Saint Valentine's Days

[Nayt]

Offtopic: I wrote this short story for Manda in the spirit of Valentine's Day. But I also intended it to be canon, so I figured I'd post it. It's just a short story though, not an RP.



Daniel Kerington adjusted his cap in discomfort. He tensed his brow in confusion. The amount of pink he beheld was numbing. It was all lit in this little shop by a soft orange glow, but he swore that if it were possible for oil lanterns to be pink, this whole goddamn store would be bathed in the color. A store. Right. He was in a store. Daniel checked his hooded sweatshirt, rattled his pockets for change. He had some. He dug his hands into his pockets and discovered a nice handful of gold coins.

He tried to think back: Why would I carry this much gold on me?

Sixteen years old (he was pretty sure he was sixteen) and already some brand of fantasy hero. A failed fantasy hero, but that was a different story. A much less happy story. Nonetheless, Daniel was a young man that was thrust into the midst of other worldly chaos; he'd traveled this world and the next, yet despite it all, he never once succeeded in understanding the opposite gender. Women mostly confused the living hell out of him. The girl he traveled with had some of the most random mood swings sometimes. She'd be all warm to him one minute, and the next minute, she'd be trying to hack him to pieces with this giant two handed sword she dragged around everywhere.

The customs of women also confused him. This town seemed to celebrate a particular day of the year that was made for couples, or something like that. Or made for women. Daniel was pretty sure this day existed only for women. Like a day set aside where a man was to show his girl that she meant something to him. That was coming up pretty soon, and it seemed the whole town was getting ready for it. Pink and red ribbons everywhere. It was so weird. The world ended not too long ago, and they could still roll with this sort of celebration. It was pretty admirable, really. Daniel didn't think himself capable of that sort of devotion to tradition. But, hell. It seemed like a good enough tradition.

But rethinking all of this still left him confounded by his current predicament, standing in front of a vaguely illuminated aisle decorated in all sorts of pinks and reds, with home stitched stuffed bears of all kinds behind him and intimidating boxes of chocolates all lined up before him. At both ends of the aisle, he recognized fresh cut roses ripe for purchase.

Truth be told, he'd completely forgotten how he got here--and especially why he was here.

---

It was sometime after he, Manny, and Everett split ways. They'd gone out to scout for work and supplies. This town was bigger than they were used to. Hundreds of people, they were used to. That's all they seemed to find on the road. But this place? Thousands. It was a huge place. Daniel had all sorts of notes written for him by Manny so he could find his way back to the inn. That's how big the place was.

Daniel found work, but as this was a pretty big place, he figured they were going to stay for a few days. Everett might want to ask around town for leads, and he'd be sure to do the same. And Manny was looking for something, too. He wasn't sure what--just that it was something. There was no sense working himself to the bone here just yet. They'd just gotten off the trail, so it was sort of an unspoken declaration that they'd not work too hard today. Retire early if they did go out and make money. Just get some R and R.

Daniel opted to do that in the middle of the day. He found a potential job pretty quick, loading freight onto horse drawn buggies for this local distributor. Daniel asked if he could start tomorrow, the guy asked Daniel to show if he could do the work (with promise to pay a tip up front if he could); Daniel loaded a cart full of heavy freight on his own, all in mid sized crates, but all heavy as concrete. The man was impressed, tipped Daniel well, and said he'd as much work tomorrow as Daniel wanted. Since then, it was time off to do . . . well, just about anything he wanted to.

It was during this time off that he discovered this holiday. Daniel was passing a couple of girls (that he only briefly examined; they weren't hard on the eyes, but it was obvious they were trying to hard; they looked fake) on the main road to a small diner, and overheard a bit of their conversation.

"So, what're you and Breshim doing for Saint V's?" one girl said to the other.

"Ohhh, you know. He asked me to the big get together tonight. You know, that dance they always have."

"Saint V tradition! My mom says it all used to be ballroom dancing. Wouldn't it be the worst if it still was?"

"Sure would!"

