A Matter for Magic [MadEmperor, Imperfect_M]

[DragonSong]

Kit growled, a sound that would have seemed threatening to anyone who didn't know him—by this point, the dragon assumed that Grav could tell the difference between his "you're irritating me" growl and his "I'm about to roast you" growl.

"I admit nothing," he sniffed, glancing back across the square out of a habitual need to keep Kiara in sight.

His rider seemed to have acquired her glass of cider and was heading back toward them, when one of the villagers caught her attention with a small wave. Kit couldn't make out specifics over the general cheerful noise of the festival, but the young man gestured to Kiara's new flower crown with a friendly sort of laugh. She went a little rosy but laughed herself, shaking her head, and responded with a smile.

The young man laughed again and said something that made her blush darken a few shades. She nodded and gave him a little wave before heading back toward Grav and Kit.

"Here." She held a cup out for Grav, then said to Kit, "I asked the vendor if he can save a barrel for you for later."

[MadEmperor]

Grav took the cup with thanks. He clinked his cup against hers and took a swig. "Ahh..."

"Was that guy hitting on you? Do you want me to punch him?" he immediately regretted asking.

[DragonSong]

Kiara blinked. "Errrr...no? I mean, I don't think so?"

Kit scoffed. She glared at him, then clarified, "I mean, he was just being friendly—apparently this flower thing is another local tradition; most of the village girls wear them as a sign they're open to courting." She rolled her eyes with another little blush. "He just...asked if I was, that's all."

Kit gave Grav a very droll look. If there was anyone more deliberately oblivious to romance than the swordsman, it was his rider.

[MadEmperor]

"He was totally flirting if it made you blush like that," Grav teased with a grin.

The music died down as Mayor Vahne stepped onto the festival dais. He was about to speak.

[DragonSong]

"Alright, fine, he was flirting," Kiara said with a theatric roll of her eyes. "Doesn't inherently mean you need to punch him."

She might have quipped something else, but then the mayor was clearly preparing to speak and she hurried took her seat beside Grav, sipping absently at her drink.

[MadEmperor]

The atmosphere grew solemn. "We... we have suffered a great tragedy. Many were lost, and much of our crops have no one to harvest them. But, for our lost, we of Aria choose to celebrate their lives rather than mourn their passing..."

He eulogized the dead for a little longer before taking on a tone of thanks. After the annual thanks for nature's bounty, he faced the two adventurers. "But this year, we have something more to be thankful for. I'm speaking, of course, of the three individuals who bravely risked their own lives to save our humble home and the homes of many more of the good people of Serendipity. Please, stand so that all may see of whom I speak."

Grav gave Kiara a wide-eyed look at being put on the spot. He slowly rose to his feet and waved to the crowd. He quickly got over his nerves and began eating up the praise.

[DragonSong]

Kiara returned Grav's look with an expression of befuddled helplessness. She was a beat behind him to stand, and did not seem to warm up to the adulation the way he did. In fact, it seemed to be taking most of her willpower not to hide behind her dragon.

Kit, for his part, remained placid; Kiara could feel some of his tension from sheer familiarity, but outwardly he was the picture of a calm, regal presence, neck arched as he sat calmly behind them.

Feeling like her awkward smile was plastered onto her face, Kiara hissed, "How long do we have to stand here?"

[MadEmperor]

"I have no idea. Do I look like I have an idea?" he said through his teeth. "Just enjoy being a hero."

Eventually, Vahne continued his speech until: "To show our appreciation, we have taken up a collection. We may not have much to spare right now, but what we do is yours. And, should you ever return, know that you will not want for food or shelter."

The assembled townsfolk cheered as the mayor's wife approached the heroes of the hour to personally hand them a modest sack of coin."

[DragonSong]

"Easy for you to say," Kiara replied, hushed, "you were born for this sort of thing."

When the mayor's wife—coincidentally the kindly woman who had given them the bowl of fruit—handed over the coins, Kiara actually found herself hesitating for a moment.

