Christmas... get-together
While Ithi and Mist are travelling around Ithi meets some familiar faces... (1151 words)
They arrived at the town early afternoon and decided to check in at the inn right then. At least they didn’t have to carry their stuff around anymore which already had been a bother thanks to all the snow. Ithelan had glanced at Mist as he looked around, watching all the lights hung up at the houses. He himself didn’t really care about them as long as he got something warm to drink. Damn cold, if he had known he wouldn’t have sold the ring.
They stayed in the warm inn for long, unfortunately, because Mist heard that the townspeople were celebrating a festival called christmas and after the barmaid explained what it was about, something about giving each other presents, he pulled Ithelan to the market. Good, he could use the time to stock up on ingredients he needed for spells but the cold really got to him and after it started to snow again he left Mist on his own to go back.
At the inn there was a surprise waiting. An unpleasant one, at least for him. The barmaid on the other hand enjoyed the full house, shuffling around the tables to get everyone their drinks and food. The common customers were sitting there, travellers with tired faces, happy to finally get a meal. At one table there was a dragonborn sitting over a meal who caught the eye of the others but he didn’t seem to mind the few gazes the people shot him. And the oddest bunch of them all was catching his eye even though they weren’t sitting together at all. It was the chaos group he saw back where that amulet was. Ithelan walked to the table he and Mist sat at earlier, drinking mulled wine. Some of the people looked at him, but didn’t pay any more attention to him. Wearing a heavy cloak wasn’t uncommon as well as hoods covering the face. At least he wore a different one so they probably shouldn’t remember him anyway. As soon as he sat at a table the barmaid placed a cup in front of him. “Something to warm you up,” she said before she left again. Oh, she sure was happy to have something to do. Ithelan had overheard her complaining about how she cleaned the place twice in the morning out of boredom when he entered the inn for the first time. He sipped on the drink but stopped, looking at it with surprise. That tasted so much like chocolate. A bit too much for him but having something warm in his hands was a pleasant feeling. Finally he put off the hood and looked around a bit.
There was a big tree in one corner next to a fireplace, decorated with ornaments and stuff that really causes too much work to clean up again. In front of there, on a blanket that was placed on the floor sat the dwarf they saved back then, together with her elven friend. They were holding plates with some cookies, while cups were standing beside them. They were talking and gesticulating with each other while the music was in the background. And that music came from the half-orc playing a… harp? It was the first time he saw someone with orc blood in them playing an instrument like that. But it was a nice melody, staying in the background while fitting in with the chatter and laughter and was actually nice to listen too. The other time when he heard the lute play it was almost annoyingly loud, back in the dungeon. The people seemed to enjoy it too. Ithelans gaze wandered again, stopping by the last three of the bunch who were standing at the end of the bar, drinking. The thiefling was also watching the other people in here, looking rather bored. Well, at least there was no screaming today. Ithelan remembered the cause for when he experienced that loud mouth, something about apologizing but he didn’t know why he had to. He had been too angry about being called a youngster to listen to all the shouting. The other two, the elves, looked more into their mugs than anything. Occasionally exchanging words but not yet holding a conversation. They seemed like they didn’t really care about the festivities going on here, sometimes sighing when the laughter was sounding through the room. At least the drow seemed to enjoy the stay at the inn a bit more than the other one. Ithelan was interrupted with watching the people when the door opened up, bringing in a stream of cold air. The muffled up person stood in the entrance for a moment before coming up to him. Looks like Mist had enough of the weather outside and he sat down opposite of Ithelan. Humming while he got rid of his cloak he didn’t notice that Ithelan was staring at the sweater he was wearing. The new sweater. With the sentence ‘When I think of you I touch my elf’.
At first Ithelan didn’t say anything, his mind blank until he muttered: “Where did you get that bullshit?” Hearing that Mist put his hand on his chest, breathing in in a dramatic manner. “I didn’t hear that right now,” he declared, his hand leaving his chest again as he grabbed something from the cloak pile beside him. “More so because I brought you one too,” he said, pulling another sweater up and placing it on the table. “Oh no, you didn’t!” Ithelan spoke, louder than he had wanted to. It got him a look from the thiefling who stood nearest to them but he didn’t notice that. Instead he looked down at the sweater, looking at the elf face and the letters spelling ‘He’s an angry elf”. He looked back at Mist. “I’m not wearing that.” He wanted to shove it back when a hand reached for it.
“Oh, what is that thing?” Ithelan turned to the voice, while the thiefling looked down at the sweater with a giggle. “It suits you, angry elf. I was thinking I knew the voice. So you’re still running around… all alive.” Mist looked at the two of them, “Wait, you know each other?” “No,” they both answered at the same time which caused them to glare at each other before Ithelan spoke up again. “We met once before…,” he said. “… but I would have liked it if someone died back then,” he was interrupted. He just shook his head and sighed. “There are some more people who would also like to see him dead,” Mist mentioned. While Ithelan rolled his eyes the other one began to smile. “Really? The angry elf has those kind of enemies? I guess I stay here for a little chat then. That christmas stuff going on here makes the people to happy. I grant you the pleasure to entertain me for this evening.”












