Tales of the Explorewhores (Bob named the group)

When Rei Cries

I had a little help with writing this one by my friend billyshipper

Hope you enjoy!

The inn was just in their sights, upon seeing its form in the distance, Sema and Tia sighed in relief, for the first time in what seemed like several months, they were going to be sleeping in a real bed. Not the dirty, bug-infested forest floors that their other party members didn’t seem to mind, a real bed. Even more than that, the sleeping area was just another benefit, the real cherry on top was having the beautiful, divine, glorious gift of showering in a secure, warm bathroom.

Sema and Tia were excited (well, just Tia, Sema didn't show happiness) to get to the inn. However, Rei and Bob pouted at the idea. "Why can't we just sleep in the forest like we always do?" Bob asked, disappointed in his party members. Rei nodded in agreement.

“Because  I cannot stand to spend one more night worried that there will be bugs in my hair that I can’t wash out. Do you know how hard it is to find creeks with any semblance of clean water?” Tia explained, distraught seeping into their voice.

Bob and Rei looked at each other and said in unison "Yes, we do know, we've been adventuring for 5 years."

Sema was finding it increasingly distressing how they managed to keep doing that creepy unison thing.

She sighed, “Rhetorical question.” Glancing over at the town they were approaching, “If you really want, the forest isn’t too far, you could still sleep outside. However, I will not be subjecting myself to that.”

Rei pouted and yelled out "No! I will not sleep without any one of my friends. Who else would cuddle behind me? Bob gets front cuddle, but who will back cuddle?"

Sema mutters, “What even is the difference…”

“Well--”

“Don’t answer that. I don’t care to know.”

She pouted, but Bob merely snickered, “Are you sure about that? It might come in handy one day, never know when or who you might cuddle next.”

He unsheathed his spear, “Don’t say anything else." Despite the hot weather, he pulled his scarf up to his nose, covering all but his eyes which narrowed into slits. The image of cuddling Rei popped into his mind and he pulled a metaphorical spear at that too, thoughts like these were going to give him a heat stroke faster than the ninety-something degree weather. He was ever so thankful when Rei ran ahead once she caught sight of the bustling townsfolk. Bob trailing behind, his laughter still audible in Sema’s ears after the gremlin had disappeared.

Before running off, Rei had quickly pawned after that insufferable claymore to the wolf girl, hoping to find some way to charge him. The sword's blade looked rusted and cracked. What a useless blade, Sema couldn’t believe he had ever considered that thing to be a treasure. Then again, he had a lot of previous thoughts which he didn’t agree with now.

Maybe five months ago, he would have wandered off by himself, looking to fill up on goods for his stash or to look at a particular blacksmith’s collection (none of them ever compared to his current spear but it was something to do). Now… He lingered with Tia and Ema for a moment longer before submitting himself to following after the pair of adventurers.

It didn’t take long to catch up to them, long legs versus short legs. And the two were goofing off in front of every storefront, and a shopkeeper almost had the nerve to look annoyed before a dark presence named himself stood behind them, brooding.

The shopkeeper kept his mouth shut like a good boy, he smirked behind his still pulled-up scarf, and they moved on. They bounced between every type of shop the town offered until they reached the inn. The wolf girl, who had taken the most direct path, was already there, standing in front. But her wife wasn't there for some reason.