Disclaimer: *sigh* Again? *sigh* Sadly, I do not own Suikoden. Never have,
never will. *pouts*
*perks up* I do, however, own the rights to poke this shirtless Ace plushie that Sindaaraniel mentioned! *beams and pokes*
A/N: First bit is from Borus' perspective... I couldn't fit his name in there without it sounding awkward and weird. Heh. Sorry 'bout that. ^_^ And, just cause I feel like mentioning this, there are some fluffettes (yay for fluff! I *live* for fluff...) in this chappie... yay!
There's a little bit of colour knowledge needed for a small section of this chap- you know: red + blue = purple. I take art, so it's obvious to me, but I don't know about others, so I'm sticking this in just in case. ^_^
Well, here we go...
* * * *
Chapter Three
* * * *
I worry about her, when she goes off on these adventures by herself. It's not as if she's incapable: she is VERY far from that. Neither is she weak, or in constant need of help, as she so fears.
I worry about her because I care for her - we all do - and she doesn't seem to quite understand that. Sure, she KNOWS... mostly.
But I don't think she understands.
*
Chris slept late into the next morning, only waking up when she heard the hustle and bustle of the street filter in through her window. She bolted out of bed, and quickly changed into a pair of breeches and a loose cotton shirt, cursing herself for not getting up earlier. Chris grabbed an apple that she had purchased the day before and, taking a bite, she peeked in a mirror. She nearly fell over backwards from shock.
She had forgotten that her hair was so... -dark-.
She quickly pulled a brush through it, grinning slightly, and then sat down in the same chair that she had occupied the previous day.
It was time to complete the disguise.
She slipped easily into the blackness of the rune, and began the process on her violet eyes. She had discovered that the transformation was similar to having a block of wood: it is -much- easier to carve the piece of wood into something new than to turn it into metal. With the rune, it was much simpler to build or take away something that was already there, than to create something entirely new and different.
She pictured her own violet eyes in her mind, and released a flow of energy, willing the rune to temporarily remove the red half of her eye colour. She directed the current to her right eye, feeling some heat and a tingling sensation as her eye colour changed from purple to a bright blue. She could feel the colour, as if it itself were solid, shrinking and distorting, until it was a new shape; a new colour entirely.
She scrubbed at her right eye with the back of her hand, trying to will the tingling to go away. The one eye began to tear up of it's own accord, and Chris stopped herself from rubbing at it any harder. She squeezed her eyes shut, and opened them, blinking rapidly to dispel the right eye's moisture.
She peeked in her mirror, and nearly laughed out loud at the sight she made. One eye was it's normal violet, and the other was a bright cerulean blue. Chris was surprised at how... different she looked. '...Which is just what I want.' She thought happily.
She smiled with satisfaction as she perched in the armchair, and began to 'fix' her left eye.
*
It was just past nine o'clock in the evening by the time that Chris had shoveled everything she needed for the month into two large leather saddlebags, and prepared herself fully for departure. She had locked her armor in a trunk, leaving it in her room, and had wrapped her sword in soft cloth, then bundled it in with a long roll of an extra cloak and blanket. She hid a dagger in her tall brown boots: years of carrying and wielding weapons were not easily abandoned.
She had already prepared her white mare for the short journey to the inn she planned to stay at, and Chris had left the horse tethered to a post in the front yard.
Her first trip down to her waiting horse was uneventful: she carefully and securely strapped the long bundle to the back of the plain leather saddle, and dashed back to her room for the saddlebags.
The second (and last) trip didn't quite end up as planned.
*
Borus meandered past a tethered white horse, and up the path to Chris' front door. He had spent the last two days either with the other knights, or at a small inn, The Dancing Dragon, that he had discovered some months ago. He liked it there: most people didn't gawk or stare at the Zexen knight in their midst. Instead, they treated him like any of the regulars, which quite amused and pleased the knight. It was different than the typical tavern, and he enjoyed it. However, Chris' upcoming departure had been weighing on him, and he wasn't sure how pleased he was. Borus decided to pay her another visit before she left tomorrow, before the public good- byes. He could not deny that he would miss her while she was away.
