March 14.

It was March 14.

It was White Day.

Those thoughts rapidly circled around in Lann's head as he half-shuffled-half-tripped-over-his-own-feet out of the Inn after finishing a bland breakfast of oatmeal, barely registering the chipper 'Good morning!" by his some of his female comrades standing next to the Mailbox awaiting their mail.

During his night-shift patrol the day before, he had been flagged down (read: ambushed) by an incredibly cheerful Evie who had pointed out that tomorrow was White Day and that she really loved the Yeti Leather Belt hanging out for display in Kirstie's Traveler's Shop before flouncing off to join Fiona for some strawberry brandy shots back at the Inn.

And so, that was why he was now standing in front of the Traveler's Shop looking like an idiot and counting furiously through his money pouch in hopes of finding around 27,000 gold coins for that damned Yeti belt, and then some more in order to find Fiona a suitable gift. Of course, being the horrible money-managing man he was, he was a bit off his calculations.

Which, 'a-bit' actually meant 'he was completely broke.'

Damn it; he probably shouldn't have spent the last of his coin on the health potions.

'Damn,' Lann thought morosely as he pocketed his meager savings, 'I really should keep track of how much I'm spending…' Of course, he knew that he did not have the option to not give his friends their gifts or else spend the rest of his life (and possibly the afterlife) being tormented over his supposed selfishness. He inwardly shivered at that horrifying thought; being stuck with Evie in an enclosed space for more than an hour was already torture, so he couldn't possibly imagine the rest of his life.

Opting to make his way to the Dock in hopes of finding a boat, Lann almost had a heart-attack when a pair of heavy hands landed on his shoulders and a voice more-or-less bellowed into his (sensitive) ears,

"Top o've da morning, Lann! Wha' are yeh up ta today?" Nearly giving himself a whiplash, Lann turned around and (unsurprisingly) saw Kain, the burly and still-possibly half-drunk dual-blade recruit trainer, smirking smugly at him. A duo of tag-along newbie dual-bladers blinked owlishly at Lann through the slits of their beaten, hand-me-down metal buckets.

"I-uh-good morning to you, Kain." Lann managed to stammer out as his heart futilely tried to slow itself down to its normal pace. "I-was-uh-looking for a free boat…?"

Kain's grin grew even wider at Lann's reply, making him look somewhat like a psychopathic killer with the jagged scar dominating the bottom half his face.

"So yeh wan'na help me wit' them newbies? I'ma thinkin' about shipping em' straight off to the Gnoll Chief with the way they's keep boastin' about their skills." Lann raised an eyebrow at the older soldier's blatant disregard for the new recruits' safety, glanced once at the duo whose faces paled beneath their helmets and trained their puppy-eyes at him while seemingly effectively scared of their possibly insane trainer, and promptly turned his back and replied,

"I think I'll pass. Good luck with the Chief." The older man's grin faltered slightly before returning with a force, his gloved hand thumping Lann's back once before suggesting with a knowing glint in his eerily golden eyes,

"I dink's that mean ol' Polar Bear's dropping a bit o' extra gold today, eh?" Lann's eyes widened and he turned around in surprise, but the older mercenary was already halfway across the Docks, manhandling both of the amusingly unwilling dual-blade recruits into a boat clearly marked 'Mercenary Training Site.'

Pushing the older man's creepyness into a corner of his mind and hoping that he could avoid him for the rest of the week, Lann made his way towards one of the boats about to depart towards a certain glowing-eyed Polar Bear's lair. Feeling quite determined today, he decided to take on the infamous White Tyrant on his own in order to reap the highest amount of gold coins he could possibly get.

And then buy that damned Yeti Leather belt for Evie. And possibly something just as good for Fiona, too.

One hour, three Goddess Graces, and a campfire kit later, Lann finally fell yet another of the seemingly endless raging Polar Bears that haunted the deep caves of Hoarfrost Hollow. Counting his spoils, Lann came to a grand total of 28,000 gold coins, the front claw of the Polar Bear, an Advanced Enhancement Stone, and a piece of fair-quality Polar Bear leather.

Grinning slightly to himself as he stumbled off the boat exhausted to the bone and mostly covered in Polar Bear blood and guts, he trudged his way through the throngs of other gore-covered mercenaries loitering around on the Dock into Colhen. Making a beeline for Kirstie's Traveler's Shop, he practically skipped (a manly skip, mind you) into the shop and out as the proud owner of a finely crafted Yeti Leather Belt.

Carefully putting the belt into a place in his bag where the sticky Polar Bear blood still splattered all over his armor couldn't reach, Lann slunk into the incredibly-filled Inn in hopes of cleaning off all the gore without being spotted from either Evie or Fiona. And possibly Tieve, too.

But, as he figured that his relationship with Lady Luck probably wasn't so great, he was immediately pinpointed out of the crowd by Evie who was dragging around an unamused Fiona who looked as if the complete opposite of her friend's always-cheery disposition.

