#sweetipiewrites

[sweetiepie08]

Gifted Kids Chapter 2

Story summary: Young Boba Fett has been granted early parole. However, he's tossed out into the world with no money, home, or prospects. A chance encounter with two young teens in a diner solves at least one of these problems. What starts out as a temporary roof over his head slowly grows into a home and family he builds for himself, and leads him down a path completely different from the one laid out for him.

Chapter summary: In which Boba gets a side hustle, and learns a bit more about one of his new roommates. And wouldn't you know, spending time with someone else isn't half bad...

[sweetiepie08]

RebelZ (Chapter 9)

Invader Zim fanfic

While analyzing Zim’s PAK for weaknesses, Tak discovers strange coding that sends her on a search for answers. The clues lead her to uncover a conspiracy that governs all of Irken society. When the truth sends her on the run, she has no choice but to return to the one place the Tallest would never willingly go: Urth.

Meanwhile, Dib has noticed odd changes in Zim’s behavior. Has the invader simply grown bored of his mission over the last few years, or is there something more interesting going on?

People who asked to be tagged: @incorrect-invader-zim , @messinwitheddie, @reblogstupids, @cate-r-gunn, @agentpinerulesall​

If anyone else would like to be added to the tag list feel free to message me. Also, if you’re on the tag list and you changed your name, please just let me know.

Chapter 1. Chapter 2. Chapter 3. Chapter 4. Chapter 5. Chapter 6. Chapter 7. Chapter 8. Chapter 9. Chapter 10.

[-]

“Care to tell us what the fuck that was?” the Dib shouted as they ran down the hall.

“A coup, obviously,” Zim shot back. “Just not one where you seize power at the end. So, half a coup.”

“So then who seizes power now?”

“The Tallest Red and Purple still have it,”

Dib nearly tripped over his own feet in his shock. “You mean you didn’t kill them?”

“It’s nearly impossible to poison an Irken,” Tak explained. “The PAK filters out most toxins. You can incapacitate them, though, for a short period of time.”

“So you basically just quit your job in spectacular fashion,” Dib said indignantly.

Tak almost couldn’t believe it. Zim must be sincere in his betrayal. He poisoned the Tallest and declared to the entire upper crust of the Irken military that it was intentional. There was no coming back from that. Every other disaster he caused could reasonably be argued as a mistake. But there could be no doubt here. Zim truly had turned on the empire.

Yet, something still didn’t sit quite right with her. If he had gone rebel, if he had truly turned traitor, then his life clock would have gone off like hers did. One would reasonably assume the impotence for this betrayal was her discovery of the Control Brains parasite, but she was with him ever since she told him that news and she never saw his life clock go off. But that could only mean something else prompted him at an earlier date. So the question was, what made Zim finally snap?

They came to a split in the hallway. Tak started going right while Zim went left.

“Uh, the Voot is this way,” Tak called.

“I’m not going to the Voot,” Zim yelled back. “I’m going to the control room.”

Dib and Tak cast each other a glance, then followed him. They found him crouched behind a door at the end of the hall and joined him in his hiding spot. Dib took a peak inside. There, dozens of Irkens worked at their stations. They seemed unaware that, for now, their leaders were incapacitated.

Zim tapped his PAK and a metal ball flew into his hands. He pulled a pin, tossed it in, and smashed the control panel, shutting the door. They heard coughing from the other side and, after a few minutes, opened the door to find the Irkens unconscious on the floor.

“So, what are we doing in here again?” Dib asked, as they stepped into the room.

Zim grabbed one of the Irkens who still slouched in their chair and threw them to the floor. “Wiping Urth off the navigation map.” He sat down and the monitor and started messing with the buttons. “If I’m going to continue to use it as my home base, I can’t have them finding it.”

“Not so fast,” Tak slapped his fingers away from the buttons. “Before this goes any further, I need answers. If you’re truly on our side, there’s only one way your life clock didn’t go off.”

“We don’t have time for this!”

“You had a rebellious thought!” Tak declared. “When?”

“Three Urth years ago.”

“Three years?” Dib shouted, stepping up to them. “But I’ve been watching you. Why were you still trying to conquer Earth if you kinda-quit three years ago?”

“I wasn’t.”

“But I saw you building machines!” Dib argued.

“They weren’t for me!” Zim shot back.

Tak began to ask “But how-” before Zim cut her off.

“Silence!” he shouted. “Silence your questions! I need to concentrate.”

