Nima Maxim

Adventurer Level: N/A

Guild Employee Level: 3

Orc - Nulevan

Yulk, trying to keep the bittersweet pain out of his voice, read out Nash's new level. Eleven. A bystander might have mistaken the tone of his voice to be one of shock. Nash had jumped two entire levels during their adventure, which is an impressive accomplishment.

But I knew the true cause of his hesitancy. Yulk has never been good at maintaining relationships, especially long distance ones. Nash and I beginning our courtship will split the brothers up, and they wouldn't be as close as they have been.

In spite of Yulk's feelings, my heart fluttered with excitement. Nash had promised me that we would begin our courtship once he hit level ten, and he'd finally done so! He had stayed true to his word, despite my advancement in the Adventurer's Guild providing me enough pay that I could be our meal-ticket.

I had thought about pointing this out to him, but it probably wouldn't have hastened things. He had made a promise, and he's nothing if not stubborn. But now, his promise is fulfilled and we can fina-

"Marry me," Nash said.

Yulk, Nick, and I stared at him, completely dumbfounded. If it weren't for Nick and Yulk mimicking my own reaction, I would have wondered if I'd misheard him. The determination in Nash's emerald-green eyes faltered for a moment at our reactions, but they remained locked on my own.

"Fucking WHAT!?" Yulk demanded.

Yulk's reaction very nearly mimicked my own internal monologue, though for different reasons. He had been expecting a bittersweet parting that lasted the course of a year or more. I had been expecting Nash to ask me on a date to begin our courtship. Instead, Nash had assumed that I'm head over heels for him and skipped straight to demanding my hand in marriage.

The frustrating thing is that he's right about how I feel about him. However correct he is, though, it doesn't change the fact that it's insulting that he doesn't think he has to try to win me over. I'm a catch! He should feel like he has to move mountains to win my affection, damn it!

On top of it all, he proposed IN PUBLIC! I glanced around the room, and noted several widened eyes staring at us. Which of the brothers did they hear? Does it matter? My heart drummed a rapid beat, but it seemed confused as to whether it was because of my anger, embarrassment, or if it was because I'd dreamt about this exact moment.

"I want to be your husband," Nash ignored his younger brother. "I get that it's sudden, and I understand if you say no. But you're all I've thought about since I made you that promise. We had a couple of close calls on this last adventure, and during our darkest moments you were my light. I didn't care about coming home, I just wanted to come back to you."

Those damn glimmering green eyes, the very same ones that had taken my breath away when I first saw them as a child, bore straight into me. The sheer volume of my feelings threatened to overwhelm me, and for a moment I considered running away to get some time to think. But no, I'm not a little girl anymore.

I know how to handle myself. I won't let a proposal from some two-copper adventurer rattle me. Even if that adventurer is the love of my life.

"Nash," I said with a forced smile. "You promised me a courtship."

The determination in his eyes melted away and was replaced with fear. His well-toned, and very shirtless, body slightly shifted into a defensive posture as if expecting to be struck. Thank the gods, a sign of cognizance.

"I-I uh..." He stammered.

"Marriage is all well and good, and I definitely wouldn't mind having you as a husband. However, I haven't had the chance to go courting because I've been waiting on you to live up to your promise this entire time," I said, letting a little more venom spill into my tone. "I will be DAMNED before I miss out on all the cute moments that come with a courtship."

"B-but I-"

"You will forget this foolish notion of elopement and take me on dates," I said, reaching over the counter and poking his sturdy chest. "You will buy me wonderful gifts, get me the prettiest of flowers, write clever poetry for me, and tell me that I'm the most beautiful mer you've ever seen. Once I've had my fill of all that, you will perform the proper negotiations with my mother. Then, and ONLY then, may you ask for my hand in marriage. Do you understand me, Nash?"

"Y-yes ma'am."

"And you'd better come up with a better proposal than 'marry me'. That's not even a proposal! It's a demand! Who the hells do you think you are, making demands of me? I have royal blood in my veins! I'll not be commanded into marriage!"

If anyone in this village knew about the royal orc blood in my veins, it should be Nash. When I was a child, my size made other children nervous. Most of the boys tried to be friends with me, but mostly because of how athletic I was. They all wanted me to be on their team in sports.

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It took until my breasts began to grow in for anyone other than Nash and my mother to realize I was a girl. Even my half-brother treated me like one of the boys. The girls treated me with disdain and jealousy because of how close I was to the boys that they liked.

Nash, however, treated me like the little girl I was. He would stand up for me even though I was a head taller than him. He would shout for me and fight for me and protect me from the things that would have tried to hurt me. The other boys would make fun of me when I wore girly clothes, but Nash would tell them to shut up and tell me I was beautiful.

Whenever he got an allowance from his mother, he would buy me something girly because he knew how much it meant to me. One of the more beautiful hair-clips he got me was currently holding my hair out of my angry face. How could a boy that sensitive bungle such an important moment this badly?

"I-I'm sorry, Nima. I didn't mea-"

"Oh, you didn't MEAN it like that?" I shouted. "Have some care with your actions and how they're interpreted! You're damn lucky I know you're a block-head or I would be under the impression that you think so little of me that you believe that I would absolutely swoon at just the offer of your hand in marriage. I would believe that you're so damned egotistical that you can't even humble yourself to show your affection to me!"

