Reunion - part 3

The girls guide you towards the busy, crowded tavern. It's a bit hard to walk with them hugging and clinging to you all at the same time, but hey, you are not going to complain.

You push the door open and enter, Rocko and Ollie sit outside and wait. The place is absolutely packed with people, some drunker than others. Wooden tables laid all over the area, copper chandelier dangling from the roof, a long bar counter on the corner of the tavern, attended by an anxious catgirl that tries to serve drinks as fast as possible. On this counter, over one of the stools sits a lonely, blonde elf girl...

Agis holds a glass of cold water in her hand, taking a sip of it before letting it down on the counter again. She sighs, tiredly rubbing her face, her long ears slightly twitching.

You can notice that the elf replaced her previous simple dress for a black, short-sleeved linen gambeson with decorative white cords on it, laced on top of a light brown long blouse. She wears a pair of olive green pants, dark brown boots, and a leather belt that tightly holds her fancy rapier on the side of her waist. Her long blonde hair tied up in a pair of cute, messy double buns that rest on the top of her head.

The girls stand back and you confidently walk towards her, resting your hand on her shoulder. "Hey there, Ag-"

Before you can react, the elf grabs a small iron dagger out of the side of her boot, gyrates over the stool, and points it at your neck. "Listen, drunkard, I had a shitty day today, so-" She angrily starts talking, yet her tough expression drops, and her words transform into a soft, high-pitched yelp as she looks at your face. "Y-you... y-you are... y-you are alive?!"

"Yeah, sorry. You are not getting rid of me, Agis. I love you too much." You smile. Tears start to build on the elf's green eyes, her lips quiver, the knife falls from her shaky hand into the wooden plank floor below.

"Lola said you were alive, but... but..." She cries, firmly hugging your torso and pressing her face against your chest. You softly rest one of your hands on her back and another on the top of her head, caressing her tied-up hair. "...I didn't believe her... I thought I l-lost you."

"Don't worry... I'm not going to leave you." You whisper, gently pulling away from the hug, grabbing her chin with two fingers and giving her a quick kiss. After your lips part, the elf happily smiles and nods her head.

"...O-oh! Rhea is here too." She quickly says after a few seconds of just looking at your face with a contented expression, wiping the tears on her eyes and sniffing. "Rhea! Rhea, come here!" Agis calls out the minotaur's name.

At the distance, Rhea sits on one of the wooden tables with three burly human men seated around her. The minotaur boredly arm-wrestles one of the bald, mustached sailors while the other two observe in disbelief. "...That's all ye got, lad? Ya were boastin' so much..." She sighs as the sweaty, puffing man tries with all his strength to move her stiff arm down against the table.

"shutup." The man exhaustedly grunts, trying his hardest to win. The minotaur simply snorts.

Rhea wears her usual dark leather strap clothes over her amazonian figure, now with a pair of grey, sturdy armor plates attached to both of her shoulders and arms. Golden hoop earrings hang from her bovine-like ears, the cowbell with your name on it still proudly wrapped around her neck.

Still arm-wrestling, Rhea turns her gaze in her elf's friend's direction as she hears her name being called. "What is it, pointy ears?" She asks, eyes widening as she sees you standing next to Agis, big smile forming on her meaty lips. "Y-ya have got to be fecking kiddin' me... Theo!"

The minotaur swiftly wins the arm-wrestle, moving the sailor's arm down against the table with a single long motion and a loud thud. She then stands up and hurriedly darts in your direction, pushing people out of her way.

"Hi, little cow! I really-" You start talking as the tall minotaur gets close, but she interrupts you by easily picking you up in the air and giving you a warm, bone-breaking bear-hug.

Your feet dangle some inches above the floor level as Rhea crushes your body against hers. "Ow." You grunt, the scar on the side of your torso aching... Yet the smile on your face never leaves as you close your eyes and enjoy the rough hug.

"...R-Rhea, you are going to hurt him..." Mattie softly says after the hug prolongs too much.

"Sorry, sorry!" The minotaur chuckles, gently lowering you to the floor. "Are ya okay, laddy?"

"I couldn't be better."

You and the six girls take a seat around one of the tables of the tavern. You and Agis drink water, Mathilda, Kara, and Lola drink apple juice, Rhea drinks beer and Maggie drinks a glass of beer that your thoughtful sister exaggeratedly watered down when the catgirl wasn't looking.

"So? What happened to you? Tell us, Theo." Lola asks, looking at your face with a smile. All the girls pay attention.

You relate how Delilah almost murdered you. Then decide to prudently skip the dryads part and make a fake story about a group of nomads finding you half-dead and saving your life.

"We searched the whole forest but we found no trace of you, my alpha." Kara sadly sighs. "We were so, so, so worried..."

"I'm sorry for leaving you girls alone for so long." You sigh. "I tried to come here as fast as possible, but-"

"Y-you don't need to apologize for that, big brother!" Mathilda hurriedly says. "Don't be silly!"

"He owes us a whole month of dicking, Mattie. He should apologize. A lot." Lola teasingly grins. "You should be ashamed of yourself, Theo!"

"Yeah, you are right. Sorry about that." You laugh.

"Pigtails is right. Ya better be sorry." Rhea takes a sip from her drink. "...You know what? Feck it. Let's throw him over this table right now and ride that cock until he passes out. Grab him, lasses." The minotaur smirks.

You blush and keep laughing. Agis rolls her eyes and chuckles. "Can we at least let him finish his story before doing that?"

"Always a killjoy, pointy ears..." Rhea fakes a disappointed sigh.

With a smile, you continue telling the girls about how you met Caroline in town and how she gave you a ride to the city. Lola lets out an annoyed groan when you mention the church of Aurora.

"Those guys are completely crazy!" She exclaims. "...They wear great uniforms, though."

"My brother once joined that church as a joke. He said it wasn't a very nice experience." Maggie says, taking a sip from her watered-down beer and making a disgusted expression.

"...You have a brother, Maggie?" Kara confusedly asks.

"Yeah." She simply states without saying another word.

"...Fair enough..."

"Uh, I have something to ask, girls." You interrupt. "Are we going to return to the town? It's safe now, we can live comfortably on the Guild's building..."

A silence forms on the table as the girls ponder on the question. "I mean... it's our home, isn't it? I would like to go back." Mathilda speaks, playing with the cup of juice in her hand.

"It was an awfully depressing place without you, Theo. That's why we came here... But Mattie is right. Now that you are with us, I think we can actually make it our home again..." Lola talks, fondly looking at your eyes.

"...The orc girl is still there?" Agis asks.

"Gina. Yes, her father too."

"I know I owe her an apology... but damn, she is annoying. Every time I wanted to apologize she had that dumb, bratty look on her face..."

You snort. "She is a sweet girl, you just have to get to know her."

"Well, it's not easy when she calls me 'elf bitch' all the time..." The elf sighs.

Rhea finishes her drink and lets the empty glass down on the table. "Let's take a walk around the city and think it through before decidin' anything, okay?"

"Yeah. There is a new clothing store we can visit, you should get some new clothes, Theo. Those you have are pretty worn out." Lola says. "And we have to get you a data-box too!"

"A what?"

"You'll see~."

"Yes, let's get out of here. The drinks are horrible..." Maggie says, pushing her cup away with a small frown.