Chapter 17

  “Well, what does it mean lad?” Cici insisted as they made their way back to the inn.

  After Kopius had been measured and grilled as if Edna Moe were making him a super suit, the two left with the same instructions Lydian had given them: come back tomorrow. The sun was setting, revealing the two and a half moons starting their run across the expanding night sky. Less people roamed the streets as many made their way home after a long day of laboring.

  “It basically means ‘my friend '.” Kopius finally replied. “It’s nothing, honestly. We say it but it's not as special as I made it out to be. It sounds better, right?”

  “Anything's better than Lord, uhck” Cici complained. “So… pretentious.”

  “What's the game plan here?” Kopius asked, changing subjects. “What’s after the inn?”

  “Nothing,” Cici responded, a bit surprised. “We just spent more than a few days in the wild, Kopius. Three good nights of rest are better than two anyhow.”

  “We’ve only been here one night though.”

  “And we will have another in the northern part of town.”

  “So, just back to eat and sleep?”

  “Nah.” Cici responded. “First we bathe, then dinner, then drinks. Sleep will come on its own, my boy!”

  “That doesn’t sound too bad.”

  “There’s that flicker of hope I love to see! Come on, we have to beat the crowd.”

  “What crowd?”

  “Don’t you worry none. The place we are staying doesn't let the likes of Brizzl in.” Cici assured. “Higher class folk there. We can catch up on any gossip!” He finished with a wink and contagious smile.

  Bathing consisted of two large wooden caldrons, steaming hot water, and a bath balm reminiscent of freshly sawed wood. Kopius floated in his small capsule like a child experiencing their first hot tub. It was soothing to the point that Cici, with only a towel about his waist, had to drag his friend out of the water in order to move onto the drying room.

  This room had individual booths, allowing more modest travelers a portion of privacy as they air dry. The booths were set up as though money was about to be dropped in for a whirlwind cash grab. Once inside and the back door closed, a hot, consistent flow of air rushed up from the floor and then back down from the top. This cycled a few times before the occupant left through a front door, to a fitting room with their laundered clothes.

  “Meestear KoPEEoose,” a heavily accented, feminine voice greeted Kopius as he entered his changing area. He paused at the entrance to see a short, fur-covered, cat-faced lady. He had yet to get the names of all the different people’s races he had seen and he tried to not stare awkwardly.

  She wore light colored pants and a dark blue shirt tucked at the waist. Several facial piercings glimmered when hit by the light while her nervous eyes looked anywhere but Kopius.

  He guessed she was a she, because–well her voice–and she had breasts. Not exposed breast, or overly large this-is-about-to-turn-into-a-harem set of breasts either. She was semi-attractive, in a developed furry fetish type way and proportional to her height. Not that any of this mattered, he was still coming to terms with video game/fantasy type characters coming to life.

  “What’s up?” Kopius finally asked, having stared too long.

  “Yoore bigloggins wiz dystoyed, pliz talk thiz as rekumpenz,” the cat lady garbled. She held up a set of folded clothes in her hands that had the same look and color scheme of the attire the lady had on herself.

  “What?” Kopius said with a scrunchy face.

  “Yoore biglog–” she cut short as Kopius waived his hands to make it all stop.

  “You understand Common, yeah?’

  The lady nodded.

  “But you speak something else better? Probably?”

  She nodded again.

  “Cool. Go ahead and speak your language,” Kopius assured the attendant. “I’ll use Common.”

  “Forgive my speech, sir,” the lady replied, her eyes fixated on the ground.

  “Nothing to worry about, I promise,” Kopius tried his best to sound genuine. He himself, as Cory on Earth, had several years of service industry experience. It always infuriated Cory, how people could treat others with such little regard for having a job like that. Like, did you feel like a big man by yelling at the twenty year old barista because you’re the one running late? If the job is so easy, why don’t you make your coffee at home then, asshole? You’re paying for quality and convenience, not a dictatorship. Cory had done some slimy things in his life but he would be damned if he’d stoop to the level of berating a service line worker.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  A job, is a job, is a job, Papa would dictate after all.

  “Your belongings were destroyed, sir,” she answered, finally meeting his eyes.

  “How’d that happen?”

  “I was told they came apart during the drying, sir.” Her mouth moved like she was constantly stretching her jaw or had a perpetually exaggerated yawn. The general shyness the girl had entered with looked to have faded away and she stood a little straighter now that she was speaking her own tongue. “I have brought you these as recompense.”

  Again, she lifted the bundle of clothes and Kopius took the offering. The cat lady did a courtesy and Kopius watched her as she left the changing area with no further comment. He held the items at arms length for examination.

