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Empty. Frey looked around the room with an only half-puzzled expression. It wasn’t like it was unusual to find the Meanderer smithy empty, but when it was, there was no telling where its proprietor had gone. She furrowed her brow, standing with one hand on her hip and the other on the door as she bit her lip and scrutinized the sign on the counter from across the room.
“I believe in the honor system. Take what you need and leave payment on the counter, please.”
-B
Setting aside for the moment how casual the blacksmith was about his business affairs, she smirked to herself as she read the sign in his deep voice in her mind. Then she sighed. Comical though it was, the sign did not offer any clue as to where she could find him. She turned on her heel and stepped back out of the shop, letting the door swing closed behind her. Bright, morning summer sun washed down on her as Frey stared with a contemplative expression down at her feet, arms folded in front of her as she thought hard where he might have run off to.
“Hiya, Frey.” A petit and somehow cherubic voice chimed from somewhere, causing her to blink and look around suddenly. She turned her head and found a diminutive boy with a round bob of sandy blonde hair and a large book in his small hands.
“Oh, hi Kiel!” She answered, smiling cheerfully. He returned the smile and tilted his head, brushing a stray lock of hair from his blue eyes.
“You lookin’ for Bado?” He asked in a cheerful, unassuming voice. A tiny rush of warmth came up in Frey’s cheeks. She reassured herself it was probably not noticeable, but as an extra layer of insurance, she took comfort in the fact that Kiel was pretty slow on the uptake when it came to reading people, rather than books.
“Yeah, have you seen him?” She replied in a casual tone.
“Not today, no.” He answered with an oblivious flutter of his eyelashes. For a boy, he was small and feminine enough to give little girls a run for their money in the cuteness department. Frey drooped as she registered his words. At this rate, she’d have to search all of Selphia today just to share a word or two with the Dwarven blacksmith. Her eyes unfocused for a minute and a small frown assumed command of her mouth and eyebrows. Kiel’s smile, on the other hand, only widened and something like a laugh held back glittered in his large eyes.
“Did you know…” The boy began again in an offhand tone of voice, “That Bado loves fishing?” Frey brightened, looking up into Kiel’s eyes again. The boy smirked again at her interest. “I hear snapper season just opened up at the lake…” He offered, tilting his head off to the West. Frey grinned broadly. Finally, something to go on!
“Thanks for the tip!” She chirped, and waved goodbye as she set off toward Dragon Lake. Kiel waved back, smiling brightly still as he watched her go.
It wasn’t a long walk, but her feet tapped along the paving stones at a brisk, impatient pace and she leaned forward as she went. She was there in a few minutes, scanning the shoreline of the blue water dazzling with fiery sunlight on its surface. It didn’t take long to spot him, even at a distance. The man was a giant, especially by Dwarf standards. His broad shoulders and thick frame, heavy with muscle combined with the distinctive fur-tufted collar of his dwarven customary clothing gave him away at fifty paces to even the most near-sighted.
He sat in a portable folding chair with indolent posture, leaning back and resting one leg crossed atop the other knee as he sipped at a drink full of ice and a lime wedge and held a fishing rod with the other of his big, angular hands. Even sitting down, he was very nearly as tall as her, so as Frey padded up silently behind him, his shoulders were in easy reach. She held her breath and raised her hands, grinning malevolently as she prepared to startle him. The big goof was always playing tricks after all, he deserved to have the tables turned on him sometimes…
“Gotta do better than that, little lady.” His basso voice hummed suddenly, startling her into jumping back with a squeak. He turned to look at her and laughed aloud at her surprised face, now rosy with embarrassment. His dark, ruffled hair and short beard, pointed at the corners of his jaw and in the center over his chin, shone with a slightly blue caste in the blazing sunlight and his grey-blue eyes glittered with mischief as he eyed her startled expression.
“Jeeze!” She huffed, heart thumping. “What gave me away?” He chuckled again.
“I saw your shadow.” He gestured with the hand holding the drink. The ice in the glass gave pleasant little clinking sounds as he moved it. It would be a few hours more before the hottest part of the day, but already the warmth of the sun made a cool drink sound heavenly. She sighed with a slightly exasperated tone and leaned on his shoulder with an elbow, looking out over the lake with a pout.