"That...it's really not necessary," she found herself saying, while her more practical side begged for her to shut up.

"Hush." The woman smiled at them. "We won't take no for an answer. You've done a great thing for us—it's a matter of pride for all of us that you have a reward for your work."

[MadEmperor]

Grav noted Kiara's hesitance with a smile. It seemed he was truly rubbing off on her. He took the sack with a grateful bow. "Then we have no choice but to accept your generosity."

"Spend it wisely, alright?" the woman asked with a kind smile.

[DragonSong]

The crowd applauded again when Grav accepted the reward, and the kindly woman stepped back with a smile.

"Now!" Mayor Vahne beamed at the gathered townsfolk. "I will delay our festivities no longer: we have good food, good wine, good music, and the rest of the evening to enjoy them!"

The gathered townsfolk laughed and cheered, and Kiara breathed a sigh of relief as attention moved off them for the most part.

[MadEmperor]

Grav sat back down with a bittersweet sigh, finally getting his wish to be a hero but at a terrible cost.

"Not one for the spotlight, I take it?"

[DragonSong]

Kiara gave him a very dry look. "What was your first clue?" she grumbled, sinking down a little further into her chair.

The music had started up again, and it seemed like half the town of Aria was dancing in a series of interconnected circles, most of them laughing and shouting to each other joyfully.

She smiled a bit as she watched. "Well...at least they seem happy."

[MadEmperor]

"As happy as they can be, anyway, considering the circumstances." He smiled sadly. "I don't think I could focus on the good times so easily if I lost people that I cared about."

"Or dragons," he added for Kit's benefit.

[DragonSong]

"Yeah," Kiara agreed quietly. "This place is...special, I think."

Despite all that had happened here, she found herself feeling rather lucky that this was the place they had emerged when they crossed the veil.

Kit whuffed an agreement and lowered his head onto his front paws. "You two aren't interested in joining in?" he asked innocently with a nod to the dancers.

[MadEmperor]

Grav squinted back at the dragon. "You just want to see us squirm when the dance gets romantic again, don't you?" he teased.

"Besides, any more of that, and Nara will come after me for pushing myself. And she scares me more than the not-quite-a-lich did. Somehow," he joked with a grin.

[DragonSong]

"I admit to nothing," Kit responded primly.

Kiara chuckled at his assessment of Nara. "Hells hath no fury like a healer ignored," she agreed with a wink.

A soft clearing of someone's throat drew her attention, and she blinked as she found herself looking up at the same young man who had spoken with her before.

"Hello again, Ser Kiara."

"Errrr...hi. Ah, Dane, right?" She gestured between him and Grav. "This is Grav—well, the mayor said that, you probably knew that already..."

Dane smiled, revealing a dimple in his left cheek. "I did. But it's an honor to officially make your acquaintance, Ser Grav."

[MadEmperor]

Grav smiled, unable to stop himself from evaluating his competition for a contest he hadn't yet agreed to. It's a guy thing, okay? The man was attractive, sure, thanks to that adorable dimple, but not really Kiara's type as far as the swordsman understood it.

"Please, just Grav is fine. As fun as it to pretend I'm a knight for a few seconds, I don't think either of us is big on formality," he chuckled. "So, Dane, what do you do around here when not looking for a pretty face to court?"

[DragonSong]

Dane chuckled, evidently taking that in stride, and replied, "I've been apprenticed to the tin smith for the last few years. And what is it the two of you do when you're not saving hapless villagers from an aspiring lich?"

Kiara had never been much of one for small talk, and it was fairly clear she was struggling to remember social niceties. She replied somewhat distractedly, "Oh, y'know. Kidnap lords, fight manticores, that sort of thing."

[MadEmperor]

"Rescue," Grav corrected, "we rescue lords... by kidnapping them."

"... It's a long story. Very long considering we've only even known each other a few weeks. Gods... it really feels like so much longer."

Dane's eyes went wide. "Manticores? Plural? I know a lich is worse and all, but... damn, you really live dangerously."