Wish upon the Stars

The owner of the Daylight Dreamer Inn was not what I expected. Though  to be fair that was probably more my issue than his. He looked younger  than I'd thought, but reconsidering Ascendants were almost always young  looking, at least once they were full grown.

Sindar was  more the kind of person you'd expect to see at a club than in the office  of an inn though. Handsome guy, dark skin, dark eyes, and long wavy  black hair. He had on an expensive looking suit (which for an Ascendant  meant it was enchanted) and had an easy smile that was belied by the  coldness in his brown irises. I could tell he was trying to give off the  impression of a friendly, amiable guy, and I could ALSO tell that if I  believed that impression I was going to get badly ripped off.

Which  was interesting, because he was at least at the peak of F-rank  (probably one of the entrants), and he really should have had a Skill  that would make it harder for me to spot that. It took me a second to  realize that I'd picked it up through the bond, and that Callie, with  her high perception stat, was the one who had noticed. It was a bit  jarring how smoothly that had come through, honestly.

"So."  Said Sindar. "I'm told you have a precious resource you're seeking to  barter with." He folded his hands in front of him as he smiled at us  cooly. Then he did...nothing. Damn it. He was waiting for us to make the  first offer. I tried to consider who would be the best fit for this  situation. Benny had the haggling Skill, but it was Minor, and there was  no way it would useful here.

To my relief, Celine stepped  forward, offering a cool smile. "Mr. Wyndham is interested in safe  lodgings until the Glade fully opens, but we had some...concerns. Just a  few questions we need to have answered before we can decide if your  establishment is right for us."

I had to stifle a sigh of  relief, and Callie felt the same, as we both turned to stare at Celine.  Because of course being a noble she knew how to negotiate. I was  suddenly extremely glad that we'd brought her along, because she clearly  had a much better handle on this situation than any of us.

What  came next was a master class in diplomacy. I learned enough to almost  pick up a Skill just watching her I think. First she turned the tables  on him with that initial reversal, forcing him to go on the defensive  instead of waiting patiently for us to respond. Once she had him off  balance she pretty much tore him apart.

Every comment he  made was taken in the worst possible light, every open ended statement  was looped around to be a negative. It was almost beautiful watching the  character assassination of his inn, and by the time she was done, I  don't think even HE considered the place worth staying at. She finished  the negotiations with a one wish per day payment schedule over a single  month, and he looked confused and almost nauseous when she was done.

As  we headed up to our rooms, each of us with our own room key,we all  turned to stare at Celine in horrified fascination. She just gave a  small but smug smile. "Negotiations are an important part of diplomacy.  As a noble I'm naturally quite experienced in the art of discourse. I  hope that was helpful?"

Callie burst out laughing. "You  smug ass, of course it was helpful, and you know it. But I appreciate  the save either way. I'm glad we decided to bring you along. You're  officially in charge of haggling and negotiations." As she saw Celine's  smile grow, she countered it with one of her own. "I wouldn't be so  happy about that if I were you. We're about to go to an interstellar  market. You're about to get a pretty sizable amount of work."

The  elf girl's expression fell as she realized she'd basically just been  upgraded to a personal shopper for the foreseeable future, and Benny  snickered at his girlfriend's dismay, only for her to whirl on him and  shoot him a surprisingly expressive glare. "Oh, I wouldn't be laughing  if I were you." She said sweetly. "I know you have the haggling Skill,  and I plan to train you up so that we have more options in the future.  You're going to be coming along everywhere I go."

His  eyes widened in panicked horror, but sadly for him, his fate was  sealed, Celine grabbed him by the wrist, wished us all luck with finding  our rooms, and dragged him off down the hallway. Callie was smirking as  she watched them leave, a thoughtful look on her face I didn't really  like. The last thing I needed was my girlfriend deciding she needed to  take a firmer hand in our relationship.

"Oh  hey." I said desperately. "I forgot to ask you what you think about my  weapon? I'm about to replace it. Zeke was talking about possibly picking  up the staff so I could learn a martial art. What do you think?" She  was startled out of her thoughts by the question, which was about  weapons and therefor BASICALLY loot. Helping me shop would keep her  distracted, and I also really wanted her opinion.

The  others had scattered to their rooms, leaving the two of us alone to  find ours, and she looked pensive as we walked. "That's a good question.  I could see how a staff might work, but it seems...off. The length is  wrong. Maybe I just got used to you with a cane though. If you think it  would work I could see it though. Maybe take it further, try for the  spear? Having a blade on the end of your weapon might be nice."

I  shook my head firmly. "Hard pass. A lot of my Skills increase flat  impact damage. A blade would mitigate some of the advantages, and it  just...feels wrong. Not like me." Pushing through the door to our room, I  looked around in surprise and enthusiasm, stopping the conversation so I  could take in the new digs.

