“It very well could take some time, depending on the quality of the meal to be eaten,” Almira added, her voice definitely holding suppressed laughter.
“I figured it was the soap in the bath, myself,” Stewart added with a chuckle. “Goodness knows what could happen if the soap kept slipping out of hand.”
Shrugging with a smile firmly in place, Alburet replied, “Who knows the ways of the world? I will apologize for the time it took us to meet you here, but I won’t apologize for the reason we are delayed.”
Stacia shook her head, “It was me fault, I kept distractin’ him.”
“Just like ya Ma’, then,” Alistern said from beside them as he came from the hall next to the stairs. “Now tha’ the newlyweds have torn themselves out of bed, let us be off to show them their new abode.”
Everyone exited the building, Lilith joining them, which left the bar to Erin, who seemed radiant. As Alburet walked by Erin winked at him, giggling and giving him a thumbs-up. Stacia waved at her sister as they left. “It looks like ya chose well for me sister, asthore.”
“I’m a little surprised, actually,” Alburet mused. “I would have thought Wilbur to be a bit more reserved.”
“All of my daughters have traces of my abilities,” Lilith mentioned as they walked down the street. “Not strong enough to force a man to do something they don’t wish to, but enough to nudge them over an edge if close.”
Squeezing Stacia’s arm where it went through his arm Alburet chuckled, “So that was how you got me the first time.”
Stacia pouted slightly, “You refused me the first time, as I recall. Made me promise to behave. It took me givin’ ya sorrowful eyes until ya succumbed to me desires.”
“Enough talk about how my goddaughter seduced you please,” Stewart called from ahead of them. “Not the type of image I want in my head, thank you.”
Various chuckles greeted Stewart’s words. Shortly after that, they reached the house. They paused outside of the building so the couple could take in the structure. An archway from the street gave access to a small enclosed area that split in either direction, each ending at a door. Directly in front of the arch was an alcove, which was currently empty.
“The door on the left be ya house,” Alistern intoned. “The doorway on the right leads a few small rooms and one large one, but it does nay contain a kitchen or bathin’ room. We thought ya might want to use it as ya guild base.”
“Wait, both sides of this place are for us?” Alburet replied, a little taken aback. “This place is huge compared to most of the houses I’ve seen.”
“Aye, lad,” Grimgar replied, “but we have had it for some time and it has nay been used as it should. We purchased the land a few months before we stopped adventurin’, intendin’ something like that ourselves. Before… well.” He waved the thought aside and continued, “We’ve rented it out from time to time to meet the taxes imposed by the crown, but tha’ was it. Now we hand it over to ye. Take care of it.”
Stacia looked at her family, both blood related and not, “We will treasure it. Thank ya all.” She hugged each of them before turning to Alburet.
Alburet hugged the women and shook hands with the men. “Thank you, indeed. Why don’t you show us around?”
Starting with the guild side, the door opened into a decent sized room. A single desk sat in front of the door in the middle of the far wall. A few chairs set back along the walls were the only other furnishings in the room. It looked like a reception and waiting area. Through the door behind the desk was a hall with three doors on the left and one on the right. Each of the left-hand doors led to small rooms containing only a single desk and chair. The door on the right led to a large room with a long table that could seat twenty people, along with matching chairs. All the rooms lacked any other decoration, and the furniture appeared to be of good quality.
“As you can see, we had thought to use this for our adventuring base. We never got around to getting the place fully kitted out. You can finish it to your own desires.” Almira said as they exited the one side of the building and went to the house side. “Now, this place is a bit more polished, thanks to all the gifts you received last night.”
The house side had a small front room, a small kitchenette, a smaller guest room, a large master bedroom and finally a bathing room with a single shower head and a tub big enough for four people. Each room had rugs down along with appropriate furniture, mostly done in red and black.
“There you have it,” Lilith said as they finished the tour, holding the keys out to them.
Alburet was even more impressed after having seen everything and bowed deeply to the group. “Thank you very much. With all of the effort it really feels like a home, and not just a house.”
Stacia was wiping a tear out of her eye, “Thank ya all so much.” She hugged each of them again before the five said their goodbyes, leaving the couple alone in their new home.
“This place is much more than I’d thought it would be,” Alburet commented as he pulled Stacia in for a hug.
“Aye, master,” Stacia purred at him as she snuggled into the embrace.
“You know what I think we should do…” Alburet began, as Guildstone message icon lit up. Snorting, he tapped the flashing icon to find out who sent what.
From Fluffbalclass="underline"
I was thinking of going out for a few hours to hunt, is anyone else up for it?
From Karen:
Sure thing, let me sell some stuff and I’ll meet you at the portal guild.
“Can we join our friends huntin’, master?” Stacia asked.
“Sure, Kitten,” he said, letting her go to send a message of his own. “We should see about getting you some better gear, though.”
Stacia giggled, “Nay, master, no need to. When you get the spell tha’ makes me stronger, me gear will upgrade. As an infernal all of our gear is unbreakable as long as we hunt with our master.”
“Well, that’s news, but sounds good to me. We never did get the coin from last night, did we?”
Holding a coin purse, Stacia smiled, “Ma’ gave it to me when I retrieved breakfast this mornin’.”
“Now I know I’m married, my wife has all the money,” Alburet joked as they left the house, locking the doors behind them. “We should invite them over to the house tonight so they can see the guild area. We can convert one of the small rooms into a place for them to shift back to the other world. I wonder if they would get bonus experience like we have for sleeping at the inn?”
He paused as he locked the door as a pop-up appeared before him. The notification was asking if he wanted to register the house as his and if he wanted to set his Homestone to it. He accepted both options before turning to Stacia. She appeared to be looking at a similar message. She smiled as she pressed an invisible button.
“We now have our own way back to our home,” Stacia said as she took his arm. “Also, as long as ya sleep in a secured room with a bed, then the blessin’ is granted.”
They made it to the portal guild where Fluffball was waiting just inside. “Afternoon,” Fluffball greeted her friends. “I’m glad you could come. Shall we go after the gnolls again?”
“If Karen’s along, then it should be fine,” Alburet replied.
“And here I am,” Karen said as she poked Alburet in the kidney.
“Gah,” was Alburet’s startled reply as he rubbed at the spot. “I see Karen is all jazzed up.”
“Of course. Stacia, your sister is amazing. Her hands are magic,” Karen enthused. She turned to Fluff, “I talked her into doing a double set of massages tonight, if you would like to join me, Fluff.”
Eyes going wide, Fluff licked her lips, “Umm… a massage…?” One hand came up to groom an ear.
Karen slid effortlessly forward to just within Fluff’s reach, “Just a massage, nothing to be worried about and I’ll be there with you.”