Zim continued typing on the buttons until a picture of the Earth appeared on the screen. The stats were scarce, save for the coordinates and the note, ‘that place where Zim is.’ The little blue ball of dirt and water had gone unnoticed by the empire, noteworthy only as a banishment site. To them, it was merely a place to keep Zim contained, far away from anything important. But after the stunt they pulled today, it would be a target.

Another few clicks of a button and the Urth was gone, leaving only a blank file in its wake. All Irken military ships automatically synced with the Massive. If it was gone from this data base, it was essentially invisible to all Irkens. If they wanted to find Urth again, they’d have to scour the universe for it. But why stop at Urth?

“Let’s dump it all,” Tak said.

“What?”

“Erase the database,” she said. “It’ll be a crippling blow to the empire.”

“Do we really have time to erase everything?” Dib asked. The human made a good point.

“Jut the maps then,” she suggested. “They would have to rebuild their navigation systems from scratch and it would send the fleet into disarray.”

“Zim is no radical!” Zim snapped. “I’m only doing this to cover my own ass.”

“Not a raical?” Dib scoffed. “You just poisoned your own leaders.”

“That was personal,” Zim argued. “This is political.”

“And what about those weapons you’re building?!” Dib shot back. “If they’re not for Irk, then who are they for?”

“Zim’s business deals are none of your… um… business!”

“Shut up!” Tak commanded, taking a seat at another monitor. “We don’t have time for this! Let’s get these maps erased and get out of here.”

“If you even make it that far,” a chorus of voices answered.

Dib looked around. “Who said that?”

“We did, human.”

Every Irken in the room rose to their feet. Tak prepared herself for a fight. Her eyes darted as she watched them all, poised to deploy the weapons in her PAK. But none made a move to attack. They all stood there, stalk still, with a dead look in their eyes.

Dib gaped at the sight. “H-how are you…”

“Silence Urth Creature!” the possessed Irkens shouted in unison, turning their cold eyes toward Dib. “Do not interrupt us again!” Dib shut his mouth and the Irkens calmed. “Congratulations defectives” they said, now addressing Zim and Tak. “It’s been centuries since we had to resort to total override, but mark our words, you will pay for this waste of food.”

“What do you care for waste?” Tak spat back at them. “You throw Irken lives away every day in your conquest.”

“A calculated cost to bring me more to feed from in the long term,” the Irkens explained with their eerily monotone voices. “You should know about calculated risks. Don’t forget, we see everything you do.”

“When have I ever sacrificed good soldiers?”

Every possessed Irken in the room wore the same mocking smirk. “All through your training days. Don’t you remember? We saw everything you did, every little cheat to get ahead.”

The Irkens tapped buttons on their control boards and soon, every monitor showed various scenes from Tak’s training years. “Electrodes hidden in your boots to cripple race opponents. Stealing test answers and planting them in a rival’s locker after copying them for yourself. You got top scores on your exams and excelled at your drills, but is it really victory if you have to sabotage your competitions? Oh sure, you studied and trained, but it never felt like enough, did it? Never thought you could win a fair fight. Had to tear someone else down first. Maybe, if it weren’t for all your cheating, we’d have let you make up your Elite ranking test. After all, we allowed everyone else who was inconvenienced by the blackout to take it.” Their smirks grew as they twisted the knife further. “Just not you.”

Tak ground her teeth together as she watched the images play out on the screen. There was no denying them. The monitors played footage from her own memory bank. They showed her and everyone else who she really was. She work so hard. She clawed her way to the top and did everything she could to stay there. But it was all a lie. And now they knew it. What was worse, Zim knew it. That little pain in the ass managed to make it to elite the first time, even while being a walking disaster, and he never had to deliberately cheat. The idea of him lording that over her was enough to make her blood boil.

“Perhaps you can prove everyone wrong, though,” the Irken voices went on. “Take the honest route for once in your life. Tell Zim what you learned on your little trip to Refirencee. Tell him what you suspect.”

“Fool!” Zim scoffed. “Zim already accessed Tak’s memories. I know everything she knows about the Control Brain parasite.”

“Yes, you saw the same books. But did you reach the same conclusions?”

“Guys! Don’t you see what it’s doing?” The Dib burst in. “It’s distracting you. It’s keeping you here until your leaders recover. Let’s erase those maps and get out of here!”

“Silence!” Zim snapped at Dib, then turned back to the dead-eyed Irkens. “Tell Zim what you know, creepy hive-mind…thing!”

