On my way out, I stopped by the registrars desk to relay our the day's report. Cuisacs' eradication, Reilin's verbal consent, and the lost quarter-acre were all pertinent and had to be properly recorded.
I'd not be receiving an excursion bonus for our deeds. Fair enough. What's ten bells to the three hundred I was about to deposit?
A line had formed while I was in my office. As I waited, Illia decided to grace me with her presence, joining the queue behind me. She didn't have to go through these proceedings, but deigned to do so when she had a good reason.
"Good afternoon, Ill." I greeted her. The two of us were never outwardly hostile, not in the company of others at least. There had been a few late night shouting matches that the maid-staff were privy to.
"How's that Durough firebrand treating you?" She asked, knowing full well.
Eugh, I'll have to give the whole damn report in front of her. This'll be messy.
"You weren't kidding," I said, feigning a smile, "She's a lot."
She volleyed back a disingenuous laugh, "A lot and a half. I saw her drifting in on bare toes. I'd thought she'd learned her lesson with new boots. Apparently I wasn't tough enough on her."
"Then she's found herself in the right place. I had her suffer the result of her poor judgement," my counterpart was a few years my senior. Her shin-length velvet dress was a teal that bordered on black and bore a slit that ran up her thigh. I'd have never worn such a thing on excursion, but I never caught her drifting in sweaty or disheveled. She was making it work.
Our repartee continued for a grueling fifteen minutes before I finally reached the counter. I'd made the mistake of letting her know her vinaigrette was serviceable, and she'd taken it as permission to prattle on about six other culinary innovations.
Turning to the young halfling woman behind the desk, Hylie, I gave my report in as succinct a manner as possible, and avoided lowering my voice. I didn't want to impress upon Illia that I was ashamed of the day's events, "Mentee Reilin initiated consensual intercourse with the slime-queen Cuisacs, and one quarter acre of cabbage was provided to the monster as reward."
"Tut-tut." Illia's voice rose behind me, droll. I carried on, "Beside that our excursion was uneventful. That'll conclude my report."
I turned back to her, "Gotta hit up the bank before closing. Afternoon Illia." Yes we may have flubbed our first excursion, but I was the one walking away with Reilin's tuition.
Her nose wrinkled, thank goodness.
As I exited the building, so did Cora. She'd just dropped her equipment off with the quartermaster and was dressed in plain-clothes. A light-blue tunic draped down to her knees, cinched at the waist with a braided leather belt. There were multi-colored flowers embroidered across its chest. Practical and pretty.
"You on your way to anything urgent?" I asked.
She shook her head, "No, father didn't know when to expect me home, so I have some time."
"Good. I've some errands to run and they'll go by faster with company, we'll end up by his store-front in a bit." I slid my arm into hers and we took off toward the bank.
She waited outside as I deposited the check. When I returned, Cora was on a bench, chatting with an elderly woman about the day's events. The wrinkle-worn matron nodded and smiled as Cora carried on.
When I approached, the woman grabbed me by the wrist. I resisted the urge to snap it and throw her off. She smiled and told me "this one thinks quite highly of you."
Fine.
I offered a sealed-lip grin in return, said "We'll see if that holds through the season," and patted the back of her liver spotted hand.
Then she dropped into a meandering explanation of the internal politics of a nearby flock of pigeons. I couldn't get a single word in edge-wise. When I was on the edge of snapping, Cora thankfully cut her off, "Sorry Ma'am, but we've an important appointment, I'd hate to make my Mentor late."
"That's right," I quickly followed up, snatched my arm away and took a step back for good measure. Cora was on her feet smoothing out her tunic.
"Oh, alright alright, don't let me keep you two. I've still got my stories to watch," she said, returning her gaze to the pigeons. I wrapped an arm in Cora's and quickly led her away.
"Sorry Mentor Serica, she ambushed me..." Cora said, running a palm through her hair.