"N-no I-"

And now he was trying to argue with me. As if I'm somehow the one misinterpreting the situation. No, I understand perfectly, and that's the only reason I haven't knocked the sense back into his damn skull.

"Stop trying to talk, damn it," I growled, fighting tears of frustration. "Gods, you had such a head-start, too. With your damned promises and flirtations. You had me believing you were a clever romantic, but you're just a dumbass."

The small crowd within the guild-hall was now carefully minding their own business, even though it was obvious they were still listening. Yini, Nimora, and Catalina were staring firmly at their table. Even Yulk and Nick were trying to pretend they didn't exist.

"Had?" Nash asked with the voice of a wounded pupper.

I did say that, didn't I? I meant it, but didn't mean it like he took it. Gods, what a poor dumb boy. I took a deep breath and released it with a sigh.

It's obvious that he considered our childhood to be a part of our courtship. Hells, most people who knew us wouldn't even bat an eye if we eloped. But that was friendship, not romance. I deserve romance, gods damn it.

"You're damn right, had!" I said, crossing my arms. "Now you're on the same playing field as all the other boys who fancy my attentions. You'd better work really hard to shine above them."

Determination returned to his face and he nodded, finally understanding what he'd done. But I didn't want to let him off just yet.

"And if you pull something like this again, I'm going to tell your mother," I said sternly.

The eavesdropping crowd winced, and the Alta boys both went pale. Yilda isn't known to beat her boys, but even so it's easy to imagine the former legend beating Nash within an inch of his life without even using a weapon. And gods help him if he tried to fight back.

"I won't, I'm sorry," Nash replied, then bowed. "Miss Maxim, please forgive my transgression and-"

"I'll forgive your transgression but so help me gods if you don't give it a little time before asking to court me I'm going to get violent," I interrupted with a very unladylike growl.

"Ah, okay," he straightened and grabbed the back of his neck nervously. "So... Uh... Tomorrow, then?"

I sighed again, releasing all the pent-up frustrations that had been bubbling within me. All the other women say that dumb men are the best men, but they conveniently leave out how frustrating they can be. After a moment of regaining my composure, I met his gaze.

"Yes, tomorrow. Since you obviously require a bit of hand-holding, I should also tell you that you need to make it up to me. You're smart enough to figure out how, right?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Good," I replied, a cold smile forming on my features. "Will there be anything else?"

"No ma'am," the three boys answered in unison.

"Have a good night," I said with mock sweetness.

"You too," Yulk said.

The three boys rushed out into the night without another word, and before I could leave the counter they were replaced with Yini, Nimora, and Catalina. I could do without their sympathies, but didn't have the energy to turn them away. They convinced me to sit with them and Yini ran to get us some drinks.

"Did he REALLY just propose?" she asked once she returned, handing me a beer.

"Yeah. Yeah, he sure did," I said, the exhaustion infiltrating my voice.

"Just like that?" Catalina asked. "What the hells?"

"Yeah."

"Damn, I knew Nash was bold but I didn't think he was that much of an asshole. You poor thing. How dare he!"

"Well, I guess that settles the debate over which is the superior brother," Yini grinned. "Did you HEAR how loud Yulk shouted?"

Despite myself, I laughed along with them. Yini's crush on Yulk was so obvious that she wouldn't even deny it when asked. Unfortunately, she wants him to act more like Nash, with the exception of today's incident. That's just not going to happen, though.

"You know, if you want Yulk you're going to have to snatch the reins," I said, taking a deep drink of my beer. "When it comes to love, he's dumber than his brother. And you just saw how dumb his brother can be."

"All men are kind of dumb when it comes to romance," Catalina said, taking a sip of her beer. "That's why I prefer women."

We all chuckled. Even though she's open about her sexuality, Catalina has always been incredibly shy when it comes to actual romance. Which is ironic, considering that she can pair with other species and as such has a much larger dating pool than we do.

"Yeah," Yini sighed. "Oh well, I'll look at the bright side. I'm better off with my crush than Nimora is with hers."

"Wh-what? What crush?" Nimora demanded.

"Oh, sweetie," I said sadly, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Come on. You're almost as obvious as Yini is."

"N-no. I don't know what you mean. I don't have a crush on anyone."

"Nick," Catalina grinned. "The uh... Huhmann, right?"

"Human," Yini corrected, also grinning. "I can't blame you, Nimora. He looks a bit like an orc, and he's probably pretty handsome for a human."

"Oh, fine," Nimora crossed her arms sternly. "I like the way he looks, okay? And those eyes..."

"They're really blue," Catalina agreed. "This was the first time I saw them up close. Very pretty."

"It's probably not something you should pursue, though," I interjected, suddenly feeling a lot older. "First of all, there's the incompati-"

"We don't know that, though," Nimora interrupted, biting her lip a little. "He looks kinda orcish. He might BE kinda orcish, you know... Down there?"

"That's true," Yini chuckled. "None of us dared to take a peek."

"Oh, come on," I laughed. "Well, I guess you could be right. But even so, he's from another world, right? That HAS to come with a whole cart full of baggage."

"I could be his hnarse, though," Nimora winked.

The rest of us expressed disgust and laughed. We joked around a bit more and finished our beers, then the girls went home. I ushered the rest of our patrons out the door and tidied things up a bit before closing the hall and heading home, myself.

Tomorrow had better be a big day.