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Manuela plopped herself down in the seat of the Order of Heroes’ tavern. It was approaching time for the Winter Festival yet again. Manuela had opted to help yet again with the festivities, hoping to end yet another dry streak. She thought she was making progress with someone–a decently handsome fellow named Gatrie. He seemed genuine enough at first, but just a few hours later, Manuela had caught him trying to chat up that particular… creepy-looking woman.
“Ah what was her name…” Manuela said to herself as she plopped her head down on the bar, the barkeep wordlessly sliding her a glass of wine, as he had since grown accustomed to doing with Manuela. “Thrasir, that was it…” Manuela mumbled, taking the glass and lifting herself up just to take a big swig of the red liquid. “What could I lack that she doesn’t. She barely has skin! All see-through down to her skeleton… Creepy. Just… creepy!” Manuela exclaimed out loud to nobody in particular. She was about to take another swig of her wine when suddenly she heard the thud of someone plopping down in the barstool beside her.
“It seems I’m not the only one having trouble tonight.” Came a feminine voice from beside her. Manuela turned her head and nearly jumped at the sight of none other than the Princess of Jötunheimr herself, Nótt. “Manuela, was it?” she asked, having to lean forward quite a bit to rest her arms upon the bar.
“Oh, you must be…. Nótt.” Manuela spoke, having to take a moment to process the sight before her. She looked like she could crush boulders with her bare fists, and judging from what she heard about her might in battle, Manuela wouldn’t be surprised if it were true. And the sheer size of this woman was clearly UNDERstated. She was a full 2 and a half meters tall! When Manuela realized she was remaining quiet for longer than she should, she cleared her throat. “Yes, Manuela Cassagranda of the Mittlefrank Opera Company, and Divine Songstress of Fodlan. But… what brings someone like you down here?” Manuela asked after asserting her confidence.
“Oh, yes I’ve heard your singing. It truly is divine.” The princess offered a small smile before her eyes fell down toward the bar, and her smile slowly drifted into a frown. “Though as for me… it seems you and I share a bit of grief tonight.” She spoke as she looked to the bartender who simply nodded and readied her a mug of ale.
“How do you figure?” Manuela asked curiously.
“You mentioned Thrasir, no? It seems the object of my affections for the night was stolen by her as well.” Nótt replied, before taking a smaller sip of her ale. She hardly cared for drinking in the same way Dagr did, but she felt like trying to unwind just a little bit. And it seemed she had a partner in sorrow tonight.
“Ugh that… witch. Who does she think she is?”
“I agree… though I guess part of the blame lies with the man, hm?”
“Hm hm…” Both took another sip of their respective drinks before they both spoke up at once.
“Gatrie…”
“Gatrie.”
The two went completely silent before their heads slowly turned towards one another. There must have been a whole minute of silence as the two just stared at one another.
“Gatrie was… hitting on you too?” Manuela eventually broke the rather uncomfortable silence.
“Yes…. and he was trying to woo you as well?” Nótt replied, her frown deepening.
“Tried? He was succeeding before he just… up and disappeared! When I finally found him later on, he was with Thrasir, practically proposing to her!” Manuela finally just dropped her head on the counter, burying it in her arms. Nótt began to truly feel bad as she reached out a hand and patted Manuela on the back.
“...It seems we truly are sharing the pain tonight. Excuse me, can we get another round for the two of us?” Nótt says as she glances toward the Bartender, who wordlessly nods and prepares two more drinks for the two. Manuela seems to perk up and glance up at Nótt curiously.
“What…”
“Don’t worry. It’s fine. Drinks are on me. You seem like you share more troubles with me than this one incident. Perhaps airing out our worries over a few drinks may help us both.” Nótt spoke, her smile returning to her face. Manuela couldn’t help but notice that it was a… quite nice smile. She thought for a moment before looking at her half-empty glass, and then at the new glass being placed in front of her.
“....Well… I suppose a few drinks and a chat couldn’t hurt.” Manuela spoke after some thought before returning the smile.
A few drinks and a chat…. Really, it wouldn’t hurt that much. Right?
…
Hours passed. The few remaining patrons in the tavern were trying to drown out the shouting and laughing of two particular occupants who seemed to just be having the time of their lives.
“And then he says ‘Oh, you’re nice and all, but you’re a little uhhhh too intimidating.’ and then he just…. runs away right in the middle of our date!” Nótt exclaims before shotgunning yet another drink. She had lost track of both the time and how many drinks she had had that night. Both of them had, really. Both her and Manuela had increasingly large amounts of empty glasses around their area of the bar. They had spent the past few hours doing little else than shooting the breeze and telling stories about their various misadventures in search of men. Manuela had sworn there couldn’t be anyone with a dry streak to match hers, but Nótt had well and truly proved her wrong.