Lost in his thoughts, he didn't see the cloaked figure rush out of the house until he crashed into it. "Oooff." He took her by the shoulders and pulled her back.
"Chris?" He cloak's hood was up to shield her from the spring's slight chill, and the night was dark and nearly moonless, but he could tell it was her.
"Borus!" She sounded so alarmed that he began to think that maybe it wasn't such a great idea to come tonight. "Borus- Wh-What are you doing here?" Through the darkness, cold see her eyes widen with surprise before she hurriedly looked down to her shoes.
"I- I wante- Oh, nevermind." His eyebrows shot up as he noticed the saddlebags she was carrying. "Are you leaving?" His voice sounded accusatory as it hovered in the still night air, and Borus immediately wished that he could snatch his words back. He hadn't meant for it to sound that way. He felt her shoulders stiffen under his hands.
"...Yes."
"But why?"
"Because... because... I..." Her head remained tilted down, her eyes on the ground. "You... wouldn't understand. Maybe I can tell you when I get back. Not now. Please don't be angry... I'm sorry."
"How do you know I wouldn't understand?"
"Because... Because..." She sounded more and more upset, and Borus was regretting his harsh words. This wasn't turning out how he wanted it to. Not at all.
He gently released her shoulders. She stood before him, shoulders uncharacteristically slumped, her head tilted down, little more than a shadow in the night. "I'm sorry, Chris." With very little warning, she took a tiny step forward and threw her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly.
Borus stood, stunned, for a moment before wrapping his arms about her, returning the hug.
"I promise Borus." She closed her eyes, resting her head in the curve between his shoulder and neck. "I promise I'll tell you when I return." She paused, just enjoying the warmth she felt while in his arms. "Tell them I'm sorry. I know they wanted to say goodbye, but... it's only a month." She pulled back and smiled at him before looking back at her feet, hiding her eyes again. "I have to go Borus... before anyone else comes." He could hear bitter amusement in her voice.
"I'll walk you to the city gates."
Chris shook her head. "I'm fine." She hesitated. "You- you should probably go." Borus nodded slightly, but disobeyed, watching silently as she approached the horse he had passed just minutes before, and strapped the bag to her leather saddle.
"Chris..." He hesitated as she turned to him again. "I-" He couldn't say anything else to the expectant shadow. The words just wouldn't come forth. He approached her, and brushed a hand through his blonde hair, searching for words. "I-" He watched her, and then decided to act, abandoning the words that refused to come. He tentatively hugged her, and grinned as she returned it. "We'll miss you."
He felt her tighten her hold as an answer before she spoke, her words muffled by his cloak. "...Goodbye Borus." She pulled away, drawing her hood forward again and turned to the waiting horse. She quickly untied it and led it onto the cobblestones of the road.
Borus stood quietly as she pulled herself into the saddle. "Goodbye Chris." In the dim moonlight, he saw her lips curve into a shy smile before she rode away.
Neither noticed the cloaked shadow watching them from behind the shed.
*
Chris had wandered past the Dancing Dragon Inn a day before she began her current disguise. It's small and brightly painted 'Help needed' sign had caught her attention, and she had briefly poked her head in. The interior was clean and comfortable, with two medium sized, connected rooms, one with a large stone fireplace. Padded benches sat before the hearth and pine chairs and tables were clustered around both rooms. She had decided that she would stay at that inn for the month, and, with a touch of luck, perhaps she could work there, too.
Lost in her thoughts, Chris didn't see the figure flitting shadow-to-shadow in her wake.
*
Chris approached small desk that was set up in the front of the Dancing Dragon Inn, placing her bulging saddlebags on the ground, and removing the charcoal-coloured hood as she greeted the aged man at the desk. He harrumphed and reluctantly looked up from his notebook.
