Chapter 34.
I had never been “out back.” I didn’t even know the outpost had one of those. Admittedly, I had stayed pretty cooped up the last little while, but the small courtyard was easy enough to find. I spotted Galine immediately before anything. She reared back on her hind legs, kicking a manikin with her hooves so hard it went flying across the courtyard and smacked into the wall. Ouch.
I gave a little clap, which made Galine turn in surprise; her braid snapped like a whip.
“Oh, hey,” she smiled, wiping sweat from her brow with her arm wrapped in protective fabric.
“Hey,” I grinned right back. “Am I really the only one hungover today? Just how high is y’all’s vitality?” I grumbled.
“Um… 104,” she replied.
I stared at her. “Mine is 13.”
“13?!” Galine frowned. “That’s… very very low.”
I sighed. “Yeah. I’m working on it.”
She just stared at me. “I’m not even sure I know how that’s possible,” she muttered.
“Well… I just recently showed up here and even recent-er actually started levelling up,” I shrugged. “So yes, I am very fragile. Anyway, wanna go on a picnic?”
“What?” She laughed.
“We could pack a lunch or dinner, and head out of town to a nice cozy… wilderness spot,” I grimaced at my own lack of dexterity. “I’d like to spend more time with you,” I added sincerely. “And I’m trying to build up the courage to leave the city walls.”
Galine smiled. “I’d love to, but I am working until this afternoon. We could do supper?”
“Sure,” I smiled. “What do you like to eat? I can sort out the food as long as you don’t mind carrying a basket,” I added, motioning to my stump. I immediately cringed and took a moment to let go of the bitterness. It wouldn’t do anyone any good.
“Well…” she hummed, none the wiser. “I’m really not picky. Maybe some bread and spreads?” she suggested.
I nodded dutifully and immediately winced at the bobbleheaded gesture. “You got it,” I smiled. “Bread and spreads.”
She chuckled. “In the meantime? In the mood to spar a little?”
I was not. Not remotely. I had never sparred in my life and had no idea what it possibly consisted of. If it involved getting kicked by hooves, then definitely not. “Rain check,” I smiled apologetically. “Let me get my vitality a little higher so you don’t kill me.”
She snorted. “I’ll go easy on you, promise,” she sing-songed.
Well, how could I refuse her now? “Oh, fine,” I groaned. “What do you need me to do?”
“Have you… never sparred before?” she frowned slightly.
“No, I’ve not been in anything comparable to a fight since pre-school. And my class isn’t really combat-oriented,” I winced.
“Oh,” she blinked. “I’m sorry– I just.. assumed.”
“It’s okay," I chuckled. “I know. I’m hanging around mercenaries, and I’ve literally never held a sword. It’s just… not really my thing,” I shrugged. “It’s really not now. I’ve been mauled enough for one lifetime.”
Fuck, I just did it again. I gently reached out to stroke her fur before remembering I probably shouldn’t just do that. Jesus, I was really fucking this all up. “Sorry,” I mumbled.
Galine said nothing, instead I found myself pulled into a hug. She rubbed my back in the way all good hugs did. I squeezed my eyes shut tightly so as not to cry in her arms. I had literally interrupted her workout; she didn’t need me breaking down right now.
“I’m sorry I’m sweaty,” Galine hummed.
I laughed weakly. “It’s fine,” I sighed, not letting go quite yet.
“Are you okay?” She asked me.
“Yeah,” I nodded, letting her go. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be,” she shook her head. “Our worst days have a way of haunting us,” she grimaced.
I nodded. “Yeah. On a scale of 1-10, how good are you at kicking the shit out of raptors?” I added, trying to lighten the mood.
“Oh, I’d say pretty good,” she hummed through a smirk. “Though it might be best if you ride on my back for safekeeping.”
I blinked. “Wait, what? Seriously?”
“I was joking,” she chuckled, cocking her head. “Oh, Pamela, do you want to ride me?”
I couldn’t hold back my laugh. Then she started laughing too. It was stupid, it was just stupid, but it made me feel better.
“Maybe,” I tried to shrug noncommittally through the giggles. “I’ll leave you to your violence. Bread and spreads,” I repeated.
