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"…So where are we going again…?" a beleagured Hugh inquires, walking down a tree-lined path with an also rather confused-looking Miro plodding along beside him.
"Home, they said. To get something…" Miro replies, looking at the key in his hand which he was given quite suddenly. "And then we head right back, and bring the thing to them…"
"And we're doing this why?" Hugh pursues.
"…I don't know." Miro says, shrugging. "I just sort of followed along after they snuck up and blindfolded me. That wasn't much fun…"
"At least they didn't tranquilize us and throw us shirtless into the forest…" Hugh points out in an attempt at optimism.
"Well, they did have to tranquilize you. And I only barely got my shirt back…" Miro reminds him. The two then realize something. Looking down at themselves, they come to a sudden realization.
"…We need new shirts." Miro says.
"Yeah." Hugh agrees, seeing his cut-up zipper-shirt with rolled-up sleeves, a large hole on the left shoulder, and a huge gash along the chest, not to mention other, smaller cuts and holes. "…Dad's gonna kill me, I know it."
"He's just a sweaty old man with a large head, don't worry. Unless he had Daachan with him, I think you could get away." Miro comments, still looking at the damages to his own outfit, which included five holes where Hugh himself had nearly made him meat on a spit. "As for me… ugh, it was hard enough finding black fabric the first time in a town where everything's pretty and colourful…"
"Okay, then we both have problems." Hugh admits, both sighing. "…But about the thing we're looking for… Maybe, if we're sneaky enough about it, we could…"
"…Hey, that's a good idea! We can give it to Karrie!" Miro says, nodding to his suggestion. "She'd like that!"
"Yeah, I bet she would…" Hugh states, nodding in agreement to this. However, Miro suddenly begins to get a second wind regarding this.
"…Wait, what if this thing's… evil… or worse yet, something she doesn't like?" he inquires, looking at Hugh with concern. Hugh hums in thought for a moment.
"…Well, if it's not good enough for her, we'll just follow orders and give it to who we're supposed to." Hugh says, nodding to himself. "…And, well, if it's evil, we'll take it out."
"…Oh yeah…" Miro says, a smirk on his face. "After all, we are the toughest, roughest, two-fisted, baddest to the bad, most worn, torn, lean, and learned guys under 20 in all of Forget-Me-Not Valley, am I right?"
"Oh yeah!" Hugh hoots just as smugly as Miro, flexing his well-toned muscles in agreement. Miro attempts a pose as well, but quickly abandons the idea.
"Fighting we're impressive, fighting together we are un-stoppable." Miro states, putting some strut into his walk for a moment. "Let's see 'em try this on for size!"
"Let's see 'em!"
"Let's see 'em!"
-
"Let's see 'em." Nami says, giving her knuckles a crack and standing at one end of a table in Doug's Inn. It was later that evening, and the entire group, including Karen, Rick, Karrie, Basil (as was typical), and the Doctor, were lounging around the Inn, sharing stories and having the occasional sip of wine (grape juice in the teens' case). Jack and co. had recently told Karen enough of the adventure's story to sate Karen and they were preparing for what looked to be a one-on-one bar brawl. Rick and Jack had slithered away into a table separate from the one their wives were in, and were now watching warily as the proceedings proceeded.
"Hm, my, not many people come against me looking so smug…" Karen admits, tilting her head a bit. She was standing at the other end of the table, eyeing Nami from across it.
"It isn't exactly like I have much to worry about." Nami states, slowly putting one hand into her pocket. Jack tensed. "I have plenty of experience."
"Do you now?" Karen inquires, turning around slowly and waving her hand vaguely at everyone in the room. "Let me tell you now, I've beaten eeeevvveryone in this room that I've gone against. I have a very good record."
"Well, I've beaten people in towns you have yet to find on a map." Nami claims. "I've perfected my tecniques by whittling them off of some of the best."
"Ooh, so you have techniques?" Karen inquires, refraining from turning and placing her arms on the surface of the table. "Let me be the one to tell you, it's not technique that helps, it's the time and effort that you put into it. That's what lets you know how much you can hold down."
Nami raises an eyebrow at this, her hand pausing in her pocket. "…Hold down? What do you-"
"Let the contest begin!" Karen proclaims, smiling and holding her hands out. Most of those whose attention wasn't already directed to the two of them directed it now. Nami comes halfway to pulling out one of her knives, but stops as she sees Doug approaching from behind the counter, carrying a tray with several, several bottles of wine on it. Her eyes widening slightly, she lets her knife drop back into her pocket and looks at Karen.
