John and Zilta woke up in their own room with both letting out long groans of pain as their hard drinking the night before caught up with them. Both checked and let out sighs of relief finding most of their clothes still on their bodies, even if the clothing was a bit ruffled up. They slowly got up and started to split a jug of water that was already waiting for them between each other having wished that they had started on the water the night before rather than just now.
Their headaches aside they slowly got up and got ready with them packing up their gear since John was fairly sure that Jack would want to at least check out a dungeon that day. Once they had their stuff they walked down the stairs, grabbed some bread with sausage and eggs stuffed inside, then wandered out the door towards the meeting spot as they munched their own quick meal. Both blissfully unaware of how much more pleasant the other trio’s morning had been.
In time they made their way to the main square of the merchant’s quarters where a massive fountain stood sprinkling the air with pure, beautiful water produced by elegantly carved magical crystals. It was still early in the morning, but some other groups were taking the chance to meet up at such a notable landmark as well. Many of which paused to watch the unusual sight of two humans, two reptilians, and a gnoll slowly gather up around one of the benches.
“So how did it go last night for you… three?” John asked as he gave Tezira a look of faint surprise. He had not expected to see her out in public, much less with the other two.
“It went very well. We met Tezira in the library and just had a nice chill night afterward. Just relaxed, read a few books, then went to sleep.” Jack explained with a wide, friendly smile. “Turns out she needed some friends and a chance to stretch her legs a little. She wants to tag along on our delves sometimes and be our scout.”
John let out a sigh and shrugged. “Ah sure, why not? As long as her people don’t cause trouble or anything. YOU however will be responsible for her. I get the same vibes off of her that I get from you sometimes and I am not going to try to keep two of you under control.” He explained with a grunt.
“Fair enough.”
The kobold was smiling wide as her tail flicked happily side to side. Not only was she approved to join the group, but she was going to be “watched over” by one guy she knew she got along well with! To her it could not have gone better if she had planned it!
“Alright. So.” Jack sat down on the bench, paused, then pulled Nelva onto his lap getting a loud ribbit of surprise from her followed by a very happy rumble. “We need to plan our moves. I think we pick up some health potions before we go back to the ship. Looking at Zilta they seem to be super effective and I think it would be stupid to not have some just in case. Doubly so since my lapfrog-“ Nelva let out a ribbit of embarrassment at the new nickname. “-is our one source of healing at the moment. While she is very skilled I like having plan Bs. John, side effects of the potions?”
John rubbed his chin. “Slightly alcoholic with a horrible aftertaste. Does not lessen the effects of feeling your body healing which can lead to pain and horrific itching while the body heals. All wounds probably need to be cleaned before as well to prevent foreign bodies from being sealed in the wounds.”
At the idea of her wounds sealing around things a now very concerned Zilta started to feel where her body had just healed the night before. Checking to make sure that nothing had been “trapped” in her body by accident. The sight did make the other four around her chuckle and giggle at the clear concern on her normally very tough looking face.
“Roger, well that settles that! After that we go back to the ship and get Zilta fully settled into a room. I guess we can give one of the last free rooms to Tezira considering she is going to be travelling and delving with us some. Besides. I think she needs a place to get away from her underlings.” With that Jack and Tezira both shot a look down a nearby alley where the brief glimmer of scales reflecting the sun could be seen for only a moment before disappearing into the shadows once more.
“Fucker really was following me.” Tezira grumbled out crossing her arms. “I really need to chew him out whenever I get back to base.” She hissed out before taking a breath and turning to the group again.
“Alright! I know a good potion shop! Its where I got her healing potion and they owe me a good bit so we should get a discount! Also will be buying a new knife and some basic armor since I didn’t exactly buy any recently.” She explained before starting to walk down the street. “Come on, follow me! I know this town better than anyone! Well, better than you four at least!” She added with a laugh as they all followed along.
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The shopping trip overall did not take too long. The potion shop had quite the selection, but it was mostly everyday cleaning tonics and more that the group would not really have much use for. There was a small selection of acids and throwables, but as Tezira reached for them with a gleam in her eyes she found a soft human hand gently grab her own.
“We have better options for you.” He said with a gleam in his eyes.