"Yes?"
"Do you have a single room up for rent?" Chris inquired. The man rummaged around in the top drawer of his desk, and pulled out a large blue book. He flipped the pages until he found the date.
"Yes."
"...Could I stay...?"
"Yes." Chris wanted to bring the man's book down on his head, and beat some new vocabulary into his brain.
"...How much would it be?"
"90 potch a night."
"Alright... I'm going to be staying for about a month..."
The man raised a graying, bushy eyebrow. "A whole month, huh?" Chris nodded in reply as he dug into another drawer. "So what'cher name?" He brandished his balding quill proudly, and held it over the page, ready to write in his newest guest.
"Ria Marmor." The innkeeper scribbled her 'name' down, and reached into the large bottom drawer of his pine desk. Chris could just see the top of his balding head over the wooden surface. He stood up, a key with a small, round wooden block attached to it.
"Yeh can just pay a week at a time, milady." He looked expectantly at her, and she nodded. "Are yeh from around here?"
"I was... born here." Chris counted out the amount to pay for the week, and placed it on the desk. "We moved to... Tinto when I was seven." He nodded absently and swept the potch into a large leather pouch attached to his belt.
"Foller me, milady." He heaved his bulk off of the chair, and took leave of the old desk, and Chris followed as he trekked across the room and up a wooden staircase. He turned to the first room on the right, and unlocked it. "Number 2." He frowned at her and gestured to the painted number on the pine door.
"Thank you, sir." He just nodded gruffly, tossed the key onto the small nightstand and retreated back down the stairs. Chris set her bags down in the corner of the little room and placed her bundled sword gently on the bed. She looked out the window briefly, but was slightly annoyed when she couldn't see much because of the darkness. She turned around, placed her hands on her hips, and stared at her swollen saddlebags with annoyance. "I suppose I should unpack..." She mumbled to herself and began to do just that.
*
Chris thoroughly enjoyed the large, hot breakfast at the inn the next morning. She finished the last piece of egg, left some potch on her table and stood. The large innkeeper had resumed his post at the desk and Chris approached him cautiously. "Excuse me?"
He didn't even look up from some tallies he was scribbling in a notebook.
Chris tried again, a little louder. "Excuse me?"
He glared over a pair of tiny spectacles perched on his large round nose. "Yes."
Chris, with difficulty, refrained from growling at the stubborn man. "There is a sign in the front window- you are hiring?"
"Maybe." She couldn't stop herself from glaring at him as he turned back to his tallies. He looked at her again and sighed dramatically. "Go talk ter me wife."
"But- who- where is she?" But it was not use. He refused to look up from him numbers and papers, leaving Chris to find the innkeeper's wife on her own.
She hoped that she wasn't like her husband.
Chris sighed and wandered into the second room, the fireplace room. She silently came up behind a woman who looked to be about Chris' own age, and timidly tapped her on the shoulder.
The blonde waitress shrieked and whipped around, one hand over her heart in surprise, the other clutching a bright pink rag to wipe the tables with. "Oh, don't DO that!" Her amber eyes were wide.
Chris grinned. "I'm sorry... I just had a question, and he," she cocked her head in the direction of the innkeeper and his desk. "Isn't helping me."
"Oh, Rick never helps anyone." The girl smiled. "I'm Lucy."
"Ria." Chris returned the smile with a wide grin.
"Oh! Are you here for the job? Oh, you'd be perfect. Mary will just love you..."
"Well..." Chris interrupted the babbling Lucy. "I don't know much abo-"
"Oh, it's just waitressing! Oh, and you'd probably work my shifts, too- there are so many PEOPLE here sometimes..." Chris was -going- to say 'I don't know much about the job.' For she hadn't known whether the inn needed a cook, a cleaner or a waitress. But she figured that Lucy had answered her question well enough. "...and you wouldn't believe who some of our regulars are..." Lucy wasn't, apparently, going to wait for the other woman: she grabbed Chris' wrist before Chris could ask just who this 'Mary' was, anyway, and began to drag her towards the kitchens, chattering the entire way.