"…What is this?" Nami asks, looking at Karen with some confusion.
"This…" Karen begins as Doug sets the tray down between them and backs away quickly. "…is a drinking contest!"
"A… a drinking contest…" Nami mutters. "I thought we were going to fight…"
"What, a bottle-fight?" Karen asks. "Been there, done that. This is the true challenge. Let's see what you have to offer!"
Just then, Jack mutters to Rick quietly from the table they had gone to.
"What's in those bottles…?" he asks.
"Wine." Rick replies simply. "Delicious, tap-or-bottle draft wine fresh from the Aja Winery. It's good, and a pinch strong."
"Ooh…" Jack says in wonderment. "Wow, our bar doesn't have wine. We have a great drink mixer, he makes all kinds of stuff. Never straight wine. You guys must be poor."
Rick fixes him a glare, and then looks back to the two ladies. Karen sits down at her chair, leaning back on it and crossing her arms smugly, awaiting Nami to sit as well. Having quickly gotten over the shock of the competition not being exactly how she planned, she pulls out her chair to sit. However, before she actually can sit, she is suddenly met by Kai, Cliff, Gray, and the Jack from Mineral Town, who crowd behind her and speak to her with an air of warning.
"Don't do it, Nami, don't do it!" Cliff says, shaking his head a bit to emphasize.
"She's never been defeated, rumors say that she was born with a wine cap in her teeth!" Kai adds, nodding a bit to emphasize.
"She once outdrank a full-grown cow that got a hold of one of the wine taps!" Jack claims, grabbing one of her shoulders and looking quite serious about this statement.
"It's a very, very poor idea." Gray states, glancing to a smirking Karen every once in a while. "All odds say that you'll lose your honor in this match-up."
"Four things:" Nami begins, halting Cliff and Kai's shaking and nodding and forcing Jack's hand off of her. "I'm doing it, babies don't have teeth, cows don't eat meat let alone drink, and I refuse to deny a challenge no matter what I lose or keep."
"That's true." The Jack still sitting at a table whispers. "Because of that, we've had some interesting Poker matches."
"Hm." Rick says tonelessly.
"Not regular Poker, either-"
"Enough…"
"Ooooh boy…" Matthew mumbles from the table that he, William, Kate, Anna, Ricca, and Lumina were tightly fit in (this was to keep the guys from getting a view of Karrie from around them), looking toward Kate for a moment. "Sorry to say this, but your potential relative is…"
"screwed." William finished for him, sighing. "Karen can take in more wine than air."
"Nami's strong." Kate says simply. "She's also one of the most sober people you'll ever meet. It'll take a lot of that puny alcohol before she goes weird."
"If you say so…" William says, likely not convinced. He stirs around his grape juice with a straw boredly.
"My Dad was a professional drinker." Lumina says, lowering her juice and placing her hands on the table politely. "I heard that they used to call him Tanker and he used and got a lot of money from contests. Used more than got, really."
"Yeah? And what happened with him?" Matthew inquires.
"He and Mom died in a car crash." Lumina replies, glancing down at the table for a second.
"That stinks…" William says, still absently stirring his drink. "It makes a lot of sense, but it stinks."
"Sort of removes the whole mystery of it." Matthew adds, resting his head on one hand. "But it's not a really bad way to go. Not the best, but not bad. I'd prefer to fall asleep and have cardiac arrest, but that's just me."
"I'd rather be lying out on a bed, with everybody I know smiling at me and I just drift away…" William says, using his free hand to make the appropriate motion.
"I'd want to do something people would remember me for," Kate says absently. "like save a family of cats and children that get stuck up a tree, and then have the tree hit by lightning or something, but let's quit talking about this stuff."
Turning to Lumina, Kate suddenly notices something. She reaches and gives Lumina a tap on the shoulder, getting her out of her daze.
"Hey, Lumina, you're somewhere in the twenties, aren't you?" she inquires. "That means you should be able to try wine. Why are you having grape juice?"
"Oh. Well…" she begins, looking at the others and then back to Kate. "I wouldn't want you all to feel left behind."
"Oh." Kate replies.
"Well, thanks." William adds.
