Baths were nice.
...Especially after getting knocked to the ground and having your face shoved into the dirt so deep as to pack mud up into your sinuses by a girl that doesn't even weigh a quarter your weight and half your size.
Rasmus grinned to himself at that.
He was now dressed in some of Rezo's old pants and shirts of better quality. He'd had to change his shirt once, though, because Sylphiel had objected to his wearing blue. She'd said something about it clashing with his hair and he'd pulled out another shirt of rusty red, which she'd approved of. Lina and Gourry were wearing their usual clothes and Sylphiel was wearing a light lilac sun dress with short but flowing sleeves. She looked like a flower.
"What're you grinning at?" Lina scowled at him from where she sat in the back of the wagon along with him. They were getting a ride to town in Kurt's cart, pulled by his sturdy old nag of a horse. Sylphiel's large pot of stew makings was set back there with them, lidded but without water, the shrine maiden had said that she would add water when they got there, the feast wouldn't be for some hours yet anyway, so it would be better to cook it there.
Looking at Lina, Rasmus changed his smug grin to a softer smile, "...just...thinking it was ...fun," he hesitated in admitting, "Teasing you. I mean... it's just not something I'd ever done before." He finished, having to change what he'd intended to say to something that didn't include Rezo's name and even refrained from glancing at Kurt who sat up front next to Sylphiel as he steered the old plow horse that was pulling the car they sat in.
Pausing before answering, Lina finally gave a grin, "Sure, any time you feel like tasting dirt, just say something," she lifted her fist at him, and he didn't flinch. Sylphiel glanced back from where she was sitting on the bench beside the sturdy brown-haired farmer- the same one that had come to get her during the storm. She smiled slightly at the copy and he couldn't help but stare at her in return.
How can she smile at me? He asked himself quite often, And she's smiling at ME now, not just Flagoon!
Of course, Flagoon wasn't able to keep its roots out of his thoughts, so it replied, Perhaps because she is a forgiving soul. Carrying around anger for someone who has already paid for their mistakes is not how she wishes to live.
With that, the Holy Tree left Rasmus to think on that as he stared at Sylphiel's shimmering hair, knowing that it probably felt as soft as it looked, and wanting to touch it, but not daring to. He didn't realize that Lina was staring at him in return.
Gourry, dislodged by a bump in the road, tipped over and thumped against Lina's shoulder, snoring loudly in her ear. Sighing, Lina shoved him off and he tipped the other way to bang his head against Sylphiel's pot for stew with a loud clang. Sitting up, Gourry rubbed his head, "Hey, what was that for?" he demanded of Lina.
"Wake up, yogurt brains," Lina told him, "We're almost there."
Shifting, Rasmus turned to peer around the front bench and past the horse, discovering that Lina was right- town was within sight and the distance was getting steadily shorter. How had time flown so fast? Then again, that question was quite stupid as Rasmus had been staring at Sylphiel's hair for quite some time, watching the warm sunlight flicker across those lovely strands. He pulled his mind back into focus, looking towards the town once more as a thought occurred to him.
They're going to think I'm Rezo! Oh Cephied! What will I tell them? They'll kill me!
Leaning forward, Lina grinned and slapped his knee, "Hey, don't worry so much." Realizing that his thoughts must have been quite clear on his face, Rasmus turned to look at Lina and gave a weak smile in way of thanks. He couldn't quite force the words out- not with Kurt sitting within hearing distance on the bench in front of them. Sylphiel looked back briefly and lifted a hand to pull her hair out of her face as a brief gust of wind played in it.
Around them, the scenery hadn't changed much- it wasn't quite the same road that he and Sylphiel had walked from the Sairaag ruins, but Rasmus thought he could see that one not that far off. All around them was tall grass, just beginning to green in the spring's growing heat, and it waved in the breeze that wafted the last clouds of the storm front from earlier that week. There were all sorts of sounds around them, easily heard over the sound of the squelching mud and the horse's hooves occasionally impacting stones hidden beneath the grime. Closing his eyes, Rasmus worked to calm himself by identifying those natural sounds...
There were chickadees, crickets, the sound of the breeze in the grass, Lina's stomach growling, and high overhead was a hawk that cried occasionally to its mate. Carried on the breeze was the sound of music and a lot of people laughing and talking. It was amazing how people could put their lives together after such tragedy... They'd probably still be mad, though.
FLAGOON! Rasmus roared in his mind to get the Holy Tree's attention. When he had it, the copy continued, You WILL NOT make me say anything. You will let me do the talking and will not force me to say what I don't want to or need to. Is That Clear!
The Holy Tree paused, then sighed softly, Quite clear. I do not approve of lying, though.