The kobold nodded letting out a small chirp finding herself just a little bit flustered. Not only was a human holding her hand, but a human male that was her type AND offering her new fun toys to play with later. If this was a romance novel she would have felt it to be a bit on the nose for her fantasies, but that was not here nor there.
They bought the potions and a nice knife from a stand along the way to a leather weaver. Once there Zilta went first, paying to have her armor patched up while the others did their own shopping. Nelva bought a few leather pieces to cover her torso and legs leaving her arms and head free for spellwork. Jack watching quite closely as the long, slender legs of his girlfriend were measured. John almost smacked his co-worker on the back of the head for staring until he noticed that Nelva was watching Jack with a grin and was clearly moving her legs to show quite a bit more than needed.
Tezira was next getting a full leather set. She was not very happy to hear that they were going to adjust a set meant for dwarves, but when they explained how long it would take to make a fully custom set, along with the extra price of it, she opted to just go with it. Not without a little bit of grumbling how she “was not that thick” and “she had a better body than a dwarf” getting a small chuckle from her new party.
Once the leatherwork was done they packed everything into a bag and John started to carry it down the street towards the main entranceway. Nobody really paid the reptiles or gnoll any mind as once more all attention was focused on the humans.
“I think we should start with the basic, easy dungeon. While me and John could probably blast our way through most monsters I don’t think it would be a good idea to push you three further than you can. Plus, we need to get used to working together and you three more used to our gear before we really try anything truly hard.” Jack explained as they walked out of the gates and towards where the ship was parked.
“Probably a good idea. I can see the logic there.” Nelva agreed with him as she walked close by his side.
“Yeah, makes sense to me.” Tesira agreed nodding a bit as she walked on his other side.
“Sure. Why not? I can handle myself but unno about the rest of you.” Zilta added on putting an arm on John’s shoulder.
They then walked the rest of the way to the ship. Once TK came into view Tesira froze and looked over the metal ship in pure shock. Her eyes wide as her tail stood straight up in the air. “I… read the report Pol gave me about the ship and saw the drawings my men made, but I didn’t expect THIS!” She squeaked out motioning to the ship from end to end. “This thing FLIES!?”
The humans chuckled and motioned her to go towards the ship. She looked between them and slowly walked towards the ship. They led her inside and she instantly started to scamper around the ship. Questions came at a fast pace as she poked her head into every room she could and examined all the tech she could possibly get her hands on. She was careful however not to press any buttons or flick any levers or switches however since she knew fully well she had no idea what anything did.
The others just watched her for awhile while Jack and John tried to keep up with her questions before just giving up and letting her go wild for awhile. Once she had a decent self guided tour they led her to an empty room.
“This will be your bedroom. Since you are part of our party you get your own private room.” Jack explained with a smile. “The door does lock if you want it to by the way. And yes, it can keep pol out.”
The resulting squee let him know that he was correct in assuming that would be a feature she would desperately love.
He then led her out to the hall and pointed out the other rooms. “That one is mine, that one is John’s, that one is Nelva’s, and that one is Zilta’s. Zilta will probably be spending lots of time in John’s room at this rate and Nelva spends lots of time in mine.” He then looked down at the kobold to see her tail droop a little. He let out a sigh and smiled. “And once in awhile you can spend time with me and Nelva in my room as well.” He added on getting a sigh of relief from the kobold.
“Alright. One more thing. We didn’t reveal this to your people but the ship has a mind and can speak.”
Tezira just chuckled a bit and looked up at him with a smug grin. “Bullshit. There is no way a ship can speak! I can tell you have lots of fancy technology and more but now you are just messing with me!” She declared with full confidence.
“>I can assure you I am fully sentient and I can speak for myself Tezira.”
The kobold jumped in surprise and looked around. “Fuckin- You have MORE girls around!?” She asked as she looked in the nearby rooms before pausing and letting out a groan. “Ah. Ship can speak. Right.” She grumbled out not liking the taste of humble pie.
Jack opted to not rub it in any more as he started to show her around the cargo bay and the lounge area. Both him and truck-kun now slowly answering a few of the questions she decided to ask again now that she was able to pause to get an answer.