The dance had stopped
The crowd had dispersed.
I found myself in the company of seven
The five human musicians
The lone elephant
And
Hljóe-
Mister Butler…
Strange company.
“Your one hell of a funny dancer, miss”
“Who are yuo caling fnuny? My danse was expertly dnoe”
I responded, sipping on a glass of beer.
Sitting in a bar that looked more human than faun
Also, holding more humans than fauns, the bartender included.
According to the five musicians, this is the best bar in town
Which they are technically correct at
If you count in the fact that this is the only bar in town.
“Yeah yeah, sure. But I have to thank you, your absurd display gained us a well-deserved audience. Now we’ll be swimming in requests!”
A cheer, clinking their glasses into one another
A big chug from the group of humans
Including me
Then the elephant spoke.
“I have to agree, you have showed me something splendid, a scene which I’ve travelled far to see.”
Piquing my interest, I leaned over the table, trying to sneak a peak at his painting.
Which he, in return, pulled back a bit
“It’s not done yet. I have to add some colours and correct some parts before I can mass produce it, but once it’s done, I’ll give you the first copy”
“YES! Plesase do!”
A loud yell, making a nearby table look over in interest.
A small laugh from the elephant
“Haha, yes girl, you are very interesting. I like people like you, non-caring”
“Hey! I care, I just... Dont care enough?”
Another round of laughter
And a raised arm, with a glass in hand
“To the funny dancer”
And in unison, the group said:
“To the funny dancer!”
Clinking their glasses, drinking greedily
I, in turn,did the same.
Quicker than I’ve ever done before
Faster than anyone on the table
Letting it slide down my throat as I eyed the group of five musicians
Which they saw, trying to outpace me
Starting an impromptu race
Which I handedly won
“Aaaaah. Stoff taht yuo slow Drinkers!”
A grimace showing on one of their faces
“Hehe, well then, next beer is on me. Oi barkeep, six beers here please!”
“Coming right up!”
The barkeep yelled out, slowly filling the glasses, not minding the way he was spoken to
Or maybe not caring.
I looked back to our table.
Feeling a bit overwhelmed
Realising that I had already drunk six glasses of beer
Maybe seven?
It’s a little too much
I usually stop at three.
But today...
Is a little different.
Sneaking a glance at mister Butler
I meet his eyes.
Quickly lookingaway. Instead, I locked eyes with the elephant.
Who gave me a smug smile
Ah you crap.
Of course the big elephant is the most observant one.
“Heeeey! Elephant guy! Wehre are yuo from!”
I yelled to him, slurring my words a bit
“Haha, you dont have to yell girl. But to answer your question, a far, far way from here”
A light laugh and talking with a confident tone
Not slurringa single word, even after sinking eight beers
Stupid... Elehpant!
“You cheeter! U use magic to not be-“
A loud thud, looking to the source
I find six new beers.
Mmmmhm
Just what I needed
I quickly grab one, chugging a fourth of itbefore dropping it
Getting a funny eye from the elephant.
“As i siad, You ar cheting!”
“I did not know we were in a game.”
“LIFe IS GAME! U JUST DODNT PLAY BY RULSE!”Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
I yelled angrily, letting my hand hit the table to emphasize my anger.
And missing splendidly, almost falling over
Or rather, I would have fallen, if mister Butler had not caught me
The group of five humans laughing loudly at the sight
One even tearing up.
I quickly shooed mister Butler away
Sitting up straight
Not giving him a glance
Not even thanking.
“Haha, I agree dancer. Life is just a big game! And right now you''re winning it!”
One of the musicians said, holding his beer high
I gave him a big toothy grin
Trying to look at him, but feeling my head tilt too much
And trying to compensate for the weight, I find myself tilting too much the other way.
Stupid head
Why are you so heavy?
The five musicians laughing at the sight
Starting to talk amongst themselves.
Why can''t I sit still
Stupid chair
It’s your fault
Hmmm
Yeah...
I could build a better chair than this
This one is stupidly small
It doesn’t even have back support.
If I built a chair, I would build...
Eeeeeh.
I would build...
Looking up, I took a sip from my beer.
