The Festival and Certainty

Violet stood in front of the door leading to the dining room of the Inn. She knew what she would find in there. Who she would find in there.

Well… let’s get it over with…, she thought and breathed in deep.

Violet the slapped herself lightly with both hands on her cheeks and opened the door. A few guests were eating their breakfast. Violet looked across the room and in a corner she saw Alex. He was nibbling on some bread with bacon. The large plate in front of him was still half uneaten. Violet went over to him.

“Good morning.”, she said while sitting down across from him.

“Morning…”, answered Alex and slid the plate over to her.

He held his gaze fixed on the mug in front of him, occasionally taking a sip. Violet looked at Alex closely.

Good… It’s not there… there is nothing more… of course… it couldn’t… it’s impossible.

Violet sighed and took a bite out of the omelet. It was delicious.

“Had a good night?”, she asked trying her best to sound casually.

“Oh… uhm… yeah… had a bit of trouble falling asleep…”, said Alex, his gaze still fixed at his mug.

“Ah… you too?”

Silence. Violet ate a bit more of the omelet and a piece of bacon. Alex kept quiet. He jolted as Violet slammed down her fork. Her eyes were fixed upon him and her body tense.

“Okay, this is stupid! Out with it! What did you see? It’s obvious you saw something!”, she demanded.

“I… uhm… well… you… and… her…”, began Alex slowly to talk.

“Did you see… it happen… or me thinking about it? Look me in the eye!”

Alex looked up into the probing malachites.

“You… thinking about it.”, he answered truthfully.

“And what else? Did you feel anything?”

“I felt… I think… you… you know…”

“Yes, I know.”

Alex face went completely red, and he struggled to keep eye contact, but he did.

“Okay… and besides me… doing what I did… and thinking about what happened between me and her… only the part up to the kiss really happened, the rest was pure fabrication of my stimulated imagination, by the way… did you… uhm… see anything else? Feel anything else?”

Alex looked confused.

“No… nothing else… quite frankly that was enough for me already… anymore and…”, he didn’t finish his sentence and turned even more red.

Violet probed him a few moments in silence with her gaze. She did not find anything else, which let a wave of relief wash over her body. Violet relaxed.

“Okay… then let’s just move on from this… I admit, I got carried away, with all that being new for me too… with a … you know… I completely forgot about these damned things on our wrists…”, she said trying to sound casual.

Alex seemed even more confused and looked down to his wrist. He his hand slowly sideways back and forth. The bracelet clinked with every change of direction. Quiet but definitely noticeable.

“I… use the other hand, okay?... Besides, I was kinda in the zone, okay?”, said Violet slightly flustered.

“Huh…”

“Don’t you huh me, mister!... Okay, dude… let’s just forget about this, alright? I’m sorry, I kept you up for a bit… Let’s just say, we are even now… well, not really… It’s more like two to one for me… or you, depending on how you see it…”

“We’re keeping points now? Is this a challenge?”

Alex smirked. Violet gave him a very telling look.

“Let’s not make this a competition, okay? We have to get these things off… In the meantime, let’s do our best to not let something like that happen again, okay?”

“Something like what?”, said Caleb.

He appeared out of nowhere on the seat next to Violet, making her jerk in surprise like usual.

“Wah… shit… you…. How the fuck do you always… you’re doing it on purpose, right?”, she exclaimed.

“Do what?”, said Cera.

The elf appeared seemingly out of the same nowhere, but next to Alex. Violet jumped again. Alex jolted a bit as well.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake… not you too… Do we now have two of your kind in our group… I don’t know if I can take the constant jump scares!”, protested Violet.

“Oh… I hope this is no reason you won’t take me with you?... Or anything else… I do… or did?”, asked Cera looking at Violet.

Alex got slightly red first. Violet seconds later. Caleb looked confused.

“No… all good… I’ll… get used to it… just… keep the sneaking to a minimum…”, said Violet trying to sound composed.

“That I can do.”, answered Cera and winked.

Violet looked at Alex again.

“Don’t you dare start this sneaking habit too!”, she said.

"Oi! Do I LOOK like sum bleedin' sneaky Git ta ya?!", he said imitating a rather distinct accent of his old world.