"…Kate, how old are you again?" Lumina inquires. "You're older than Miro, I know…"
"Me?" Kate replies, seeming to think of it for a moment. "I'm… seventeen, I'll be eighteen soon…"
Matthew coughs in mid-sip of his juice. He looks to Kate in some shock. "Really? You seem just as young as us!"
"I am young!" Kate suddenly snaps, giving him a penatrating glare. "I'm only about two years older than most of you!"
"Yeah, but you don't look it." Matthew replies, clearing his throat. "I mean you look very, umm, keen. More girlish than the age suggests."
"You mean cute?" Kate inquires.
"I refrain from answering that." Matthew says immediately.
"Why?" Kate asks.
"On the grounds that there is no proper answer." Matthew explains. "If I say you are, it may imply something rather unintentional, and if I say you aren't, you may think I'm calling you… ugly."
"…What was with the pause before the word?" Kate asks, giving him a look. Matthew only sighs.
Returning to Nami (finally), she had already sat down on her chair and had her eyes shut, taking a few deep breaths in preparation for this. She had done a small share of drinking contests during her late teens, but she had only won as many as she lost (but also minding the fact that most of her opponents were collage football players and various aunts and uncles). This Karen lady seemed a honed drinker, and having a perfect record for it didn't instill Nami with confidence. Not that she needed any, she was always confident in herself, even now, with this disadvantage and the four guys behind her still whispering to her to get the heck out of this.
"Will you just clear out?" Nami mutters sharply, not turning her head or opening her eyes. The guys look to one another, concluding that it was a lost cause and returning to their seats. After a moment, Nami opens her eyes.
"Done the yoga excersise, huh?" Karen says, still as relaxed as ever.
"Ready when you are, Leadgut." Nami returns, her eyes narrowing.
Karen laughs a bit to herself. "Karrie, dear, count the score."
"Okay, Mom." Karrie says, finding a pencil and paper and getting into a ready position.
"Ready…" Nami says, taking a bottle and quickly twisting the cap open with her teeth, spitting it to the floor.
"Set…" Karen continues, also taking a bottle, placing the neck of it on her bicep, closing her arm and twisting the cap open.
"…Go."
-
"So, how far is the Town from the Valley?" Hugh asks, looking to Miro.
"About a day…" Miro replies, shoulders sagging as he walked. It had gotten dark out, and the simple trees lining the simple path just weren't enough stimulation to keep him 100 percent awake.
"Ugh… So, a day to get there…" Hugh comments.
"And a day to get back, yes." Miro replies. "So two days, more or less."
"We should jog, it'll cut the time in half." Hugh reminds him.
"I can't jog…" Miro protests. "My endurance is awful."
"Don't give me that crap." Hugh replies, glaring at him. "You lasted with me for a stupidly long time, there's no way you don't have endurance."
"…Fine, correction," Miro states. "My endurance is awful IF I'm not fighting for my life."
"Dammit…" Hugh mutters.
Several minutes passed in silence until Miro remembered a question that had not exactly plagued him, but had been giving his curiosity nerve a poke every once in a while.
"…Hugh, what made you wake up one day and think 'Uhh… Lumina.'?"
"Hm?" Hugh replies. He then seems to think for a second. Miro gives a suggestion.
"Was it because she's got a loaded grandma on her deathbed?"
"…No, no." Hugh replies, shaking his head a bit. "It wasn't that she was rich, besides, her Gram's healthy as a muel even today. It was that she was… just… there, all the time. Lumina was there before Kate came along, Lumina was there before you were born, Lumina was there before your dad even moved in."
"…That's it?" Miro inquires. Hugh shakes his head again.
"Naah. It's also that she had… and, well, still has… this thing to her. Like, she's always wondering about something. And by doing that, she gets me wondering, too. She gets me thinking, and nobody else does that." Hugh answers, seeming to be thinking right now, at only the very thought of her thinking.
"Does she now?" Miro says, blinking once. "Jee, opposites do attract… But there must be more to it, right? Am I right?"
"Well… uh, of course…" Hugh mutters, looking down at the ground for a moment.
"Ah, it's the dress, isn't it?" Miro says, smirking. "That slinky, slim, cotton-fiber no-questions-asked plaid dress with that snappy black belt in the middle that constricts the fabric juuust enough to see a tiny peek of her outline, and those fashionable, brown high-step clog-shoes with those black stockings and that white shirt that just tells you there's oh-so-much more to it than that little black belt could ever offer to give you…"
"…Nrr… yeah…" Hugh admits grudgingly. "Oh, and Miro?"
