The day was just fading into dusk when the group reunited on the shores of the lake. "I think we should get the grid set up tonight," said Ikhan. "That way, we can start right away tomorrow."
He took the length of rope and began reciting a charm to make it hover above the water's surface and glow on command. The rest of them began discussing how to get the grid in place. Yuna pulled out a map she'd drawn of the lake's contours. "We can halve through here," she said, drawing a bisector through the middle of the lake. "Then we can cross over four perpendicular lines. From our estimates, the lake is about a half a mile wide at its longest point, so it'll be a pain to get the rope across. Some of the shorter lines, we may be able to shoot across with an arrow."
Seira leaned over the map. "Actually," she said. "I think I can get these, even the longest one. Regis, would you secure things on this end?"
"Right." Regis held middle of the rope so it wouldn't drag, and handed the end to Seira. Ikhan made the rope glow, so it'd be easier to see in the approaching darkness, before digging around in his bag for the amulets, which he wanted to work on next. Seira nodded in thanks, wrapped the end of the rope around her hand, and then took off running... across the surface of the lake itself.
"Woah."
"I didn't know you could do that!"
Regis sniffed. "Don't gawk; it's inelegant."
Shinwoo grinned at Regis' expression. "Right."
By then, Seira had gone and come back, and they could see the glowing, green line of the rope stretch out across the entire lake.
With Seira and Regis leading, it only took another few minutes to get the other four lines in place. They stood side-by-side for a few moments, admiring what they'd created, before Ikhan extinguished the glow, and they decided to go back to the house and see whether they did indeed have a place to stay that night.
Shinwoo was the closest to the door when they approached the house, and so was the one pushed forward to knock. A few moments later, the door was opened by a man with blond hair and blue eyes.
"Ah, yes," he said. "You're the ones M-21 hired to clean out the pond, correct? Come on in."
They entered.
"We were just about to have dinner, you see. You're more than welcome to join us, if you'd like."
The team members exchanged glances before Ikhan spoke up: "Thank you, sir. We'd be happy to."
The man smiled. "Follow me, then." He led them down a hallway.
"I am Frankenstein," he told them, "Owner of this house, and landlord to those who live here."
Ikhan nodded. "I am Ikhan," he said. "My comrades are Shinwoo, Yuna, Suyi, Regis, and Seira." each person nodded at his/her name.
They then turned into the dining room and saw four people already sitting there. Well, Frankenstein had told them that other people lived there, so they weren't surprised to see them there. They were, however, surprised to see that two of them were Balrogs.
The paladins immediately went for their swords, and the Elves stiffened noticeably.
Ikhan sighed when he heard the sound of blades being unsheathed.
"Shinwoo, Suyi?" he asked without turning around.
The two stopped in their tracks. "Yeah, Ikhan?" asked Suyi
"Remember what I said about talking to people before we try and kill them?"
"Yes..." said Shinwoo.
"So, you're not thinking of attacking without so much as a 'hi, how are you', then, are you?"
The two sword-wielders exchanged a guilty glance, sighed, and put their weapons back in their scabbards. "No, Ikhan," they said in unison.
Ikhan turned to Frankenstein. "Begging your pardon, sir, but my team and I would probably be more comfortable outside, after all."
The landlord was looking bemused by their reactions. "I assure you," he said, "that no harm shall come to you in this house."
They considered this. Not having to hunt their own food would definitely be a plus. Ikhan turned to look at his friends. "Any objections to eating here?"
No one spoke up. A few of them shook their heads.
"Right," said Ikhan. "My apologies for disrupting your meal."
"Not at all," said Frankenstein. "Please have a seat."
They did so. And there followed a rather awkward moment of silence before the Landlord thought to speak again. "Right. Well, as I said before, I am Frankenstein." He turned to the adolescent who sat at the head of the table. "This is Cadis Etrama Di Raizel; you already know M-21; the other two are Tao and Takeo."
The Human magic user nodded. "I'm Ikhan."
"I'm Suyi."
"Shinwoo."
"Yuna."
"I'm Regis and this is Seira."
Frankenstein seemed determined to be happy about the situation. "Well, then. Isn't this nice? Now we all know each other." He then proceeded to make small-talk for the remainder of the meal.
After a few minutes, even Shinwoo and Suyi, who had taken seats directly across from the Balrogs, were starting to get bored.
It was at this point, that Suyi decided it was time for a round of 'etiquette': a game she'd come up with during their latest trip back to to Escoria.
After a few weeks of uncomfortable social situations arising from their friends' and families' dislike for Regis and Seira, the quartet of them were more or less immune to intimidation by hostility. And so, they'd set about finding way to amuse themselves in otherwise dull social situations. There were several rules to the game 'etiquette' the most important of which being that one was not allowed to smile or laugh. And the game was initiated by use of a certain phrase.
"So, then, Shinwoo," said Suyi. "Did you make sure to polish your armor today?"
At this, the interest of the other five team members picked up considerably. Ikhan and Shinwoo were already trying to form a non-verbal alliance, and Yuna had sat up straighter at Suyi's words. Regis and Seira showed no reaction, other than for Regis to narrow his eyes in annoyance.
"Yeah," said Shinwoo. "Yeah, I did."
From here, the five people out of the loop were treated to a rather entertaining show. Raizel was the only one who had any clue what was going on, and that was because he was mildly telepathic.
Suyi was unusually solemn as the turned to the gray-haired man at the table. "M-21," she said, "Would you mind passing the gravy?"
"Here you go," he handed it off.
Suyi nodded in thanks. Then, she turned to the Elfin archer. "Seira, would you mind passing the salad?"
The silver-haired Elf complied without a word.
The Balrog, Tao, raised a glowing eyebrow at the choices of food the paladin had in front of her. She had a ladle full of gravy and a tong's worth of salad.
"Quite a dish you're assembling," he noted.
Suyi looked up in confusion. "Oh," she said. "You mean this? This isn't for me..." She placed the food on the plate of the Elf next to her. "It's for Regis. There you go, Regis"
There were a few moments there where the Humans most decidedly did not laugh; the absence of laughter was almost a sound itself.
The blue-blooded magic user appeared a bit disgusted, but he soon covered his expression. Then, without a word, he picked up his fork and tried the food in front of him. "You're really going to eat it?" deadpanned Shinwoo.
Regis regarded the swordsman a moment, before replying: "Wasting food is inelegant."
This was too much for Yuna and she tried to stifle a giggle, but couldn't quite manage it. Almost as soon as it left her mouth, she was annoyed.
And then there were five.
Ikhan fell next, courtesy of an absurd betrayal by Shinwoo. Suyi followed, and soon after was Regis, who'd involuntarily smiled at one of the idiotic things Shinwoo was spouting. Soon afterward, the victor emerged.
Regis was still complaining about it, as they prepared for bed.
The six of them sat on the bed in the room they'd chosen to sleep in. The house had been large enough for each of them to have their own room, but they didn't trust the landlord or any of his tenants, and had all piled into the largest of the guest bedrooms and spread their sleeping bags out on the floor in a circle.
"Seira, how do you keep a straight face like that? It's not normal." Regis complained.
Seira allowed herself a weak smile. "You're just saying that because you lost."