Everybody looked at him for a moment in confusion. Violet started laughing and one moment later everyone did the same.

“What was that?”, asked Violet holding her side.

“Oh… just some… ah… thing I picked up in my past…”, answered Alex with a boyish snicker on his face.

“Let your past be the past and focus on the future now.”, interjected Caleb.

“What do you mean?”, asked Violet.

“The upcoming Festival and our dear friend Alex here… Oh… does our newest member of the group know about our… side objective?”, asked Caleb and turned to Cera.

“Yeah, a lovely bird told me.”, answered the elf.

Violet looked at Alex, but he didn’t seem to care much.

“Ah… good, good… then let’s get to business. What better opportunity to get our side objective rolling than a festival celebrating the spring. There will be a lot of lovely and very drunk women looking for some excitement after the dull winter months around the bonfires. Perfect for our dear Alex here to gather a bit of experience and build a little courage. Goal for tonight is for you to dance with as many women as you can.”, explained Caleb.

“But… I can’t… dance…”, said Alex.

“Well hopping around a bonfire hardly qualifies as dancing anyway… so you’ll be fine, trust me.”, guaranteed Caleb.

“Well… okay…”, agreed Alex reluctantly.

“That leaves the question, what to do until the evening?”, interjected Cera.

“Well, I found a nice bathhouse with a lovely matron… I think that will be my first stop of the day.”, said Caleb.

“We need some supplies for the upcoming track… So, I think I’ll do some shopping… I wanted to check out the stalls for the festival anyways… Alex you’ll come with me.”, said Violet.

“Huh? Why?”, asked Alex.

“First of all, you need some new clothes… Somehow you always manage to get yours ripped apart and my sewing skills only can do so much… and if you are coming anyway, you can carry stuff…”, said Violet with a smile.

“Okay… I will go looking for some delicacies to eat in the meantime!”, said Cera.

“Sounds good… then let’s meet again in the evening here, before heading out to the festivities.”, suggested Caleb.

Everybody agreed and they split up.

“Okay… let’s do the supplies first, bring them here and do everything else after. Hm… we gonna need food, a new pot… a skillet would be nice too… a few ropes could come in handy maybe… well let’s just see what we find.”, said Violet heading out of the Inn.

Alex followed her. They went from shop to shop, and Alex carry load kept increasing with every stop. He noticed that Violet kept glancing over at him from time to time with a strange look on her face.

“Is something wrong?”, asked Alex as their eyes met one time.

“Huh? No? Why?”, asked Violet back.

“You keep looking at me funny…”

“What? No… I…”

Violet quickly looked around a bit panicked and saw a stall selling baked sweet potatoes.

“I… just wondered when you finally get me something to eat! You’ve been walking around all day with a woman, passing countless stalls with delicious food, but you never asked if I wanted something! Dude, you have to learn these things about woman… always get them some snacks! That’s very important!”, she quickly explained.

“Oh… okay… sure, I’ll get you some.”, said Alex a bit confused.

He went to the stall and ordered.

“Here you go… I will give you some extra butter for your lovely girlfriend.”, said the man with a wink and handed Alex the food.

“Oh, she is not… my girlfriend.”, he said taking the food,

“Ah, apologies.”

Alex paid and came back to Violet. She held out her hand and he gave him the sweet potato.

“Oh! Nice, a lot of butter! That’s what I like to see… Okay you pass the test… for now! Let’s go and bring the stuff back.”, said Violet and began devouring her snack.

Half an hour later they were in a clothing shop buying some new shirts for Alex. After that they walked through the marketplace and watched the preparation for the bonfires in the evening. Alex made sure to always have some snacks ready. Violet was very proud of her quick thinking as she happily chowed down one festival food after the other. In the evening all Caleb, Cera, Alex and Violet met back at the Inn, had some dinner together and went out as it got dark. They reached the first bonfire where the party was already in full swing. People were dancing, jumping and running happily around the fire. Music was played and beer was drunk. The group found a free table and gathered there with some alcoholic beverages of their own. Caleb looked over at Alex after two rounds and smiled.

“Well… I think it’s time… you had enough liquid courage for now… time to enter the fray!”, he said.