"...and then there's this knight..." The two young women pushed through the light wooden door and into the kitchens. Lucy interrupted herself to grin at a grey-haired woman, who was up to her elbows in flour and bread dough. "Mary," Lucy pushed Chris before her. "This is Ria." Chris smiled and curtsied, wondering how she should greet the aging woman. "Ria, this is Mary." Lucy accurately read the question in the other girl's eyes, and spoke to Chris with a grin. "Mary is Rick's wife."
The innkeeper's wife smiled warmly. "Hello, my dear." She released the bread dough and wiped (rather unsuccessfully, Chris thought) her hands on the apron covering her blue-grey dress. "Now what would you be here for?"
"She wants to be a waitress!" Lucy eagerly answered for her new friend.
"I see." Lucy smiled kindly at Chris, scrutinizing the young woman with chocolate eyes all the while. "Come, my dears. Take a seat."
*
It was Tuesday night, and Chris' first as a waitress at the Dancing Dragon Inn. The two rooms were fairly crowded, not horrendously so, but enough to have Chris running constantly about on one chore or another. Lucy had been right: she and Chris shared almost all the same shifts, along with two other slightly older women.
Chris was moping up a table in the fireplace room, her back to the corner, when a startlingly familiar voice broke through her thoughts.
"Umm... excuse me, miss?"
Chris' blue eyes grew wide.
No.
Not here.
It couldn't be... not here, not now.
She turned slowly around to face the man.
He was here.
Borus.
* * * *
A/N: Wow, that took a long time (*checks word count* *eyes bulge* Wow, and it's a lot longer than I thought it was going to be, too!). Sorry if it sucks. I usually wait until I have a firm idea of what is coming in the -next- chapter before I post a chapter, but I admit that I am having huge issues with chapter four. I am so sick of this chapter that I decided to throw my self-imposed posting-laws out of the window, into the snow (AGHH! WHY is there snow in April!?! WHYYYY??), and post chapter three, because all of you reviewers were so nice and made me feel all warm and fuzzy, even in -10 C weather. So I hope you liked it... and if you didn't *please* review and tell me why.
Be nice readers and review! *hopeful grin* You can help me get chapter four done! And I really need reviews/emails/contact of some sort to know if this thing is worth trudging through chapter four to get to chapter five (which I have big ideas for- weeheehee).
And now, for the people I officially adore: ^_^
Sindaaraniel: You have guessed correctly... I'm just not tellin' which one of your many guesses was actually right! *evil grin* ooooo... shirtless Ace plushie! *poke poke poke* *giggles* *poke poke poke* *giggles* ~_^
Death-Hunter: I kept writing! Yay! I was going to say 'I-hear!', but I don't think that works... even as a response to 'ya-hear'... haahaha.
Runa-Westwind: Oh yes, very nice and cheesy... I like cheese ~_^ I agree... it's so sad when the game's over and nothing was happening with Chris & Borus. *weeps* Ahh well. The joys of fan fiction! ^_^
Millie-chan: I agree... Borus is crazy for her! (although I must admit that don't mind Percy/Chris, as long as Borus isn't the bad guy. Poor poor, victimized Borus *pats Borus on the head with sympathy*) But Borus/Chris is the best of all! ^__^
Touga: Yes, I admit, I have a severe interest in Ace. The first step in overcoming a problem is acceptance, right? ^^;;; Unfourtunalty, though, I don't think that my wonderful mercenary is going to be making any appearances in this fic... there's just nowhere for him to go! *weeps* ~_^
StickyRice: I'm glad you like the whole inverting the rune's power thing. I was worried about how that would go over with people. heehee. ^_^ And yes, I definatley have a thing for Ace. He's wonderful. And hot. And funny. And Smart...ish. And strong. And funny. And hot. And... *goes off into lala land* ^^;;;;
* * * * Thank you all SOOO much for reviewing!! * * * *
*perks up* I do, however, own the rights to poke this shirtless Ace plushie that Sindaaraniel mentioned! *beams and pokes*
A/N: First bit is from Borus' perspective... I couldn't fit his name in there without it sounding awkward and weird. Heh. Sorry 'bout that. ^_^ And, just cause I feel like mentioning this, there are some fluffettes (yay for fluff! I *live* for fluff...) in this chappie... yay!