"LANN! LANN! HEY LANN! LANNY!" Evie's shouting managed to carry over the noisy din as she pushed through the crowd in an attempt to get to him. Lann, moving on his instincts, blended through the groups of similarly-dressed mercenaries, bolted up the stairs, and ran into the nearest room whose door wasn't locked; pressing the wooden door shut just shy seconds after slipping in. Forcing himself to quiet his breaths as Evie's excited steps quietly thundered past, Lann breathed a sigh of relief—

—Only to freeze at an sickly-sounding cough somewhere behind his back. Turning around slowly, he was greeted with the sight of a half-asleep Gallagher sitting up in his bed, looking as if death itself had swarmed over him. An awkward silence ensued for a moment before Lann gave a slight sheepish twist of his lips and opened the door, shuffling out of the room nervously. The moment he closed the door, he heard an extremely angry yell of, "ROOKIE!" and a hard thump as something metal hit the sturdy door.

Fast-walking deeper into the hallway of rooms and hoping that the jerk of a mercenary wouldn't attempt to kill him later during dinner, Lann reached his quarters and slipped in, sighing again in relief as nobody seemed to have entered his room since he left it. Striding to one of the two large chests sitting next to the west wall, he dug into his pack for the correct key used to open it.

Inside the chest he opened, several armor-cleaning supply kits as well as some pairs of light civilian clothing lay inside. Digging out one of each, Lann proceeded to begin the tedious task of unbuckling all of the weighty outer armor, cleaning and polishing the metal until it was immaculately void of blood and gore, and changing into his off-duty clothing.

Sometime an hour or two before dinner, Lann double checked the Yeti Leather Belt thoroughly for any suspicious scratches or unidentifiable dried muck, got everything sorted out in his traveling pack, and headed out of the mostly empty Inn and into the crisp near-evening air.

"LANN!" The said dual-blader turned around at the call of his name and promptly had his face buried into Evie's cleavage as she jumped onto him. Barely keeping on his toes as Evie pushed off him and back onto solid ground, there was a slight panic in the back of his mind as he remembered that the belt could've been squished into a strip of useless leather.

...Unless belts couldn't squish? Did they even squish? What did belts do when squished by the force of nature called Evie, anyways?

"Ah ha! I knew you'd get this for me!" Lann was pulled out of his mini panic attack as Evie twirled the thankfully not-squished belt in her hands. Then, somewhere in the corner of his mind, Lann frowned. Hadn't the belt been in the bag... that was securely strapped closed against his back?

Looking at Evie's happy smile, Lann mentally shrugged. It was best not to question her sneaky fingers. The last time that happened, he had ended up pants-less, dripping wet, and modesty preserved behind a lamp post. Thank Morrighan that had happened in the middle of the night, though.

With a quick hug, Evie flounced back into the cheery din of the Inn, leaving Lann standing awkwardly in front of the Mercenary Outpost. Stretching his arms above his head, Lann elected to go and take a walk near the Dock.

As he passed through the gates to the Dock and took a seat on one of the boulders surrounding a happily-crackling campfire, the dual-blader looked up at the rapidly darkening sky and his head swam in circles as he thought about what he could possibly get Fiona before the day ended.

A cold chill ran down his spine. He had forgot about Fiona!

'So far, I know that Fiona probably won't like it if I got her the exact same thing Evie's getting because that's sort of unfair even though they're pretty close to each other these days for some reason… and I'm most likely too poor at the moment to buy any heavy armor set or new weapon…Just what can I possibly—' Lann was cut off from his thinking when a somewhat amused chuckle came from over his shoulder. Turning his head, he saw Fiona coolly leaning against a light post with an incredibly uncharacteristic smile on her face. At a closer inspection, Lann saw that her cheeks had a noticeable flush to it and in one of her gloved hands she held a large, half-full (or, half-empty) bottle of imported Rocheste Premium Frothed Lager-Beer.

Somehow, Lann felt that this was going to end with him cleaved into pieces and thrown off the Dock.

"…Hi?" Lann's voice came out more like a squeak as Fiona pushed off from her position on the lamp post and walked in a fairly straight line to where he was sitting before settling herself on one of the rocks next to him. So, was she only a little drunk? Lann couldn't tell.

A cold sweat drop started making its way down the nape of his neck as Fiona leaned closer to him, her rose-tinted cheeks a bright contrast from her pale skin. Lann's brain blanked out and he couldn't help but start to nervously babble, his fingers gripping onto the sides of the rock like a lifeline.

"I-uh, I was going to get you a present but-uh, I, um, well, there was Evie, and, something going on, and, er, I-" Lann was cut off as Fiona put a firm hand on his shoulder and casually planted a kiss on his cheek before saying,

"Shut up and help me drink this. I don't care what Evie got."

Cheeks as red as a tomato, Lann shut up with an audible clack of his jaw and warily took a sip of the beer. It was surprisingly good, a little watered down but still leaving a spicy and slightly bitter taste in his mouth.

Fiona nodded in approval and took back the mug. She threw her head back and drank the rest down in a single gulp. Lann watched, entranced, as her hair and armor seemed to shimmer in the firelight.

Once the tankard was empty, Fiona set it aside and turned to Lann. With a gentle but firm hand, she cupped her hand around the back of his head and drew him in with a soft kiss.

From behind a large barrel and some trees, Evie high-fived Karok, her newest partner-in-crime, as she saw her two friends start to make out. Turning away, Evie raised a suggestive eyebrow and smirked when her equally devious friend put a large finger under her chin to tilt her head up so she could receive a surprisingly gentle kiss.

Fin.