“Have you ever wondered why you’re such a failure? Why you destroy everything you touch? Why, no matter what you do, everything always blows up in your face? It’s because you have no choice in the matter. It’s what you were made for.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Before we push for something big, we require extra sustenance. We take this sustenance in what some have called a blood toll. On our first planet, we made many mistakes, one was asking our hosts directly for sacrifices. We know better now.”

“Ans what does this have to do with me?” Zim growled impatiently.

“Since the beginning of our reign, one PAK has been passed down through generations, carrying a suppressed impulse for destruction. We need only to activate it and we have our blood toll. Clearly our PAK has become quite damaged over the years. It no longer works quite right. You’re so defective, you couldn’t even declare your name right.”

The screen flashed the name Zim across it. It then reversed the letters and spread them out to reveal an acronym. ZIM became MIZ. And MIZ became Massacre Initiator Z.

“You were supposed to live as a low-ranking drone until we activated your destructive impulse and die in the disaster. You, however, defied us at every turn. We kept you alive out of sheer curiosity. We wanted to see how your life would play out. It’s been entertaining, however, you’ve become too great a burden to bare.”

Zim stood motionless, staring straight ahead. They waited for the typical Zim outburst of “lies!” or declaring his greatness, but nothing came. His eyes looked as dead as the possessed Irkens around them. He said nothing, did nothing. As much as Tak couldn’t stand Zim’s obnoxious voice or erratic behavior, watching him be so still was chilling.

Tak’s antenna perks at the sound of footsteps trooping down the hall. The Dib’s head darted for the door. “Guy! Come on! We’re out of time!”

Tak smacked Zim’s lifeless body away from the control panel. “Do you think you can stop us by getting into our heads?”

“Oh simple Tak,” the Irkens sighed. “We've lived in your heads since you were fitted with your packs.”

Tak sneered at them. “I cut you off for me and I won't rest until every Irken is free of you.”

“Please, you worked your whole life to get our attention. You finally have it. Do you want to throw that away? Perhaps we can find a place with someone of your drive and ingenuity.”

“Liars!” Did they think she was stupid? She knew as well as it that treason of this scale would never go unpunished. Even if they tried to appease her with a higher rank or a cushy job, it’d only be a matter of time before they got rid of her. But even the fact that it was trying to negotiate meant something. She was a threat to it, and she would stay a threat until the day she died.

“We you know you, Tak. You’re a plotter. You won't do anything rash.”

They don’t know me half as well as they think. “Want a bet?” She started hitting buttons on the control board. An alert came up on the screen and the voice blared from the speakers. “All maps queued for deletion. Are you sure you want to proceed?”

She hit one more button and the screen went black. “Deletion successful.”

“Take that you parasite bitch.”

“Come on,” Dib begged, pulling on her arm. The footsteps were noticeably louder. “We have to go now!”

Tak took off running and Dib pulled on the frozen Zim until his legs moved. They burst into the hall and immediately came across a group of Irkan soldiers. “There they are!” one of the soldiers cried.

Tak led the way as they ran toward the ship’s hanger. The soldiers fired at them. A laser cannon popped out of Tak’s pack and returned fire, but it was difficult for her to aim while leading the dash to the Voot. She wished one of her companions had could back her up with a pistol but Zim was still barely conscious and Dib was preoccupied with keeping his legs moving. The sound of little metallic feet running beside them gave her an idea.

“Zim, tell me your SIR unit to go into defensive mode.

There was no response. Zim was as helpful as a sack of empty ginzor cans.

“Hey Zim’s robot,” Dib said to the little SIR unit.

Gir looked up at him curiously. “Hmm?”

“Don't you have any weapons or something?”

“Huh?”

“You know, something that makes pretty lights and goes ‘pew, pew’?”

“Oh that. I got that.” A giant laser cannon popped out of his head and he fired wildly into the soldiers behind them, forcing the Irkens to scatter for cover

Finally, they made it to the hangar and all jumped in the Voot. Zim slid zombie-like into the pilot seat.

“Come on,” Dib said, shaking Zim’s shoulder. “Get us out of here!”

“Zim!” Tak snapped. “If you don't fly this ship, I will!”

That seemed to work. Zim shook off whatever stupor he was in and his usual look of single-minded determination returned to his eyes. “No one pilots Zim’s ship but Zim!” He took hold of the controls and the ship roared to life. In a flash, they took off into the stars.

[sweetiepie08]

Time Not Wasted (Part 1)

The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance fanfiction. 