  The pants were beige and felt like they were made of a ship's sail. The dark blue shirt was slightly more comfortable, material wise, but it sat on him like a large garbage bag. Once he had gotten fully clothed, he looked at himself in the mirror.

  “I look like I'm a flight attendant for a shitty airline.”

  Dinner for two was seated in the same outside nook they had eaten breakfast in. The other stone tables were all occupied with guests or customers but the owner had made a point to save one table for Kopius and Cici. Candlelight illuminated the space as night had almost taken over while they were bathing. A comfortable fire was blazing in the far corner of the eating area while an older gentleman strummed a guitar-type instrument next to it.

  The meal was excellent. So much so that Cici hadn’t even seasoned his food. Conversation was at a minimum and the guests were spread out so that someone would really have to strain in order to eavesdrop.

  Kopius started his second ale as a team of waiters came in and began clearing out finished and unused crockery. Their table was cleaned, leaving only their two mugs. A few of the staff gave Kopius a double-take noticing his attire but none of them said anything.

  For the guests who had eaten and then left, their stone tables were broken down and removed. A few other groups of people were escorted to tables in the back, closer to Cici and Kopius and then their respective tables were relieved as well. Roughly ten stone settings were excavated in all creating a large, open space.

  Two heavy service doors that led to the kitchen swung open as a tiki-hut bar on wheels rolled outside. Being pushed by two large men, the wooden wheels creaked as they rested the elaborate lemonade stand so that it was centered against the wall, the fireplace and the open space.

  Two different individuals took their place behind the bar and started the process of opening for business. In another corner, doors that would normally be an exit opened to a small crowd of people waiting on the other side.

  “Is that for us?” Kopius asked.

  “Maybe a few,” Cici acknowledged. “Most of them are here to have a few drinks for one reason or another.” As if on cue, a small group of people were gesturing in their direction. Cici smiled and gave them a wave. “Like those folks there.”

  The new arrivals were kept outside for a few more minutes as the staff finished altering the setting from a quaint atmosphere to that of an upscale tavern. The man playing the instrument sat by the fire and began to turn up the volumes of his songs. Kopius took turns between people-watching the staff get ready and the folks in line.

  The employees were purposeful and efficient having performed this task on a nightly basis. Some of the crowd were growing rambunctious and nosey, craning their necks to peek inside but there was really nothing to see. If the place were to add some colorful lasers and a strobe light it would all but transport Kopius back to his mid-twenties when he was in peak alpha-male-ism mode. Ahhh, the good old days, he thought sarcastically.

  Shaking off the cringe from his younger days he watched as the crowd was allowed to pour in. Most made their way to the bar area while a few secured the last of the open seating. It wasn’t the variety of races he had seen walking the streets all day. Here the split had a heavy leaning of humans with a small portion of races mixed in.

  These people were in clothes that were a little cleaner, less marked up and more form fitting. They were manicured in the sense that their hair had been combed recently but not done up. The night sky had fully embraced the dark making it harder to see the minute details.

  “Sir Cici?” A younger man asked respectfully. He was one of the five they had seen at the door before the bar had opened.

  “Aye.” Cici answered with a tip of his mug. The group all smiled nervously, patting one of the smaller ones on the back collectively.

  “May we inquire as to the Tessel’s pollution?” The young man requested.

  “Are all you lads here for the same?” Cici lifted himself off his chair a bit to get a good look at each of the nodding heads. “How bout all together, eh?” The boys all looked at each other until an unspoken agreement was made, to which more nodding ensued.

  “You want to take these boys?” Cici leaned over to ask Kopius.

  “Nah,” Kopius laughed, with a waive of his hand. “You’re doing great.” At this pace we can be done with the Ripple in no time, Kopius thought to himself. He leaned back and let Cici continue to chip away at the two-thousand-plus people they had to hand the answer out to.

  “Alright then. Let’s have it boys.”

  An incoherent stream of words spilled out of the five boys as none of them asked the question in the same way. Bits and pieces of each could be heard, but collectively it was akin to listening to multiple live streams at the same time. Instead of trying to quell the chaotic synergy, Cici smiled and waited for them all to finish.

  “It was an Orb of Contamination!” Cici declared with some flare.

  The boys cheered and darted off after thanking the big man. Cici made little finger jabs at the air like he was popping bubbles, which was odd but Kopius was not in the mood to care. Things had gone well the last two days. His belly was full; his mood was light. Between the hot steam bath, the full body hair dryer and the hearty meal; Kopius was close to entering a dream state.

  “To a good night!” Cici boomed, holding his wooden mug of ale high.

  “A good night,” Kopius toasted.