"Yep?"
"Don't do that again."
"Okay."
A few more minutes passed in silence, until a new question suddenly sprang to Hugh's mind. This was a noteworthy event, of course, and he quickly shared his inquiry with Miro before it slipped out of his ears.
"Hey, Miro, what made you pick Kate?"
Miro widened his eyes, and then blinked, and the furrowed his brows, and then raised one eyebrow, and then squinted, and then crossed his eyes slightly and furrowed his brows again. Finally, he looks to Hugh.
"…I honestly have no idea." He says. "I mean, Matthew talks about me and Kate just being around each other for so long that we developed a similar sort of inner emotion, but I really don't know why I like her. She was sarcastic, she was mean, she was a constant threat, she made me fall into water whenever possible…"
"…Oh, I know." Hugh suddenly states. Miro looks at him.
"You know?" he asks incredulously. Hugh nods. "…All right, indulge me."
"…Guh?"
"Tell me."
"Oh." Hugh says. Taking a breath, he explains simply. "You had no other choice."
"…Oh, right." Miro mutters. "Only girl within 10 years of my age in the entire Valley… If I were one to take a chance I suppose I could've gone for Lumina, but then, well, one of us would definitely be dead by now."
Hugh nods to this.
Suddenly, Miro spots something ahead of them in the path. He couldn't tell much from the dimming light, but it was definitely alive.
"Hold up…" he mutters, stopping. Hugh stops as well, confused at first but then seeing the thing before them.
"What is that…?" he asks.
"I'm not sure." Miro replies. "Stay here, I'm checking it out…"
Slowly, carefully, tenatively (if more words are required it, find a thesaurus), Miro steps toward the thing. As he approached, he first realized it was a brownish-orange hue, and then as his nearing vision allowed him to see its shape, his look of caution became one of relief and happiness.
He quickly began walking up to it, smiling. "Greaser!" he says happily, giving the horse a nice pet on the muzzle once it had looked up to him after munching a bit of grass. "Wow, I haven't seen you forever! What are you doing all the way out here?"
"Greaser?" Hugh echoes from behind him, the sound of his footsteps approaching the horse and Miro. "Oh, hey, it's that horse of Jack's…"
"Sure is." Miro replies. He then notices something about the animal. "…Uh oh. I think he's been pushed beyond his warranty. Poor guy…"
"Maybe your parents used him for transport so they could find you easier…" Hugh suggests, feeling Greaser's mane curiously.
"Hmph, those cheaters…" Miro grumbles. "Well… I think I know how to make him roadworthy again."
"How?" Hugh inquires.
"A nice, little crop always gets him juiced up…" Miro replies, removing and unzipping his Rucksack to find a nice, fresh carrot within.
"…Where'd you get that?" Hugh asks.
"That farm we went through to get into town." Miro replies.
"You mean your third cousin… second uncle… that guy named Jack who isn't your dad, his place?" Hugh questions.
"Yep. He has a crapload of crops, he won't miss just one." Miro says, shutting the Rucksack and slinging it back onto his shoulders. He then holds the carrot out in front of Greaser and, as planned, the horse bites into it and quickly munches the whole thing down.
"Is he going to run now?" Hugh asks. Miro laughs a bit.
"Of course!" he replies. "Carrots always give him the juice to run. What, you think I don't know how to hotwire my own parents' horse?"
"…Right." Hugh replies, sighing. Miro then walks to the side of Greaser and, with a quick hop not unlike his father's, jumps onto the stallion's back. Hugh looks at him for a moment.
"…What?" Miro questions. "Hurry, hop on, this'll shave a crapload of time from our schedule!"
"No way." Hugh states, waving his hand once. "There's no chance I'm getting on that tiny horse with another guy."
Miro smirked. "Okay, fine," he says, beginning to wheel Greaser around in the right direction. "Then do what you suggested in the first place. Jog."
With that, he sets the horse off at a trot. Hugh mutters to himself and then begins running, trying to keep up with the animal.
-
Seven full bottles into the competition each, Nami and Karen continue to stare each other down defiantly and keep a tight grip on their eighth bottles, somewhat for support. Karen was smiling dimly, some colour washed on her face, while Nami spent much time with her eyes closed, attempting to keep her balance and sporting very red cheeks.
