as a polite suggestion to anybody else, but the burden of guilt weighed heavily on Raine. He wasn’t trusted to do anything else. Everything would be better if he just left and didn’t try to touch anything, lest he ruin it further.
Raine hastily nodded and folded the tray under his arm. He whipped his head around — a grave mistake. All around the tavern, the observers had trained their gazes right on him. The circus fool, placed centre stage for the entire audience to laugh at.
Never blinking, never looking away, never showing any signs of sympathy.
“Is that a new worker?” somebody whispered. “He looks a bit useless, doesn’t he?”
Useless.
The word echoed around in his brain, getting louder and louder with each painful repetition.
A useless waiter, useless friend, useless partner. No fucking prophecy or magic or god could change the irrefutable fact that he was a worthless piece of shit. He was an idiot to think otherwise — to believe people like Tabitha and Nikolay, who were only being nice to him.
The truth was plainly there for him to see, and yet he stupidly clung to Nikolay’s words. He’d known it deep down all along. Ever since…
Did you seriously think I wanted to be with you for your personality? Nobody would want to be seen with you in public if it weren’t for your ‘other benefits’.
No. In hindsight, it started further back.
Raine likes the male class president? What a weirdo. I feel bad for the president.
Did anybody care that they were just rumours? All of his classmates stared at him wherever he went. Their eyes never shied away from making it clear that he wasn’t welcome. No matter if he hid in the bathrooms or on the roof, the ever-present looks of disgust never left his mind’s eye.
The line between past and present blurred, the tears forming in his eyes making it difficult to distinguish the border. Even though their faces were distorted, the one thing that continued to linger was the same disappointed looks. He was a helpless bug, pinned under the weight of everybody’s unfeeling gaze.
The more he became aware of each pair of taunting eyes, the pressure increased its suffocating presence until it became unbearable.
He had to get away. Raine took one step back, and then another. His legs couldn’t move fast enough to escape the gazes of everybody.
On his way upstairs, he shoved the empty tray into a sink at the bar.
“Raine,” Nikolay softly said. “Are you o-”
“Going to our room,” Raine muttered, walking past him.
The last thing he wanted was to burden Nikolay for his own mistakes. It was his fault, and his fault only. He couldn’t drag anybody else down.