There's a little bit of colour knowledge needed for a small section of this chap- you know: red + blue = purple. I take art, so it's obvious to me, but I don't know about others, so I'm sticking this in just in case. ^_^
Well, here we go...
* * * *
Chapter Three
* * * *
I worry about her, when she goes off on these adventures by herself. It's not as if she's incapable: she is VERY far from that. Neither is she weak, or in constant need of help, as she so fears.
I worry about her because I care for her - we all do - and she doesn't seem to quite understand that. Sure, she KNOWS... mostly.
But I don't think she understands.
*
Chris slept late into the next morning, only waking up when she heard the hustle and bustle of the street filter in through her window. She bolted out of bed, and quickly changed into a pair of breeches and a loose cotton shirt, cursing herself for not getting up earlier. Chris grabbed an apple that she had purchased the day before and, taking a bite, she peeked in a mirror. She nearly fell over backwards from shock.
She had forgotten that her hair was so... -dark-.
She quickly pulled a brush through it, grinning slightly, and then sat down in the same chair that she had occupied the previous day.
It was time to complete the disguise.
She slipped easily into the blackness of the rune, and began the process on her violet eyes. She had discovered that the transformation was similar to having a block of wood: it is -much- easier to carve the piece of wood into something new than to turn it into metal. With the rune, it was much simpler to build or take away something that was already there, than to create something entirely new and different.
She pictured her own violet eyes in her mind, and released a flow of energy, willing the rune to temporarily remove the red half of her eye colour. She directed the current to her right eye, feeling some heat and a tingling sensation as her eye colour changed from purple to a bright blue. She could feel the colour, as if it itself were solid, shrinking and distorting, until it was a new shape; a new colour entirely.
She scrubbed at her right eye with the back of her hand, trying to will the tingling to go away. The one eye began to tear up of it's own accord, and Chris stopped herself from rubbing at it any harder. She squeezed her eyes shut, and opened them, blinking rapidly to dispel the right eye's moisture.
She peeked in her mirror, and nearly laughed out loud at the sight she made. One eye was it's normal violet, and the other was a bright cerulean blue. Chris was surprised at how... different she looked. '...Which is just what I want.' She thought happily.
She smiled with satisfaction as she perched in the armchair, and began to 'fix' her left eye.
*
It was just past nine o'clock in the evening by the time that Chris had shoveled everything she needed for the month into two large leather saddlebags, and prepared herself fully for departure. She had locked her armor in a trunk, leaving it in her room, and had wrapped her sword in soft cloth, then bundled it in with a long roll of an extra cloak and blanket. She hid a dagger in her tall brown boots: years of carrying and wielding weapons were not easily abandoned.
She had already prepared her white mare for the short journey to the inn she planned to stay at, and Chris had left the horse tethered to a post in the front yard.
Her first trip down to her waiting horse was uneventful: she carefully and securely strapped the long bundle to the back of the plain leather saddle, and dashed back to her room for the saddlebags.
The second (and last) trip didn't quite end up as planned.
*
Borus meandered past a tethered white horse, and up the path to Chris' front door. He had spent the last two days either with the other knights, or at a small inn, The Dancing Dragon, that he had discovered some months ago. He liked it there: most people didn't gawk or stare at the Zexen knight in their midst. Instead, they treated him like any of the regulars, which quite amused and pleased the knight. It was different than the typical tavern, and he enjoyed it. However, Chris' upcoming departure had been weighing on him, and he wasn't sure how pleased he was. Borus decided to pay her another visit before she left tomorrow, before the public good- byes. He could not deny that he would miss her while she was away.
