Arwin woke the next morning to find that only a single side of his body was warm. The rest of it was swallowed by the frosty fingers of a strong chill that seemed to have gripped the entire room. A shiver ran down his spine.

Holy shit, it’s freezing. Why is it so cold?

Lillia shifted beside him. She yawned but cut herself off halfway through it with a curse, attaching herself back to Arwin’s arm. “Godspit. It’s freezing in here.” She hesitated for a second and he felt her wince. “I didn’t wake you up, did I?”

“I think it was other way around,” Arwin said. He was still trying to debate on if he was displeased with the cold or not. On one hand, it felt like his entire left half was about one degree from freezing solid. On the other, it was keeping Lillia beside him.

A moment after the thought struck him did a grimace pass over Arwin’s lips.

My priorities are seriously wrong here. I can’t let this go on any longer. There are only days left before we deal with the Wyrms. If I’m distracted like this the whole time, I could seriously slip up and get someone injured.

I’d be stupid to do anything now, but I need to give myself a deadline so I know when it’ll be over. If I don’t, I’m going to keep kicking this rock down the road and remain distracted by it the entire time.

***

Lillia was, as she had been finding herself feeling more frequently, grateful for the dark. It kept Arwin from seeing the embarrassment on her expression perfectly. If the Lillia of just a few months ago had known that she’d be using a mild chill to cling to the Hero’s arm like a lost child, she would have put herself out of her misery on the spot.

It would have been simple enough for her to release Arwin and stand up, heading over to the kitchen to start a fire and beat off the rest of the chill. She could have even asked him to summon some of his [Soul Flame] to banish the cold from the unusually chilly morning.

That would have taken her excuse away. And so, instead of taking any of the myriad paths that were open to her, she chose to remain exactly where she was.

I really need to do something about this before the Wyrms. What happens if somebody gets hurt because I’m too busy giggling in the corner to pay proper attention to the fight?

It’s not like I can tell him anything now. We’ve both got too much riding on us to worry about anything other than the upcoming fight. I’ve got to finish my preparations for it, and that means I can’t afford a distraction any more than he can.

What I need is a deadline. I’ll tell Arwin about my feelings after the Wyrms are dead and we’ve got some time to ourselves. That’ll let me focus on what I need to do now.

Lillia nodded to herself – and made absolutely no moves to release Arwin’s arm. They were still in bed, so there was no reason to go that far. If he was going to leave a perfectly good arm in her vicinity, then it was only logical that he should be prepared to sacrifice it until they started moving for the day.

“Arwin–”

***

“Lillia–”

Arwin caught himself as they both spoke at the exact same time, then cleared his throat.

“Sorry. You go.”

“No, you can go.”

Well now it’s fried, isn’t it? I don’t even know what I was going to say. The hell do I tell her? ‘I need to talk to you after all the Wyrms are dead’? That sounds like a threat! And if I say any more, it’s obvious what I’m getting at and there’s no point pushing it off at all.

“I was just going to say that we’ll handle these Wyrms and be on with life in just a few days,” Arwin said lamely. “I’m looking forward to that. What were you going to say?”

“I – uh, same thing.”

You were also planning on using the exact same lame line that I was?

“Right,” Arwin said. It wasn’t like he could say much. Even if he couldn’t tell Lillia his plans, that changed nothing. They would speak once the Wyrms were dead.

“Right,” Lillia agreed.

Neither of them spoke for a moment. Then, nearly at the exact same time, they both moved to stand. Arwin almost tripped over Lillia before he caught himself.

“Whoops. Sorry,” Arwin said. “Are you going to show me where the exit is, or am I going to have to feel for it again?”

Lillia cleared her throat. Her hand found Arwin’s wrist and she pulled him out of the room and into the kitchen, releasing his arm once they were in the light again. The chill wasn’t any weaker in the kitchen than it had been in her room.

Any lingering thoughts that Arwin had faded away as they headed out into the common room. Rodrick and Anna had already come down and were sitting in the same stool, Anna perched on Rodrick’s lap.

Stolen story; please report.

He’d wrapped them both up in a sheet that looked to have been stolen from their room. They both glanced over to Arwin and Lillia as they walked out.

“It’s cold as shit,” Rodrick said. “I looked outside already and immediately regretted it. Not snowing, in case anyone was wondering. I reckon it would be if it started raining.”

“Is it meant to get this cold in Milten?” Arwin asked with a shiver. He called a ball of [Soul Flame] to his hands and held it out to try and warm the room a little bit. There wasn’t nearly enough energy in it to do much, but everyone scooted a little closer to him.

“I’d heard it can get cold, but this feels worse than it should be,” Anna said. “We’d probably be best off asking Reya. She’s lived here for a while, but she just ran out the door a few minutes ago. Maybe Olive would know? I’m not sure if she’s a Milten native.”

The stairs creaked and they all turned as Olive headed down. She’d employed the same strategy that Rodrick and Anna had, wrapping herself tightly with every single sheet from her bed.

Olive waddled down the stairs and made a beeline to leech some heat from the fire in Arwin’s hands.

“Pick up on anything we were talking about?” Rodrick asked.

“Yeah. It can get pretty cold here, but I haven’t been in Milten that long,” Olive said. “I don’t think this is normal. I’ve only been in Milten for a little while. Where did Reya run off–”

The door flew open to reveal Reya, covered in sweat and bouncing from foot to foot. A strong gale swept into the room as she ran inside and slammed the door shut behind her.

