First off, I just want to clear up some personality stuff with the characters! This is what I think each character is like: Isaac- doesn't really know what he's doing, is quick to make major decisions without thinking about them first, but when it comes to taking up leadership, or anything heavy duty, he's always the first to fall back. Garet- is a lour mouth at times, but is mostly quiet, until it comes to decisions, then he blurts out the first thing that comes to mind. He's sometimes drawn in on himself, because he feels like no one loves him, and he needs more than just one friend, aka Isaac. Ivan- is the smart-mouth of the group. He's still learning his way around, but because of his experiences, he's a lot smarter and wiser in the ways than Isaac, that's why he and him don't get along. Really looks up to Mia as a mentor. Mia- she's really the only smart one in the group. Knows what she's doing all the time, and things about things before she does or says them. She's wise in the way of Psy and magics, but is new to fighting in general.
Chapter 3: A Pig Under the Table
Later that evening, Isaac and Ivan were playing a game of marbles on the floor with their Djinn. Garet sat in his bed, his feet stretched out over the end, and Mia sat in a stool on the other side of the room, her head bowed as she looked at her hands in her lap. She'd been like that for hours and when she looked up, her neck cracked painfully.
Ivan looked up at the sound and stared at Mia longingly for a moment, his eyes shinnying, wishing for her to come and sit next to him. He loved Mia in a way, not the way to make his heart thump with every word she spoke, but with a love of fondness. He envied her powers, her strength and her passion for her work. He remembered her sadness at leaving Imil, her students there, and failing in protecting the Mercury Lighthouse. He wished to be like her in everyway. He longed to talk to her, ask her, beg her if necessary, to teach him of her healing powers, but all he could do at the moment was stare at his idol and watch her cast the spells he wished he had the strength to learn, and leap out of his pants whenever they fell into battle, fearing the worst would come to her and he would never get his chance to ask her if he could become her apprentice.
Snapping out of his trance, he looked back down at his game with Isaac.
"Ah, younglings! My husband and I would like to invite you to dinner!" The woman in the green dress and white sash from earlier entered the room and smiled, looking into each of their faces.
Mia rubbed her neck and nodded, "Thank you very much, ma'am, that'd be wonderful."
Isaac, getting frustrated with playing with the unruly Djinns, picked his up and stuffed them in his pocket before glaring at Ivan evilly.
"You cheated."
Ivan shook his head. "I'm merely superior to your Djinn-marble skills." He returned glare with an equally smug grin, thoughts of Mia vanished when Isaac accused him of cheating. "And you stole Gust!"
About this time, Garet sat up. The woman waddled over to him, "How're you doing, little one? Yer head had quite a nasty bumpin' when your friends here dragged you in. Pale as a ghost you were, too." She put a gentle hand on his forehead.
"Oh…" he fumbled with his words, "I'm alright…"
The woman stood and dusted her hands off. "Well then, dinner's served in 20 minutes! I expect to see you there before you head back out on yer journey. Mighty good food, too, if I don't say so myself," with a smile, she left.
Ivan and Garet exchanged a look, and Ivan held out a hand to receive his stolen wind Djinn. Isaac handed it back, mumbling at being caught, and Ivan grinned.
"Strange old coot, ain't she?"
Twenty minutes later, Isaac, Ivan, Garet and Mia managed to tumble down the stairs and met the woman's husband in the family dining room.
"Well, well, well! Ain't you bunch a fill for da eye!" He hardily shook the boys' hands, squeezing their small hands in his large one, and surprisingly, gave Mia's hand a soft kiss to rival the touch of a newborn kitten. "My name be Roman, welcome to my little inn! Food is right this way, lassie, if you please." With a wave of his hand, he ushered them to the table.
He took the seat at the head of the table. Isaac, taking a liking to the big, burly man already, sat to his right, leaving only two seats left on that side. Garet went to the chair next to Isaac, just wanting to stretch his long legs out, and pulled the chair out. Mia eyed the seat next to the one Garet was pulling out, and made her move to sit. Ivan, seeing Mia's targeted chair, immediately rushed to sit next to his mentor, untimely plopping down in Garet's chair.
He received a slap in the back of the head. "Hey, get out of my chair."
Mia looked over to see Ivan sitting in the chair next to her, and got up. Ivan looked up, saw Garet's mean face over him, and stood up in fear of being slapped again. Garet sighed and sat back down, which was when Ivan decided he didn't want to play this game of goose chase and fell into the seat next to Garet. At this, Mia let out a quiet grunt of frustration. So she rounded the table and sat on the far right on the other side, across from Ivan, much to his delight.
Roman watched this ordeal with furrowed, bushy eyebrows. When they were seated, he grinned at them sheepishly and banged his gigantic fist on the tabletop.
"Well!" He roared. "Always nice to see a spunky bunch of younglings like yerself!" He leaned over the table, his barrel chest taking up the entire space at the head of the table. "Tell ole Roman yer names!"
Garet, looked up from his folded arms on the table and mumbled, "I'm Garet."
Ivan leaned over the table in order to be seen from behind Garet, and waved slightly at the large innkeeper. "I am Ivan," he said with a smile and getting a wide, yellow-toothed smile in return.
"And a cheat," Isaac added under his breath.
Ivan 'humphed' and sank back into his chair.
