Chapter 106: Friends [1]
The tavern stays busy even after Laz and I finish eating. People continue coming in and out while conversations fill the room.
Some are talking about dragons, others are talking about things that have absolutely nothing to do with the war.
It is strange how normal everything feels sometimes.
"You planning on sitting there all day?" Laz asks.
I look down to see my bowl is already empty.
"I was thinking."
"You do that a lot."
"Everyone thinks."
"Not like you."
I stare at him and he starts laughing.
"I don't mean it in a bad way."
"Sure."
"I'm serious. Sometimes you look like you're trying to figure out the meaning of life."
"I definitely wasn't doing that."
"What were you thinking about?"
I glance around the tavern.
"Nothing important."
"Then why not tell me?"
Because explaining every thought that enters my head sounds exhausting.
~That would take quite a while.
Exactly. It is kind of terrible in all honesty.
Laz takes another drink from his mug.
"Was it Sylvia?"
"No."
He raises an eyebrow.
"That was fast."
"Because it wasn't."
"Alright."
He clearly doesn't believe me.
I lean back in the chair.
To be fair, I was thinking about what he said earlier.
Not entirely about Sylvia though, mostly about everything.
A year ago I wouldn't have imagined myself sitting inside a tavern at some fort while eating breakfast with another slayer.
Back then I barely knew what being a slayer even meant.
Now this place almost feels normal, that might be the strangest part.
"You know," Laz suddenly starts. "When you first got here, I didn't think we'd actually become friends."
I look towards him.
"Friends?"
"Don't sound so surprised."
"I'm not surprised."
"You definitely sound surprised."
I think about it for a moment, are we friends? Obviously we talk, eat together, fought beside each other, and he bothers me constantly.
I guess that's what friends do.
~You seriously had to think about that?
I haven't exactly had a lot of time to think about friendships.
~You have had an entire year.
That's not what I mean.
Laz is still staring at me.
"Why are you thinking so hard about whether we're friends?"
"I'm not."
"You paused for like five seconds."
"I was thinking about something else."
"Liar."
"I'm not lying."
He laughs again.
"You're terrible at this."
"At what?"
"People."
I narrow my eyes.
"That's not true."
"It kind of is."
"I talk to people."
"Talking to people doesn't mean you're good with people."
Laz leans forward.
"You've gotten better though."
"At talking?"
"Everything."
He looks down at his empty plate.
"When you first came around, you always looked like you were expecting somebody to stab you."
"I was in the middle of a war."
"So was everyone else."
"You barely trusted anybody either."
"I trusted Sylvia."
"Eventually, but I doubt that was anything immediate."
I don't answer because that part is kind of true.
Trusting people didn't come naturally, even now there are things I keep to myself.
Even now there are things I keep to myself.
Laz continues.
"You also used to look like you'd rather fight five dragons than sit down and have a normal conversation."
"Depending on the conversation, that might still be true."
He bursts into laughter and a few people nearby look towards us.
I can't help but smile.
"See?" Laz says.
"See what?"
"That."
"What?"
"You actually joke now."
"I've always joked."
"No."
"Yes."
"You absolutely did not."
I shake my head.
Maybe he's just exaggerating.
I probably didn't joke much when I first got here, but there wasn't much to joke about.
Everything was new.
I was constantly worried about getting stronger, constantly thinking about dragons, constantly thinking about the visions, and every time I started feeling comfortable, something else happened.
It has taken a while to stop expecting everything to fall apart.
I still don't think that feeling is completely gone.
"You're doing it again," Laz says.
"What?"
"Thinking."
"I'm allowed to think."
"Not when we're having a conversation."
"That makes no sense."
"It does to me."
I stand from the table.
"I'm getting something to drink."
"We already have drinks."
"Another one."
"I'll take one."
"You can get your own."
"Some friend you are."
I stop.
He smiles.
I sigh.
"Fine."
"Thank you."
I make my way over to the counter, the same burly man from earlier looks towards me.
"Another?"
"Two."
He grabs two clean mugs before filling them, then I place some coins down.
He looks at them and pushes one back.
"One's covered."
"By who?"
He points somewhere behind me.
I turn to see Niko is sitting near the far corner with two other people.
He lifts his mug when he notices me looking.
I take the drinks and walk back towards Laz.
"Niko paid for one."
"Really?"
"Apparently."
"See? People like you."
"I didn't say they didn't."
"You looked confused about us being friends five minutes ago."
"I wasn't confused."
He takes the mug from me.
"Whatever you say."
I sit back down.
Niko eventually stands from his table and walks over.
He pulls out the empty chair beside us without asking.
"Morning."
"You've been here the entire time?" I ask.
"Most of it."
"Why didn't you say anything?"