Rian, Mira, and Gurjin get a night off of guard duty and decide to spend it at a nearby tavern. As they drink and celebrate their night of freedom, they laugh, make mischief, and create memories that will warm their hearts for years to come. Time is never wasted when it is spent  with the ones you love. 

Part 1. Part 2.

[-]

The Tavern was as alive as ever that night. Gurjin and Rian had made the trek out here many times before, but tonight was special. Mira’s rotation schedule finally matched up with his and Gurjin’s in a way that allowed them to head out to the Castle Shadow Tavern for the night and make it back for their next patrol. The tavern was built within an hour’s walk from the Castle of the Crystal. Rian imagined it was built by some enterprising gelfling who realized the guard would need something to do on their time off other than polishing boots or running drills. It also fell along a well-worn travel road, which made for a good mix of regulars and new-comers.

On this particular night, Rian sat in a booth with Gurjin and Mira. The sounds of chatter and revelry echoed around them. Above it all, Gurjin’s voice rang out, regaling them with his Captain Ordon impression.

“And that, recruits,” he boomed, keeping his back straight as a steel rod and his face stiff as a board, “is why if you don’t polish your boots until you can see your reflection in them, you have failed both as a guard and as a gelfling, and your ancestors will weep in shame.” A mischievous twinkle entered his eye. “Unless you’re Gurjin, of course, in which case, you can do no wrong.”

“Of course…” Rian sighed, hiding an amused smirk in his cup of ale.

“Is all that understood, Mira?” Gurjin went on.

“Yes, Captain,” she answered with mock severity. “The state of my boots will make my ancestors proud.”

“Don’t encourage him,” Rian said, rolling his eyes. “He’ll keep this up all night, and he has.”

“Silence, Rian,” Gurjin commanded, keeping in character. “Don’t disparage your fellow guard. You should be more like Gurjin. He’s loyal, brave, hard-working, handsome…”

Rian let out a burst of laughter. “Stop complimenting yourself in the third-person!”

“Yes, you’ve broken the illusion,” Mira added. “Our captain would never give that much praise. Up until that, though, I thought it was spot on.”

“You thought it was good?” Gurjin asked, sitting down and reverting back to his own voice.

“I did.”

Rian shook his head. “Trust me, it gets old after hearing it five or six hundred times.”

As if accepting a challenge, Gurjin snapped right back into his stiff, upright posture. “Rian, as your father, I must tell you that you need to lighten up a little.”

“Okay, now I know that’s not the captain,” Mira said.

“Sure, I may be stiffer that the Emperor’s beak and believe any smile lasting longer than a third of a second is a sure sign of deception…”

Rian let his gaze linger on a spot just over Gurjin’s shoulder. “Oh, hello father.”

Gurjin practically jumped as he looked behind him. When he saw nothing there, he turned back to his friends with a wry smile. “Ha, ha, very funny…”

Rian flashed him a smirk. “How’s that for lightening up?” he said, taking a drink.

Gurjin made a non-committal sound and conceded defeat by taking a swing from his stein. His eyes shifted to the tavern’s bar, in search of some new amusement. His face broke into a grin when something caught his eye. “Hey, look at those two Spritons over there.

Rian followed his gaze. He saw two Spritons, a male and a female, accepting their drinks from the bar keep. Travelers from Sammi Thicket, he guessed. Both had shiny black hair and were laughing at something one of them had said.

“Got your eye on one of them?” Mira asked.

“Maybe…”

“Which one?”

“Either? Both?” Gurjin shrugged. “What ever their preference is. I’m flexible.”

“Both?” Mira gasped in disbelief. “At the same time?”

Gujin put on a cocky grin. “It’s happened before.”

“Not to you, though,” Rian added. He and Gurjin shot each other the kind of mocking looks only long-time friends can share.  

“Hey, you may have a steady catch, but some of us are still on the hunt,” Gurjin shot back.

“Any gelfling would be lucky to have you,” Mira said warmly.

Rian clapped him on the back. “And half of them don’t deserve you.”

“Thanks, but you don’t have to puff me up. I know my worth.” He finished the last of his beer and got up from the table. “Well, I’m going to go try my luck.” With that, he sauntered off to chat up the Spritons.

“Alone at last,” Rian sighed, turning his smile over to Mira.

“You really think he’s going to go for both?” she asked, watching Gurjin approach the Spritons.

“Might have just been bravado, but he’s open to anything, really.” He looked over at Gurjin. Something he said caused the Spritons to burst into a fit of laughter. “As long as he’s happy, I’m rooting for him.”