Isaac turned and beamed at Roman, "I would be Isaac. Nice you meet you, sir. Your wife is a wonderful cook, we had a small sample of her cooking earlier." Garet glanced up from his arms; he had never seen Isaac grin so widely. He snorted.
Mia brought a fist up to her mouth and coughed silently, the small noise bringing all attention onto her. She looked up and smiled, "I'm Mia, of the Mercury Clan," she said with a nod.
Roman's eyes lit up and he leaned back in his chair, tipping on the creaking back legs, "ho, ho! A member of the Clan, io? Well, ain't that something?" He turned to the boys and nodded, a look of disbelief on his face. Ivan nodded wildly. Garet and Isaac rolled their eyes at Ivan's enthusiasm and went back to staring at the table.
Several moments of silence passed until the big man leaned forward on the table again and looked from at each of the boys in turn.
"Seen my daughter, yet, eh? Seen 'er?" He tilted his head up to one side to glance at the boys from the corner of his eyes. "Seen 'er yet, boys?"
They shook their heads. Roman's eyes lit up again and he leaned back, his hands on his bulging belly and he shook the table with his laugh.
"Well, boys! Yer getting a treat tonight!" He spread his arms out from him, nearly knocking Isaac from his chair, "she's a beaut, she is! Long hair down to her buttocks, peachy color," He stood and turned around, putting his hand just above his large butt to show how long her hair was, " and creamy eyes!" He turned back around and sat down. The chair creaked dangerously, but settled. "Yer getting' a great treat tonight, yer are, boys! Best breed in this fair town, she is! Long peachy hair down her to buttocks, creamy eyes, rosy lips!" He leaned over the table again, his little beady eyes bearing into those the Garet's, Isaac's and Ivan's in turn, "just the way you like it, io? Just the way you like it?" He burrowed into the boy's souls with those little eyes, making them all gulp and nodded helplessly, as if under a spell.
Roman grunted with satisfaction. His little wife waddled in, arms loaded with plates. Roman turned to her and beamed, "just they way like it, m'girl! Long hair and creamy eyes!" His wife nodded and smiled.
"Ain't that so?" She set the plates down in front of them, and passed them around the table, "Well, I'll just have to go get the darlin', won't I? Let these boys see for themselves!" With that, she walked out.
Roman let out a booming laugh, and let his eyes slide over to Mia. She sat alone in the corner, not noticing the stares she was getting from Ivan and Garet. Roman cleared his throat, "and there're plenty of fine young lads in the village fer yer, lassie!" He cleared his throat again, and turned his head when Mia only nodded. His wife waddled back in, a tall girl in tow, both carrying platters of food.
"Here's the little one now!" The three boys turned around to see the infamous daughter their host had been rambling about. Her hair was indeed down past her butt, the color indeed peachy, and her heavily lashed eyes indeed creamy colored. But the boys cringed, and tried to smile when she lifted her gaze to them, for her face was round and plump, to match the rest of her body, and splotched with light brown. And the spots weren't freckles either; it looked more like a large rash had taken over her face.
She smiled back at them, her fat lips parting to reveal teeth as yellow as her father's. Isaac inwardly gagged, and Garet just plain turned away.
Gods, Ivan thought, poor soul was pushed down a well! Or attacked by slime! Or beaten with a heavy rod as a child!
Roman grinned brightly at his pride and joy and beckoned to her. She scampered over and stood, her hands clasped in front of her.
"Darlin', this is Isaac, Garet and Ivan, they're to be our dinner guests!"
"Yes, Papa." She nodded to each of them, "hello." She smiled, and then sat next to Mia. Her mother dished out piles of food, then sat next to her husband, and folded her napkin in her lap.
"Eat up!"
Then, as pigs dash for the hogs' mush, all three of them started stuffing their faces, food flying everywhere. Ivan and Mia glanced at each other in wonderment, then went on to eat quietly.
Garet and Isaac decided to take on the nature of their hosts, and had their plates to their mouths, shoving food in as fast as they could, making sounds like a horse in labor.
All through the meal, Mia and Ivan dunked flying bones, potatoes and drinks. During a dunk, Mia's napkin dropped from her lap and under the table, so she bent down to pick it up.
Halfway through his chicken leg, Garet noticed his fork slipped of his napkin, which was crumbled up on the table, and clank to the floor. With a heavy sigh at having to leave his food, he dropped the leg, adding to the pile growing on his plate, and dropped to his knees to pick it up. His hand landed on a napkin.
"That's mine."
He looked up and quickly tried to wipe the food from his face. "Uh… Mia. What're you doing…?"
She pointed to her napkin under his hand, "My napkin fell." She reached for it, and her head bumped against his shoulder. "Oops, sorry…" She tried to pry it from under his hand. As her head hit his shoulder, his eyes darted around with nervousness at her touch, and happened to spot his fork behind her. His hand still on the napkin, he reached forward to get it.
Mia pulled back, having succeeded in getting her napkin, only to be greeted by Garet's cheek as it smacked against hers. When he got his fingers around the fork, he made a lightening quick decision, and turned his cheek a bit to plant a kiss on….
Mia turned her head and backed up a bit right as Garet turned his head to kiss her. His lips completely missed her face entirely and he fell forward, his face hitting the ground instead by Roman's daughter's feet. His eyes widened and he scrambled up and back to his seat, fork in hand. Mia appeared above the table, a small grin on her face, and continued to eat, her napkin folded in her lap, with her eyes lowered, and her smirk plastered on.