Galine smiled. “Alright. Maybe check in after the noon bell. If it’s quiet, we might be able to sneak off early.”
“Oh, how naughty,” I grinned. “Do you have a spot in mind?”
She nodded. “I know the perfect picnic spot. No risk of raptors,” she added gently.
I leaned up to kiss her on the cheek. “You’re pretty great. I’ll see you in a bit.”
I headed out to figure out a picnic dinner, leaving Galine a blushing mess. Mission accomplished.
Petven was headed to the market to sell some herbs he had collected on their trip, and I tagged along. He was the least chatty of the group once his charm was switched off. But I wasn’t keen on conversation, I was too in my head.
With my hard-earned shillings I bought a nice loaf of bread, some fine cheese, and a few little jars of spreads, and a small bottle of wine, and… I was out of money. Fuck.
I didn’t even make it out with my pocket change, instead buying some eggs that I could hard-boil. I wasn’t sure if that was a thing that was done here, but it seemed kinda fun.
Maybe I shouldn’t have bought the good-quality wine or the aged cheese. Or several spreads.
I was really going to need to manage my money better. But I was excited, it was the same as going grocery shopping while hungry.
Alas, mistakes were made, but dates would also be made, but… great? Eh, it was convincing enough.
“What’s all that for?” Petven asked curiously when we met back up.
“Galine and I are going on a picnic,” I explained, awkwardly rotating the sack to try to use different muscles while also not jostling anything.
“Ah,” he hummed, not particularly interested.
Back upstairs, I immediately panicked about how I was going to transport it all until Kimrel procured a basket from somewhere. Then I got to work much to the other’s amusement. I boiled the eggs, sliced the bread, pocketed spoons that I hoped no one would really notice, grabbed wooden mugs for the wine, and had Frida tuck everything secure with a blanket, which I had fumbled for far too long, unable to do one-handed.
I worked fast, and it left me with plenty of time to overthink and panic. Holy shit, I was going on a date. Holy shit, I was leaving the city. Holy shit, I still needed to introduce Galine to Candy. Holy shit, the last time I had been on the road, I had almost died.
Martrix found great amusement in my fluttering. Frida, bless her heart, just seemed excited for me. She even procured a few cookies for me to bring on top of another dose of yucky painkillers.
I really missed clocks; at least with clocks, you could stare endlessly at the arms that refused to move any faster. In this world, I just aimlessly counted the bells each time they inevitably caught me off guard.
There was one thing I could nervously fixate on.
“Candy, do we need anything specific for the dungeon? Do I need to bring anything?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” she hummed in response. “We have no slimes to defend the dungeon, not even the dungeon part. I don’t know how we will protect it.”
“Well, I’m not really sure we can defend it,” I pointed out. “I assumed we would hide it.”
“Both would be good,” Candy replied. “But it cannot be too hidden, it needs to grow, and it needs space to breathe. That is why the city is no good, too polluted.”
I frowned. She hadn’t mentioned that before. “Does it need to be in the wilderness?”
“No, but it needs space. Maybe the sewers could work, maybe,” Candy admitted.
“This place has sewers?” I asked, surprised. I hadn’t noticed sewers. Then again, there were toilets, so there had to be sewers.
“It’s like you are blind. You need to pay attention to things. It's how you figure other things out,” Candy grumbled.
I rolled my eyes. I wasn’t going to be lectured by her right now. “I’m not going into the sewers,” I replied adamantly. It will be disgusting."
“Okay, so we find a nice little burrow or something and put the core in the woods, I prefer it too,” Candy agreed.
“Okay,” I sighed, out loud. “While on my date, I will try to find a… hidey hole for a dungeon core.”
“Good,” Candy chirped. “And maybe do more kissing with Galine. That also made me feel all warm and fuzzy. I really liked that.”
I ground my teeth. Some things never changed. And I really needed to have a talk with Galine about this. I was just dreading how she would feel about it. It was one thing to have some kind of symbiote, but… Candy was… part of me, inextricably.
I wasn’t hopeful that it was the kind of thing that could be overlooked.