Repurposed | Quirrel x Sheo x Nailsmith

Chapter Seventeen: In Which Everyone Is Able To Relax

As time went on, Quirrel and The Nailsmith grew more and more comfortable with each other.

"-and you'll never guess what happened after that!" Quirrel says, smiling the widest The Nailsmith had ever seen him, "When I finally found someone to ask about the time, it turns out it had passed lunch hours ago!" He laughs, "I was walking around half-starved for no reason!" He concluded his story of a time he had to ration meals in a kingdom where there were no visual indications of the passage of time; just a land drowned in unwavering almost-darkness. "I felt so stupid my embarrassment almost covered up the pang of my hunger."

"Oh, and another time-" Quirrel started again, so enthusiastic that The Nailsmith didn't have time to make a comment, "-there was a kingdom where the weather was always hot and dry, and like many of the other travelers there my journey left me parched and famished. So, I went to the first food stall I saw and asked them what they recommended. They handed me a- oh dear, I forget the name -it was like a little centipede on a stick, and when I took a bite out of it, it bit me right back!"

"Your food bit you?!" The Nailsmith was wiping tears from his eyes from how hard he'd been laughing. He'd been listening to Quirrel's funny stories for at least thirty minutes now.

"It was still alive, my friend! And that's not even it! They covered it in something incredibly spicy, and that just made it so much worse. I swear that ordeal left a scar on my tongue. The bug at the stall and locals were laughing their tails off at me, said they do that to practically every newcomer they see. They gave me the most refreshing water I've ever had as an apology, but now I think about that moment every time I go to eat. Anytime after that when I cooked up a tiktik I was staring at it like: 'now don't you dare bite me, I know you're thinking about it.'" Quirrel said, wagging his finger as if he were a parent scolding a child.

"Wait so... did they know it wasn't dead?"

"Oh, they knew alright! I kept passing locals eating the meal as if it were nothing!"

"Wow. I'd have expected for the water to have spice in it too," The Nailsmith joked. "Hey, tell me some more embarrassing stories."

"Why? Do you enjoy hearing me make a fool of myself?"

"Absolutely."

"Oh, dear!" Quirrel suddenly shouted as one came to mind, instinctually covering his face to hide his blush. "I just thought of a horrible one."

"Spill it."

"Okay, okay, but you better promise not to tell any other bug about this."

"Alright," The Nailsmith said with a smile, leaning closer to Quirrel as if he were about to take part in some juicy gossip; the vase he was working on being completely forgotten. "You say that as if I have any friends other than you and Sheo."

Quirrel just rolled his eyes at that. "This happened when I was in a very floral kingdom, you see. Plants of all kinds were the people's pride and joy, and during the journey there I had found myself a traveling partner. They were much more familiar with the kingdom than I was, and they showed me to many beautiful flower shops. In one of them they had delicate flowers, which I had never seen before and had found absolutely fascinating."

"When's the embarrassment going to start?"

"Hold on, friend, I'm getting to that. I had found the flowers so fascinating that I thought to buy some for my new traveling friend as a parting gift. When I did, the bug at the register was giggling, but I didn't know what for, and it wasn't until after I'd approached my friend with the flowers that they told me what they meant!"