Chapter 8: A Palette of Red
"I have to admit… I don't feel very comfortable out here at the moment." The young girl of twelve spoke sheepishly, her eyes darting in worry at the many passerby as the trio walked through town. Vanessa threw her an understanding look, knowing full well the reasoning behind Theora's discomfort. It was usually unwise in a profession such as theirs to revisit the same area in which they had stolen from only hours prior. Still, in an unusual case of enthusiastic behaviour, Skye had insisted on Theora's presence during their visit to the tavern. Though Theora was not too interested in the rowdy environment, this likely one time acceptance of her existence led Theora to hesitantly agree to participate.
Well, at least it explained her temporary new look – gone were the trademark pigtails, allowing her straight brunette hair to reveal how long it truly was; gone were the blue-clad attire that instantly would have given her away to the masses. She now wore a simple red tank top and black slacks that were tucked into dusty brown traveler's boots. It was incredible how a simple aesthetic change could reinvent an individual. Theora looked nothing like the descriptions of the vagabond that were now circulating around Nasrad.
"You'll be fine." Skye glanced over to the timid girl, gauging the disguise with her eyes. "Honestly, I hardly recognize ya myself." Must be the hair, Skye thought. The young girl looked sweet and pretty, nothing like the usual annoying brat that her eyes loathed to rest on. The red was also appropriate and of a much more refined color than the typical blue as well – not that Skye would ever admit to these thoughts. Theora's ego would surely swell beyond the capacity of the poor tyke's brain. In a way, Skye was saving Theora from herself. Skye smiled. She felt truly selfless today.
"She's got a point, Emilia." Vanessa winked, playfully batting Theora's hair midstride. The name was unfamiliar coming from Vanessa's lips, but Theora's insistent paranoia that someone would recognize her name had driven her to create a codename for this temporary alter-ego of hers. Her reasoning was that one of the palace guards might remember her name when she and Vanessa had spoken to each other during their departure – it was legitimate in her eyes. Vanessa held no such discretion of secrecy in regards to her name. Vanessa knew that their names were not a known fact to the case – they would have cropped up in rumours by now, at least. Still, if the usage of her codename eased the girl's mind, Vanessa would use it.
They paused at the entrance to the tavern, hearing the rumblings of the eccentricity within as they stood by the doorway. Theora shuffled uneasily on her feet, looking up at her two companions. Vanessa gave her a reassuring smile.
"Just follow our lead." Skye pushed open the door and stepped inside. With a nod and a gentle gesture, Vanessa directed Theora to follow suit.
When they entered, they noticed two things immediately: the first being that it was extremely crowded, the atmosphere abuzz with the latest gossip and hiccups of intense drinking games. The second thing they noticed was that Skye had already managed to secure a table while they were on their brief interlude outside – how had she managed that? The place was packed. Curiosity was present on Theora's face as they rejoined the blonde, but nothing was voiced as they settled down for their fun evening.
An order of two fizzling tall glasses of loqua and an adorably small serving of apple juice later, the trio were actively engaged in a discussion on what was to come next.
"Maramba." Vanessa stated matter-of-factly, putting her glass down on the table for emphasis.
"I'm more in the mood for Valua, though…" Skye muttered; her expression thoughtful as she stared up at the ceiling. "More thrills that way."
"The entire city is blocked off at the moment." Theora pointed out. "After the Blue Rogues' escape, remember?"
"BAH, Blue Rogues… they ruin everything." Skye groaned. The mere mention of them made her ill. Well, there was always a remedy for that. "Bartender! Another mug, cheers." A gruff nod was his acknowledgement of the request; an action that made Skye all the more chipper. Drowning in intentional intoxication was always the way to go to get those dastardly Blue Rogues out of her mind.
Unfortunately for Skye, however, it seemed that rumours of the fledging trio of Vyse, Aika, and Fina were running rampant through the bar. Why?
"Yeh heard from me mate down in 'ramba that they hitched a ride into the desert, eh? Me thinks they trying to find the temple, ya know."
"Nobody ever found that temple and lived to tell about it, aye. Chunky Charlie went 'here to scavenge some of that there treasure and he hasn't been seen since."
"Pah, you lads believe in such fairytales? That temple in the desert is nothing but a mirage, a trickery of the mind… Shame those young children are risking their lives over an illusion, but I think I find you lot more shameful than they. Grown men, believing in a fallacy… don't know what's worse."