Realising that I’ve zoned out, missing the better part of a conversation
“..... to hire you”
One of the humans said, looking at the elephant,
The elephant,in turn,started to stroke the top of his head
Looking like an old man thinking
But what made it funny
Was that he used his snout.
“PPpppppffff”
I spilled my drink.
Dripping from my closed mouth
Trying to hold it in.
The group of five looked at me funny, but not responding.
Although the elephant seemed to not notice
“Hmmm. I’m sorry, but I have to decline. Not to offend you guys, but I doesn''t find you guys fun enough to paint. On the other paw”
He then looked at me
Two big eyes
Flapping ears
And his snout still scratching his head
“HAhahahaha!”
I laughed, pointing at his head.
“I find this human to be absolutelythrilling.”
A big smile forming on his face.
One of the five musicians responded with a sigh
“Aaaaah, well yeah, you got us there. No beating her. And no offence taken.”
Saying that, he quickly drank his beer, finishing it and nodding to his compatriots.
“Well, we should get going. It’s late and we need to be up early tomorrow. Dont want people to forget about us, you know?”
Then the group finished their beers, moving up and going.
I found myself frowning
You bunch of light weights
Thinkingthat as I finished my beer
Getting a funny look from the elephant.
“Hehe, girl, I’m not saying this to be mean, but will you be alright?”
Huh.
Waht Are U siayng Elehpant
“I’ma alr-“
“She will be alright, I’m here for that”
Mister Butler responded.
My eyes going wide
Staring at him
Meeting a smile
...
Shaking my head, I felt it spin
Almost falling, but quickly catching myself
Slowly looking up towards the elephant.
“I’m completelyaright”
“Haha, if you say so. Well, I’m staying at an inn near the wall north of here. Search for thesinging faunand you’ll find me”
After saying that, he stood up
Chair creaking unfavorably
“Then I’m going girl, it’s been very fun”
Then he took off
Leaving me alone.
...
“BARTERNED! ONE MORE BEER!”
Giving me an awkward look, he shrugged and started pouring one more.
Three beers later, and a bar tab I forgot to pay
I made my way outside
Mister Butler stayed behindfor some reason.
Feeling the cold night air hitting me
I felt the ground shake
Or rather sway
Why is walking so hard?
I thought my legs were healed.
Falling over multiple times, I walking unsteadily
To where?
I don''t know
It just felt right
I just need to walk right now
I need
Some time to think
...
Why would he do that?
Why does he have to do something so stupid?
Why do I
“Wait up! I need to take you home.”
Mister Butler called after me
Saying something stupid
Home?
“Home? I have no home.”
“You have a home here, come, let’s go.”
Gaining on me, he stopped at my side, moving his hand to support me
Slapping it away
I screamed.
“GET AWAY! I DONT NEED YOU”
Walking back, eyes widening
My eyes widening
I felt shocked.
How could I say that?
Turning around, I started running
Using every ounce of my strength
I ran fast
Faster than the wind
Tripping multiple times
Even running into buildings
But not stopping.
I was outside.
Outside of the protection of the walls
Outside of him.
I’m alone.
I’m...
“YOU STUPID DRAAAAAGON! WHERE ARE YOU!”
I screamed into the night.
Echoing throughout the quiet land.
No response
Moon shining down on me
Glowing the surrounding rocks
Taunting me
“DRAAAGON! WHEEEERE AAARE YOOOOU!”
I screamed.
And I screamed
“WHEEERE ARE YOOOU!”
“WHERE ARE YOOOOU!”
“DRAAAAGON!”
DRAGON!
I NEED YOU HERE NOW
I NEED HELP
I...
Miss you.
“Dragon”
A sob
A quiet sob.
Loud wind hit my ears
Forcing me to the ground
Hitting my butt
Making me close my eyes
“Can you not scream so loud human? I can hear you veryeasily you know”
A voice
An echo
Something I know
Someone I know.
I looked up
Meeting something huge
Something that could rival mountains in size
Sparkling bright blue
Eyes glowing brighter than even the moon
Something so beautiful
So precious
Eyes tearing up
I stood up, falling down.
