Let the potion work

Once you’ve recovered enough to stand up on your own, Jas says a quick goodbye and starts to leave. It’s honestly impressive how fast she tries to ditch you. However, impressive as it may be, you aren’t about to let her get away — not after what just happened between the two of you. You catch up to her a few paces outside of the Guild and start walking with her. Her initial reaction to this is to get halfway through the action of slamming the butt of her {if@ sword = true}sword{elseif mace = true}mace{elseif spear = true}spear{endif} into your gut before stopping herself. After that, she stares at you for a few seconds before giving up on objecting to your presence.

“I usually go to that tavern after missions,” she says. She turns away and starts walking again, prompting you to follow. “If you’re really not gonna leave me alone, then you’re buying our drinks.”

…

“So,” says Jas as the two of you sit at the same table from last night. She sets her {if@ sword = true}sword{elseif mace = true}mace{elseif spear = true}spear{endif} at her side and lays her helmet on the table. “What’s your deal?”

My deal? you think.

“You show up out of nowhere, with weird money, and two beautiful girls hanging on your arms. Then, you take advantage of… no, I already decided I can’t be mad at you for that. But then! Then you pass out trying to cast a weird healing spell over and over, and you didn’t even know it was me! I hope you don’t think that little stunt will get you another night in my suites, because it won’t.”

Does she value profits over her own life? you wonder.

“I’ve paid up for tonight,” you say, “and I had no intention of asking anything in return for the healing. When I saw you come in all beat up, I figured the Guild would have someone heal you. When I didn’t see that happening, I did it myself. As for the passing out, I’m still getting used to magic; it’s kind of hard to gauge my limits when they’re changing all the time.” A waitress brings the first round of drinks to your table. You’re about to pay for both yours and Jas’s when she stops you.

“I take back what I said about paying.” She hands the waitress enough for her own drink. “If… if you really plan on staying at my inn, you can spend your money there instead of buying me booze.” She looks lost in thought for a moment, then takes a big swig of her drink before slamming the empty mug down on the table. “So what are you after, if not money? You must have some reason for following me here.”

“Wouldn’t anyone have questions after finding out the sexy innkeeper they met is also a kick-ass adventurer?” you ask. Shit, did I say sexy out loud? She looks embarrassed, so I must have.

Jas shifts in her seat a bit and looks off to the side. “What? You think a woman can’t run an inn and be an adventurer at the same time?”

You almost spit out your drink as you frantically wave off her accusation. “It’s not that I think you can’t do it. It just seems like adventuring would get in the way of running a business. I’m sure you have your reasons, though, which is what makes me curious about it.”

Her face pinks up almost immediately after you start talking, and once you finish she taps on her mug for a bit before speaking again. “Right… Sorry for getting defensive, it’s just…”

“You find it hard to trust me,” you say. She keeps her eyes averted and nods in response. Her hand reaches up and tugs on one of the shoulder straps of her armor. Fair enough. We haven’t exactly had the best relationship so far. Plus there’s that stuff she told me last night about dealing with bad men in the past. Looking to reset the mood, you take a couple swallows of your ale and say, “In that case, let’s forget everything and talk as adventurers. What rank are you? All Hild has had me do so far is clean stuff up in town. You’ve gotta tell me what it’s like doing the more dangerous missions.”

Jas remains on edge at first, but she gradually eases into the new topic, telling you stories about the times she’s tracked down and slain entire goblin camps or joined a party to take on larger beasts. The liquid courage she gains from the ale helps to lighten her mood as the evening draws on, though she continues to tug occasionally at her armor straps as some kind of nervous tick. She also doesn’t appear to get very drunk, despite the volume of ale she’s downed. When you ask about her fancy boots, she tells you that they are enchanted with a protection spell. Her legs, she says, can get banged up as much as they have to and she won’t go down, so long as her feet can keep her balanced. Her {if@ sword = true}sword{elseif mace = true}mace{elseif spear = true}spear{endif} is apparently also enchanted with protection, but it only serves to keep the weapon from breaking and doesn’t offer her body any additional shielding.

At some point you end up asking her about the sack that she handed over to Hild earlier.

“Some bandits sacked a carriage on its way to town, so it was my job to go and recover the cargo. It was a rough fight, but I took care of it. Not sure what was so important about three colorful rocks, though.”

“Damn, Jas,” you say. “Fighting a bunch of bandits all by yourself. You’re pretty amazing, aren’t you?”

“You bet I am! Don’t pick a fight with me, Reynolds, or I’ll kick your ass!”

…

The time seems to slip away from you as you sit and drink with Jas. At some point in the evening you decide to order food and end up eating dinner with her. By the time the two of you head back to the inn together it’s already dark. You separate once you make it through the front door, Jas heading into the back room and you heading up to your suite. Once you’re back in your room, you plop down, face first, onto the nearest bed, letting yourself slip into a half-sleep state for a couple of hours.

You’re pretty sure Lia and Blythe each independently come to check on you while you’re half asleep. When you start to feel awake again, you hear a knock at the door.

“Who is it?” you ask through the door. The girls would have just come in. I don’t think these doors even have locks.

“It’s Jas,” says the voice of your recent drinking buddy. You open the door and, sure enough, see Jas standing in the hallway, wearing her near-to-bursting black-and-white striped shirt and navy blue yoga pants. She extends her hand, which is currently holding Blythe’s cloak. “I forgot to return this. Can I come in?” You’re not really sure why she needs to come in to return the cloak, but you let her in anyway. She heads over to the far bed and sits on the edge, gesturing for you to sit across from her. “I’ve… been thinking. About things.”

What kind of things? What’s this about now? All that ale is making it harder to think…

“Would you… like to play a game with me?” As you sit down on the adjacent bed, she undoes the top two buttons of her shirt and reaches down into her cleavage to pull out an object. After staring in disbelief for a few seconds, you realize what it is.