The  hallways of the inn had been well appointed but small. About five feet  across, with thick carpets, smooth painted walls and the odd bit of  bric-a-brac or a painting hanging at eye level. I expected similarly  meager sizes for the rooms, but when we stepped inside, I was blown  away.

If the  room had been some gymnasium sized palace with tons of marble and  beautiful gold accents I'd have been pleased and amused but not shocked.  Rather, ostentatious and huge was what I'd come to expect from  Ascendant places. To my surprise though, this place was actually pretty  homey. It wasn't a small room, fifteen feet by fifteen or so, and  painted in dark earth tones.

The  furniture was plush without being showy, looking a bit beat up but  supremely comfortable. The only nod to traditional over the top  Ascendant decorating was the absolutely massive bed, large enough for me  to lie sideways and not have my head or feet stick out. Callie bolted  across the room, throwing herself bodily through the air to land with a  loud whump on the mattress with a giggle, making comforter angels as she  groaned in appreciation.

"Ok."  She said in a voice of utter bliss. "We're buying this bed, or we're  sneaking it out when we leave. We'll have spatial rings, we can pull it  off. I demand we carry this with us everywhere now. What rank is this?"

I  glanced down at the bed, surprised based on how happy she was that it  was only G-rank. I didn't see enchantments or anything, but for all I  knew it was an Invention, some random interaction between materials  making the perfect bed. I dropped my bag, dropping my mask on the  dresser as I walked over to climb up onto the absurdly comfortable  mattress.

Callie's  earlier groan had been completely understandable, and I made one of my  own as I pretty much melted into the cloudlike softness of the bedding.  "Ok. Deal. This is ours now. I'm never letting anyone else sleep in this  bed. It belongs to us and there's nothing anyone can say to convince me  otherwise."

She  rolled over to cuddle up next to me. "My hero." She stayed like that  for a bit, and I was about to bring up the weapon again when she finally  spoke up. "Doesn't this feel weird?"

With  the bond and my own knowledge of her, I could tell exactly what she  meant. "It does. Being on our own like this. Like, we were living on our  own anyway basically, minus Zeke who doesn't count as an authority  figure, but being out in the wider universe together like this...it  feels like a big deal."

She looked up at me, bottomless blue eyes boring into mine. "Big in a bad way? Are you having second thoughts about us?"

Leaning  down for a quick kiss, I shook my head, laughing. "Hardly. It just  makes me amazed at how far we've come. From dancing around each other  until you finally asked me out. I spent a while just dragging my feet  and it makes me wonder if we'd have had more time together if I had just  had the guts to ask instead of asking you on dates until you broke from  the frustration."

That  got a giggle. "It's ok sweetie. I don't mind that you made me work for  it. Besides, I like where we are. We were friends before we got together  and I think it made us more comfortable with each other. Without all  those dates you probably would have been a squealing fanboy still." At  my offended noise she grinned at me. "Oh please, I remember the first  time we met. If your jaw dropped any faster it would have broken the  sound barrier."

"I  have no idea what you are talking about." I said with dignity. "I admit  I always found you attractive, but I certainly never let it unbalance  me."

Rolling  her eyes, she kissed my cheek. "Owning my merch would say otherwise, but  whatever you need to tell yourself, love." She paused. "You as excited  about this whole Moonsong Glade thing as I am?"

"Probably  not." I said mildly. "There's loot in them there woods. I'm surprised  you're even lucid. I half expected you to be floating along a golden  scent trail into the void with giant credit signs flashing in your  eyes." Her glare was adorable, and I ignored it. "But...I am kind of  pumped about all the new enemies. Not to mention my new earth and plant  based divination skills will come in so much handy here."

She  lit up. "That's TRUE! Oh I can't wait to get mountains of treasure and  then sell some of it. I want a giant vault filled with chits with piles  of magic items strewn throughout it. Maybe we can drag the bed into the  vault and sleep on piles of our money." Her high pitched squeal of  delight made me chuckle as I tried to imagine her as a dragoness  sleeping on a hoard of treasure.

"Well."  I said with a yawn. "I think we'll have plenty of cool treasures to see  in the bazaar. You can have as much fun out there as you want. For now  though, this comfy bed is making me tired. We should head take a nap,  then we can figure out our next move after."

Snuggling  into my side, she let out her own yawn, glaring at me for getting her  started. "I guess we can do that. I am feeling a little sleepy." And I  closed my eyes, letting the warmth of the bed and someone I loved lull  me to sleep on a floating city in space above an alien world. My life  could be pretty cool sometimes.