Yeah, we'll, I doubt Sylphiel will be much protection against an angry mob. So just keep quiet. Okay?
With the tree's acceptance of that, Rasmus opened his eyes to find Lina staring at him. Blinking at her, he shifted nervously, "What?"
Lina grinned at him, "Nothing."
By then, they had entered the town of Sairaag. People were bustling about, putting up last minute decorations while children ran rampant through the streets, gleefully throwing mud at each other. Kurt pulled his wagon to a stop and looked back at his passengers, "Well, I need to tie the horse up," he told them.
Taking what little courage he had in hand, Rasmus got up and leapt over the side of the cart, nearly landing in a mud puddle, which would have ruined one of the few pairs of boots he had. Rezo preferred sandals, but winter travel in sandals was just asking for trouble. Not that he'd done much traveling in the winter after he reached a certain age, his bones protesting too much for that, so his winter boots had been stored and he'd taken to holing up during the winters to research things and traveling during the summers and falls to go do things.
As soon as he straightened, he heard a call that he knew he was going to get quite tired of- and probably very quickly.
"Lord Rezo! Thank Cephied you're alive!"
Rasmus winced visibly and turned to look as excited townspeople came crowding up to him, the shout of Lord Rezo being there spreading like wildfire in a dry grassland. The sight of his eyes made them pause and he lifted his hand and he stepped clear of the cart, Gourry dropping down to the ground beside him. Sylphiel was helped down by Kurt, who wasn't really paying attention to her now, and Lina simply stood where she was, her arms akimbo. "I'm not Rezo," he told them flat out.
Lina grinned and called out, "That's Rasmus, Rezo's son."
Blinking once, but keeping his face straight, Rasmus didn't refute that claim. He'd intended to tell them he was a copy, but Lina thought it was okay to lie. Glancing towards Sylphiel, he found her smiling slightly. So- she approved of it too?
The townspeople parted and Jeff came striding forward, offering his hand out with a warm friendly grin. Rasmus clasped the hand even as the new mayor said jovially, "Then welcome, Lord Rasmus."
"Thank you," the confused and slightly frightened copy replied, using a great a mount of effort to keep his voice stable and expression unclouded.
Jeff pumped his arm a few times, then let go and asked, "Then, what of your Father?"
Shifting uncomfortably, Rasmus cleared his throat, "I- I'm afraid he's dead," he admitted and refrained from looking to Lina and Sylphiel for assistance.
"He died helping me destroy Shabranigdu," Lina put in firmly from where she stood on the back of the cart they'd ridden in. The townsfolk looked from Lina back to Rasmus, who nodded.
"But we saw Lord Rezo after that!" someone called from the back.
Again, Rasmus shifted uncomfortably, "Ah- that ...was me." He admitted, making up a lie on the fly, "Eris and I were trying to find out who'd summoned the Dark Lord and killed Rezo, we thought it best to confuse our enemy." Of course, the best lies were half truth, "I-" he bowed, "I'm very sorry about what happened!"
Everyone stared at him but Jeff finally asked, sounding shaky, "What was your involvement in it?"
"We- got into a fight in the city," Rasmus admitted in a rush, "Things got out of hand. I'm very sorry."
He was quite sure they were going to mob him and tear him apart now and didn't dare look at him. Unexpectedly, he felt a hand clasp his shoulder, and Jeff smiled, "It's past- we've rebuilt since then. But if you feel that responsible for it, then come, you know how to Heal people..." Taking Rasmus's arm, Jeff led him away.
Sylphiel smiled to herself as she tended the cooking area where it was set up on the south side of the square the festival was being held in, glad that Rasmus had had the courage to actually admit most of the truth- telling them flat out that he'd been the one to destroy the city would have gotten him killed, but this taking of blame for it was good enough. She looked towards the other side of the square where Rasmus was currently surrounded by children, telling them stories and sighed.
"What's the sigh for?" Lina asked.
Turning, Sylphiel blinked at Lina, she was sampling the stew. "I was just thinking that Rasmus... really is a nice person."
"Or a good actor," Lina offered but didn't sound like she meant it.
Shaking her head, Sylphiel glanced back at Rasmus once more, "No- it's hard to fake liking children." Turning back towards Lina, she smiled once more, "You thought of names yet?"
Wrinkling her nose, Lina huffed, "I don't think I'm more than two months along yet," she stated and patted her stomach.
The shrine maiden laughed softly, "I guess it is too early to think of that- but have you thought about where you're going to stay till the baby comes?"
Shifting, Lina looked up at the sky then cleared her throat, "Well... Gourry and I were... well, talking about that and... Sairaag is a nice place. Not that we'd be living in your house- but we've got the money to buy a house in town and well, I was thinking of opening a shop here and sell magic items. Plenty of sorcerers stop by Sairaag for the Chimera and Copy lab, so I'd get plenty of customers. And..." Flushing, Lina looked down and poked her fingers together, "Syl, I was really wondering if you'd like to be an honorary aunt..."