"You two looked busy."
Laz smiles.
"We were talking about Kain's love life."
I immediately look at him.
"We were not."
"Partially."
Niko's attention shifts towards me.
"Oh?"
"Don't."
"I didn't say anything."
"You were about to."
"I was thinking."
Laz starts laughing.
Great, now there's two of them.
Niko takes a drink.
"So you got the armor."
I nod.
"Earlier."
"Good."
"You knew about it?"
"I helped Onyx get it fitted."
"You did?"
"Yeah."
"Why?"
Niko looks offended.
"Because I'm useful."
"That's not what I meant."
"I know."
He smiles.
"It was easier for me to make some adjustments than sending it back out."
"What did you change?"
"A few things."
"Niko."
"It isn't going to explode."
"Why was that the first thing you said?"
Laz nearly spits out his drink.
Niko starts laughing.
"I'm joking."
"You have a bad history with equipment."
"One cannon fired backwards."
"That's enough."
"That was a year ago."
"It still happened."
He shakes his head.
"The armor is fine. I just changed some of the straps and made sure the pieces wouldn't interfere with your movement."
That makes more sense.
"I appreciate it."
"No problem."
Maybe I should've expected him to know about the armor.
Over the last year I've learned that Niko seems to get involved in almost anything mechanical around the fort.
Cannons, weapons, armor, and sometimes things I don't even understand.
"Have you tested it yet?" Niko asks.
"No."
"You should."
"I was planning on it."
"Today."
I look at him.
"Why today?"
"Because I want to see if I got everything right."
"That's concerning."
"It shouldn't be."
"You said you changed things."
"Improvements."
"That's what you said about the cannon."
Laz puts his mug down.
"I want to see this."
"Of course you do."
Niko grins.
"We can head over to one of the training areas."
"I just ate."
"So?"
"So I'd rather not get hit immediately after eating."
"Who said anything about getting hit?"
I stare at him and he pauses.
"Okay, there may be some hitting."
"No."
Laz laughs.
"You scared of a little training?"
"No."
"Sounds like it."
I know exactly what he's doing.
"Fine."
Niko smiles.
"Perfect."
I point towards him.
"If something breaks—"
"It won't."
"If something explodes—"
"It definitely won't."
"If I get launched across the fort—"
"That happened one time."
"What happened one time?" I ask.
Laz immediately looks interested.
Niko stands.
"Nothing."
"Niko."
"Training area."
He starts walking away, then Laz gets up immediately.
"Oh, I'm definitely coming now."
I sigh and follow them.
We leave the tavern and step back outside.
Fort Mythos is already full of activity like usual.
Slayers move through the paths between tents and newer buildings.
A small group is training nearby.
CLANG!
CLANG!
Metal strikes metal again and again.
Honestly this place has changed a lot over the year.
More buildings, people, and better defenses.
The tavern wasn't the only addition, there are more places to sleep now too.
Laz walks beside me.
"Niko!"
Niko looks back.
"What?"
"What happened one time?"
"Nothing."
"You said Kain wouldn't get launched across the fort because it only happened once."
"I was speaking hypothetically."
"That's not what hypothetical means," I say.
Niko ignores me as Laz speeds up until he is beside him.
"Who got launched?"
Niko stays silent.
"Was it you?"
"No."
"Someone else?"
"No."
"Then who?"
Niko looks at him.
"A training dummy."
Laz stops.
I stop too.
"You launched a training dummy across the fort?" I ask.
"It wasn't supposed to go that far."
"How far?"
Niko points and I follow his finger.
He's pointing towards one of the walls.
Laz starts laughing so hard that he bends forward.
"It nearly went over," Niko adds.
I can't stop myself from laughing too and Niko looks between us.
"It wasn't that funny."
"It almost left the fort," Laz says between laughs.
"It did not leave."
"Almost."
"Still didn't."
We continue walking.
For some reason the whole thing feels easy.
The conversation and even jokes.
Walking around without worrying about what is waiting around the next corner.
I never really noticed when this started happening.
It just happened slowly, one conversation after another, one battle after another.
Meals, training, arguments, jokes.
A year of being around the same people.
I look towards Laz, then Niko.
Friends.
I guess the word doesn't feel as strange when I actually think about it.
~You are figuring out something most people learn much earlier.
Shut up.
~I am simply observing.
Yeah, I'm sure that's what you're doing.
Laz glances towards me.
"Why are you smiling?"
"I'm not."
"You are."
Niko looks back.
"He definitely is."
"I hate both of you."
Laz puts a hand over his chest.
"That's hurtful."
Niko shakes his head.
"After everything we've done for you."
"You bought me one drink."
"Exactly."
I laugh again.
Maybe they really are my friends.
That still feels weird to admit.