"GAH, they follow us everywhere, I swear." Skye pulled down on her bandana in an attempt to cover her ears. She frowned, her eyes throwing daggers at the idiots that surrounded them. "Stupid shits don't have anything better to talk about…"
"Your drink, mi'lady."
"About bloody time, I was just-" Skye stopped short, recognizing that particular voice. She stared first at the gloved hand presenting her drink, and then followed the red arm of the jacket up into the eyes of an all too familiar man. Theora raised a brow, never before having seen Skye react in such a manner. She almost appeared… flustered?
"Fancy seeing you here so soon, Gilder." Vanessa greeted him, a warm smile plastered on her face. There was a tint of a blush on her cheeks, though it could be excused by the humidity of the room. Gilder tilted his head respectively at the two elder of the trio, and then his eyes settled on the young girl next to them.
"I don't believe we've had the pleasure of an introduction yet, fair brunette." He gave a short bow in her direction. "Gilder, captain of the Claudia."
"Ah… I'm Emilia. No special title for me." Theora giggled light-heartedly at the exchange. She really was playing down who she truly was; not once really letting the glory of her newfound mysterious popularity get into her head. The bar was also discussing the stolen gold chalice, of course, and the vagabond that had successfully escaped to Valua in her stride. She just felt that it would be good not to acknowledge these whispers – Skye was likely to become easily aggravated if she did, she figured. Skye was already a bit ticked from the conversations going on around them anyway.
"Some of the greatest individuals I know lack the distinction of a title." Gilder replied, his tone forever charming. His attention turned back to Vanessa and Skye, who had begun to indulge in their second glasses of loqua. "Would you ladies mind some company on this fair evening?" Skye and Vanessa threw a glance at each other, and Vanessa opened her mouth to respond. Gilder felt like adding one last note first, however, to sweeten the pot. "Drinks are on me."
"How rude we'd be to deny such an offer! Have a seat." Skye patted the empty chair beside her, a look of pure giddiness developing on her face. Theora, clearly the party member in the observer position, felt both enthralled and a bit peculiar to witness how the two of her crewmates were acting. It was not too weird to see Vanessa have a crush on a guy (she admitted to such feelings quite regularly, in fact; she felt no shame in feeling attracted to sexy men, after all), but Skye… In general, today, she seemed like a completely different person.
Theora wished she could see this side of the blonde more often. Skye was starting to act a lot more human in her eyes. It was just a shame that it was derived from her stealing a priceless artefact that she risked her life to snatch up, and also from this guy that she clearly just wanted to score with. At her core, Skye was still just being her normal selfish self. Theora didn't care too much, though. She supposed she liked the feeling of being recognized.
"They pass that off as juice? That's despicable, that is." Gilder caught Theora's attention as he glanced disdainfully at the small shot glass she was provided. "Hang on, lass; I'll get you something better than that. Excuse me for a moment, dears." He left to harass the bartender at the counter, leaving Theora to feel slightly embarrassed as she truly wasn't that bothered about her lack of substance to begin with. Her companion's consumption of alcohol was already starting to show signs on their faces as they stared at him rather dreamily. Well, they could have chosen worse, but she already feared what was going to become of this evening. It almost felt inevitable that they were going to ditch her for Gilder. Perhaps she would take the high road –
"Here you go, I hope this is more to your fancy, Emilia." A giant mug, likely the largest abomination that Theora had ever laid eyes on, was placed on the table before her. It was huge, and nearly filled to the brim. She had to wonder how he ever managed to bring it over without spilling it. He leaned forward to whisper in her ear, "I know that they don't serve minors here… but if you want a bit of alcohol in that, just let me know." He winked, patting his jacket in a particular spot to reveal the outline of a small bottle being concealed inside. The guy knew all the tricks of the trade into a woman's heart. Theora knew she'd likely be as gaga over him as her two friends if she were older, but being the polite and sophisticated twelve year old that she was…
"Thanks, but I'll pass on that." She replied. "I'm sure they won't hold such reservation, though."
"Oh, I'm sure." Gilder chuckled. "That's no worry, though. They'll get what they want, as will I. Happy times for everyone."
"Heheh, Miss, look." Skye nudged Vanessa twice, hard, pressing for her attention. Vanessa grumbled while Skye pointed at Theora's glass. "It's like that giant mountain in Yafu-Yafutoma… What's it called again? Ah, hell with the name, let's just call it the piss bowl." Skye snorted.