Smile spreading even wider, Sylphiel wrapped her arms around Lina, laughing, "Of course I would, Lina! I wouldn't mind being your Healer too. I've delivered plenty of babies."
Lina burst into a grin as well and returned the hug, "Thanks Syl," she said, and it was really the sun making her eyes sting. She wasn't going to cry!
Releasing each other, Sylphiel continued to smile even as she turned back to tending the various things cooking. Lina put herself back together and asked, "So when's your shift at this over?" she asked.
Looking up at the sky briefly, the shrine maiden took a moment to judge the time, "In just a little while, actually," she admitted, "I'll be able to go out and enjoy the festival."
"Okay," Lina agreed, "Seemed rather unfair to me that they went through the trouble of cornering you into going only to stick you to the kitchen area."
Sylphiel shook her head and laughed, "No, actually, I volunteered for this... I'm trying to avoid Hector. He's a nice young man, but I'm just not interested."
Smirking, Lina cracked her knuckles, "Want me to persuade him to leave you alone?"
Heaving a sigh and shaking her head, Sylphiel gave a rueful smile, "I've probably broken his heart already, bringing Rasmus to the fair. Everyone's likely made assumptions about us and the rumors are likely flying."
Hesitating, Lina finally cleared her throat and folded her arms, staring at Rasmus- catching him staring straight back at them- or more specifically, at Sylphiel, "You know, those rumors may be partially true."
Eyes wide, the shrine maiden turned to look at Lina again, flushing bright pink. Lina grinned even more broadly as she caught that expression. Or maybe the rumors are completely true and these two just haven't caught on yet! Lina thought with an inward cackle. "What do you mean?" Sylphiel asked, voice squeaking slightly.
Shrugging, Lina grinned at her broadly, "I'll just let you find out," the sorceress replied and turned, striding away before her laughter bubbled up out of her control.
"She's ...such a good person," Rasmus observed, finding himself staring at Sylphiel once again. Not for the first time, and likely not for the last. At least he'd finally been left alone by the adults and the children had had enough of story time and had gone off to play elsewhere.
"Yes, she is," Lina agreed and the copy started and turned to look back at her. She looped her arm with his and smirked at him, "You're going to walk with me," she told him, and sighing, he adjusted his arm and made it look less like he washer prisoner.
They walked in silence for a time, leaving the festivities behind to find a quiet spot, which happened to be a small pond area. "So, what brought on your observation?" Lina asked.
Chewing his lower lip, Rasmus stared at the water, mesmerized by the ripples in it and the goldfish swimming at the edge, begging to be fed. "I just... well... If I'm not Rezo," he folded his arms, "I guess it's time I figured out who I am," he finished, "And I was thinking that, well, perhaps I could ...sort of... pick qualities from other people to emulate."
Lina was shaking her head and Rasmus looked down at her, "That's not a way to go about it," she told him flatly, "You can learn how to behave properly from other people, but don't emulate them. Who you are is already inside you."
Prying his eyes from the curious sight of the fish, Rasmus looked down at the redhead standing beside him. She looked up at him in return, "When I realized I was ..." she glanced down at herself, blushing faintly, "Pregnant... I just started to think about how I was acting towards people- and started wondering if I'd be a good role-model for my kid. I realized that I really wasn't proud of myself, so I started thinking about the way I've been acting and decided to change it- not to emulate other people, but to what I could be proud of. Though I hope some day that my kid will say 'Look, that's my mom! She's so wonderful!', so really, Rasmus, what do you feel like changing in yourself?"
Looking back up at him, she found him staring at her intently, his expression awed, "No wonder I lost," he stated, then looked away before Lina could bristle at him, and he smiled, "I'm glad I lost. I think your child will be very proud that you're its mother."
"You haven't answered my question," Lina pointed out, flushing bright pink at his compliments.
Shaking his head, Rasmus sighed, "I don't know yet, Mrs. Lina, I've got a lot to think about as it is, but when I have an answer, I'll tell you."
Lina sighed, then nodded, "alright, fair enough. Seyruun wasn't built in a day." Reaching up, she patted his shoulder, "Just keep working at it- and keep your temper. Okay?"
Laughing nervously, Rasmus lifted a hand to scratch his neck, pulling at the collar of his shirt slightly, "Yeah. No Mega Brunt's for me. I've sworn off them. Promise."
Casting a grin at him, Lina replied, "Better have. But come on, I think lunch is ready by now! I'm starving!"
Turning, Rasmus headed after her, "Me too, actually."