It instilled in Daniel's mind an earnest question: just what the bloody hell was this Saint V's thing? And how was dancing remotely relevant to it? He kept his ears open on the way to the diner, and in no time at all, he learned more than enough: a day devoted to showing someone special how much you cared. It seemed to have a real focus on making girls happy, though. They were the ones excited about it the most. Guys he heard talking about it ranged from groaning to being a bit excited. Those were the romantic types. They weren't bursting with excitement like some of the girls he saw, though.

Over coffee, Daniel thought about the whole mess. He didn't know if it was for him. It'd be silly to do something like these people were talking about for Manny. Especially since there was some sort of hint of romance in the stuff these people were talking about, and having inadvertently romanced Manny once, Daniel was positive that he didn't want to do it again.

Actually, he wasn't too after romancing anyone in particular right now. Relationships just didn't seem to work out for him, so he just nixed that plan right out of the gate. But damn this mood was infectious. Excepting a few people that didn't rightly care about the holiday this town practically religiously celebrated, it was the talk of the town. Especially this dance thing. It was supposed to be a community get together, where folk dressed up all nice-like and acted all nice like, danced with a partner or found a partner to dance with, hung out with a partner or found a partner to hang out with, and just generally enjoyed themselves for the evening in the company of someone else.

That really sounded like a great idea.

There were only two people in his life that he could hold onto long enough to possibly ask to this thing. Everett was the very first one that came to mind. And . . . well . . . yeah. It made sense. She was special to him. He didn't know what brand of special, but he knew he'd be extremely sad if she was missing from his life one day. But she didn't know that. She probably didn't. No, she didn't know that at all. And this holiday all seemed to be about telling someone like that, well, just that. How much they mattered. He could . . .

He could ask he to go to that gathering with him. He knew she'd probably say no, but could it hurt? Well, yes actually. He'd be pretty down if she outright denied him, but still. Maybe it was worth a try? The spirit of this holiday was so infectious, he felt as if he had to. And if she turned him down, okay. He'd get over that eventually, right? He always got over it when Everett was fuming about him. Eventually. Not so much recently, though. Not so much since he started thinking about Everett and Manny.

And it wasn't like it was really out of his way. Honestly, he'd really been thinking about his relationships a lot recently. He wanted to do something for his two friends. Manny was easy. That was the great thing about being male. It was easy to show another male how much you cared. Daniel'd get Manny to go to the dance, too. Further his teachings in the category of meeting girls. Daniel's apprentice in the art of romancing the opposite sex needed the practice, anyways. He was so clumsy at it. This'd do him well.

Tomorrow, he'd hit the town with Manny, grab a few drinks, but not too much. And chat it up. Chat it up through the night. And maybe Everett would come along then, too. But that was all good when it came to Manny; it was nothing special, but just going out of his way to spend hours upon hours with him, even if they were just having a few casual drinks and chatting it up, was more than enough to make Manny giddy as a schoolboy.

The girl that served him coffee told him more about the holiday, how boys usually got girls gifts. Small things, just enough to show how much they care.

That was worth a try before anything else.

So he went back to the inn to stock up on a few extra gold coins. On the way out, Daniel jingled the coins in the pocket of his hooded sweatshirt, smiling at the amount. He hadn't brought it all with him, just enough that he thought he'd need around town.

This was his money. He remembered that much. He hadn't taken any money from their main bag when he left. Not anything of the collective funds. That's how it all worked; they got to a town, they did individual jobs (sometimes worked together, too), came back, put their earnings in a bag, and took a small amount for their own personal spending, leaving the bulk of it for traveling expenses. Daniel never touched it 'less it was for the good of the whole group. This was for the good of only one. Well, sort of.

The girl from the diner told him of a place to go for gifts, too. Daniel whistled his way into the shop, a small family owned place, like most of the shops in this town (there were quite the selection of families owning businesses here!). It looked all right on the outside, not all dressed up for the holiday like some places were, but once he was inside, he beheld an almost horrific pink and red noise that demanded a "danger alert," followed immediately by the shutting of his eyes. For a second there, he thought he might either bleed or become permanently emasculated by the colors. But when he opened his eyes, all was still well.

