Unexpected Guests - Interlude 1 - Observations

I'm not sure how to do the Talia side of things, I kind of wanted to show both sides, like I did in DD during the fights, but it doesn't feel right. I don't think there would be enough Talia sections to be worth it, so I settled on Interludes for now. We'll see how it goes, may change the method later.

“Talia… Tali… Tal?” I sighed and brushed Kassandra’s probing finger away as she tried to poke me in the side.

“I can hear you,” I muttered, swiping a lock of black hair out of my eyes but not taking my eyes off the new arrivals. Now that my focus was broken I realized the four arachnid legs on my back were fully out and twitching. Guess I really had been too focused. Carefully, I pulled them back in, so they were hanging closer to my body.

I really didn’t like my natural Arachne form, far too many bad memories associated with it, I preferred my humanoid one. Still I had to remember to keep my arachnid traits under control so no one accidentally got hurt.

Kass wound her way around me and tried to lean in and block my line of sight. She didn’t quite make it, I was hugging the railing too tightly to get in front of me safely, so she backed off, pouting. The two of us had just come back from town, and were traveling along the upper mezzanine, when I’d noticed Luther escorting a very particular group through the rotunda. A short girl, dressed in strange green armor, and a group of teddy bears. I couldn’t help but stop and watch.

“Then why aren’t you replying to me?” the naga asked. “Wait… did you find something to obsess about again?”

Kass gently wrapped her tail around my feet, the pink tinged turquoise scales glinting as she did, before draping an arm over my left shoulder and resting her chin on my right. She’d probably just done it to get close, but it didn’t take long for her to  identify what I’d been looking at. 

“What’s that? A pint sized puppeteer?” she mumbled, as she focused on the little group.

“I don’t think so, she doesn’t seem to be concentrating on getting the bears to walk, and besides, I don’t think they’re regular teddy bears,” I replied.

“And what makes you say that?” Kass asked, gently rubbing her head against mine.

“Well, you see that medium sized bear? The white one? I’m pretty sure I saw the grating over the gremlin’s lab bend slightly when it crossed it.”

“Bull!” Kass snapped, pulling away slightly. Those vents are triple reinforced, they’re capable of supporting Sullivan in full armor, while mounted. The only way something that small would weigh that much is if it was made entirely out of meteoric iron.”

“Nope,” I replied. I felt excitement bubble up as I glanced her way. “It would have to be something even heavier than that!”

“And you just can’t wait to figure out what that is, can you?” Kass sighed in exacerbation. “Well you’re going to have to wait a little while, it looks like the bear girl went to talk to the boss.” 

Twisting around I was just able to make out the tiny girl as she disappeared into the double doors at the far side of the room. 

“I could probably still check out the Teddies,” I said hopefully.

“Remember the last time you tried to do that? Both Lanivia and the Gnomish ambassador were extremely upset with you,” Kass exclaimed. “You were lucky that the gnomes enjoyed the thirty page review of their tech you wrote while they were occupied, otherwise you might have ended up getting suspended.”

I pouted, trying to use my cuteness to get Kass to relent, but she turned away. “Even if you had permission to investigate, we don’t have time. We got caught up in traffic on the way home and we still have to eat before the match starts. You wouldn’t want George to pull a hunger protest, and go rogue during a fight again, would you?”

“No… you’re right,” I groaned. “Come on George, let's go get food. George?”

Glancing down I realized for the first time that my little fuzzy pal wasn’t with us anymore. I quickly scanned the area before glancing back at Kass, in panic.

“I lost George again.”

“Yeah, I figured that,” she sighed. “I think you’re the only one that can get so distracted that you lose track of a two foot tall tarantula. He made a run for the cafeteria as soon as we arrived, that’s what I was trying to tell you before you got obsessed with our guests.”

“He better not make a mess down there!” I cried, sprinting for the stairs. “I don’t want to have to clean up the entire kitchen again!”

“Then keep a better eye on your pet,” Kass exclaimed, slithering after me.

I hit the main floor at a dead run, turning into the residential wing and immediately b-lining it towards the cafeteria. Skidding to a stop right at the entrance, I scanned the room. All the tables were upright, and no one was yelling, so that was a good sign, but no sign of the troublemaker.