“What were you doing?” Anna asked.

“Going for a run. Best way to escape the cold is to run away from it.” Reya wiped the sweat from her brow and shivered before hurrying to join the growing group. “That only works until you stop, though. I hate Milten winters.”

“You’re telling me this is normal?” Arwin asked.

“Eh. It’s a bit worse than I’m used to, but it’s not the coldest Milten has become either. Nobody is going to come out for a while, I’ll tell you that. Half the reason the winters were so rough on the streets is because there’s jack shit to steal since everyone is hiding inside.”

She glanced at Olive, then cleared her throat and reddened. “Not that I was trying to steal something. I was just going for a run.”

Is she embarrassed about her past?

“How long is it going to be like this?” Rodrick asked.

“About two months.”

“I’ve discovered the next thing I’m adding to my inn,” Lillia declared. “Some damn braziers so we don’t all freeze to death overnight.”

“We should go check on the Wyrms.” Rodrick heaved a sigh. “Changes like this can herald stuff. I don’t know what, but we can’t leave anything to chance. Also, I want to put Reya’s theory about running to the test.”

“Hold on,” Arwin said. He took a step toward the stairs toward his room, where Rodrick’s greaves were currently waiting for him. Everyone moved with him to stay near the [Soul Flame]. He glanced at Lillia. “Could you…”

“Yeah. Give them a second.”

A moment later, an imp headed out of Lillia’s room with a leather-wrapped bundle balanced on top of its head. A second one headed down the stairs bearing the bundled greaves. Olive nearly jumped out of her shoes and hurriedly started unraveling herself from her self-made prison.

“Imps! In the tavern!”

“It’s fine,” Reya said, grabbing Olive before she could finish unrolling. “They’re not real imps.”

Olive paused. She squinted at the imps as they deposited the two bundles and scurried back into the shadows.

“Those are imps. In maid outfits.”

“They’re mine,” Lillia said. “Just a part of my class. I can form shadows into objects, and that’s the peak of what I can handle right now.”

Olive didn’t say anything for a moment. Then she started twisting in the other direction, re-rolling herself in her blankets. Evidently, between the potential of real monsters in the inn and having to face the cold, Olive chose staying warm over answers.

“What are these?” Anna asked.

Wait. How am I supposed to send Olive away? It would be incredibly rude.

Ah, I’ve got it.

“Gifts for Rodrick.” Arwin said jerked his chin toward the bathroom. “They’re what I’ve been working on recently. Go try them on.”

Anna glared at Arwin as Rodrick shifted her off him and hopped to the ground. He bundled her up in the blanket and plopped her back on the chair.

“You stole my warmth,” Anna accused.

“But I got something shiny. Warmth is temporary. Fancy metal is forever. Be back in a second, hon,” Rodrick said, waggling his fingers as he grabbed both bundles and darted into the bathroom.

“I’ll get you for this,” Anna said.

“Sorry,” Arwin said with a chuckle. “You could have always followed him, you know.”

“No. I’m not leaving my sheets, and I’m not going to waddle after him. I’d trip and fall on my face.”

“What did you make–” Olive started, but she didn’t get a chance to finish her sentence.

“Holy fuck!” Rodrick exclaimed. His voice carried through the walls as if there was nothing there and he let out a disbelieving laugh. “No goddamn way.”

There were several muted thumps from the bathroom, followed by a muffled curse and more delighted laughter.

“No damn way,” Rodrick said. “No bloody way. I can’t believe it. Holy shit.”

Olive raised an eyebrow. “Now I really want to know what you gave him. Why does it sound like he’s just found out he has a child?”

“Another one!” Rodrick exclaimed, his voice raising in pitch before he froze. A second passed in silence before his muted whisper came – somehow still audible through the walls. “Wait. You’re kidding me.”

“Were those walls always that thin?” Arwin asked.

“Yeah. You can hear everything in there. Might want to make those thicker,” Reya said. “Might be weird if someone’s taking a bath and they’ve got people listening in.”

Lillia coughed into a fist. “Yeah. I’ll look into that at some point.”

“Whoa. My ass looks great in this!”

They all looked back over to the bathroom. Rodrick’s words had definitely been nothing more than a hushed whisper, but they’d somehow carried all the way through the common room.

“Arwin?” Anna asked, her eyes narrowing. “Did you make Rodrick lingerie?”

“No. He’s just weird.”

“Fair enough,” Anna said. “What did you make him?”

Before Arwin could answer, Rodrick stepped out of the bathroom. He wore the entire Ripple set. Its attributes had hidden themselves from view, but that did nothing to stop the beautiful armor from shimmering in the dim light.

“Well?” Arwin asked, trying not to laugh. “What do you think?”

“It’s okay, I guess.” Rodrick adjusted the breastplate and scratched at the side of his neck. “I’m cool about it, though. I get gifts like this from admirers all the time.”

“Do you, now?” Anna arched an eyebrow. “Turn around.”

Rodrick turned in a circle. “What do you think? Does it suit me?”

“You were right,” Anna said. “Your ass does look good in it.”

“Wait. You could hear me? How much?” Rodrick asked, a look of horror spreading over his face. “How thin is that wall?”

“Thinner than you’d hope.” Arwin clapped him on the shoulder. “Glad you like the armor, though.”