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"Yeah, me too," Castor agreed softly, rubbing at his injured arm, "And a nap sounds nice."
Aesir yawned from where they were standing, keeping an eye on everyone.
"Well, no matter. We're pretty close to town. Just through this last stretch."
Delta and Nich nodded. Finn still hadn't recovered enough energy to wake up, so Delta continued to carry him. Nich's fatigue was starting to catch up with him, but he was doing his best not to show it. Eventually, they made it back to the tavern. Delta lay Finn down in a bed, and Nich headed off to shower.
Aesir sat down in the tavern, drinking to unwind a bit after their journey. They could talk to the townsfolk later, but the problem seemed to be resolved as it was. They nursed a few small cuts and bruises, but otherwise, they were just waiting for any word from the others.
Castor went to take a bath. Trying to wash around all of his wounds was a miserable process, but he managed. He soaked in the warm water for a bit, trying to relieve some of the tension in his tired body, but he fell asleep in the tub for a while.
Nich eventually returned looking like a completely different person. He was definitely much more attractive without blood all over his features, and he seemed more comfortable now that he was clean. He sat down with the group and sipped at a drink with a soft hum.
It took Finn a while to wake up, and he stumbled out into the tavern as soon as he was awake. He still looked exhausted and clearly out of it, but he wanted to make sure everyone made it back.
Castor was still asleep as the others met up. It was a dark, dreamless state of being, much more peaceful than even most nights were. He barely kept his nose above the water as he dozed, and he was still knocked out as the others were meeting.
Aesir gave a short wave to Finn.
"Hey, man. I'm so sorry about everything back there. I should've been more aware of what was going on. Are you okay?"
"Oh, don't worry about it… I should've stayed further away so I didn't get everyone hurt." Finn laughed weakly and came to sit down with the group, grimacing a bit. He hadn't quite regained enough energy to heal himself yet, so he'd just have to deal with the injury. "Um… I guess you guys bandaged me up?" He asked, looking a bit nervous.
"No, it's… gods… I hate to blame it on Castor, but he was being reckless as all hell," Aesir sighed.
They glanced at Finn and gave a slight nod.
"Yeah, it wouldn't have done you any good to lose more blood. We're no healers, but we can always help a little in a pinch."
They rubbed their forehead a bit.
"Speaking of, though, where is that bastard?"
"Yeah, I suppose… the more damage his shield takes, the more of a toll it takes on my energy as well." Finn laughed weakly. His hair was pretty disheveled and he looked exhausted. "At least we dealt with the gnolls, right?" Delta nodded.
"Yeah, we dealt with them. And that's a good question… he's been gone for a long time." They looked around. "He was in pretty bad shape, and a bath shouldn't take this long."
"I guess so. Could've been much cleaner, though," Aesir sighed, before waving his hand a bit. "Someone wanna check on him?"
They threw back the rest of their pint and asked the barkeep for another one.
"I'll go check." Delta sighed and got to their feet, stretching a bit before they headed off. They knocked on the door of the bathroom that Castor was in. "Hey, Castor? You alright? You've been in there a long time."
"What are you guys going to do now that you've dealt with the gnolls?" Nich asked, resting his head on the knuckles of one hand.
Castor startled awake at the knock on the door, splashing water everywhere. The water had run cold. He groaned softly as he moved, nearly tearing open the freshly clotted wound in his side.
He opened the drain and climbed out of the tub, grabbing for a towel. Castor covered himself and cracked open the door to meet Delta's eyes.
"Sorry, I nodded off," he admitted sheepishly, "I'll be down in a moment."
Aesir had a soft pink flush over their face. They were clearly tipsy.
"Well, we go to the academy, so eventually we're heading back there," they said, "But until we have to go back, who knows? We might play around here."
Delta winced at the splashing noise and sighed upon seeing Castor. "Alright… no problem. Just wanted to make sure you hadn't hurt yourself more or anything. See you soon." They dipped their head politely and returned to the group. "He fell asleep. He'll be down shortly."
"W-Well, we can't stick around forever…" Finn laughed nervously. "We still have to complete a couple more quests for our assignment." Nich nodded and yawned, growing a bit tipsy himself from the drinks.
"Alright. Maybe I'll tag along if you'll have me. I get pretty bored hanging around here by myself all the time."
"Sure, I think that'd be fine. It's not like, cheating or anything, right?" Aesir laughed, "Collecting new party members is a core part of adventuring!"
