CH957

“Greed? What are you doing here?” Ben asked, seeing his ruby crab friend being carried by his guard; Jeeves, as quiet and professional as ever.

“No peeking to find out,” the crab said, covering his face with his claws. “Got a couple of things I want to reveal in my own time. More importantly, were you just in there the entire time? We tried knocking and calling out and, failing that, we’ve spent the last few hours waiting and hoping you or some other worker would stop by so I could find you!”

“Sorry, we weren’t just in there the entire time, you could think of the shop as having a bit of a secret entrance if you want, which is what we came through. So, again, why are you here?”

“No mind reading.”

“I’m not reading your mind, but if you don’t tell me, I’m going to have to.”

“Okay, okay, so the thing is… ah, Sparkles, nice to see you too.”

“Greed,” Thera nodded. “Don’t use me to avoid whatever the topic is or Ben will just read your mind and pretend he didn’t.”

“Alright, fine. You remember Gennet? My lovely lady?”

“I do,” Ben nodded. “Is she finally trying to kill you for something?”

“No! Never been more in love, life’s great. It’s the opposite. We’re getting married.”

“…”

“Legs?”

“Huh, so I’m still pretty capable of shock, neat,” Ben muttered before speaking up. “Okay, that’s great, congratulations, man. So what about that brings you here?”

“Two things. One, I couldn’t just not invite my buddy and his lady love. The ceremony is in a week, so clear your schedule, would ya?”

“Pretty short notice.”

“The world’s not gonna last another year, if I don’t do things on short notice then I’m not going to get to enjoy any marital bliss. She’s covering the planning, we’re doing some sort of traditional dark elf marriage that I’m not even going to have time to properly learn the details of till the day before with how hectic planning and, well, other things have been. Doesn’t matter. You two coming?”

“Uh, yeah, of course, I’m down. Thera?”

“I’ve never been to a wedding before,” she shrugged. “Sounds fun. Dress code?”

“Eh, we’re getting people from all over, and you know how varied it can get. If you wear clothing, make sure they’re clean and undamaged, and if you don’t, then make sure you bathe the day of. Preferably bathe if you wear clothing too, I guess, but you get what I mean. Try to be presentable, and you’ll be fine.”

“And the other thing?” Ben asked.

“Ah, well, one thing I did bother to learn about dark elf customs is that it’s traditional to present a hairpiece to your partner,” Greed said bashfully. “And seeing as how I don’t know anyone better at making things than you, well, there’s nobody else I would trust to make something like this for the woman I love, ya know?”

“If that’s it then of course,” Ben instantly agreed, touched that he’d been gone to for such a special event in his friend’s life. “In that case, do you need it done tonight or can it wait till tomorrow? I’m not going to lie, this has been a pretty long and unpleasant day, but if you want it finished as soon as possible then I’ll get it sorted once you give me the specification and make you the best one I can.”

“Let’s start tomorrow then. I want to have you at your best for it, and I came here expecting to stay a few days. We’ve already got our accommodations sorted, so can I find you here in the morning?”

“You can.”

“Great, in that case I’ll give the two of you your alone time. Come on, Jeeves, let’s get some rest.”

Their plan made, the two left, leaving Ben and Thera to go pick up Mora, the unexpected visit giving them something else to think about rather than the day that had just passed.

“Alright, what disasters have I missed in the last little bit?” Ben asked Myriad, his god’s calm atmosphere at least making for a good sign.

“Nothing too much. Mirrian and Kalley were both given the best accommodations that could be found for them, you probably won’t see too many in the siren’s lands getting better treatment, even if that’s not going to make up for what happened to them. It’s understandably going to take them both a lot of time to adjust. If there’s even going to be enough time for that is a different matter, but all they can do is their best.”

“Mmh, I see,” Ben nodded. “At least it’s good that their gods are trying to make things right, although I would be worried about going too far on the other end. Don’t want to spoil Kalley too much and end up with another Ather situation.”

“A point a few other gods have made sure to delicately bring up to them. They’ll work on trying to balance it as well as trying to properly integrate the girl with kids her own age.”

“And the other gods then? How did they feel about this little reveal?”

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“Well, as big of a surprise as it was, beyond some shock and disgust there wasn’t much to feel. The god who did it isn’t around anymore, so there’s no one to punish. For most who are uninvolved, it’s simply a surprising bit of news in an otherwise normal day.”

“Okay, fair enough, I guess. In that case-”

“Oh, perfect timing.”

“Not how I’d describe that,” Myriad told him, sounding sick. “It’s incredible what a sense of dread a few simple notifications can give off, with it all the worse knowing how happy they made you. Does it really feel so good raising those stupid skills even higher?”

“Myriad, I’m now the first person on the planet to reach the fourth level of a third-tier skill. What do you think?”

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