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The festival was covered with colorful eggs, colorful flowers, and entirely too bright. Soren nearly had to shade his eyes from all the horrendous mix of pastels. It was enough to be headache inducing, all that light baby blue, pretty pink and light yellow.
Mist, however, was overjoyed at all the color.
"Ooh, good. We're not late. I thought we would never reach it in time," Mist said.
"Joy," Soren said.
Mist had insisted on going to this...egg festival. And in costume, of all things. Somehow, Soren had been dragged into this whole endeavor.
Mist wore a thigh-length yellow dress, with frills at the end, and white pants beneath with lace edges, and hardy boots which came past her calves. She had a basket of yellow eggs and daffodils, and two white bunny ears on a headband that stuck up quite high. Behind each ear were yellow flower barrettes that helped hold them in place.
Soren's attire was bright, fanciful, with ears and...pantaloons? Mist certainly had gotten creative with her sewing. He even had a pair of bunny ears, albeit grudgingly.
Soren carried a carton of undyed, completely regular eggs in his arm.
"What have you got there, Soren?" Mist said.
"There was a sale," Soren said.
Which was the only thing Soren didn't hate about today.
Ike tugged at his shirt.
"I don't think it fits," Ike said.
His blue tunic had flowers and eggs embroidered over it. There was a large gaping hole in the chest where quite a bit of his muscles showed through. His bulging biceps had burst through the sleeves. And his pants white pants were...noticeably tight. Especially about his groin and thighs.
Soren needed a moment to take in the details of Ike's costume. Then he needed another, and another.
Correction: there were two things Soren did not hate today.
"Maybe I made a mistake in sewing? I'm sorry," Mist said.
"It's all right," Ike said.
"It's fine," Soren said.
"I'll have to readjust my measurements for next year," Mist said.
Soren fixated his gaze on Ike's tight clothes, including the parts that showed his bare chest.
"Ike's costume is perfectly fine. You did your best."
"Thanks for being understanding, Soren," Mist said.
She smiled as she looked at her handiwork.
"So should it be Eggnell, or RagEGGnell?" Mist said.
Mist had attached some sort of colored eggs to Ike's sword. Which seemed entirely unnecessary. But, Mist did tend to go to great lengths for any festival, no matter how ridiculous.
And technically, this whole thing was unnecessary. Except for Ike's costume. That was very necessary.
"They add extra flair, and extra power," Mist said.
"If you say so," Ike said.
Soren saw no particularly logical reason why attaching a few decorative paper mache eggs would increase the power of an ancient and holy sword, but who knew in the world of Askr. They dressed up as bunnies, for fun. Anything could be possible here.
Boyd struck a pose with his axe. Mist had also applied colored eggs all over it as well.
"I bet I can rip up my costume more than Ike's," Boyd said.
His green shirt too, had ripped to show a widow of his chest, all the way to his abs, and he wore matching bunny ears to Mist's own. His pants were also tight, though Soren paid little attention after his first glance.
Mist could ogle him if she wanted. Soren was too busy to take in his details.
"You're not supposed to rip it up. I worked hard sewing these costumes for days. I'm just glad I could finish them in time. Even if you both messed up the fronts," Mist said.
"It's an improvement," Soren said. His gaze didn't leave Ike's chest.
"Anyways, we need to get going before the festival ends," Mist said.
"What exactly are we supposed to do at this...festival?" Soren said.
"Hop along, and enjoy spring," Mist said.
"I'll pass," Soren said.
"Please, I want us to all enjoy it as a family," Mist pleaded.
"I wish Titania could've gotten time off, but I know someone had to defend the base," Mist said.
"I'm still here. There's more supplies to be gotten," Soren said.
Boyd looked dismayed.
"We're going to be eating nothing but eggs for weeks, aren't we?" Boyd said.
"At these prices? Definitely," Soren said.
Boyd sighed. "Knowing Soren, we'll eat so many eggs I'll never be able to look at another one again without feeling sick to my stomach."
They came up the the stalls. But before Soren could even buy more eggs, there was the grating sound of metal on metal.
Enemies approached.
"Who would attack a festival? Is it brigands? How could they? This is horrible!" Mist said.
"Who is this kingdom's enemy again?" Ike said.