"It's of little consequence. Now come-on. I don't want my stand selling out," I wrapped an arm around her waist and then popped the cobblestone ground with a boot-heel, "Carry!" The ground popped back and propelled us forward. We weaved through cart and wagon traffic toward the city's Velvet Heart, a small district surrounding the Bloom University. Cora's feet barely touched the ground, with the exception of a few quick taps to stabilize herself.
Bloom served as the city's domestic counterpart to The Adventurer's Society, training young women as maids, assistants, companions and clients. We weren't heading there for a lesson. We had an appointment with my favorite kebab hawker, Grol'Ach.
The streets around Bloom were lined with young, studious women practicing their trades. A girl with paint-stained sleeves and raven-blue hair watched our approach. The other day I'd paid her twice what I should have for a landscape she'd painted live on the street. It now hung on my office wall as a reminder to watch myself around girls with full lips. I was not going to repeat the blunder by speaking to her with Reilin's tuition burning a hole in my pocket.
I skidded us to a stop, framing Cora in front of me, between two of Bloom's twelve red-stone minarets. Our speed had pulled tears across the sides of her face, and she looked exhilarated, "Get your footwork in order and I can teach you something similar"
"I will," Cora said as she straightened her hair, "I always love coming here,"
The campus buildings were surrounded by flowering gardens that put the Society's to shame. The Bloom gardens in turn were put to shame by the companions scattered across it, waiting for their dinners in the form of date proposals. The predominant style for these girls was a wreath-like wrapped braid dotted with white flowers and form-fitting colorful robes.
"Me too," I said, eyeing Grol'Ach. The half-orc was nearing his last few skewers and a queue had formed. I grabbed Cora's wrist and locked eyes with him and skirted the line. Cora's arm gave a gentle tug toward the back of the crowd, not enough to actually voice a complaint.
He nodded, tightened his orange head-band, and drizzled his signature yogurt-sauce over a pair. I grabbed the two of them as a hot murmur grew behind us. Turning, I dispersed it with a glance. I wasn't going to lose my chance at a meal to these tourists.
"Didn't pluck her from the garden," Grol eyed her up and down, "I approve." Cora shirked, unsure of how to take his appraisal.
He was right. She could have belonged here, at Bloom, if she'd wanted it. But she didn't, "Not a date. This is Cora, my student."
Cora tried at being pretty, the effort was there, but it didn't come natural. Her pink locks were once blonde. She'd dyed them, maybe at Selenee's direction, and then lopped them off into something wild and short. When I first laid eyes upon her I thought she was failing at both hard and soft. I'd come to realize she'd abandoned one for the other.
"Oh, never been much one for appraisal..." He pondered as the crowd's murmur rose again. He barked, "I can shut down shop and devour the rest of these if you want!" and downed half a kebab, reed and all, to prove the point.
"She's playing at Fighter," he leveled.
I felt her chest rise through her arm. There was something in there, resentment, "Not playing, I think. We're still figuring it out."
There it is, hot blood, pumping beneath my thumb. She does have a touch of her mother.
"Thanks Grol." I handed a kebab to Cora, "Let's go eat."
I led her to a rounded brick ledge, daffodils at out back, "He wasn't insulting you," I said, and tore a hunk of beef from the end of its reed.
She still eyed the stand as she nibbled off a well seared bit.
"Some people just say what they're thinking," I said, "It can be refreshing,"
I couldn't hold that silence, and offered "How's your kebab?"
"It's good. Thank you..." she said, four words, each with a lighter tone. This was vastly more difficult than taming a brat like Reilin, someone I could scold and mean it. Cora still had all the soft bits I'd chewed out of myself. Doing that to someone else felt like a disservice.
A wave of perfumed, humid air rolled over us from the nearby bath-house. It was a staple of the Bloom campus experience. Maids and companions staffed it, earning on the job experience while they studied.
"We both reek," I said, "Want to go for a dip?"
Cora's mouth had just settled around a hunk of beef. This wasn't a command, it was an invitation. I wanted to kick my own ass for dropping that wall.
"Mmhmm," she agreed, as the bare reed pulled from the crux of her lip.