I Don’t Want to Start a Story!

The words slipped out before Max could think about them. Seeing the blush rise to Adelaide’s cheeks made him realise the gravity of what he had just said. For weeks, there had been a prompt indicating she was interested in him, and now, he was finally giving an indication that he was interested as well. The only good news was the lack of prompt in his vision. If it had been there, then a new story would have started. The lack of a HUD and sub-goals only confirmed that her story must’ve been cancelled or taken on by another person. “I mean… You just seem happier today.” Max stumbled with his words. He knew it was a weak excuse, but it was all he could think of at the moment.

“I guess I am happier today.” She gave a slightly awkward laugh. It only made the mood heavier between them. Adelaide tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “It’s always nice to see you.”

Panic and guilt were starting to flood his body. Just as the memories and feelings of a past life threatened to reappear, the tingle of the village shop bell brought a wave of relief. “Max! You left without me,” Cy complained as he lowered his hood, no longer worried about others seeing his appearance. Jesus fucking Christ, thank the lord for the silver-tongued magic man. Perhaps Aldwin was right about his bones being lucky. Max never thought he would be grateful to have a teleporting stalker. “Bessie told us last night about how we’re supposed to bring the butter she made for Liv.” Cy reached into his cloak and pulled out a stick of butter from a pocket that was far too small to contain it. The butter was wrapped carefully in decorated parchment paper covered in drawn hearts. “Ada.”

“Cy,” Adelaide said with a smile, but a lot of her energy was suddenly pulled in. She didn’t seem at all perturbed or interested in the sudden display of magic. The village seemed to accept that their newest ‘vet’ had a few tricks up his sleeves. “Should I bring that to our kitchen?”

He gave a genuine smile, which seemed to bring the energy back into the room. “Please. Max and I will watch the shop while you’re gone.” She seemed to appreciate the offer as she took the butter before disappearing behind the doorway which separated the family’s private life from their public front. “You need to stop leaving without me. We’re in this together until we find your fate-”

“I need a favour with no questions asked.”

“…No?” Max couldn’t help sending a cold glare towards him, but Cy seemed immune to it. “What do you want?”

“Doesn’t matter,” he grumbled, dreading Adelaide's return.

“It clearly does matter.” It took Cy a second for him to realise Max had refocused his glare towards the doorway. “Ah, is it Ada? Want me to be your wingman while you rizz her up?”

This fucker. “No, I want you to keep talking to her so I can leave without a fuss.”

“Take it from me, Max.” Cy patted him on the back causing Max to sidestep away from him. “That’s not a good tactic for seducing women. Instead, you should-”

Max turned and began walking towards the door. “Just keep her busy for me.” Cy promised Adelaide that they would watch the shop. He probably wouldn’t leave until she was back, so Max had a few precious seconds when he could be free from both of them. Cy kept calling out to him, but his voice was ignored, like how most of the village ignored the tingle of the village shop bell.

Keeping his head down, he was determined to make it back to the cart before either of the pestering people could catch up with him. After walking past a patrol of knights, who were drinking on the job, he finally saw his saviour in this situation. “Aldwin!” he called out.

Struck dumb, Aldwin's lone brain cell seemed to have short circuited. Max had called out to him. Max. He was never the one to start a conversation between them. Fearful of whatever could have caused him to suddenly become more friendly, Aldwin began to walk away before being cornered by his murdering friend. “Where the fuck are you going? Didn’t you hear me call you?”

“I did, but…”

“Listen, I need a favour with no questions asked.”

It finally dawned on Aldwin why Max called out to him. His peaceful, dopey face returned. “Sure.”

“I need you to go into the village shop and keep Cy and Adelaide busy.”

‘Okey-dokey.”

Max watched Aldwin storm towards the village shop with determination clearly written on his face and his stride. Some of the passing villagers stopped and stared at the way he was strutting, wondering what on earth was suddenly motivating him. Just before he opened the door and sounded the tingle, he saw Aldwin reaching into his pocket and pulling out a pouch. Not thinking much about it, Max turned and tried to think about what he should do with his precious time now that he had a little bit of privacy.

“There you are, freak! I’ve been looking everywhere for you,” Aldwin pranced into the village shop. His sudden entrance was met with an offended Cy and a disturbed Adelaide, who had only just returned to the shop front.

“Get out of here, donkey boy. You’re not welcome,” Adelaide chided back without missing a beat.

Aldwin ignored her and came too close so that it invaded Cy’s personal space. “Could you stop calling me ‘freak’? It’s very demeaning and-”

“I need help from a freak that knows magic. You do know magic, don’t you?”

Cy struggled to keep a thin smile on his face. Suddenly, Adelaide seemed a little more curious about the newest person to join their small community. “Just a few party tricks, it makes it easier to keep the animals calm during an examination.” The excuse seemed to make perfect sense to Adelaide based on her facial expression. “Why?”

“Because of these.” Aldwin unleashed a wide grin as he emptied the pouch into his hand. A few sticks of something white and polished laid in his grubby palm. Cy’s face went pale.

“What the fuck are those?” Adelaide muttered as she tried to take a closer look. “They look… pretty… Are they chunks of marble?”

“They’re magic bones. I heard they were lucky.”