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The first thing that hit him was the smell. Candied fruit. He couldn’t suppress a smile. Vex and Scanlan had kidnapped him from his shop, no doubt after some conspiring with Sherri, but they had not wanted to tell him where they were going. All he had gotten out of them was that they thought he needed a break. And he supposed that they weren’t wrong exactly, it had been a while since he had had a fun outing that was just that, fun. Nevertheless, he did not like being in the dark. But the smell hitting his nose, combined with the sound of joyful people and the glimmering of lights he saw ahead, made him release some of the tension that he held in his shoulders.
“I did not know there was a festival today?” He looked inquisitively at the half-elf woman walking beside him.
“A travelling carnival has been here for the better part of the week, and somehow they managed to convince enough important people to turn it into a big city-wide event!” Vex winked at him, suggesting she knew exactly who were responsible for this.
Just as Gilmore was about to reply, he felt two arms snaking around him from the back, enveloping in a hug. Chapped lips pecked his cheek, and from the corner of his eye he saw Vax’s sneaky grin as he retreated.
“There you are, finally! It’s good to see you again, Shaun!” The rogue was uncharacteristically excited and almost bouncing on his feet as he walked backwards in front of Gilmore, his hand reaching out to grab the hand of a red-headed woman with antlers on her head.
Once upon a time Gilmore would have been sad to see Vax together with his girlfriend Keyleth, but time heals a lot of wounds, and at this point he was mostly glad to see him alive and happy. There was nothing quite like some near-death experiences to forget the mild heartbreak from the past. That didn’t mean he didn’t have a pang of jealousy at the sight of the several couples in the group of friends that had now all joined him. He had a good life, great friends and a booming business, but he could not help feeling lonely at times. Not that he would ever admit to it, especially not to Vox Machina. If the twins would hear about it they would probably try to set him up with some random man faster than he could blink. No, he kept his musings to himself, and led himself be dragged along to see all that the festival had to offer.
Several candied apples, and drinks, later, he found himself watching Grog taking part in an arm-wrestling competition. The party had split up. Vex and Percy had been drawn to the shooting stalls, where they were attempting to best each other at winning each other the biggest prizes, Vax and Keyleth had been distracted by a pen filled with small, fluffy animals, and he, Pike and Scanlan had remained to support Grog in this competition he could easily win. Still, despite the lack of tension, Shaun could not help watching intently. Grog was bare-chested, as usual, but Gilmore was not often in the position to admire him when all his muscles were at work. Most of the times Grog’s strength only came out in combat, and Gilmore would be too busy fighting and staying alive to observe. Now, Gilmore was not one for objectifying, but Grog truly was the beefiest man he had ever seen, and he could not help wondering what it would be like to be held by those arms. Some sweat was dripping of Grog’s brow and it trickled down the side of his face, only to be caught by his beard. Shaun sighed, scolding himself slightly for the intense ogling he was doing, but surely there was no harm in simply admiring his friend’s physique?
His musings were interrupted by Grog letting out a yell as he pushed his opponent’s arm on the table. He immediately looked towards where his friends were, and gave them a satisfied grin and a thumbs up. The host of the contest walked up and hoisted Grog’s arm in the air, declaring him the winner. The surrounding crowd applauded as a medal was placed around Grog’s neck, and Gilmore smiled at Grog’s obvious pride.
“Well done, big man! Where do we want to go next?” he asked the gnomes beside him while Grog made his way over.
“Ooh, I think we haven’t seen that street yet!” Pike tugged his arm to lead the way.
Gilmore made sure to keep his eye on her, as it was all too easy to lose the gnomes in a crowd like this. Looking behind him he saw that Grog had solved that issue by just putting Scanlan on his shoulder, although the gnome put on a fake performance of being disgruntled by the manhandling. The four made their way through the crowd to the small alley that Pike had pointed out. It seemed to contain market-like stalls with all kinds of unusual merchandise. Pike clapped her hands together excitedly.
“I’ve been meaning to find some cool jewellery, and it’s almost the twins’ birthday! Let’s go!” She tugged Gilmore with her with more force than seemed possible for someone of her size.
Gilmore looked back to see if the other two were still following, and saw them having a what looked to be conspirational conversation, if the looks on their faces said anything. He made eye contact with Grog, who quickly looked away, followed by Scanlan shouting that they would be right back, and to stay in that alley. Huh. He wondered what that was about. He shook his head and focused on Pike’s musings on what colour gemstone Vex would appreciate more.
The two quickly got lost in their search for the perfect gift, and managed to find a gorgeous sapphire necklace for Vex. Shaun had even indulged and bought himself some gold and platinum rings, for his growing collection. He was just in the process of examining some gem earrings when suddenly a soft object was pressed into his hands. He looked up and saw Grog standing in front of him, sheepishly looking away. Gilmore looked back down and realised it was a velvet, purple unicorn, perhaps the most gaudy thing he had ever seen. Rhinestones had been used to create a face and the horn was adorned with glitters. He looked up at Grog again and the man seemed a bit red in the face. Was he… blushing?
“I won that for you. I saw it hanging in a stall in the other street and uh- I thought you should have it. Because of the shop.” Grog stammered, intently looking at the unicorn, and not at his face.
“I – Thank you Grog, I don’t know what to say, it is – well, it is perfect really. I will give it an honorary spot in the shop!” Grog beamed at him and shuffled away to look at the fake crown Scanlan was showing to Pike.
Gilmore looked at the goliath curiously, before hugging the unicorn a bit closer and returning his gaze to the emerald earrings he had been admiring before.
An hour or so later, the group had reunited once more, and Gilmore found he drew quite a bit of attention with the stuffed animal. Vex demanded to know at once where he had found such a perfect representation of his own logo, and several eyes turned to him when he said that Grog had won it for him, although he couldn’t really pinpoint why.
“Grog won that for you, huh. That’s very kind and thoughtful of him.” Vex looked at Grog intently, before returning her stare to Shaun.
“Yes, he is the perfect example of a loyal promoter of my shop. Good luck trying to beat this!” He looked around with a teasing smile, but the mood of the table seemed to have shifted slightly, and he did not get the reaction he expected.
“That’s Grog for you, a loyal promoter!” Vex said in a somewhat strained way.
Gilmore frowned a little, but Scanlan changed the subject and started egging people on to join him in some drinking games, and before long the topic of the unicorn was forgotten.
It wasn’t until later, when Shaun locked the door of his house behind him and placed the unicorn on the table that he remembered the conversation again. He wondered about the sudden shift in the mood, and what it was exactly that had caused it. Grog had given him a stuffed animal that looked like his shop’s logo. There was nothing weird about that, was there? The group had been connected to his shop for so long, he was their sponsor, so it made sense that Grog would get him this unicorn. He looked at the toy once more and stroked the soft velvet. So why where they disappointed with his reaction? Sure, it was somewhat out of character for Grog to give him gifts, and he had looked a bit embarrassed by it, but that did not mean anything. Did it?
He shook his head and decided to call it a night. He dimmed the lights, made his way to the stairs, but when his foot touched the first step he hesitated a second. He looked over his shoulder. He turned around resolutely, grabbed the soft toy from the table and walked up the stairs briskly. His slightly drunk mind might be unable to make sense of the events of the day, but a handsome man, his friend, won him the softest toy and if he wanted to fall asleep while hugging a stuffed unicorn, there was no one there to stop him.