Piper can't say no to her Auntie Eri!

Piper looked back into the face of her sweet Auntie Eri, who was pulling on her arm with all of the fervor she normally reserved for scrubbing the inn. "Ah, what person is this popular Piper to pick? If you're that set on a sit-down, I'll reject Arty's riveting rendezvous for a time. Lead this horse to water!"

The inn-keeper tittered, then finished pulling her from the knight with a final, forceful tug. "Oh, you're so silly, Pippy. But I do love to sit and chat! Come along now..."

"C-can you please stop calling me Pippy, Auntie?!" Piper begged her aunt, whispering in a low voice. "I go by Piper now. Piiii-yiii-peeer!~" she transitioned into loud singing, as though that ought to make it clearer.

Arty watched the two of them leave with momentary disbelief, then shrugged, shaking his head. "My my... I suppose I've lost a step with the ladies! Or maybe this is that crafty old Geod spitting on my poaching his followers, after all.." Crossing his arms, the man headed stiffly back to his stall in defeat.

Resting her feet and sipping a cool glass of water as she sat on the bench at her Auntie's stall, Piper felt she must be truly blessed by Geod after all. "Oh, Auntie... You have no notion how hard it's been for your poor Piper out there! What a tortured trail I've traversed... Well, the last little bit of it, in particular," she threw in, acknowledging her mistake.

Her kind caretaker had been considerate enough to make sure Piper was comfortable, seated, and hydrated first, but as soon as that was taken care of, she had excitedly flipped open the leather-bound log book she had referred to before. To the curious Piper, it looked like a welcome book, where a number of short messages were written and a name signed alongside... Only, all of the messages were in Eri's handwriting, and all of the signatures in a variety of other hands. She noticed the message Eri was penning now was in all capital letters, as if to emphasize its importance. "So, this 'log book' you labor over. What, pray tell, are your prayerful hands writing?"

"Ah... This is my welcome book!" Proudly, the older woman hoisted it from the table and held it out towards her. "I'm doing this on behalf of the Church, and as a little service to the nice visitors we get here in Merridan."

Piper stared at the book, reading what had been written... Since it didn't have any rhyming or wordplay in it, she decided to sing it like a hymn to make it more fun. "Res~cued tra-vah-lah~ from de~hy~dra~tion IN Geod's naaaame...~" Grabbing the quill pen from Eri's desk, she held it pensively for a moment, then shrugged and dipped it in the ink pot. "Ah, foo! I'll give the deity his due this once." With her trademark smile, she reached forward and signed her name in even larger and far fancier letters than the message next to it. She had almost finished, before her eyes wandered and her hand froze. "Ehm, Auntie..."

"Yes? Do you need another pen?" Eri tilted her head, her hands folded in her lap.

"No, think the ink well's well, only... These other messages, um... Are these mistakes? Was, um, Mister Hattler doing a lot of traveling, lots of coming and going...?"

Eri's brow creased in confusion for a moment before a serene smile returned to her. "Ah, I understand. Sorry, Pippy, I should have explained what I'm doing here earlier. You see, when travelers arrive and pass through the gate to Merridan, I welcome them on behalf of the church, explaining our exciting new initiatives- Oh!" Eri's explanation was interrupted as Piper turned the book back in her face.

Urgently, Piper pointed to the words on the page that caught her eye. "Auntie Eri, this says 'Welcomed with a kiss!' 'Welcomed with a kiss,' 'Welcomed with a kiss on the cheek,' 'Welcomed with a longer-than-usual kiss...' Most of them are like that! And, now that I look upon it, numerous names sit upon this sheet, none of which are poor Mister Hattler's!"

"I'll explain, Pippy, just calm down..." Eri placed one hand atop the book and had Piper lower it to the table, keeping the other on her cheek in a gesture of concern. "You see, honey, the head of the church sent out a new initiative, and when I saw it, I asked to help out any way I could. I'm not quite up to the task of some of the things they asked for, but I had the idea of setting up this welcoming desk for the Church. The ladies of the parish decided to take turns staffing it, and we just give little welcome gifts to all of the travelers who want them while explaining that, um, initiative. Mm... Some of the younger ladies give very generously, and the guests seem to appreciate it." Eri's hand grew hot on her face for a moment as she flushed, but didn't explain further.

Piper probably should have asked about that initiative, but instead, she couldn't help and laugh at what she saw as the most ridiculous part. "Pff... Hehee... Ahohoho! Truly? A smooch booth for the glory of Geod?! Ahahaha...! How perfectly precious! And your hickies are in high demand, dear Eri?"

"Ah... I suppose they are," she admitted with a small smile. "I had no idea there would be such demand for a kiss from little old me, but if I can bring joy into people's lives and serve the Church with such a simple thing, I'm happy to oblige."

"Must be some kiss!" Piper teased, kicking her feet with a big grin on her face. "A big wet one, is it?"

"Mm... I don't know if it's quite what you're imagining. It's very tame, I'm sure..." Eri put her hand on her cheek again with a bit of bashfulness, her narrow eyes opening slightly more to look into Piper's. "To be honest, I checked in with the Church's confessor. I couldn't help but feel it was a bit improper... you know, kissing someone who isn't your husband. She told me it was no problem at all, though. Even Henrick seems happy to have me doing it... He's quite devout himself, you know."

Piper was still trying to picture all of the wandering mercenaries and hard-working traders traveling to and from Merridan stopping in to get a peck on the cheek from her Auntie, just like she had when she was a kid. "Say, Auntie, aren't I a tired traveler seeking shelter and succor in Merridan's sanctuary? What if I wanted a widdle wet one, myself?"

"You...?" Eri looked a bit distressed. Her eyes darted back and forth for a moment nervously before settling again on the younger woman's. "I've... I, well, I suppose once or twice, but, um... I checked it was okay with the Church, of course. But, still, it's a bit unusual..."

Piper raised an eyebrow while she took another long sip of water, not understanding.

"Um... For me to kiss a woman would be unusual. Not unheard of, but unusual," Eri admitted, squirming. "And, you know... because it's you, little Pippy..."

"Piii-yiii-peeer!" the songstress reminded her, not bothering to sing this time as she tried to drill it into the sweet older lady's head. "And anyway, I know I haven't been a courteous kid or a pious pipsqueak, but I'm still frightfully fond of my amusing Auntie! Why not one tiny peck, for old time's sake?" She turned her fair cheek towards Eri with a big smile on her lips, shuttering her long lashes. "Besides, it's hardly heart-stopping for ladies in love to lock lips in the wide world beyond these barricades, truly. And even were it, I'm certain any spying busybodies would readily recognize the kiss you laid upon me as the darling doting of an affectionate Auntie."

Saying that only seemed to make Eri more nervous, but she nodded. "If you insist..."