But standing up again
I quickly made my way to mister Dragon
Going for the hug
But getting shoved in response
Falling on my butt again
“Human, No touching”
A small laugh
Rubbing my eyes
Looking up, locking my sight with his
“I missed you.”
“I did not miss you”
“Hehe, well.. Why are you here then?”
“Hrmpf, a Dragon always upholds his promises, so I will make sure you uphold yours, nothing more, nothing less”
Same old
Same old.
“You never change. Do you mister dragon?”
“I’m eternal, change does not come easy for me”
“But you can change?”
“If I so choose”
“Then I’ve decided. I’m gonna make you admit that we are friends!”
“As if, human. Someone as lowly as you could never do such a thing.”
“Hehehe, dragon, sometimes you''re to obvious. And I love you for it”
“Obvious? Human, tell me how, in the seven worlds, that I am in even a small part, slightly close to being obvious?”
“Then I would have to tell you what I’m thinking about”
“Thinking? What do you mean human?”
“Yeah, who knows. Who knows”
A big smile forming on my face
A big frown forming on his
I think
As I’ve said before, I can''t read dragon expressions very well
“But I tell you what, give me a hug, and I’ll tell you”
“What, how dare you. You lowly human, you should be happy that I even deigned to come here, to speak to you, to sho-“
“Yeah yeah, I know you will. Do you want to know or not?”
...
A long silence
Eyes glancing down at me
“One hug.”
“WOOHOOO!”
Yelling that, I ran up to mister dragon
Jumping several meters, until I reached his leg
Which I quickly started climbing
“Human, I said one hug”
“This is not a hug, I’m just climbing, I wanna hug your throat”
“Is this a poor attempt at an assassination?”
“Haha no you big silly, a big hug requires a hug to the neck. But you are too big so I have to climb to get to it”
“Hrmpf, very well. But make it quick”
“Of course”
An obvious lie
Moving deliberately slowly
Feeling his scales on my hands
Warm
And weirdly slimy.
“Hey, why are you so slimy? Are you sweating?”
“Human! Do not speak ill of my scales.”
“You should bath, this feels prettynasty”
“YOU DARE SPEAK LIKE THIS HUMAN! YOU.. STUPID!”
“HAHAHA Sorry! Haha, but you''re just to funny!”
A long laugh
A warm laugh
Climbing mister dragon
Feeling the vibrations of his rage
But staying still, so verystill
Letting me climb easily
Which I enjoyed
Every lastbit of.
And soon.
I found myself by his neck
And hugged it tightly.
Letting seconds turn to minutes
A silence embracing us
A comfortable silence.
His breathing making me jut out
His warmth filling me up
His slime making me slimy
...
I will need a bath after this.
“Human, can you jump off now?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“I like this”
And a new silence
Me feeling contempt
And a smile wide on my face
I like to think this means that me and mister dragon has come closer
Our friendship deepening
It felt good.
A while later, I finally jumped down
Mind you, not willingly.
An hour into our hug, he started whining
Saying that“This was not part of the deal”
Me responding with “Of course it was”
Hehe, you must be more specific mister Dragon
“Now, human, Tell me what you where thinking about.”
“Not now.”
“Not now?”
“I’ll tell you later”
“When is later?”
“I dont know”
“How can you not know? You said you would tell me”
“I never said when”
Going quiet at that
I could feel the surrounding area growing hot
Everything going brighter
Getting painted in blue
“You-yo...YOU STUPID HUMAN, I EVEN CAME BACK FOR YOU, EVEN AFTER YOU TALKED SO MUCH SHIT! YOU EVEN WALKED AWAY FROM ME ME?! OF ALL DRAGONS YOU DARED SPEAK ILL OF ME. DO YOU KNOW HOW ANGRY I WAS? ME! ANGRY, FROM A LOUSY HUMAN, AND NOW YOU HAVE TRICKED ME AGAIN, YOU ARE SO STUPID, HUMAN, YOU KNOW WHAT, I HATE YOU, I SO DONT W-“
And on and on he continued
Firing flames of blue everywhere
Even scorching my clothes
Burning me.
But through it all
I smiled, even the small burn marks feeling like nothing
A big smile
Content.
Hehe, this is my revenge mister dragon
And.
Thanks for coming back
It really means a lot to me.