She looked back at him. Her pale blue eyes were soft and inviting “Have you and Gurjin been friends a long time?”

“We went though training together,” he explained. “We were sparring partners for our first combat exercises. He knocked me down flat quite a few times, but I learned to be quicker and more agile. WE’d taunt each other throughout the session, but it was all in jest. We started bonding outside of training and we’ve been like brothers ever since.”

“I can tell.” She scooted in closer to him. “Must have been nice, being so close to someone here.”

Rian moved in closer as well. “Surely you had friends in the Har’ar guard.”

“I did and I still write them sometimes, but if I had a friendship like yours and Gurjin’s, I might not have transferred.”

“Well,” he said, reaching for her hand, “who says you can’t have that here?”

“You certainly made me feel welcome,” she teased, running her thumb along his knuckles, “what with your, observatory tour and all.”

“Not much of a tour when you beat me up there.”

“Neither was that sparring match,” she said with an impish twinkle in her eye.

“That’s not fair,” he argued in mock-offense. “I was distracted by how beautiful my partner was.”

“What makes you think I wasn’t distracted?” she purred back.

They leaned in closer, seeking to close the gap between them. Rian shut his eyes, waiting for her kiss, but Gurjin’s voice interrupted them.

“Hey Rian, come play darts with me.”

Rian opened his eyes and cast an irritated glance in his friend’s direction. “What happened to the Spritons?”

“Turns out they’re childhood friends who just started going together and I wasn’t about the get in the middle of a love story like that,” he explained. “Come on, just one game. Loser buys the next round.”

“Alright,” Rian said, getting up from the table and following Gurjin to the dart board. “I guess you know my taste in beer well enough.”

“I know liquid gold wouldn’t be enough to satisfy your pretentious tongue,” Gurjin playfully shot back, “not that I’m going to need that knowledge though.”

“Don’t be so sure.” Rian smiled at Mira who watched from their table. “I’ve got someone special cheering me on.”

“I know.” Gurjin handed Rian his darts. “And I doubt you’ll be able to see straight, making those googly eyes.”

Rian and Gurjin took turns tossing darts and exchanging playful insults. Rian kept glancing over at Mira between shots. She looked at him with a sly smirk on her lips. She was always concocting some mischief, he could tell. There was always something up her sleeve, though never anything malicious. Whatever it was, it would surely give them a laugh. He could hardly wait to find out what she was thinking.

By game’s end, Gurjin proved to be the victor. “Ha! Take that you cross-eyed bean pole,” he jeered when his dart hit the bullseye.

“You won by one point,” Rian argued.

“And that was enough to beat you,” Gurjin countered. He pointed Rian in the direction of the bar. “Go on, drink slave.”

“Fine, anything specific?”

“Surprise me,” he said, flashing a mocking grin. “You know my taste in beer well enough.”

“As you wish,” Rian sighed. Gurjin headed back over to the table while Rian went to the bar.

“I think I’ll grab another drink too,” Mira said, getting up. She joined Rian at the bar. He leaned against the counter and waited for the bar keep to take his order. “So,” she said, sliding in next to him, “what are you thinking?”

“I’ll just get him an elm brew,” he said. “That’s one of his favorites.”

“Or you could get him the opposite of his favorite,” she suggested, a wicked smile on her lips.

The tantalizing mischief in her voice tugged at his ears. “What are you saying?”

“The bet was, you buy him a drink,” she explained. “He never said it had to be a drink he liked.”

His wicked smile matched hers as he considered the tempting idea. The look he imagined on Gurjin’s face was entertaining. Ultimately, he decided against it, though. “Nah, that wouldn’t be sporting. I’ll just-”

“You’re taking your sweet time over there!” Gurjin called from across the room.

“What?” Rian snapped, looking back at him.

“I said you’re taking your sweet time over there!” Gurjin called again.

“Hush!” Rian shouted back. He turned back to Mira, a mischievous grin plastered on his face. “You know, I started out with the best intentions.”

“You did…” she said, sly smile growing.

“But he had to go flapping his lips.”

“Yup.” She nodded. “He could stand to learn some patience.”

Rian winked at Mira and flagged down the bar keep. “Excuse me, miss,” he said once he had her attention. “What’s the weirdest drink you can make? Like, something you’d have to be out of your mind to order?”

A few minutes later, Rian put a stein full of a greenish-brown liquid down in front of Gurjin. “Uh, what’s this?” Gurjin asked, inspecting the drink from a safe distance.