"I believe you mean Mt. Kazai, and it looks nothing like a piss bowl." Gilder scolded gently. "As you so eloquently put it."
"I don't feel like I can drink this in front of you, now…" Theora uttered, pushing the monolith of a glass towards them. "Thanks for the gesture, Gilder, but there is only so much relentless teasing one can handle in a night, and I'd rather it not start now." The young girl looked uncomfortable, knowing what the three in front of her planned on doing with their evening. She had begun to wish that he hadn't shown up; at least then she could have spent a more respectable night with her friends. Well, everything was meant to happen for a reason. She was a believer in that, even though sometimes that was only an excuse to negate the negative connotations of the times that sucked.
"Emilia, if you don't want to stick around…" Vanessa looked apologetic, as if she had come into a sudden epiphany about what was going on. "I can walk back with the ship to you, if you want. You're not obligated to stick around, though I did want to do something first, hang on." She gestured with her finger to emphasize that it would only take a minute and rushed on over to the counter, now her turn to speak with the bartender. She appeared a moment later, looking pleased as she sat back down.
"Aye, listen up lads!" The bartender hopped on his counter, his voice somehow booming over the chatter of the tavern. The conversations died down, curious about the intrusion. "Our young lassie here is 'ere celebrating her birthday with us, so why don't we give her some good ol' Nasr cheer? Have at ye!" The bartender began to sing, his tone laden with swagger as he jumped off his counter and appeared by Theora's side, brandishing a cupcake with a smiley face iced on top. Theora's eyes widened in surprise, shooting Vanessa a confused glance (it was in no way her birthday tonight) as the curly haired teen just gave a sly smile and sang along. Skye was clearly buzzed as she enthusiastically clapped to the melody and even challenged shy voices to sing louder by telling them they sucked. The drunken men saw this as an opportunity to impress the hot blonde by singing louder. The result was ear piercing, but with good intentions.
When the song concluded, the bartender gave Theora a friendly pat on her shoulder and left to go back to manning the counter. Theora's cheeks burned with embarrassment, though she was delighted that people cared enough to join in, regardless of whether they knew her or not. If that was the reception for a fake birthday, she could imagine the real thing to feel a lot more meaningful.
She looked down at the cupcake, smiling up at her. It was cute.
"Thanks… for that." Theora said; the smile from the cupcake seemingly contagious as one crept onto her face.
"What are friends for, right?" Vanessa replied smoothly, her eyes warm with affection for the girl sitting directly across from her.
"Yeah, thanks… Hey, I think I'm going to head out for now… you three try not to have too much fun, all right?"
"No promises there." Skye whispered to Gilder, both of them adopting a cheeky grin at the thought.
"No worries. We'll catch ya later." Vanessa gave a short wave as Theora collected her cupcake and headed out, her destination: the Thalia.
"Hey, you forgot your piss bowl!" Skye called out after her. It would be left unheard by the one that it was intended for. She frowned, staring at it. "Oh, guys… Got a great idea."
"What's that?" Gilder spoke, returning a stray hand holding a small bottle into his jacket.
"We should drink that. It's HUGE."
"That's what she said." Vanessa added, erupting into a fit of giggles. Gilder glanced at Vanessa, and then returned his focus to Skye.
"I rather like that idea. Shall we, ladies?"
The air felt stuffy as she groggily stirred, her head pounding hard from the wild partying she had committed to last night. She could hardly remember a thing after Theora left them; she could just recall feeling… loose about the usual restrictions she placed on herself and drank a lot more than she probably should have. The sheets that covered her felt very warm and comfortable despite the stale air – she'd have to open the porthole to bring in some fresh air. She froze mid-thought as she realized that her breathing was loud – no, it wasn't hers. She wasn't alone in the room. She felt oddly exposed in the comforts of her room… and against her better judgment, she opened her eyes.
A mute shriek escaped from her gawking mouth as her eyes focused on what lay beside her. A beastly, sexy body of a man was close by, snoring gently, his brown hair framed perfectly against one of her pillows. Another rustle on the other side of him indicated that there was someone else in her bed, immediately identifiable by the blonde locks that splayed out on the bedspread. Skye was cuddling with Gilder, a content smile on her face.
Vanessa's eyes widened, horrified. She couldn't remember much of last night, but it was easy enough to tell what had happened by the way their clothes were strewn about her room as the three of them, quite exposed in every conceivable way imaginable, slumbered in her bed.
Fuck.