“One of these days, I’ll get the drop on you, just you wait and see.”
“Ain’t anybody ever told you to let sleeping dogs lie?” He chided, glancing at her from the corner of his eyes, where crow’s feet creased with silent laughter. Then the smile lines around his mouth loosened for a beat and something distant and not-so-playful flickered in his eyes. “You’d probably better not strive too hard to make a habit of surprising retired knights, ya know. You might not like what you see.” His tone turned ominous. She pretended not to notice, wanting to recover the light-hearted banter.
“You’re a little too young to be retired, aren’t you? Aren’t there knights older than you in the service?” she pondered at him, chin resting on one hand.
“Sheesh, you tryin’ to flatter a favor out of me or what, runt?” he dodged the question, playing on her comment about his age. She let him steer the conversation away from the topic. She didn’t want to make him uncomfortable, after all. If he really didn’t want to talk about it, what good would come of pushing it?
“Sure.” She shrugged with a grin, “What kinda favor can I get?” Then she frowned indignantly at him in turn. “And I’m not a runt, mister, you’re overgrown!” He laughed, smile lines returning. She smiled too.
“That’s fair, I suppose.” He allowed, chuckling still under his breath. He looked out over the lake with a mild, peaceful expression she admired in profile, then she turned her head and took him in a little more carefully, looking closely at the sooty, bluish color of his hair, the angular lines in his brow and the bridge of his nose, and the pointed, leaf-shaped dwarven ears protruding from beneath his untidy hair. The rest of him was all corded muscle, big hands and feet, and strikingly masculine features but these little wonders were as dainty on him as they would have been on any delicate elf maid. She smirked and straightened up behind him.
“Even with your big, ol’ Clydesdale look, you’re still as cute as a button. Just look at these ears!” She teased, and traced the contour of each of his softly pointed ears all the way around with her fingertips. He drew in a rapid breath and straightened up sharply, dropping the fishing rod and leaving the drink leaning dangerously on the ground next to one of the legs of the chair as he jumped to his feet and spun around, staring at her in startled surprise. Frey gave a little gasp and hopped backward, alarmed.
“S-sorry!” She blurted out. “I didn’t hurt you did I?” She cringed and blinked rapidly as she stared apologetically at him, fidgeting with her hands. He was staring back, wide-eyed and pulling in quick, deep breaths.
“Wha?” He asked dumbly, apparently still stunned.
“I didn’t hurt you, did I?” She repeated, a little more slowly.
“H-hurt? Naw… you didn’t hurt me.” He gave a weak chuckle. His ears were turning red as he blinked at her. The left one twitched.
“Are… they ticklish or something?” She asked, gesticulating in cautious confusion.
“Uh… no… not exactly.” He glanced away and rubbed one arm with the opposite hand, shifting his weight in visible discomfort.
“I… don’t understand…” She sighed unhappily, “But I’m sorry, Bado. For startling you.” She looked up at him, ducking her head sheepishly. He laughed a nervous laugh again.
“Hey, hey. It’s okay, Frey. I’m not upset with you. And, you don’t need to be sorry, either. There’s no way you coulda known… that, uh…” He trailed off, his face now turning pink and gradually darkening to match his reddened ears. She tilted her head and furrowed her brow at him, thoroughly puzzled and bemused at his tongue-tied speech and nervous agitation.
“Do you hate having your ears touched?” She asked, somewhere between cautiousness and curiosity that pushed out the query in spite of his suddenly awkward body language. He gave a little bray of nervous laughter and shook his head.
“No that’s not it. Far from it…”
“Then what happened?” She demanded, a hint of frustration growing in her voice. Why was he being so skittish, suddenly?
“Okay, okay…” He sighed, gesturing placatingly to calm her demand for an explanation. “How do I put this…” He frowned and tugged on his beard over and over with one of his big, angular hands. When he finally took another deep breath, sighed again, and looked up at her, he was even more scarlet than before.
