Page 8 of Storm to Victory
“It’s all right. Spending time with everyone is also nice.” Pip swung their clasped hands before she leaned slightly closer. “And seeing the way you squirm around Merrik and Adry is hilarious.”
Fieran heaved a sigh, his gaze drifting to where Merrik and Adry walked ahead, their hands clasped, Adry leaning into Merrik as she pointed at something. “Glad someone finds it funny. It isn’t even that I’m against it or anything. It’s Merrik. I couldn’t ask for someone better for my sister. It’s just…”
Pip peered up at him, her eyes searching his face. “What?”
“You’re going to laugh. It’s ridiculous.” Fieran didn’t really want to admit the truth out loud. He already knew how silly it would sound.
Pip opened her mouth, as if to promise that she wouldn’t, before she closed her mouth and shrugged. “Okay, yes, I probably will laugh. But you still need to tell someone and get it out of your system.”
Fieran swung their hands again, letting some of the bustle of Defense City come between them and the others. “When Merrik and I were little, I resented when Adry got old enough to join us. It felt like she was stealing my friend, and I just wanted to hang out with Merrik without my little sister tagging along.”
“And now it kind of feels the same way. Like your sister is stealing your best friend from you.” Strangely, Pip didn’t laugh.Instead she wrapped her free hand around his arm, tugging him closer.
“It’s silly, I know.” Fieran exhaled, trying to relax the tightness inside him. “Their romantic relationship is completely different than our friendship. And I’m not losing a friend. I could gain the best brother a man could ask for. It’s just…”
“Complicated, given how long the lot of you have been friends. And family.” Pip paused for a moment before she burst into laughter.
“See. I told you that you’d laugh.” Fieran found himself smiling. Talking it over with Pip was helping. He didn’t want to resent Merrik and Adry’s relationship at all. Especially since he was rather in favor of it. This was his own problem he had to work through.
“I’m not laughing at that.” Pip waved a hand at where Merrik and Adry had paused at an open-fronted booth selling elven shampoos and conditioners. “Let me guess. Merrik was the one who played the peacemaker and tried to stop your childhood fights with Adry?”
“Yes…” Fieran dragged out the word, his smile growing.
“Poor man. He’s willingly signing up to keep doing that the rest of his life.” Pip shook her head, an exaggerated sorrowful expression on her face.
“He’d likely do that anyway. This just makes it more convenient.” Fieran found himself grinning and hurrying his and Pip’s pace so that they could catch up with the others.
Just as they caught up with Merrik and Adry, Lt. Rothilion and Mak meandering a few paces ahead of them, a voice called out over the crowd a moment before Stickyfingers, Lije, and Aylia hurried up to them.
“No moving picture?” Fieran raised his eyebrows.
“The tickets for the first few showings were already sold out.” Lije dug into a pocket before he pulled out a ticket. “But we gottickets for the 14:00 showing. It should end just in time for us to catch the truck back.”
“Most of the others who didn’t get tickets decided to go to one of the taverns.” Stickyfingers shrugged, his hands stuck in his pockets, a rather disappointed slump to his shoulders.
“We decided to track all of you down instead.” Aylia grinned, her long hair drifting around her. “So where are you headed?”
“Some of the dwarves set up booths, and we were going to try to find them.” Pip gestured at the street ahead of them.
“See? I knew you’d be doing something fun.” Aylia fell into step with them, Lije and Stickyfingers falling in behind them.
Well, this date was getting rather crowded. Fieran shared a look with Pip, shrugged, and they set off once again.
After wandering the narrow dirt streets for a while and finally asking for directions, they located the street where the dwarves had set up open-fronted, rather ramshackle booths.
This alley was quieter, tucked far into the labyrinth of the growing entertainment town. The booths left the street too narrow for vehicles, leaving the pedestrians free to wander as they wished. With such a large group, they spread out among the various booths.
Stickyfingers, Lije, and Aylia wandered a section of booths with various dwarven foods and drinks. Mak waved and halted by a booth, striking up a conversation in dwarvish with the male dwarf behind the booth. Perhaps he was another Detmuk dwarf since he and Mak seemed to know each other.
Lt. Rothilion drifted with his hands clasped behind his back, staying several feet away from the booths as he perused without taking a specific interest in any of them.
Fieran gripped Pip’s hand and let her tug him where she wanted. First across the street to try dwarven salt taffy. Then kitty-corner across the way to look at an array of metal objects. Across the street again to look at a booth with small figurinescarved out of rock. The random, scattered, excited way of viewing the booths suited him just fine.
Pip tugged him to the next booth over, their clasped hands still somewhat sticky from the taffy. “Ooh! Look at these!”
This booth held an array of leather armor items. Merrik and Adry were already there, examining one of the leather bracers.
“Those look great.” Fieran reached to pick up one of the bracers, but Adry bumped him hard enough to halt him.