“That’s what… what happened at my last… last two dates!” Manuela spoke, trying to compose herself as she was still in a fit of laughing.
Nótt couldn’t help but join in Manuela’s laughter as she rested one of her hands on the songstress’s shoulder. She wasn’t sure why she was laughing really. Normally thinking about these events made her pretty upset. But now, with her mind somewhat clouded and with a friend to laugh at herself with, she couldn’t be happier. It was certainly a new experience for her. Both women were snapped out of their laughter by the bartender loudly clearing his throat.
“Bar’s about to close, ladies, Wrap this up.” Nótt, still catching her breath and calming down, finally looked outside. Sure enough, it was dark out.
“Oh my… How has that much time passed!” She exclaimed before clumsily fishing out her gold pouch, dropping the entire pouch onto the counter. “That should be more than plenty!” She said before slowly standing to her feet.
“Awwww but I’m… not done…!” Manuela protested before Nótt gave her a nudge on the shoulder.
“Come on now…. Come on.” Nótt said as the songstress began to carefully climb to her feet.
“Alright, alright…” Manuela then wrapped her arms around Nótt’s, holding onto it for support. The princess’s face flushed light pink as Manuela began to rub the muscles gently.
“No man’s ever had arms like this~” Manuela giggled and leaned her head against Nótt.
“I-I erm… uh… thank you.” Nótt replied as she turned her head away in embarrassment. What was this? She could feel her own face burning up. Normally she only felt this way when a man complimented her. Was it just the alcohol? Nótt tried to shake the thoughts from her head as she looked toward the exit. Not wanting to quite force Manuela off of her–she might very well fall over after all–she pulled the drunken woman toward the door. She should make sure she at least gets home safe and-
“Hey, hey wait up a sec!” Manuela interrupted. “I got something… something important to tell you!” Nótt stopped just as the two were approaching the door and turned to face Manuela.
“Yes?” She responded. Manuela beckoned her closer, as if to whisper something to her. Nótt raised an eyebrow but knelt down just enough so that Manuela would whisper into her ear.
“Mistletoe.” was all Manuela said before she leaned in and planted her lips directly against Nótt’s own. Nótt’s eyes went wide and she found herself frozen in place. She’d had kisses before, but they were always fleeting and quick. And also usually initiated by her. She had never BEEN kissed before. It was a quite different experience judging by how heavy her heart had begun pounding in her chest. Glancing upward, she indeed saw the small green plant hanging above them on the ceiling. Nótt was almost tall enough for it to graze the top of her head at her standing height, funny enough. It was a wonder she hadn’t noticed it before. Of course when she looked back to Manuela, the songstress had her eyes blissfully shut. This seemed to ease Nótt’s mind and allow her to slowly ease her eyes shut and simply enjoy the kiss.
Neither moved at first. They could have sat there lip-locked for anywhere from a minute to an hour. Neither were counting. The first one to make any movement though was Manuela, who moved her hand to the back of Nótt’s head, as if to hold her close. Not that it would have done her any good if the massive woman WANTED to step back. Yet she didn’t. She should, but… she just couldn’t. Instead, Nótt found herself wrapping an arm around the smaller woman’s waist and lifting her up off of her feet as she held the other woman close to her. It felt nice. It felt warm despite the cold weather outside. But above all, it felt… right.
Like all good things, however, this did not last forever. Nótt did eventually break the kiss, now seeming almost out of breath, as did Manuela. The two then locked gazes for a moment before smiling warmly at one another.
“Th-that was…” Nótt stammered, unable to find words to properly describe it.
“Wonderful?”
“Yes… wonderful. Would you… perhaps like to go sit somewhere? Askr’s night sky tends to be especially radiant this time of year.”
Manuela giggled again. “I think I’d like that, actually. But only if you’ll put me down.” Both women let out a small laugh as Nótt set her down. Manuela took Nótt’s hand in hers as her other hand pushed open the door outside.
“Care to share some more stories? I’ve still plenty more to tell.” Manuela said as Nótt gave her hand a gentle squeeze.
“So do I, actually. Think it’ll be possible without any further liquor?”
“Only one way to find out.”
With one more shared laughter, the two began walking hand-in-hand down the road. One thing was for sure in both of their minds, though. They wouldn’t be spending the Winter Festival alone.