Blood rushed to Heinkel's face. Kaila's stern gaze bore into him as he rubbed his neck. He swallowed before giving a placating grin. "I am really alright. I don't feel any of the burning sensation anymore."
Kaila took a deep breath, her feline ears twitching on her head. She stared at him, and her face grew redder by the second. The tail behind her wiggled anxiously. For a moment, there was only silence between them. Then, she stood on the tips of her toes and pressed her soft lips against his.
Heinkel blinked several times, not believing his eyes. His arms had no idea what to do. Should they reach out? Should he wrap them around her? Instead, he breathed her in, smelling her sweet scent. Just like one of those pastries.
When she separated from him, her ears went flat. The tail coiled between her legs, and Kaila's face was even hotter with shyness. She pressed her fingers together over and over again. "Well? How was it?"
"I am stunned..." Heinkel licked his lips, a hint of cherry blossoming on his tongue. Those fruity lips made him stand there like a fool. The sounds of the city were drowned out by his own heart. It echoed inside of him like the music in a ballroom.
Kaila's voice grew softer in the lingering silence. Her hand reached up and rubbed her arm. "I said I would."
She is way too cute and gorgeous. It was the ultimate challenge he needed to steel himself for. Even the fires of demons lashing at his throat didn't burn as hot as his chest burned now. Heinkel was grossly aware of how fleeting a moment like this could be. One moment, you are in a battlefield, and the second you don't act, you are slain. Without you, I might not even be alive.
Her eyes started to narrow. "You never answered me."
Stop being a coward. You already rushed towards your death once and followed her, didn't you? He took a deep breath and placed his hand on the small of her back, pulling her closer. The coward who'd always hid his pastries from everyone lifted her chin and kissed her lips sincerely.
The cat girl melted under his touch. Heinkel couldn't believe how fluffy she was. It wasn't even the fact that she had fur on her ears and tail. It was how she held onto him like a tender puff pastry. She was like warm dough melting beneath his fingertips, and her lips were the sweet inside.
Maybe all of those pastries from that old man were preparing me for this moment? Why had I never looked at her like this before?
In all of their time together, he'd always thought she was only a friend to him. She was someone that would share his company and complain about her companions. Their laughs would intertwine in the guild hall between jabs. But he knew that was partially a lie. For him, it was hard to not look at her. So, what was this? Was this some random thing that she decided because he almost died? A flickering promise inside of a caravan with a strange elf?
No.
He pressed her up against a wall and held her tighter. When his eyes flickered open, he could see her ragged breaths. His eyes beheld her cheeks tinted in strawberry. Heinkel couldn't resist the allure of her orange eyes, burning like the light of the sun.
"Kaila, I wanted to say this while I still hold breath in these lungs." He knelt down before her, holding both of her hands, and staring up at her beautiful nodding face. "I love you, and I want you to be mine. Will you undertake this journey with me?"
Tears dripped from her pretty eyes as she continued nodding, a sniffle in her nose. "I...yes." She nodded even more emphatically, wiping the tears away with the back of her hands. After a moment, a chuckle left her mouth. "I had already told the others because I hoped this would happen. From now on, I want to be with you...always."
Heinkel's eyes widened as he continued holding her hands. He leapt to his feet in both joy and shock. "Does that mean...You want to go on adventures with me?"
"I do. I told them if you accepted me that I would join you."
"Wait, so you were going to ask me if I didn't say anything?"
She grinned, showing her sharp white canines. "I had even planned for if you turned me down. They're all waiting inside of an inn room with drinks ready to get plastered."
"Did you really think I would say no?"
Kaila sighed. "I didn't know what to think. I am just glad you want me. I love you, and I promise to be good to you."
Heinkel felt magic fairies dancing around in his stomach. He imagined an army of them casting magic inside of him and making his heart race faster than a minotaur. "I promise to do the same...But don't tell anyone about my pastry addiction."
Kaila laughed. "It will be our little secret. I don't know why you find it so embarrassing."
"A man shouldn't love sweet pastries as much as I do. I can already hear my adventurer reputation dying the moment everyone finds out."
"Well, now you'll have a different reputation." She wrapped her arms around him tight and whispered. "Heart thief."
"My, my," a strange voice said, ruining the atmosphere. There was a touch of something queer inside of it, and turning towards it revealed much of the same. It was a strange merchant looking man with a colorful red blouse that slightly revealed his chest, and he held onto a ringed notepad and wrote with a long quill. "You two are quite bedazzling, if you don't mind me saying."
Heinkel opened his mouth to say he does mind, but the moment that thought occurred, he suddenly couldn't move. It was as if the entire world pressed down on him for a second, and his heart fluttered like mad, a voice echoing in his head. I will die. I will die. I will die...
