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“There aren’t any tanks.” A black haired cat boy spoke with confidence, having come back from the spot he was looking. The miqo’te seemed to just accept this as fact, and the hrothgar in his group shrugged and said with a relatively thick accent, “Well, it seems waiting is in order.”
The viera standing in the group did not look impressed, they seemed to be looking through their grimoire with an annoyed energy to it before they closed it and said, “There can’t be. You checked everywhere?”
“I checked everywhere that people were looking for partners.” The miqo’te shrugged and crossed his arms, leaning against the post as he looked out onto the waves, “It’s not a big deal, we can attempt our foray into the depths of Sastasha on another day.”
The viera rolled their eyes and said, “We said this yesterday too, quite honestly I’m sick of waiting. If we want to handle this we should be running in there now.”
“And get killed? Your carbuncle will handle enemies as well as a piece of paper.”
The viera gasped and ducked down next to their yellow, mouse-like familiar and gave it a pet, “It’s okay Skjold, I know you could take it.”
“As well as it took that goobbue?”
“That wasn’t his fault, that was my fault.” the redhead stood up and fixed their hair and looked around for a second, “I’m gonna go ask in the Drowning Wench.” and took off walking with the carbuncle following slowly behind.
The miqo’te looked over to the hrothgar in a bit of worry before following after and said, “Haru, I didn’t want to annoy people trying to rest and eat.”
“I won’t just ask anyone. I’ll make sure to eye around, find someone who looks ready for battle.” Haru started moving a bit faster as the cat boy’s ears flattened a bit as he asked, “In a tavern? Battle ready?”
“You worry too much Grimnir.”
“I worry just enough.” Grimnir scoffed as he looked back to see if their hrothgar friend was still behind them, which he was, but he just looked a bit confused and shrugged at him when Grimnir looked back.
As they reached the Drowning Wrench, they looked inside and there seemed to be a fairly full house, given how close it was to lunch hours. Many tables were filled with drunken sailors telling tales to woo the ladies of the city, who seemed enamored by them. Though they seemed to show equal excitement at the drinks that were being given to them for free. Everyone seemed to be the standard crowd, except one notable exception.
A man with horns and a lizard tail, taking a seat at an empty table with a plate full of meat… in full plate armor. He seemed to stare a bit confused at the food before shifting to chow down on it and Grimnir said out loud, “I’ve never seen someone like that… the horns, I mean. Not the plate.”
“It is a... um… what is your tongue’s way… Auri man.” The hrothgar managed
“Auri?”
“Men of near and far east. Though his horns.. blacker than I am used to…” he admitted as he looked back and said, “Should we uh, stop him?”
As Grimnir turned around Haru was rapidly approaching the table and Grimnir said at first a whisper, “Haru…” before saying louder but trying to sound hushed as he reached out to stop him, “Haru!” and he cringed up as he curled his hand into a ball and took a deep breath and relaxed and looked to his companion, “Bazel, how have you been putting up with him for so long?”
“He makes for, uh, interesting company.” Bazel shrugged before smiling and said, “He gets results, and I talk less. Winner winner.”
Grimnir put his hands up to his eyes and rubbed them before walking over, “Alright let's play damage control.”
“It is probably...” Bazel stopped to make air quotes, “...okay.”
At the table, the au ra male was ready to take another bite of his dinner when suddenly a red headed viera sat at the table. At first, he didn’t know how to take it. It was less about the fact it was a viera, a seemingly male viera as rare as they were. But rather, the sudden intrusion at his table. He slowly put the meal down and said with a pretty thick accent, “E-excuse me, sir. This table is-”
“Hello fellow warrior.” they started with a grin on their face as the au ra blinked and corrected, “I am a gladiator, actual-”
“You seem to be someone who is capable of taking a hit or two and I am asking if you would be interested in joining a couple of adventurers on a mission into the depths of-”
“Sastasha?” the male stared a moment before saying, “I’ve heard tale of the mission there, yes. But I am currently eating my-”
“Join our party.”
“-meal.” He made certain to finish as he finally bit into his food. He tried to ignore the viera for quite a bit of time as he ate, but he seemed to keep sitting there patiently, as two people slowly approached behind him.
After a pause for a moment, the viera slammed the table, making other people in the room stop talking to look over for a moment. The viera stood up and bowed their head at him, nearing close to the table and yelled, “Please join our party!”