Lost in his thoughts, he didn't see the cloaked figure rush out of the house until he crashed into it. "Oooff." He took her by the shoulders and pulled her back.
"Chris?" He cloak's hood was up to shield her from the spring's slight chill, and the night was dark and nearly moonless, but he could tell it was her.
"Borus!" She sounded so alarmed that he began to think that maybe it wasn't such a great idea to come tonight. "Borus- Wh-What are you doing here?" Through the darkness, cold see her eyes widen with surprise before she hurriedly looked down to her shoes.
"I- I wante- Oh, nevermind." His eyebrows shot up as he noticed the saddlebags she was carrying. "Are you leaving?" His voice sounded accusatory as it hovered in the still night air, and Borus immediately wished that he could snatch his words back. He hadn't meant for it to sound that way. He felt her shoulders stiffen under his hands.
"...Yes."
"But why?"
"Because... because... I..." Her head remained tilted down, her eyes on the ground. "You... wouldn't understand. Maybe I can tell you when I get back. Not now. Please don't be angry... I'm sorry."
"How do you know I wouldn't understand?"
"Because... Because..." She sounded more and more upset, and Borus was regretting his harsh words. This wasn't turning out how he wanted it to. Not at all.
He gently released her shoulders. She stood before him, shoulders uncharacteristically slumped, her head tilted down, little more than a shadow in the night. "I'm sorry, Chris." With very little warning, she took a tiny step forward and threw her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly.
Borus stood, stunned, for a moment before wrapping his arms about her, returning the hug.
"I promise Borus." She closed her eyes, resting her head in the curve between his shoulder and neck. "I promise I'll tell you when I return." She paused, just enjoying the warmth she felt while in his arms. "Tell them I'm sorry. I know they wanted to say goodbye, but... it's only a month." She pulled back and smiled at him before looking back at her feet, hiding her eyes again. "I have to go Borus... before anyone else comes." He could hear bitter amusement in her voice.
"I'll walk you to the city gates."
Chris shook her head. "I'm fine." She hesitated. "You- you should probably go." Borus nodded slightly, but disobeyed, watching silently as she approached the horse he had passed just minutes before, and strapped the bag to her leather saddle.
"Chris..." He hesitated as she turned to him again. "I-" He couldn't say anything else to the expectant shadow. The words just wouldn't come forth. He approached her, and brushed a hand through his blonde hair, searching for words. "I-" He watched her, and then decided to act, abandoning the words that refused to come. He tentatively hugged her, and grinned as she returned it. "We'll miss you."
He felt her tighten her hold as an answer before she spoke, her words muffled by his cloak. "...Goodbye Borus." She pulled away, drawing her hood forward again and turned to the waiting horse. She quickly untied it and led it onto the cobblestones of the road.
Borus stood quietly as she pulled herself into the saddle. "Goodbye Chris." In the dim moonlight, he saw her lips curve into a shy smile before she rode away.
Neither noticed the cloaked shadow watching them from behind the shed.
*
Chris had wandered past the Dancing Dragon Inn a day before she began her current disguise. It's small and brightly painted 'Help needed' sign had caught her attention, and she had briefly poked her head in. The interior was clean and comfortable, with two medium sized, connected rooms, one with a large stone fireplace. Padded benches sat before the hearth and pine chairs and tables were clustered around both rooms. She had decided that she would stay at that inn for the month, and, with a touch of luck, perhaps she could work there, too.
Lost in her thoughts, Chris didn't see the figure flitting shadow-to-shadow in her wake.
*
Chris approached small desk that was set up in the front of the Dancing Dragon Inn, placing her bulging saddlebags on the ground, and removing the charcoal-coloured hood as she greeted the aged man at the desk. He harrumphed and reluctantly looked up from his notebook.
"Yes?"
