|Chapter 11|
~.-.-“Why Are You Squishing It?”-.-.~
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Nuki - POV -
“Hey Travis~”
Pulling the best ‘dainty’ facade of which I could muster up without immediately gagging; I shamefully approached the idle ‘warrior’. ‘Ugh... So fucking humiliating... I feel like a whore...’. Yet for as abashed I feel in this moment; When in the face of a large, weight-induced magic construct, laziness ultimately prevails. Sensing my approach, he swiftly staggers from his slouched position along the tattered reception couch; Wildly scrambling for a way to look even remotely productive. Grabbing his mud laden tunic, he starts ‘polishing’ his already clean blade. ‘...Idiot’. I continued my advance-
“Nuki... Stop... You're scaring me. Why are you smiling like that... Don’t tell me you signed ’us’ up to clean the Hydrus Stallion pins again... Please respond... NUKI!”. Emphasizing the word ‘us’ with air quotes, his joking demeanor quickly sours. Looking towards me, his already sunken face proceeds to further plummet as I opportunistically take stride to fuel his terror with a wide, sadistic smile. A lone teardrop rolls steadily down the scarred cheek of his grimacing face. Satisfied with the results of my little ‘games’, I continued.
“No, bu-”
Without the least bit of hesitation, he slouches, releasing a sigh of unbridled relief; Before momentarily glancing down at his poor weapon. Immediately he goes bug-eyed upon noticing the numerous, russet-brown smears and streaks of bloodied mud that now cake the surface of his blade. I pursed my lips. ‘How dare you think that I’d clean those hellish quarters. Killing is one thing, that... That is another. I mean, you are here for a reason.’. Shivering, I clambered to renew my previous, flowery impres-
“Stop that. That only worked on me for like... Three months, I think... Or maybe it was four... Sigh... Anyhow, what do you need?”
Gladdened that I’d no longer have to put up with such a cringe-worthy display, I ceased my charades and got straight to the point.
“Yeah, so, I need some help carrying a magic construct up here from the inn’s cellar. Could you possibly do that for me? I doubt it would be all too hard for someone like you.”. From what little insight I've garnered on how Travis works; It's that if you want something from him, it's best to stroke his ego- ‘Actually that sounds kinda wrong...’.
“tshh~ Yeah, I can do it easily. Now where did you say it was? I wasn’t exactly listening.”
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“GASP!~ Pant~ Wheeze... Huff, huff, haa...”. Panting fervently as if he were about to just ‘up and die’, he continued to audibly rail his exhaustion and strain for the entire inn to hear. A tinge of tension forms, vise around my skull; Before arrant pain encompassed its entirety. In the throes of hell's depths, my lone remaining nerve finally snaps..
“WILL YOU KNOCK IT OFF! You are NOT dying!”
“Yes-Puff... I am-Huff...”. Rasped, he gasps out his response between heightened heaves of painful volume and juddering, tightly clenched teeth. Momentarily losing his focus, he begins to teeter like a drunkard, stumbling forward; But manages to catch himself in the nick of time, avoiding a potential face-plant and an expensive visit to the cleric.
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
“Then quit dying! You are highly annoying. Hell!-NO, FUCK ‘Hell’! Even Paximortis herself wouldn’t guide your vexing soul past the inn’s entrance, much less to the afterlife!”
Irked, he ventures to provide further comment, but ultimately shuts his mouth; Instead opting to glare at me, visibly fuming in response to the harsh degradation to his ‘dignity’. Or, at least, whatever was left undesecrated up to that point, little it may be. Stifling a sigh, we eventually round the end of the corridor, entering a lengthy passageway; Our path dimly illuminated by a few sparse rays of sunlight, leaking through a lone, clouded window. Taper to darkness from the poorly placed aperture, we reach the withered, auburn door to the lobby. Beset by mildew, I suppress a sneeze; Fumbling for the doorknob. Failing twice, I receive a crude smirk and audacious chuckle from the brazen ‘pack mule’ behind me. Miffed, I forgo searching for the concealed handle, and simply pry open the loosely latched door. Light floods in almost immediately, as the creaking door is flung op- ‘...What...’