“Haru… quit causing a scene.” The cat boy replied quietly as he looked around at the other tables. The viera kept their head low for a moment before looking up and placing a hand to their chest and spoke, “I am Haru Starborn. I am an arcanist.” They pointed to the miqo’te and introduced, “This is Grimnir Fellowvein, he is an archer.” and then shifted to the hrothgar and continued, “And this is Bazel Danicasch, he is a scholar.”
Haru then looked back to the au ra and said calmly, “We’ve been having trouble finding a tank and we would truly appreciate it if you joined us.”
The au ra nodded, looking mostly confused at the situation as he slowly said, “A…allow me to finish my meal? And then we can discuss this?”
“The food is secondary to-” Haru felt the air leave them as Grimnir elbowed them to cut them off. They held their side and the cat boy smiled, “Food actually sounds good right now. Perhaps we should rest a minute.”
Somehow without the au ra’s permission, the other three ended up setting up shop at that table. Grimnir ordering himself a pretty standard dodo lunch, Bazel ordering himself a ‘thavnairian style salad’ and making occasional mumbles about it in a different language. Haru sat there with a dessert plate of strawberry cake. And reluctantly had a sandwich there that Grimnir ordered for them. The bunny was not eating it and was instead playing with one of the strawberries staring at the au ra with intensity.
The au ra seemed to stare back, confused by such intensity. And as soon as he finished the last bite, Haru opened up their mouth to speak as the au ra said, “I’ll pass.”
Haru looked almost heartbroken before the au ra chuckled, grabbing his tea at the side of his meal as he said, “I am just… pulling your leg is the expression, right?”
“That is a new one.” Bazel mumbled to himself as he pulled out his notebook and wrote it down and the au ra shrugged. Grimnir laughed a little bit as Haru’s expression went from heartbreak to confusion. The au ra then clarified, “I’ve got nothing better to do, and no one has run up and asked so… eagerly. I feel like refusing would seem silly.”
“Excellent!” Haru got up only for Grimnir to immediately pull them down, “Eat.”
With the intensity having calmed down, the bunny boy happily reached towards the cake before the miqo’te pulled it away, leaving him with the sandwich. He looked at it and frowned, but started eating it while Grimnir stole a strawberry and ate it and said, “Sorry about the introduction, Haru can be a bit… single minded when they have a goal in mind.”
The au ra shrugged a bit, without much of a response at that before Haru looked up at him and said, “So what is your name?”
“E…” he seemed to trail off in thought for a moment, like he was recalling a bit of annoyance before saying, “Aedion. Aedion Sarious.”
“Aedion. Not the name I expected.”
Grimnir looked at him in confusion and Haru looked back and shrugged, “It's a softer name. I expected it to be something like Strongjaw or Knifeface.”
“Aren’t those Hellsguard last names?” Grimnir mocked.
“Isn’t Grimnir a hyur name?” Haru mocked back. He took another huge bite out of his sandwich and said, “No, Haru isn't a hyur name.”
Grimnir shook his head and said, “I wasn’t going to ask.” and watched as Haru finished up the sandwich fast and took the cake back as Bazel whispered, “Breathe child.” Haru took a deep breath before they went completely still and ate their cake as if to enjoy it.
Aedion watched, a mixture of mesmerization and horror as he wondered just what he got himself into as Haru finally addressed him, “So are you from Eorzea?”
“No.” was all the au ra said back. Grimnir and Bazel looked unwilling to press as Haru seemed undeterred, “Do you like it here?”
“Sure.” Aedion replied and Haru smiled, “That’s good. I haven’t fully been able to explore it yet, but I am excited to. Maybe we should all explore the sights together.”
“Perhaps we finish business in Sastasha first?” Bazel interrupted
“Right right right. I didn’t forget it. I’m simply speaking about after that.” Haru clarified.
Grimnir rolled his eyes and said, “He’ll get sick of you before you finish.”
“You haven’t gotten sick of me yet.” Haru grinned mischievously at Grimnir, who’s ears flattened in annoyance and his tail twitched with it, “Don’t test me.”
Haru shrugged and pointed at Aedion and said, “You couldn’t lie to me, you have the heart of an adventurer. I can see it in your eyes.” they pointed towards the other two and continued, “They do as well. And I don’t think it needs to be said that I also have a case of wanderlust. But for you I simply leave the opportunity at the door. Not for adventure, I think you could do that on your own. But for companionship. Camaraderie.”
Aedion simply blinked at the viera and raised a hand to their chin to ponder a moment before stating simply, “We see how this goes. Then… perhaps.”
Haru grinned widely and exclaimed, “Perhaps!”
Bazel tilted his head curiously, “Perhaps?”
Grimnir simply pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, “Perhaps.”