"Do you have a single room up for rent?" Chris inquired. The man rummaged around in the top drawer of his desk, and pulled out a large blue book. He flipped the pages until he found the date.
"Yes."
"...Could I stay...?"
"Yes." Chris wanted to bring the man's book down on his head, and beat some new vocabulary into his brain.
"...How much would it be?"
"90 potch a night."
"Alright... I'm going to be staying for about a month..."
The man raised a graying, bushy eyebrow. "A whole month, huh?" Chris nodded in reply as he dug into another drawer. "So what'cher name?" He brandished his balding quill proudly, and held it over the page, ready to write in his newest guest.
"Ria Marmor." The innkeeper scribbled her 'name' down, and reached into the large bottom drawer of his pine desk. Chris could just see the top of his balding head over the wooden surface. He stood up, a key with a small, round wooden block attached to it.
"Yeh can just pay a week at a time, milady." He looked expectantly at her, and she nodded. "Are yeh from around here?"
"I was... born here." Chris counted out the amount to pay for the week, and placed it on the desk. "We moved to... Tinto when I was seven." He nodded absently and swept the potch into a large leather pouch attached to his belt.
"Foller me, milady." He heaved his bulk off of the chair, and took leave of the old desk, and Chris followed as he trekked across the room and up a wooden staircase. He turned to the first room on the right, and unlocked it. "Number 2." He frowned at her and gestured to the painted number on the pine door.
"Thank you, sir." He just nodded gruffly, tossed the key onto the small nightstand and retreated back down the stairs. Chris set her bags down in the corner of the little room and placed her bundled sword gently on the bed. She looked out the window briefly, but was slightly annoyed when she couldn't see much because of the darkness. She turned around, placed her hands on her hips, and stared at her swollen saddlebags with annoyance. "I suppose I should unpack..." She mumbled to herself and began to do just that.
*
Chris thoroughly enjoyed the large, hot breakfast at the inn the next morning. She finished the last piece of egg, left some potch on her table and stood. The large innkeeper had resumed his post at the desk and Chris approached him cautiously. "Excuse me?"
He didn't even look up from some tallies he was scribbling in a notebook.
Chris tried again, a little louder. "Excuse me?"
He glared over a pair of tiny spectacles perched on his large round nose. "Yes."
Chris, with difficulty, refrained from growling at the stubborn man. "There is a sign in the front window- you are hiring?"
"Maybe." She couldn't stop herself from glaring at him as he turned back to his tallies. He looked at her again and sighed dramatically. "Go talk ter me wife."
"But- who- where is she?" But it was not use. He refused to look up from him numbers and papers, leaving Chris to find the innkeeper's wife on her own.
She hoped that she wasn't like her husband.
Chris sighed and wandered into the second room, the fireplace room. She silently came up behind a woman who looked to be about Chris' own age, and timidly tapped her on the shoulder.
The blonde waitress shrieked and whipped around, one hand over her heart in surprise, the other clutching a bright pink rag to wipe the tables with. "Oh, don't DO that!" Her amber eyes were wide.
Chris grinned. "I'm sorry... I just had a question, and he," she cocked her head in the direction of the innkeeper and his desk. "Isn't helping me."
"Oh, Rick never helps anyone." The girl smiled. "I'm Lucy."
"Ria." Chris returned the smile with a wide grin.
"Oh! Are you here for the job? Oh, you'd be perfect. Mary will just love you..."
"Well..." Chris interrupted the babbling Lucy. "I don't know much abo-"
"Oh, it's just waitressing! Oh, and you'd probably work my shifts, too- there are so many PEOPLE here sometimes..." Chris was -going- to say 'I don't know much about the job.' For she hadn't known whether the inn needed a cook, a cleaner or a waitress. But she figured that Lucy had answered her question well enough. "...and you wouldn't believe who some of our regulars are..." Lucy wasn't, apparently, going to wait for the other woman: she grabbed Chris' wrist before Chris could ask just who this 'Mary' was, anyway, and began to drag her towards the kitchens, chattering the entire way.
