Notes of Importance

“So, what’s so important that we had to throw up a barrier around my room?” John asked as he sat in his chair. Vivian and Senka had been insistent upon having some sort of meeting and given the assembled company, it was clearly something private.

Self-doubt started to creep into his head, ‘Wait, if it’s just us, is this about our relationship? Have I screwed it up somehow? It’s because I haven’t taken them out on dates, isn’t it? Wait, no. There’s been no time for any of that. We got jumped by Bill, then had to help Kiera, then there was the stuff with Verida and the Order…’

“John, I can hear you,” Senka amusedly said, snapping John from his thoughts. As his face heated up, the spirit added, “Everything’s fine.”

“That’s what they say in the movies before bad news gets dropped,” John muttered. Beth playfully elbowed him in the side before she sat in his lap.

“I think we’ve had enough bad news for a while,” the short girl said before she brought her attention to Vivian. “But, um, what is the deal?”

Vivian cleared her throat. “This is something long overdue. We never really set concrete ground rules for our somewhat unique relationship. Things haven’t really slowed and calmed down since that Sunday.”

“I thought we had everything sorted,” Aeolia said. “We find someone that fits, and if everyone agrees to them joining, then that’s it.”

“That’s hardly a concrete policy,” Vivian protested. “And most importantly, we never considered how we would approach someone we all agreed to giving a chance.”

“And that point specifically is why we need to have this meeting,” Senka took over, “as Vivian and I believe there are a few who might be interested. Teri and Kiera at the very least.”

“Wait, really?” John exclaimed.

“Yeah, I can see them liking us that way,” Aeolia said pensively in the same moment she looked at John. “Suppose that means you haven’t had any wandering eyes.”

“Cus John’s a gentleman,” Beth snickered before letting out a squeak as John pinched her side.

“John’s loyalty to us aside, this is something we have to deal with,” Vivian said. “Since we’ve recognised it, I don’t think ignoring it will work.”

“I’m not sure I’m qualified to talk about this kind of stuff,” John bluntly stated. “What with not noticing and all that.”

“Oh hush, you’re a part of this, so your opinion is valid,” Senka chided. “If you’re not comfortable with either of them joining, then we’ll abide by that and not bring it up.”

Avoiding the whole thing appealed to the part of John still trapped in high school, where any chance to get out of sight was greatly appreciated. It wasn’t that he didn’t find Teri or Kiera attractive. Far from it; Teri’s ear wiggles and Kiera’s flushed cheeks were adorable and their shared drive to grow past their individual traumas was admirable.

Thinking about those qualities now, with his other loved ones at least weighing the idea of them becoming a part of their group, made him realize how well they got on, and how much he wanted to make each smile. And if Vivian and Senka saw signs of them wanting to deepen their relationship with them, he wasn’t sure if he had the heart to outright deny them the chance.

“How sure are we of their feelings?” he cautiously asked. “Like, do they like all of us, or just some of us in that way?”

“That is a good question,” Vivian admitted before shooting Senka a look. “We did sort of predicate this meeting on them liking you primarily.”

“Would be a bit awkward to go up to them and say, ‘Hey, you think some of us are hot. Wanna jump our bones?’” Aeolia snarked before sighing. “Been there, not ready to repeat that.”

“That was a bit awkward.” Vivian coughed as she scratched her neck. “I think avoiding that sort of thing is paramount. We don’t want to ruin our friendships by being too blunt.”

“If we just flat out ask Kiera, she’d probably faint,” Beth muttered.

“So what, we just slowly walk them towards the question?” Aeolia asked. “Feels like that could take a while. I’m not saying we should rush into this, but let’s be real. With our track record, we’ll screw that up and just blurt something out after, like, three days max.”

“We do seem to have that problem,” Senka mused with a smile.

Vivian let out a hum. “I think that any covert attempt to gauge their feelings would likely end badly. Teri would sense something amiss and Kiera might be able to as well with her powers.”

“Plus, she might take our shift in how we interact with her badly,” Senka added. “I don’t want her to think we’re up to anything and have her jump to the worst-case scenario.”

“So we can’t just open the door and can’t try to play things slyly,” Aeolia said in a flat tone. “So we’re kind of fucked no matter what we do.”

“It’s not like we have to jump right to it,” Vivian remarked. “Just that we can’t seem like we’re up to anything.”

“Kind of hard to work towards something without actually working towards it,” John muttered.

“It’s not ideal, but we don’t want to stick our feet in our mouths,” Vivian said.

“Yeah, not on my list of kinks,” Beth snickered.

“Anyway,” Vivian continued, her cheeks turning slightly red, “we just need to proceed carefully. Nobody wants any heartache.”

There was a general murmur of assent with that comment and John leaned his head back.

“At least it’s only those two,” he muttered.

“Actually, Vivian and I think Rowan might have a crush on you,” Senka revealed.

Aeolia let out a snort. “That sounds like a much higher mountain to climb. Can’t see the high and mighty Order letting one of their own get involved like that with us.”

“She’s nice enough,” Beth said, “but we really don’t know her. And she hasn’t even met all of us.”

“Which is why I decided to not bring her up,” Vivian pouted at Senka. “We have enough to deal with regarding our current friends maybe wanting more. If Rowan shows signs of liking us as a whole, then we’ll deal with that when it happens.”

“Still probably won’t happen,” Aeolia said. “Even if she’s a switch hitter, I can’t see the Order just letting her ‘slum’ with us. They have an image to maintain, you know.”

John knew it was a long shot for a variety of reasons, but he couldn’t help but feel a little sad that it was likely that any feelings Rowan had for him, now or in the near future, he wouldn’t be able to return.