Boyd shrugged. "Who knows? I lost track about three chapters ago," Boyd said.
Ike took a massive swing with RaEggnell. Colorful eggs the size of boulders dropped from the skies all over the poor, unsuspecting soldier. He was knocked flat on the ground with a single hit.
"Huh, what do you know. Mist was right. The eggs do make Ragnell more powerful," IKe said.
"I told you!" Mist called out from where she was healing Boyd.
(Boyd hadn't even been hurt in battle, he'd just managed to stub his toe.)
While Ike had managed to clear the one threat, another steadily came towards Soren.
The soldier had a low slung helmet that covered his eyes, and a feathery design over his black armor. He came closer slowly.
Soren grimaced. He knew what he had to do.
"You'll pay for making me part with my good deal," Soren said.
"Wow, you sound like Anna, Soren," Boyd said.
He tossed the entire egg carton at the lone soldier. Yellow globs dripped down the feathered helmet and onto the black breastplate. The sword paused in mid-air as the soldier shuddered at the slimy feel of broken eggs sliding down his armor and skin.
"Eggs?!"
"I am not getting paid enough for this," the Soldier said.
"I can take magic, swords, the eggs? This is disgusting. I'm going to take a bath. I'm going to take thirty baths in a row."
The fearsomeness of the carton drove the rest of the enemies to retreat.
"See, the power of eggs is real!" Mist said, her voice full of wonder.
"You saved the day, Soren," Mist said.
"Good thinking. That's some weapon you've got there," Ike said.
"At least I didn't have to part with too many cartons. Though this has fearsome capabilities on the battlefield," Soren said thoughtfully.
"It could have its uses," Ike said.
"Especially on bread, and with bacon," Boyd added.
Soren ignored him.
"But it would be stinky, and gross," Mist said.
"War already is. Sometimes you must do drastic things. Like be forced to part with your 30% off eggs."
They returned to the festival, the danger averted for now.
*
"Thanks for going along with it, Soren. Mist had a great time," Ike said.
"I got to get some decent deals. And..."
His gaze lingered on Ike's costume, which had managed to be even more ripped over his broad muscle chest. What had once been a window to Ike's chest was now the size of a door, and went all the way down to his belt.
"There were other positive things about the day."
"We should come back next year, and then every year after that. There should be two Spring festivals," Mist said.
"That seems excessive. There already is a far too long long summer festival to be dealt with."
"I keep wanting to go, but Soren never wants to," Mist said.
"He'd get a sunburn," Ike said.
"Eggsessive?" Boyd said.
Boyd looked from person to person eagerly, waiting for a laugh. None came. Not even a pity laugh from Mist.
"We could always leave him behind," Soren said.
"It was just a joke," Boyd said.
"There are many axe wielders in this land. Many more skilled with weapons and wit," Soren said.
He gazed critically on Boyd. "They probably even bathe more."
"That's a low blow," Boyd said.
"Be careful. Next bad pun and I'm throwing eggs," Soren said.
Mist frowned. "Boyd's a part of the team, no being mean to him, Soren."
"You didn't mention the part that I'm your boyfriend?" Boyd said.
"All right, no more fighting. We've got plenty to carry home," Ike said.
"What are we going to do with the costumes after we're done? Wear them next year? Or turn them into scraps?" Boyd said.
"Oh, I have plans with Ike's costume," Soren said.
"Boyd, can you help me carry these? I'll make RaEggnell even better with all these new eggs."
"Sure, I'm great at carrying things," Boyd said proudly.
If Soren were a betting man, he'd bet a ten coin that Boyd would drop at least one of them, if not most of them along the way.
With Boyd and Mist going on ahead, that left Ike and Soren a moment alone. Ike leaned in, and smiled.
He wasn't one for grand public displays of affection. But when they were alone, Ike would open up more. He reached out to touch Soren's bunny ears.
"The pants are a bit weird, but the ears are nice on you."
It hardly mattered that they were ridiculous. All that mattered what how Ike felt about them in the end. No one else's opinion was worth considering.
"Fine, if you so approve of them then I will keep them for...certain bedroom reasons. In return, feel free to wear that costume more than once a year."
"I didn't want to hurt Mist's feelings, but at this rate, the tunic is about to fall apart and leave me shirtless," Ike said.
"All the better," Soren said.