While I was scanning Bea waved at me from one of the booths. I quickly made my way over, attempting to remain as calm as possible.

“Lose something?” the bee girl asked, leaning on the table, supporting her head with one hand. I could tell she was amused by how her antennae were twitching.

“I delayed coming down to lunch, so George ran ahead,” I admitted quietly. “Have you seen him?”

“I have,” she replied, raising a hand and pointing downwards. I ducked down just far enough to see eight eyes staring back at me, judgingly. “He almost knocked over half the tables when he came scrambling in here, thankfully I was able to pacify him with a snack.”

“Thank you,” I whispered, letting out a long breath. “I’d hate it if he caused a problem right before the match.”

Be sat up a little straighter at that. “Oh, you haven’t heard? The match has been cancelled. The  Edelweiss Knights ran into a true basilisk on the way here. They managed to take it down, but half the team needed to be treated for petrification sickness.”

“How’d they manage that?” Kass asked as she slid up next to me. “Weren’t they traveling using the gate network?” 

“From what I’ve heard they travelled on foot whenever possible, so they could work on their trust and teamwork between dungeons,” Bea replied.

“I’m sure they’ll rethink that idea going forward,” I mumbled. “I guess that means we don’t have to rush to eat anymore.”

“Oh, that’s where you’re wrong,” Bea chirped. “The Edelweiss Knights may be unavailable, but Lanivia said she might be able to find a replacement. We’re on standby right now.”

Kass and I exchanged a quick glance. “Bear girl?”

Bea sat up a little straighter. “Who’s this bear girl you’re talking about?”

“Well, when we got back from town Luther…” I started, only to quickly get interrupted as Kass put a hand on my back and firmly pushed me towards the counter. 

“Explain while eating! Didn’t you hear the girl, we don’t have time!” Kass grumbled.

“Right! Be right back!” I called over my shoulder as I was pushed away. 

It was the awkward time between lunch and dinner, so there wasn’t much choice for the hot meals. We could have placed an order for pretty much anything we wanted, if we had the time, which we didn’t. Instead I just grabbed two plates of chicken breast with rice and rushed back to the booth. 

Fuzzy probing legs reached out and started poking my leg even before I settled into my seat, so I immediately slipped one of the plates under the table, while I dug into the other.

“So! When we got back from town I noticed Luther escorting a girl in strange armor, and her squad of teddy bears to meet Lanivia,” I explained though a mouthful of food.

Bea tilted her head to the side. “Adventurer?”

“Not one that I recognized, and her bears are weird too. I don’t think they’re normal bears,” I said.

“Remember to breathe, and finish the food in your mouth before speaking,” Kass sighed as she slithered up and took the seat next to me. “We’re in a rush, but have a few minutes. Take your time.”

I nodded, and shoved another fork full of chicken and rice into my mouth.

“Talia claims she saw one of the bears bend the grates above the gremlin workshop. If it was anyone else I would have discounted it as a trick of the light, but you know how she gets when she sees something interesting,” Kass explained.

“She obsesses over it, I know,” Bea chuckled. “If given the chance she’d write a twenty page report on the bear, containing its full statistics, strengths, and techniques to counter it by tomorrow morning.”

“I’m not that bad,” I muttered, rubbing one of my cheeks to hide the rising flush. 

“How long was the report on the last adventuring group again?” Kass asked, leaning in close. 

I turned away. “A hundred and seventeen pages.”

“All because you’d never seen a Lobsteth adventurer,” Kass finished quietly. “Don’t get me wrong, we love your enthusiasm, you just need to learn to take it easy sometimes.”

“I know how to take it easy. I make time to play board games every week!” I pouted. 

“Relaxing once a week isn’t an accomplishment,” Kass sighed. “We’re going to have to schedule more relaxation time.”

I opened my mouth to argue, but before I could a chime echoed through the complex. A second later Lanivia’s voice echoed out of the comm system. “Attention employees. The previously delayed dungeon run has now been rescheduled. It will commence in thirty minutes. Please be in place then. Thank you.”

Kass and Bea exchanged surprised glances, but I just smiled.

“Bear girl,” I muttered before shoving another fork full of food into my mouth.