‘Who knew suddenly having a bunch of girls after me would cause so much heartache?’ he thought, pushing down the melancholy he felt building. He was sure Rowan could find someone in the Order to be with.

“Anything else?” he asked to distract himself from those thoughts. “If we’re absent much longer, Mom or Kiera might think something’s up.”

“I think everything we needed to address was said,” Vivian answered. “Remember, don’t change how we interact with Kiera and Teri. That means no innuendos.”

“I know how to keep my mouth shut,” Beth protested as Vivian stared at her.

“As long as we keep the booze away from you, then yes,” Aeolia laughed.

Beth dramatically flopped back, her head hitting John’s chest.

“I’m being attacked here, John,” she whined, the smile on her lips revealing her real enjoyment of the banter.

“I’ll protect you, fair princess,” John declared in his best knightly voice before everyone started laughing. It was a good way to end a meeting with such a delicate topic.

“Now that our esteemed shaman is gone, K’mels, your thoughts?” Vrexty asked. Once everything they won had been sorted and the humans left, the elders summoned him and Tsxhel to recount their endeavors. Tsxhel had done most of the speaking, going over the things they fought and how the humans had been. The elders hadn’t pressed her too hard on them, because K’mels knew they would rather hear his input on them.

And the time had come for his assessment.

“The main human leader, Newman, is someone we need to keep an eye on,” he said plainly, glad the potion they had given him had finally worn off. He did not like how their language sounded in his voice and it felt like his tongue was being twisted every time he spoke.

“He’s got talent but still is unrefined. Sometimes too hesitant in a fight, but he’s got a lot of magic that helps him fight. Could become a pain if they decided to turn on us,” he continued. “Not that I expect that to happen. Too soft to even think that.”

“And what about the knights?” Vrexty asked, leaning forward in his seat.

“If the older one is a standard member of their forces, then they are a formidable ****,” K’mels admitted. “She used lightning magic and could take out several of the machine enemies we faced in one shot. The younger one didn’t show any magical talents.”

“Her presence was quite wan,” Elder Bryjt commented. “I doubt she’s anything special.”

“In any case, the older knight being even an elite member of this Order is troubling,” Vrexty said. “If they decided that we weren’t worth their time, they clearly have the power to **** us away.”

“I doubt that’s a concern, my old friend,” Elder Tjkon spoke up in his usual calm tone. “For all their meddling, the humans are rather attached to us. They stood up to the Order to ensure a place here. I doubt they would let them evict us. Plus, we have a goddess on our side. I doubt the Order is so arrogant as to go up against her.”

K’mels nodded. “If they had any issue with us, they hid it well. And even with her love of the humans, I doubt Tsxhel would hide from us if she sensed anything like that.”

Vrexty’s lips twitched before he coughed. “I see. Anything else, K’mels?”

“The elder knight seemed to have some issue with her subordinate claiming a sword from the final challenge,” K’mels recounted. “We have a copy of the weapon and Newman used his scrying magic to reveal its abilities. It didn’t seem like anything really noteworthy.”

“Something to look into,” Vrexty said, casting a quick glance to Bryjt. “Is that all you have to report, K’mels?”

K’mels curtly nodded. “Yes.”

“Then you are dismissed. Go and get some rest,” Vrexty ordered and K’mels bowed before quickly marching out of their chambers. He was ready to grab some food then sleep away the efforts of the day.

‘Almost forgot how good it feels to cut loose,’ he thought as he worked at a kink in his neck. ‘I’ll sleep good tonight.’

As he made his way towards the communal kitchen, the sound of happy laughter reached his ears a few seconds before the savory scent of fresh stew tickled his nose. He saw a throng of his people joyously eating after a hard day’s work, any sign of tiredness washed away by good food and company.

It had been some time since he’d seen them this relieved of burdens. Even after being gifted this plot of land, and before the warehouse, there had been the uncertainty of it all keeping merrymaking to a minimum. But now, with so much going their way, the weight had lifted and everyone could celebrate an honest day of work and the turn of their fortunes.

The sight caused a small smile to crack K’mels’ stoic facade. As he ate his stew with happy conversations playing out in the background, for the first time, he felt a twinge of gratitude towards the humans. Meddlesome as they were, they had provided what they promised and he could find no fault in that.

The sole light in Rowan’s spartan quarters burned a dull orange as her pen flowed over the after-action report she was writing. It was the first required of her, as the Warden’s word had been enough for the first time working with Newman’s group, and she wanted to make sure every detail was noted.

The recollection of events came easy to her, but giving her opinion on Newman, Renoux and the goblins were much harder to put into official-sounding words. Worse still was when she tried to pen her thoughts on Newman, her mind kept slipping back to his infuriatingly handsome smile.

She gripped her pen as she tried to think objectively, but every time she tried, all she could think about was how he smiled at her. The closest she could get to something actually noteworthy was how he took charge against the scarecrow boss in the first game, only all she could think to write about was how confident he appeared as their plan came together, a shift from the somewhat meek air he gave off initially.

With a groan, she placed her pen down and rubbed her temples.

“He’s just a boy, Rowan,” she muttered to herself, an old habit of hers. “Just a nice boy that knows how to hold himself in a fight. You don’t have the time for anything like that, and he probably doesn’t either. Or he’ll end up with one of those other girls.”

She didn’t want to think about that either and shook her head in an attempt to banish them. When that didn’t work, she glanced at the clock on her wall.

“Maybe a quick shower will help,” Rowan muttered. “Just to get my head on straight. In and out.”

Thanks again for reading this little story. If you liked the chapter, please hit that thumbs up, and if you want to support my writing, check out my Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/ScrapCrow. Get access to my chapters before they’re published here and join my private Discord.