Encompassing the amorphous blue blob was an array of burly, unkempt mercenaries and laborers; A ‘raft of daft riff raff’, if you will. ‘What are they doin-’
“Oi, oi~ Look!”, “Gibberish cooing~”, “Yeah I see it mate~ It even squishes!”, “It feels funny.”, “Ay~ It feels like yer mum!”
SMACK!!!
The latter most cretin was suitably decked upside the head by a greasy, snaggle-toothed individual; Resulting in a brawl-like tussle to erupt amongst the grimy, crumb-laden floor. Taking their spot was an especially daring and brave child; Who was ultimately bumped out of the way by yet another grisly mercenary seeking to prod the now spotlighted slime all but a few seconds later. Stunned by the baffling spectacle, I watched on, as did a group of pouting children; Laying witness to the bobbing slime living the dream of that one greasy person’s mother. To be surrounded by seven burly men at all angles.
“Ah~ Sugarplum! Happy to see ya! Wanna honey wafer? I made them ‘cause I was planning to save the cobbler for tomorrow~”. Noticing our arrival, Miss Sweetie swiftly exits through the kitchen’s portiere opening; A large, enticing platter of sugary treats in tow.
“I mean... Yeah, sure.”. Grabbing two wafers, I chuck one behind me for the idiot, inciting a muffled thanks in response. Biting into the tender, honeyed disk; Its contents crumble against the roof of my mouth as I press it up with my tongue, all but melting into a syrupy, saccharine nectar pooling inside of my mouth. Done savoring the regrettably tasty snack, I resisted the urge to snag yet another and began the vogue ‘questioning’ to which I am, semi-regrettably, getting much too used to.
“Why is there a swath of mercenaries surrounding and... just probing the poor slime?”
“Oh! So they were curious ‘bout the little blue bundle o’ joy meandering about the counter~ I told them, ‘If you group of unkempt, virgin filth, so much as even dirty a speck of her or hurt her in any way, then I will personally put ya down and make jerky out of your remains. You hear me! I’LL FEED YA TO HER!’. I don’t know why they became so pale all of a sudden; They didn’t even wanna play with her anymore! Then why ask in the first place?!”. Mildly peeved, she looked at the bunch before continuing. “Ay, but they eventually came round and started playing with her. She seems to be enjoying herself at least~”.
Looking back yonder to the ‘little blue bundle o’ joy’, I find it currently twirling about like a hyper, highly spirited puppy; Doing ‘zoomies’ between their hairy, unwashed legs. Watching it whirl around, I decide to bring up its modus of containment; If not just the use of a glorified playpen to keep the zestful blue menace out of trouble.
“So, Miss Sweetie, I -“cough”-... We brought up the slime’s cage. And I was wondering if, maybe, you would like to have it with you so that, you know, the slime would have somewhere to be put.”. Finished speaking, I swirl my head back and give a quick glare at Travis; Who leans upwards to meet my ey-
THUD!!!
“””...”””
Frozen, I slowly set my gaze upon the toppled load; Several newly formed cracks snaking out from beneath it like a web, only incredibly dented. Moving my stare to the now vibrant red dumbass, I lock eyes. Chagrin, he begins to sheepishly open his mouth to speak, but is stopped by Miss Sweetie.
“Now-now, dear~ All is fine. I’ve done worse things to this place by accident; And I know ya wouldn’t have done it on purpose either~”. Casually walking over to the fallen cage, she gingerly grasps it with one hand; Before nonchalantly lifting it up like a satchel, and promptly turns back towards us. “Y’all can leave this here with me. She can sleep with me in ma’ room~”. And without any further input whatsoever, she casually made her way to her quarters.