“You did tell me to surprise you,” Rian said, a rascally gleam in his eye.

“It looks like you dipped the stein in the castle sewers.”

“I can, in fact, verify that Rian got that drink from the bar keep,” Mira added as if she were giving a patrol report.

“Ah, so she’s the one who dipped it in the sewer.”

Mira laughed. “She called it fizzgig dung.”

“How appealing…” Gurjin looked down at the cup as if the name was literal.

“Drink up, pal.” Rian clapped a hand down on Gurjin’s shoulder. “That’s all for you.”

“Alright.” He pulled a face like he was about to single-handedly conduct the deterge. “Here goes nothing.” He lifted the stein and tapped it against his friends’ cups.

“Vliya!” Mira cheered.

“Eh, vliya yourself,” Gurjin grumbled in return.

Rian chuckled. “That doesn’t even make sense.”

“Eh, shut up.” Gurjin put the drink to his lips and, never one to do anything by halves, swallowed a large gulp. He slammed the stein back down as he gagged and coughed. “Ugh that is rancid,” he said, tears forming in his eyes. He sunk down and put his head on the table. “Someone fetch my mother. I want to go home.”

“It can’t be that bad,” Rian said.

“It can.” Gurjin’s head snapped up. “Why in Thra would you do that to me?”

“I was going to get you an elm,” Rian explained, “but you had to start yapping like a fizzgig. Thought you could use a lesson in patience.”

“Lesson learned.” Gurjiin slid the stein over to Rian. “You try it.”

Rian slid it back. “Why would I want to try it?”

“’This is terrible, you try’”, Mira laughed. “What a compelling argument!”

Rian looked down at the half-empty cup, curiosity seeping into his brain. “I mean… you know what? Okay.”

Mira looked aghast. “You can’t be serious!”

“Well…” Rian shrugged and offered her a half-hearted smile. He really had no explanation other than the solidarity of sharing a disgusting experience with a friend.

As he lifted the drink to his lips, Gurjin shot him a wicked smirk. “Hey Rian,” he said, “Vliya!”

“Yeah, right, Vliya.” Rian drank and felt a burning sensation down his throat. The taste was indescribable. “Ugh, I just drank Arathim poison!” he shouted, slamming the stein down.

Gurjin roared with laughter. “Not so funny now, is it?”

Rian took a sip of his beer, begging for it to wash out the aftertaste. “The name warns you about the taste, but not the burning.”

“No it does not, but hey!” Gurjin slapped Rian on the back. “Think of it as practice for the day you and I try Grotton glow spirit.”

“Uh-huh,” Rian grimaced. “And that’ll be the day I die.”

Gurjin nodded and took a drink from Rian’s beer. “Yup, just dig a grave behind me so I can fall backward into it.”

“Oh, I know about glow spirit,” Mira put in.

“You’ve had it?” Gurjin asked. He looked almost impressed.

“No, but I’ve heard rumors.”

“So have I. Apparently it’s ten times stronger than Uncle Norlan’s secret recipe.”

“Who’s Uncle Norlan?” Mira asked.

“My Uncle Norlan,” said Gurjin.

“Drenchen moonshine,” Rian explained. “I’ve had his uncle’s secret recipe. If glow spirit’s any stronger, it’ll melt the spires off the Castle of the Crystal.”

Mira grinned. “Well, in that case, we have to try it.”

“Yes, but until then, what do you say we wash the taste out of our mouths with a song.” Gurjin grabbed a pair of spoons and set them down in front of Rian.

“Oh, we’ve reached that point in the night, have we?” Rian said, picking up the spoons. He pinched them between his fingers, ready to play.

“I didn’t know you could play spoons,” Mira said, smiling at him.

“I had to learn.” Rian smiled back. “Gurjin’s inner-bard comes out after a few drinks and he demands accompaniment.”

“What am I, if not a crowd pleaser?” Gurjin smirked. “Go on, start.”

Rian adjusted his spoons and got his knee into position. “You start, I’ll follow.”

“Very well.” Gurjin stood up, took another gulp of Rian’s beer, and launched into a classic Drenchen folk song. Rian did his best to keep the beat. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Mira beaming at him.

“What other secret talents have you been hiding from me?” she purred.

His heart pounded and his face flushed. He missed a few beats, but Gurjin didn’t seem to notice. He played on as he lost himself in Mira’s beautiful eyes. This night, he decided, was a complete success. And he was sure, someday, when he was old and gray, he’d look back on this night and the memory would warm his heart like a cozy fire in a lively tavern.