Lyria and Co. En Route to the Market - DT (Lyria’s POV-Mirrored)

Chapter 2, Interlude 3 – Getting Acquainted

Lyria was truly exhilarated to be reunited with her brother, and while she would have loved to spend some more time catching up, she was also excited to see who he would pick for their team. She watched him carefully as he interviewed candidates for a defensive adventure until he finally settled on the half-giant, Ursa Cloudwalker.

Ursa gave a simple nod to Lyria once she sat down next to her, but after that didn’t say much while they watched Kaylen make his next selection. The halfling, Alayni, on the other hand, didn’t stop chatting nearly from the moment she took a seat. She wanted to know what sorts of missions they’d both been involved in, what places they’d visited, what kinds of food they’d tried, though it turned out the curly-haired woman was probably more widely traveled than either of them.

But then shortly after Kaylen had made his third choice, a red-haired foreign girl named Janel Tanaka who kept most of her figure concealed by loose clothing and wraps, Kaylen himself approached to speak with them. He told them that he and the guild master were going to find a healer and asked if they wanted to accompany him or meet up later, so since Lyria seemed to functionally be Kaylen’s second, she turned to get the opinions of the other three girls.

Janel shrugged, while Alayni gave it a moment’s consideration, but it was Ursa who spoke up. “I need to gather my travel gear. I didn’t bring any of it when I heard they were holding trials.”

“Yeah, I’m going to need to collect my things too.” Alayni agreed. “Don’t keep it all on me when I’m in the city. Probably need to buy a new mount too, had to retire my last pony after she nearly wore herself out on my most recent mission.”

Lyria turned to Janel, who shrugged again, “I’m in the same boat. Might as well meet up later, I guess.”

So she turned back to her brother and relayed the unanimous answer, and agreed they would meet up with him near the market district before watching him leave and finally turning back to the girls. She did have to wonder at the fact that her brother had somehow managed to choose only women for his team. It looked like he was considering a few men, but ultimately didn’t select them.

As if reading her thoughts, Ursa leaned forward slightly so she could lower her voice and ask, “Lyria. Your brother isn’t a deviant is he?”

“No, of course not!” Lyria protested, maybe a little too quickly. Her little brother may have been away for the last thirteen years, but she couldn’t imagined he’d have changed that much in that time. But what did she really know?

“So what if he is?” Janel asked. “I’m sick of being overlooked just because I’m foreign, or a kitsune, or a girl. If he tried something we could handle him, so long as we work together, right?”

“I hadn’t really thought about it before you brought it up, Ursa.” Alayni added. “If he is… Lyria, would it be weird if one of your teammates actually got into a relationship with your brother?”

By that point they were all walking along the street, with the guild well out of sight behind them, but Alayni’s question still startled a sound out of Lyria that she really hoped no one back there had overheard. “What are you… Don’t tell me you’re actually into Kaylen?!”

Alayni grinned, “Wizards don’t usually do it for me, but your brother has a pretty nice body under those robes. I think I can get past the magic thing for the sake of good party ‘relations’.”

Lyria groaned. “You know what. I’m not going to forbid you from those ‘relations’ on one condition. Never, ever, tell me about them in public again.”

“Deal.” Alayni mimed turning a key between her lips and grew quiet as they continued walking.

Though she couldn’t put it completely out of her mind, and they made it about a quarter mile before Lyria had to break the uncomfortable silence. “Though, he has become pretty handsome.” She muttered, thinking back to the moment she’d seen him again for the first time in 13 years, before she’d realized who he was.

“He’s a bit short.” Ursa said, clearly having overheard Lyria’s comment to herself.

“Maybe to you. Think about how he looks to someone of my size.” Alayni countered.

“He’s generally a good height.” Janel added her opinion to the mix. “I didn’t know mages could be handsome.”

It was then that Ursa stopped, and after a moment the others turned toward her to see her looking down a cross street. “I’ve been staying down near the docks, so I need to go this way to retrieve my travel equipment.” She informed them.

“Then let’s each go our own ways, and then meet back up here to go on to the market district.” Lyria suggested, and they all agreed.