Join Flora

I waved goodbye to Mia, and headed over to Flora, mug in hand. She was standing next to the request board, reading through them, and occasionally sipping from a mug sat on a nearby table.

“Find anything good?” I asked, creeping up behind her for a good scare. She jumped, spinning around. Her fright turned to relief upon seeing me.

“Oh, it’s just you Flynn. You scared me,” she said.

“Sorry,” I chuckled. “What’s up?”

“I’m just looking through the requests. All this guild stuff is new to me, so I’m trying to learn what I can quickly so I’m not a burden to you all later,” she said, a determined look on her face.

“You’re not a burden, Flora. Don’t worry about stuff like that,” I reassured her.

“Thanks, but I do wanna pull my weight around here. If I can’t do it by fighting, then I’ve gotta find another way to be useful,” she said.

“Alright, then. Which ones look good to you?” I asked.

“There’s a few that look promising,” she said, pointing to a few posts. “One’s a simple request, just take out a basilisk and return with proof.”

“Can’t those things turn people to stone?” I asked. She shrugged. “Pass.”

“There’s one gathering potion ingredients for the Arcane University,” she said.

“Hmm...maybe,” I said. “What are the rest?”

“Retrieve a stolen ring, investigate a dungeon down south...babysit my kids!? What kinda requests does the guild take?” she exclaimed.

“That one definitely seems out of place...” I said, inspecting the requester. Looked like some nobleman, judging by the last name. “It pays well, but, it’s not exactly work fit for a party of adventurers...”

“So, the maybe pile?” Flora said.

“Yeah. Maybe pile.” I confirmed, scanning through a few more requests. Flora looked down for a second, contemplating something, before looking back at me.

“So, now that we have a minute alone to talk...” she said.

“Yeah?” I asked.

“About what happened back in the woods...” she trailed off.

“Gonna have to be more specific, Flora. A lot happened out there,” I said.

“When you, and the others, and I, when we...you know...” she said, blushing furiously.

“Huh? Oh. OH! That. Yeah. Uh, what about it?” I said, trying to play it cool after my sudden realization.

“Well, it’s just that...” she paused, unable to find the right words.

“Oh god, I’m sorry if you didn’t like it,” I began apologizing profusely, panicking slightly. “It makes things weird, doesn’t it? I understand if you wanna leave the party, I’m sorry.”

“Wha? No, no, nothing like that!” she said, scrambling to calm me down. “It felt really good, and I do like you and all, and uh, what I mean to say is uh, umm...”

“Uh huh?” I asked.

“Do you wanna do it again?” She said, spitting the words out quickly so she couldn’t take it back.

“Wow, that’s not what I was expecting at all,” I said, relieved.

“Oh no, I made it weird didn’t I,” she said, starting to inch away.

“I mean, a bit, but I don’t mind,” I teased. She hit me on the shoulder playfully, breathing a sigh of relief. “I’d be honored to.”

“Well that’s a relief. I was afraid I wasn’t good enough, what with beauties like the others around...so why me? I’m not like them...I’m just...me...” she said, talking herself back into her doubts.

“Who cares. I like you, because you’re you,” I said, pulling her in for a quick kiss. “You are kind, hard-working, and courageous despite your lack of fighting skill. Don’t try to be them, just be the best you that you can be.”

“Thanks, Flynn. Cmon, let’s go find a room at the inn,” she said. I nodded, and we headed out of the guild. The inn we arrived at looked a bit nicer than the tavern we had slept at the last time we were in the capital. After getting the key, I followed Flora to our assigned room.