It still took him awhile to get over it, though.

Not knowing how this whole gifting thing worked, he talked to the lady at the counter. The matron of the shop. She was an older lady, middle aged probably, with slightly graying hair and slightly sagging cheeks. She had kind eyes and an aura about her that just made Daniel want to strike up conversation with her about anything. He didn't bother to ask her name, though. He knew he wouldn't remember it. Just her face, and that she was kind. She was actually kind of a looker for her age, too. Daniel explained that he and his friends were from out of town and had never heard of this celebration before, but he wanted to join in on the festivities anyways, newbie at it or not.

The woman asked who Daniel was getting a present for.

"My friend Everett," he replied.

"She a special girl to you?" the woman asked smilingly.

Daniel smiled back. "Yeah. I'd be totally lost without her."

It was the truth, too. Everett gave Daniel direction. Purpose. That direction? Wherever she was going next. That purpose? Make sure she got there safely.

"And I take it you're all planning to stay for awhile?"

"Yeah," Daniel nodded. "It's been awhile since we've seen civilization this . . . well, civilized."

"Okay." The woman thought for a moment, "Well, what's this Everett like?"

"Hmm . . ." Daniel trailed off.

This one required a bit of thought for him. He didn't ever want to bad mouth a friend, and sometimes just talking about Everett willy nilly could give a person a bad impression of her. Okay, so maybe she'd give them a bad impression of herself if they met face to face, but that was besides the point. It was only fair that Daniel show her the respect he figured she deserved by being fair.

"Well, she's bossy. I-- I knows that sounds bad, but it's not! I mean, it kinda keeps direction going, you know? I'd just go off somewhere aimlessly if she wouldn't yell at me for it. Probably get myself lost, too. Always tried to pretend she's not got a sense of humor and stuff, you know? And that she can break the whole world down if she really wanted to. I mean, she's really strong. Don't get me wrong! It's not all an act, but I get the feeling that she's lost a lot of the time, too. She gets wind of a place and goes there, but it's not loike it's all planned out. And--I dunno. It'd kill me if something bad happened to her, so I just stick around, make sure she gets to places like this safely. I don't think she appreciates it, but it's not like she's got reason to. I'm a shoddy bodyguard. Can't protect a thing. But I try, at least. A-anyways," Daniel paused and thought hard about this again, now that he realized he was on a tangent, "She's real cute and real sweet, even if she tries to hide it all the time. She's clingy, but just to pillows and stuff. Loike at night when she's sleeping or summat. And . . . I dunno. She likes sweet food and such. I usually get her something sweet whenever we crash at a tavern. She doesn't like it when Manny and I drink. Actually, she doesn't like a lot of things I do. But I dunno. She's got a real infectious smile when she actually does, so . . . oI try to make her smile when I can. Really do."

"I see, I see," the woman nodded before falling into thought again.

"Oh! Would you like to see her? And my other friend, too? We got a picture together recently! From one of those gamera things or whotever they're called." Daniel was excited to show this off. He always was. Photography was so new to him. Capturing memories like that--it was beautiful.

The woman smiled brightly. "I'd love to."

It took forever to convince Everett to get it taken with them, but eventually she relented. She didn't look happy in the least. Daniel stood between two of his best friends, Manny and Everett.

They weren't a bad looking lot in the least. Daniel was the tallest, nearing six foot (not quite there, but a few inches close), and the strongest. It was kind of hard to believe sometimes. He never used to be that strong. He used to be twerpy. He was still twerpy, thin as a rod and all, but there was a couple layers of muscle caked onto that, now. In the picture, he looked it. He had a short sleeved shirt on (and it was just a day after he got this billed cap; the vague shadow it cast upon his forehead somewhat blocked his eyebrow ring, the only piercing he had), and that shirt was a bit tight on him. A tiny bit. He was grinning smugly, feeling all victorious at the time for convincing Everett that this new technology was neither a waste of time nor a operative in soul stealing.