“Just like that?”, asked Alex a little scared.

“Just like that!”

“But…”

“Argh… fuck it… come, I’ll give you a bit of a jumpstart.”

Caleb shoved Alex near the dancing crowd. Perfectly timed he gave him a push. Alex practically landed in the arms of a woman twirling around and vanished into the crowd. Smiling Caleb returned to the table.

“You’re enjoying this, huh?”, asked Violet sipping at her beer.

“Yes, very!”, admitted Caleb with a smug smile.

“And now?”

“And now we watch.”

They watched Alex in the crowd. He twirled around while holding a woman’s hand.

“Where is our elven beauty?”, asked Caleb.

Violet looked to her side, where Cera had been sitting the whole time. The elf was gone.

“Ah, there she is…”, said Caleb and pointed.

Cera was dancing too, but not in the big crowd. She was a bit to the side dancing with a redhaired young woman. Cera whispered something into her ear and then they vanished somewhere down the street in the darkness.

“Oh… she’s not the type to waste time, huh?”, commented Caleb smiling.

“No, she isn’t…”, said Violet with a little sigh.

Caleb looked at her.

“Something happened between you two, right?... Last night?”, he asked straight out.

“What? No, no, no… What do you mean? No… It didn’t! Nothing!”

“Nothing? Huh… alright…”

Violet drank and looked for Alex in the crowd again.

“Oh! Look, our boy is getting closer to that one! Nice! That’s the way to go!”, said Caleb and pointed at Alex.

The woman he was dancing around the fire with had laid her hands around his neck now. Violet watched them twirling around. Very closely.

“Making you jealous?”, asked Caleb noticing her gaze.

Violet continued to watch them for a few moments.

“No…”, she said with a hint of relief in her voice.

Caleb noticed the subtle undertone and faced towards her. His brow went up. He opened his mouth.

“Oh no, what is that guy doing!?”, said Violet before he could say anything.

Caleb turned back to Alex.

“Shit!”, he exclaimed.

Another man had managed to snatch the woman as she was going for a wide twirl around Alex. She then went on to dance with the new partner, who led her quickly away. Alex stood there confused.

“That bastard!”, said Caleb.

“Poor guy… shit, watch out!”, exclaimed Violet.

Someone bumped into Alex, and he nearly crashed into another couple. Luckily, he had good balance and dodged with a pirouette to the side, like he would evade an incoming attack.

“The battle reflexes come in handy… well even if a bit to late.”, said Caleb.

“Better that they only kicked in now, or else he would have knocked the other guy out…”, commented Violet with a weirdly proud smirk.

Alex made his way back to them on the table. Caleb slid him a fresh beer over.

“Ah, shit happens dude. That’s life… there is always a bigger fish in the pond, but don’t worry, someday you’ll be the bigger one!”, said Caleb trying to cheer him up.

“Hey, you managed to dance with a woman, and she even put her arms around your neck… that’s progress!”, tried Violet to chip in.

Alex just nodded and drank.

“Okay… I think it’s time for the biggest of them all to make his entrance and teach those fishlets something.”, said Caleb and chugged his beer down.

“What are you planning to do?”, asked Violet.

“I’ll show that bastard, that you don’t steal from someone’s hook!”

“Ah… wait… who is the fish now? The men or the women?”

“Are we not all fishes living in the same muddy pond, trying our best to survive?”

“What?... I mean I guess so…”

Caleb was off and vanished into the dancing crowd. Violet watched him as he found the pair with the woman Alex was dancing with. Quickly and with flowing movements he just kind of slipped between them. The man didn’t even really notice what was going on, the next moment he just stood alone there in the crowd. Someone bumped into him, and he fell into a table with a lot of half drunken beer mugs. The man got drenched all over his body. That sight gave Violet a big smile and she turned towards Alex. She watched him drinking his beer in silence.

Good, there is nothing… The whole day… nothing… Now, I’m certain… This was all just my imagination…it couldn’t be anyway…, she thought.

Violet stood up and grabbed him by the shoulder.

“Come! The night is not over! Have you forgotten your goal?”, she said pulling Alex up.

They both went and started jumping, running and twirling around the bonfire. bumping Alex count for the evening up to two.