"…Suh… How'a ya feelinnn'…?" Karen asks, chuckling silently to herself.
"…Ju…" Nami begins, pausing to shake her head a bit and continuing. She made an effort to keep her words sounding normal. "…Jusst… fine…"
"…This may also answer why I'm having grape juice…" Lumina suggests, she and the other young people watching with a little bit of discomfort.
"Then, let'sh go… to numba 8…" Karen says, swaying a bit and smirking happily.
"Good… tu… do that…" Nami mumbles, not making a whole lot of sense but the general feeling being that she was ready.
"Boy-o. I've gotta say, your wife's not bad." Rick admits, watching the battle intently. "For an inexperienced drinker, keeping up with Karen for this long is a sight to see."
"If you say so." Jack replies. "Nami's always been tough, no denying it. …What's in those bottles again?"
"Wine." Rick repeats, looking at him once.
The eighth bottle passed. And then the ninth. Finally, Karen and Nami were staring down the opened necks of their tenth bottles. Nami was beginning to sway, and gripped onto the side of the table with her free hand to keep herself balanced. Karen had become a bit quieter, minus the odd quick exhalations that could be interpreted as laughter.
"Mmmr…" Nami grumbles, attempting to shake her head again. "W…W-we't… bedder… zzstop now…"
"Heh'm…" Karen continues with some attempt at a laugh. "wwv… wvhy… vwhy's thad…?"
"'Cus…" Nami explains, now trying to focus on her breathing. "Ifv we dow't… y'll be szleeping all th'… tomorrow… and Kair… Car… Karrie… 's only here for a while lon…ger…"
"Yy'n… Y'righ'…" Karen replies, hicupping once before continuing. "I godda… n'joy while my dag… daugh…ter's sztill here… And szo… I caw… call's this… a draw…"
Several people clapped at this, stunned at the display shown today. They hadn't seen such a good drinking contest in a long while.
Jack and Rick, finding this to be their cue, get up from their chairs and run to their respective wives quickly.
"Oh, boy, that was something…" Jack comments, taking Nami's right arm but then pausing to look at Rick. "Those things really tanked them, what was in those bottles?"
"Wine!" Rick repeats, giving a frustrated sigh as he took Karen by the shoulders. "What are you, daft!"
"What? Of course not! I'll have you know I have perfectly good hearing!" Jack says defensively. He then turns his attention to Nami. "Now… Let's see you stand up. I'll give you a hand, no trouble…"
"I think… I'vvve got'a go t'bed now, Dear…" Nami states, looking up at Jack with her sharp eyes glazed over in her stupor.
"Yes, we're going to bed…" Jack replies, slowly helping Nami to her feet by taking either of her arms and keeping her steady by them. "Just start walking a little and we'll get you to somewhere you can sleep in no time…"
"You can use one of the rooms in the Inn." Doug informs him. "We have a lot of room, even with several of you taking beds here already… And, umm, will you need any help with her?"
"No, no, she's fine…" Jack replies, leading Nami carefully to the stairs. Nami was shutting her eyes and walking with much of her focus intent on keeping her balance. Slowly, the two of them begin to ascend.
"And then… we c'n dance…" she mutters quietly. Jack blinks for a moment.
"Oh… of course, yeah, we can dance…" he replies, just deciding to go along with it. "But I think we should wait until you can walk well again, don't you?"
"Oh, w'll yeah…" Nami replies, seeming to grow more and more tired by the moment. "Miro doeszn't dance…"
"Miro's gone back home for a while, remember?" Jack says, trying to counter a pointless statement with another pointless statement.
"Yes…" Nami states. "Op'n the door…"
They had reached the top of the staircase and were now facing one of the Inn room doors. Jack nods in compliance and carefully removes one hand from Nami, turning the door hnadle and pushing it open. He then leads Nami into the room, directs her to the nearest bed, and allows her to carefully flop down onto the mattress. Jack lets out a sigh of relief, taking a seat on the floor next to the bed and looking to Nami's sleeping face next to him. Smiling a bit, he removes the Rucksack he rarely ever didn't have with him and looks around in it for a moment. Finding what he was searching for, he pulls a hefty, green, well-worn book out and opens it to a certain page. It was his diary. Taking a pencil from his pocket (he had abandoned pens since one exploded up his nose when he was young), he put it to the paper and began to write.
Fall the… something, maybe the 8th. Today… Today, finally, I WASN'T the stupid one!