Manny was at his right. Manny, a frail kid, way shorter than Daniel, and looking way younger to boot--though he was in actuality pretty close to Daniel's age. Freckles littered his cheeks and his auburn hair (color distinction not visible in this photograph, which could only do photos in shades of black. white, and brown) was so bushy that it covered his eyes. It looked like his head was only a quarter skin and three quarters hair--and he hadn't a single touch of facial hair to speak of. He was thin as a rail and even in Daniel's baggy sweatshirt he looked as fragile as glass. He sometimes had something against wearing shoes, though. The day they got this taken was one of those days. He just wore wraps around his feet instead of shoes. Manny was all smiles. All innocent.

And then to Daniel's left in the photograph, there was Everett: the target audience of a potential gift for today. She didn't look happy at all. She'd been so reluctant to get the picture taken, she downright refused to smile. She was short, about Manny's height in fact, and looked a few years younger than Daniel. She had a bit of freckles on her cheeks and short--barely even ear length--blond hair. She wore a tank top and shorts in the picture, about the most feminine she ever dressed herself it seemed. Like Daniel, she was a bit on the muscular side. She had to be to travel so much and carry around that giant sword she had. Unlike Daniel, this didn't really look like muscle, more like a slight bit of baby fat that carried into adolescence; nothing that made her look unappealing in the least. Just there. She had a bit of a sneer, but was probably trying not to sneer too much.

"Well isn't she cute," the woman smiled. Everett might have looked displeased by being in the picture, but it seemed that the woman didn't at all see her as a brat for it. Or maybe she was just a good actress. Daniel couldn't tell really. He didn't think Everett as much of a brat, personally.

"Yeah," Daniel replied, "She really is."

"What about this boy?" She pointed to Manny.

"Oh, Manny? Uh . . . um . . . hm." Truth be told, Daniel had never really thought how to describe Manny to someone. The more he thought about it, though, the more he realized how similar it was to a friend he once had before Utopia's end. "I dunno. Ever have someone in your life that you're not really in blood with, but you really feel like brothers or summat? Manny and I are sorta like that."

"Ohhhhh," the woman leaned back, "So, he's family, not a third wheel?"

"Third . . . wheel?" Daniel paused.

He thought about vehicles with three wheels, things like tricycles, and he couldn't imagine anyone their age riding a tricycle. That just seemed silly. Anyways, Daniel couldn't remember ever owning anything like that. He couldn't remember a lot of things, but he was pretty sure he'd remember riding on a three wheeled vehicle.

"I, uh, don't think Manny's ever had a tricycle or summat. He'd probably be bugger all on one if he did," Daniel recounted confidently.

The woman stared at Daniel for a long moment, at first wondering what in the bloody hell he was talking about, but upon realizing that Daniel Kerington was clearly a few bricks shy of a bright crayon, she understood the misunderstanding. At that point, she couldn't contain a laugh.

"No, hun," the woman calmly corrected him, "A third wheel is someone that's hanging around a couple, but gets in the way or is awkward, you know? And it's never fun to be the third wheel, either."

"Oh! No way. Manny's my bro, he'd never get in the way. Besides," Daniel paused. Now that he thought about it, this probably made the whole conversation seem silly for happening at all, "It's not loike Everett and I are, well, you know. I'm pretty sure she hates my guts."

The woman backed away emotionally, thought for a moment, and gave Daniel a coy smile. "Aha. I see, then."

Daniel didn't notice. Instead, he kept talking. "oI don't 'ate her, though. Not at all. She's pretty cool. She can be fun. Really cute, too. But oI said that already. And, I dunno. She probably hates me, but I like seeing her smile. It's weird. Anyways, I figured I'd go with this 'ole Saint B's--"

"Saint V's."

"--Saint V's day celebration appreciation and dance thingit. 'oo knows? Maybe she'll not hate me so much."

"Well," the woman began, a coy smile still spread across her lips, "I'm sure whatever you pick out, she'll love. You've never done anything like this for her before, right?"

Daniel shook his head.

"You'll probably knock her right off her feet."