Castor went back to the room briefly to bandage all of his wounds and get dressed, then he walked downstairs and sat with the others, hair still soaked, looking exhausted.
"Yeah!" Nich grinned brightly and drank some more of his drink. "See, I'm helping you learn about adventuring for your project. And I'm sure the instructions didn't say your can't pick up random people along the way." Delta sighed softly.
"He's technically right." They replied, leaning against the table. "You use he/him, right?" They asked, to which Nich nodded. "Alright, cool. Me and Aesir use they/them, and Castor and Finn are also he/him."
"Works for me. I mean, not that it's up to me or anything, but… you get it." Nich ran his fingers through his hair, smoothing it out. He still had it tied up, so it was hard to tell how long it was exactly.
Aesir gave a quick nod of confirmation before putting back more ale.
"So, what're you good at?" They asked, "We didn't get to see much of what you can do yet."
Castor silently settled into his seat next to the others. He asked the bartender for a glass of juice, afraid if he had anything hard, he would feel much worse.
"Well, normally I'm decent at fighting as long as I've got both legs. I like to call myself a wildcard." Nich smirked a bit as he jabbed a thumb into his own chest. "I've got some skills all around. What about you guys? I've gathered that you're the healer and you're the tank." He nodded to Finn and Castor.
"Ah… yeah." Finn replied softly. "And Delta is our ranger. They and I usually fall to the back of the group."
"I'm a rogue," Aesir explained, "but I fancy myself more a thief and investigator rather than an assassin."
Castor gave a short nod. "Yeah, that all seems about right," he said, sipping at his juice.
"Well, Cas. I have a fun little tip for you," Aesir said, their words slurring ever so slightly, "Maybe you should sleep at night, and we wouldn't have half of these problems. You really poked fun of me for staying up reading and barely slept at all yourself."
Castor scowled. "How did you- look, rogue. You have no idea what's going on. Keep that to yourself."
Aesir shook their head. "I'm very aware of my surroundings. Especially when they could pose danger."
"Alright, guys, let's not fight…" Finn insisted, holding up his hands and looking between Aesir and Castor nervously. "I think you've probably had enough to drink, Aesir. We should all head to bed soon so we're ready for tomorrow, okay?" He sighed softly and looked to Delta, who shrugged.
"Let them fight. What does it matter? They're the ones who will regret it in the morning."
"Well," Castor sighed, "They're right. But I haven't slept since I was eight years old, so what does it matter?"
Aesir frowned, at a bit of a loss for words. "Oh… well? Um… sorry?"
The two exchanged glances, then looked to Finn and Delta, giving a silent agreement to stop bickering.
"I'm staying down here a while longer," Castor said, "I'm probably going to go sit by the fireplace shortly."
"Alright, well. I'm heading to bed." Finn announced, wincing as he got to his feet. "I'll see you all in the morning." He dipped his head in farewell and left.
"I'll do the same. Goodnight." Delta left as well, following behind Finn and keeping an eye on him to make sure he was alright.
"I suppose I should head back home, then. I can meet you guys here in the morning?" Nich stood and stretched, yawning.
"That's fine," Castor agreed, "Goodnight, guys."
Aesir waved to the others and went upstairs ahead of Castor to rest.
Castor stayed in the tavern a while longer, basking in the warmth of the fire for some time before going to bed himself.
In the morning, Delta was out first again as per usual. They sipped at some coffee as they looked through adverts for possible quests to do.
Nich arrived a while after them, and Finn shortly after Nich. They chatted idly while they waited for the remainder of the team to arrive.
Aesir woke up at a reasonable hour, along with the others. Castor struggled to get himself awake again. He slept restlessly- again. He woke up horribly sore. Yet, he eventually met up with the others.
Finn waved to Castor when he finally joined the group and looked back down at the papers Delta had on the table. "Alright, now that everyone is here, what do you guys want to do next?" Delta asked, moving the papers so everyone could see. "I've written down most of the quest opportunities that are within our region and roughly how far away they are from here, as well as how difficult they are, so we know how much time they'll theoretically take up."
"Let's do something where we know what we're getting into," Aesir suggested, "This one was a bit much to say the least. How are everybody's injuries?"
Castor looked aside. His arm was alright, but the bite wounds still hurt like hell, and he was pretty sore to be traveling.