The man grinned and shrugged his shoulders. "My apologies, I sometimes forget the order of things. Where are my manners?" He bowed extravagantly, his arms outstretched as if he was a butler welcoming a king. "The name is Luscious, of course." He winked at the two of them as he rose. "Representing a bit of lust and a bit of poetry, but I couldn't help notice the former dangling between you like...like well, a bell betwixt two buildings."
Heinkel put Kaila behind him defensively and stood in front of her. Though, the woman was already reaching for a dagger on her waist.
Luscious waved his hand to the two of them. "Now, now, no need to be so hasty. In some places, they say haste makes waste. It's another nice rhyme scheme, isn't it?"
Heinkel's confidence surged with the woman behind him, making him strong enough to resist the voice in his head. He took a long breath. "Can you please get to the point? This is the first time we've met. Are you a traveling bard?"
Luscious tapped the back of his quill against his chin a couple of times and then smiled. "A traveling bard, quite so. I do love the sound of music, and please, lower your guard around me. I would never even hurt a fly. I'd heard the two of you were adventurers, isn't it so?"
The young pastry-lover let relief settle into his shoulders. "That is correct. Can we help you?"
"Help, another word that is full of wonder. Sometimes, a little help can go a long way, but if the two of you help me..." His voice lowered an octave as he stepped closer with a hand covering one side of his mouth. "I promise to make it worth your while."
"You sure have a way of being dramatic," Kaila said. She grabbed onto Heinkel's arm and smiled. "I think don't think he is actually a creep, only playing the part as a bard."
Luscious feigned a groan. "Oh please, me? Creepy? Those two things don't belong in the same sentence, dear."
"Oh yeah? Then why do you make offers that sound like they come from a demon?"
"Ouch, ouch, okay, okay, I admit, the whole thing was a bit overboard, but I can assure you that I am no demon." He scoffed and pushed air out of his mouth while crossing his arms over his chest. "Crazy creatures, the lot of them."
It looks like our moment is already over...I guess we'll have to continue that later. Heinkel crossed his arms. "So? What is the deal? What do you want?"
A mithril coin appeared between Luscious’ two fingers, then another, and then another. He made them appear like a jester entertaining a member of royalty.
Though, those guys usually use silver or gold...The feeling of wrongness swelled inside of Heinkel again, but he pushed it down.
"The deal is two bodyguards for one bard. The two of you have taken such requests before, right? I heard about your recent exploits, and I must say that I am impressed."
"What kind of bodyguard? I don't think we're ready for another adventure like the last one, and besides, most of that was not our doing. If you'd heard about it, did you hear about the elf who was there?"
"Oh yes, I know her quite well...Well, not in the way that the two of you know each other. I would never even dream of doing something so...scandalous."
Kaila's face heated, and her voice came out harsh. "Will you just get to the point already?"
"A room full of splendor and radiance,
A hall holding onto it as all of them dance,
And their eyes gaze into the other in a trance,
For it comes often with the blossom of romance.
The room is filled from top to bottom in the Fall,
Tables of many to line the great hall,
And then comes a feast with an invite to all,
For the two of you shall accompany me to the ball."
Kaila stammered. "A-a ball? Is that all?"
Luscious snapped his fingers, his eyes fluttering. "You're very quick to get the gist of things. Might you be a poet yourself?"
"No, is there really a ball being held here in Ambergrad?" She asked with a glance towards Heinkel.
He placed a hand on his chin and nodded after a second. "That is why the baron is still staying here. Along with his talk to the church, he was set to attend a ball. I think the count is supposed to be there and many high-classed merchants."
"Bingo, the two of you are very bright, indeed. I had wanted to attend, but I couldn't get any bodyguards to come with me." He frowned and traced a finger down his cheek as if there was a tear droplet. "As luck would have it, I found the two of you, and I thought it must have been ordained by fate."
"Sir, I think you have the wrong people. We're not very high in the ranks for you to pay us so much to guard you."
Luscious wiggled his gloved finger. "No, the two of you are exactly the ones I wanted. It will be an easy task, I promise. Just accompany me a day hence, and I shall make it worth your while. I will even pretend like I didn't see your...surreptitious meeting."
Kaila's face heated, and she answered too fast for either of them. "Okay! All we have to do is guard you there, is that all?"
"Indubitably so. Just make sure to watch out for any scoundrels or demons, perhaps." Luscious seemed to notice both of their weary expressions and corrected himself with a fake cough. "The last part was a joke, naturally. If all goes well, there will be no demons to fell."