Daniel furrowed his brow. He didn't want to literally knock Everett over, just brighten her day a bit so she wasn't so sour. And maybe coerce her to hate his guts just a little bit less. He sort of got the vernacular, though. Knock her off her feet as in surprise her. Right. It took Daniel a second to figure that one out.

"I've got a good selection of gifts right back there," the woman pointed towards the back of the store, "All's made by my family and I."

"Thanks," Daniel nodded his head and smiled, "oI'll give it all a look."

---

Well, that shed a bit more light on the situation. So he was planning on getting Everett something and inviting her out to dance with him at some place. Well, he couldn't dance all that good, and he didn't know if Everett could, and he didn't really know if she would, either, but that was in the future. That was an hour from now. In the meantime, he figured he'd just focus on the task at hand: picking out a good gift. This required him to think extensively about Everett and the things he was certain she enjoyed in life.

Sweets. That was one of them. She loved cake. Chocolate cake especially. Daniel remembered so many times when they were at inns, that all Everett really wanted sometimes was a moist and fluffy chocolate cake. It was funny. He couldn't remember a lot, but he remembered that clear as day. Like it was yesterday that she smiled giddily and girlishly as she savored a piece of cake. So sweets it was. Daniel perused the selection, trying to figure out the most cake-like things available, but the most he could get was a wrapped up box of chocolates--assorted, it seemed. He hadn't the slightest clue what that meant, but it sounded good. And there was a lot. It was one of those boxes of intimidating size.

Comfort, too. Everett loved comfort. But not physical comfort from other people. There was a time when they slept in the same bed together, and he woke up with her cuddling him for warmth--and comfort, he figured. So he wrapped his arms around her. When she woke up, she yelled at him and chased him out of the room. He refrained from ever doing that again, but still: he gathered that she really liked to hold onto something soft, warm, and comfortable at night. So a stuffed animal would probably be nice.

It was just a matter of figuring out which would be the best for her. He didn't really know what kind of animals she liked. They never really talked about that sort of thing. Trying to think of the cutest possible thing, but not too cute (because Everett seemed like the kind of girl that'd be put off by that), he picked up this medium sized panda bear sort of thing. It was a red panda. It looked like it was sleeping.

That worked. Well, he hoped so at least. As a side thought, he picked up what looked like a stuffed fox for Manny. It was a masculine sort of fox. A mythological kind. Multiple tails and all. Manny would probably love it.

But for Everett . . . that didn't feel like enough. Daniel thought pretty hard about it. What else was there? Sweets, a stuffy, and an invitation to a night on the town? That seemed good in theory, but just not enough. He didn't know why. He withdrew a coin from his pocket, then. It wasn't a spendable coin. It was a custom coin, one of the ones he always had with him. One of the ones he could use to call forth a weapon; a coin based solely upon a memory of his own. They were personal. All of these coins were special to him. He had a fair dozen of them, and he always had them. If he lost them, they'd come back eventually. The only way to lose them forever was to give them away. But was it really giving them away?

Wouldn't that be more like . . . sharing a memory?

What if she didn't really hate him? What if she really was taken by surprise? What if she liked the presents, and actually didn't mind going out to town with him for an evening? He was planning to buy for her, use only his money and everything. So, what if?

Maybe he'd give her something personal, then. Daniel investigated the coin. It was . . . that one. Right. It was that one. The one with a long bow on one side and an old-age Xexorian symbol for "friendship" on the opposite. He smiled a sad smile. All of these memories were so bittersweet--but he wouldn't trade them for anything in the world. The lives of these people, he wouldn't let them be forgotten.

As he checked out with the box of chocolates and stuffy, Daniel steeled himself to head for the smithy, to pay for a chain to be made, and he'd attach the coin to it himself. If she didn't hate him, if she'd actually go out with him tonight, he'd share this memory with her. Attach the coin to a chain, make a necklace out of it, and give it to her--give it to her to share the memory, to let her know that he cared and sincerely appreciated her company. That she was important enough to share with her something so valuable to him.

And he did. He went to the smithy, he picked up a necklace chain and tools with the money he had left, and retired to his, Manny, and Everett's inn room to wait, work, and hope for the best . . .