“Here’s the thing…” He began, “My ears… that is, uh… for a lot of Dwarven guys, our ears are pretty sensitive. And, uh… well, I do like having my ears touched… a lot… and by a beautiful woman, especially.” He gestured at her as he said this last part and Frey felt a hot blush surge into her cheeks. “But the thing is… I’d be put off balance by a girl who handled my ears on a first date… s-so uh, you know… outta nowhere like that… was, uh… pretty surprising, Frey.” He gulped as he finished this roundabout explanation and gave an expression that was somewhere between a cheeky smile and a wince, his face crimson. His ears both twitched.
“Oh… OH!” She squeaked, gaping at him in sudden understanding. Then, to her total humiliation, her eyes automatically snapped downward as she understood his meaning, dropping down his frame from his face. In a small token of mercy from fate, she realized her mistake before her gaze made it all the way past his midriff and she cringed and turned away sharply, plunging her reddened face into her hands and babbling a muffled apology. “Divine Dragons! What on Earth is the matter with me?! I’m so sorry!” He laughed again, much of the embarrassment evaporated from the lovely timber of his voice. She felt him step closer and she shook her head still in her hands in denial of this impossibly awkward situation.
“Hey, now. Take it easy, little lady. You ain’t done any harm. You didn’t know. I’m not upset with you.” He gently gripped her shoulders and she shook her head again, hands still clapped over her eyes.
“I can’t believe what a bonehead I am. I’m really really sorry!” She stammered out. He wrapped his thick fingers around her slender wrists and tugged gently, coaxing her to show him her eyes.
“It’s alright, Frey.” He chuckled again as she peered out from between her fingers at him. “You are really cute, you know that?” He grinned.
“Gods!” She gasped, reburying her face in her palms and shaking her head again. Well, this was it. She was going to die of embarrassment, right here and right now. At least she’d get to die in his arms, she supposed with an ironic little internal laugh. He gave another chuckle, full of warmth.
“Hey, Hey.” He chided gently again, “You’re fussin’ so much over this I might just get to thinkin’ you like me.” She squeaked and gave him a startled look, removing her fingers from her eyes for a moment to do so. “Well… would that be so bad? Hm?” he murmured, very close and carefully brushing a lock of her glossy green hair out of her eyes. “After all, I like you…” he smiled down at her as she gaped up at him, wide-eyed.
“You do?” She breathed. His smile widened.
“Yeah.” He purred, wrapping her up in his arms and drawing her against his chest. She leaned against him and stared in happy disbelief at his face for a few moments. Then she licked her lips and gave a nervous smile as she spoke again.
“So… will you give me another chance to do this in the right order, then? Will you go out with me?” She said, swallowing as she waited for his answer.
“I’d like that… I’d like that a lot, in fact.” He murmured, gazing down at her with an affectionate, pleased expression. She grinned more broadly and wrapped her arms around his barrel chest and squeezed him with a light laugh.
“Well call me a rainbow woolly!” She laughed, “I’d have pulled that stunt sooner if I’d known this is where it’d get me!”
“Sneak!” He jibed, hugging her back. “It’s cuter this way anyhow, since you did it without realizing it.”
“Will you still like it when I do it on purpose?” She returned, bending a brow at him. His face re-blushed back to red and he grinned with mischief in his eyes.
“Uh… yeah, little lady, that’s a pretty safe bet.” He bent his neck and kissed the top of her head, much to her blushing, tongue tied appreciation. She hugged him again, dizzy from the goal of her aspirations being granted to her so suddenly and unexpectedly.
“Did you know, already?” She ventured after a moment, unable to help herself.
“Heh. Well, yeah, kinda. You could say I had a notion of your feelings already.” He grinned at her and she blushed again. “You aren’t exactly as subtle as you maybe think you are.” He smirked. “And, I was also looking for it, so it was easy for me to notice.”
“I-I see.” She laughed nervously. “Well, then. Should we schedule a date then? Maybe meet up tomorrow at 10am in Selphia square?” He shrugged and turned around to return to his chair.
“Why wait? It’s a beautiful morning and you came all the way out here looking for me, right?” He sat down and patted a knee with one large, angular hand, grinning at her still. She blushed and hesitated, unsure of herself for a beat. Then, musing that she’d apparently already unwittingly done more intimate things with him this morning, she stepped closer and perched on his knees to enjoy his company in the bright summer sun by the shimmering surface of Dragon Lake.