“Friendly though?” asked Hannah, keeping her voice casual.
“That’s something that I’d actually like to talk with you privately about,” said Verity. “It’s not really something I have all that much experience with. The, uh, mores and things, if there are some specifics.”
“Wait,” said Mizuki. “Are you going to be dating this girl?”
“Well,” said Verity, “that’s part of what I wanted to speak with Hannah about, because it seems like the arrangement she was interested in was being something less than partners.”
“Well you can talk to us too,” said Mizuki. “I know all about partners.”
“And you’re good at relationships?” asked Verity.
“Oh,” said Mizuki, deflating somewhat. “Well. Quantity has to count for something, right? Otherwise what was I doing with all those boys?”
“Ay,” said Hannah, raising an eyebrow. “What were you doin’ with all those boys?”
“Perfect chastity, no doubt,” said Verity.
“Well,” said Mizuki, blushing. “Chastity is only a virtue for Kesbin. But the point is, I have plenty of advice to offer. And if a boy came to me saying that he wanted ‘something less than partners’, that would raise some alarm bells, unless I was also looking for something less than partners, but I don’t think that usually turns out well.”
“With due respect,” said Hannah. “I did go to the seminary and spend quite a bit of my time learnin’ best practices for relationships of all kinds, but especially those between two women, platonic or otherwise. It’s among the duties I’m expected to perform as a cleric, givin’ advice. But that said, I do agree that I raise an eye at ‘less than partners’, unless that’s what you’d like. You don’t seem the type though.”
“I don’t?” asked Verity. “For all you know I’ve been with dozens of women.”
“Have you?” asked Hannah, voice quite innocent.
“No,” said Verity. “But I’m not sure what ‘type’ I seem like.”
“A sheltered life of parental pressure aside, and that’s just me readin’ between the lines, you seem like the type to go for the first girl to show strong interest in you,” said Hannah. “And from there, a relationship that moves quickly, because you like things to be sorted away. Then you’d get all the problems that come from that, the quickness, mostly things comin’ to a head some years down the road as you realize that you never built a solid foundation. But I’d be happy to hear your take on what you like and who you are, if that was all a load of feathers.”
“I like to think I’d be more circumspect in my partners than that,” said Verity. “But you’re probably right in the broad strokes. It’s a prophecy that I, well… think there’s some merit to.”
Hannah shrugged. “A lot of bein’ a cleric, the community aspects of it, anyhow, is about puttin’ people into broad categories as quick as possible, then goin’ through as you talk to them and seein’ all the ways they don’t fit, or where your assumptions are wrong, and they will be wrong, because people aren’t made for categories.”
“Is that what clerics do?” asked Mizuki, who was washing her hands. The fish was all laid out and seasoned, ready for the oven. “I guess I never really go in.”
“You should,” said Hannah. “You’d find some use in it, I think. Most people do. Though some more than others, I s’pose.”
“I’ll speak with Xy,” said Alfric. “She’s local, which is good, and she’s probably not going to be looking for full-time employment, which we couldn’t pay her for and which we don’t have enough work to justify. Thanks for making the first contact.”
“You don’t approve of me being with her?” asked Verity.
“I don’t think you want to hear my personal or professional feelings,” said Alfric. “I stayed quiet for a reason.” He glanced at Isra. She’d stayed quiet too, and he wondered whether that was because she had nothing to contribute or whether he had an ally in her.
“Well, I think I do want to hear it,” said Verity. “‘Want’ is probably a strong word. I’d like to hear your objections, in a way that I probably wouldn’t have if your opinions were offered without me asking for them.”
“I want you to be happy,” said Alfric. “I think a strong relationship with a member of a counterparty isn’t a bad thing, and isn’t likely to interfere with the business of dungeoneering in the same way that a relationship with a member of the party is. The counterparty isn’t engaged in potentially life-or-death situations with us, where tensions might run high and where depending on each other can be crucial. And one of the necessities, when it comes to a party, is all the partybound things, a pressure that’s not there for the counterparty. But at this stage, unless I’m mistaken, Xy is the only local cartier. Out in an area like this, she’s probably paid by the province, or by Interim itself. Most other cartiers move to the cities for better pay, or ply trade routes and leylines. So if we lose Xy, there’s probably no replacing her until or unless we have the money to get someone for that exact purpose, which we’re quite far from being able to do.”
“Understood,” said Verity. She frowned. “But she’s—we’re not anything yet.”
“I know,” said Alfric. “And I think you’re within your rights to have a messy relationship with someone we’re in some kind of business with. Keeping a coherent party is what’s most important. And perhaps a fling would be good for you, if part of why you left Dondrian is because of the expectations of your parents.”
“My parents expected flings,” said Verity. “Socially appropriate flings that would help me make a splash, but all the same. When I was still figuring things out, my mother gave me some very frank advice on that. Etiquette and protocol.” She made a face. “I don’t know if I would find it more palatable if she’d been talking about women instead of men, but I doubt it.”
“Well I’m here for you, if you have questions,” said Hannah. “Or you could speak with Lemmel, if you’d prefer someone who’s not a friend.”
“Better a woman than a man though, right?” asked Alfric.
“Perils of a small town,” said Hannah, shrugging. “Not everywhere can be Dondrian, where you have thousands of clerics.”
“Well, like I said, it’s nothing yet,” said Verity. “And nothing much to fuss over.” She did seem a bit pleased about the fussing though, happy that she could share some of her joy. Or perhaps she was just happy about the prospect of having found someone that reciprocated her interest.
“Part of the reason to have friends is to fuss over romantic choices,” said Mizuki. “But if you’d like some privacy, let us know.” She turned to Isra. “I don’t suppose you’ve had a partner?”
“No,” said Isra, who had mostly been silent through all this.
To Alfric, this felt like an implied question about Isra’s sexuality, but he couldn’t quite tell whether her answer was a rejection of the question or a misunderstanding of what was being asked of her. She seemed a bit put out by the conversation, though that could well have been Alfric’s imagination.
“Dinner is going to be ready pretty soon,” said Mizuki, who was moving vegetables around in a pan on the stove. “Fish doesn’t take long to cook. We’re doing Kiromon flavors, if that’s all right with everyone, including a bit of lakeweed.”