"...and then there's this knight..." The two young women pushed through the light wooden door and into the kitchens. Lucy interrupted herself to grin at a grey-haired woman, who was up to her elbows in flour and bread dough. "Mary," Lucy pushed Chris before her. "This is Ria." Chris smiled and curtsied, wondering how she should greet the aging woman. "Ria, this is Mary." Lucy accurately read the question in the other girl's eyes, and spoke to Chris with a grin. "Mary is Rick's wife."
The innkeeper's wife smiled warmly. "Hello, my dear." She released the bread dough and wiped (rather unsuccessfully, Chris thought) her hands on the apron covering her blue-grey dress. "Now what would you be here for?"
"She wants to be a waitress!" Lucy eagerly answered for her new friend.
"I see." Lucy smiled kindly at Chris, scrutinizing the young woman with chocolate eyes all the while. "Come, my dears. Take a seat."
*
It was Tuesday night, and Chris' first as a waitress at the Dancing Dragon Inn. The two rooms were fairly crowded, not horrendously so, but enough to have Chris running constantly about on one chore or another. Lucy had been right: she and Chris shared almost all the same shifts, along with two other slightly older women.
Chris was moping up a table in the fireplace room, her back to the corner, when a startlingly familiar voice broke through her thoughts.
"Umm... excuse me, miss?"
Chris' blue eyes grew wide.
No.
Not here.
It couldn't be... not here, not now.
She turned slowly around to face the man.
He was here.
Borus.
* * * *
A/N: Wow, that took a long time (*checks word count* *eyes bulge* Wow, and it's a lot longer than I thought it was going to be, too!). Sorry if it sucks. I usually wait until I have a firm idea of what is coming in the -next- chapter before I post a chapter, but I admit that I am having huge issues with chapter four. I am so sick of this chapter that I decided to throw my self-imposed posting-laws out of the window, into the snow (AGHH! WHY is there snow in April!?! WHYYYY??), and post chapter three, because all of you reviewers were so nice and made me feel all warm and fuzzy, even in -10 C weather. So I hope you liked it... and if you didn't *please* review and tell me why.
Be nice readers and review! *hopeful grin* You can help me get chapter four done! And I really need reviews/emails/contact of some sort to know if this thing is worth trudging through chapter four to get to chapter five (which I have big ideas for- weeheehee).
And now, for the people I officially adore: ^_^
Sindaaraniel: You have guessed correctly... I'm just not tellin' which one of your many guesses was actually right! *evil grin* ooooo... shirtless Ace plushie! *poke poke poke* *giggles* *poke poke poke* *giggles* ~_^
Death-Hunter: I kept writing! Yay! I was going to say 'I-hear!', but I don't think that works... even as a response to 'ya-hear'... haahaha.
Runa-Westwind: Oh yes, very nice and cheesy... I like cheese ~_^ I agree... it's so sad when the game's over and nothing was happening with Chris & Borus. *weeps* Ahh well. The joys of fan fiction! ^_^
Millie-chan: I agree... Borus is crazy for her! (although I must admit that don't mind Percy/Chris, as long as Borus isn't the bad guy. Poor poor, victimized Borus *pats Borus on the head with sympathy*) But Borus/Chris is the best of all! ^__^
Touga: Yes, I admit, I have a severe interest in Ace. The first step in overcoming a problem is acceptance, right? ^^;;; Unfourtunalty, though, I don't think that my wonderful mercenary is going to be making any appearances in this fic... there's just nowhere for him to go! *weeps* ~_^
StickyRice: I'm glad you like the whole inverting the rune's power thing. I was worried about how that would go over with people. heehee. ^_^ And yes, I definatley have a thing for Ace. He's wonderful. And hot. And funny. And Smart...ish. And strong. And funny. And hot. And... *goes off into lala land* ^^;;;;
* * * * Thank you all SOOO much for reviewing!! * * * *
