180. Because I’m The Protagonist

180. Because I’m The Protagonist

“So...” Adam said, glancing between them all suspiciously. “Gifts?”

The group, not wanting to tell Adam they hadn’t brought him any gifts, instead revealed a long strip of leather. It was snake skin, specifically Prince Forest Snake skin, which was a deep green, almost like an emerald.

“The Prince Forest Snake?” Adam asked, glancing between them all.

Jurot nodded.

“Isn’t that expensive?” Adam asked.

Jurot nodded.

“How expensive?”

“This would be worth at least ten gold,” Jurot said.

“Ten gold?” Adam said. ‘So about a grand or so?’ “That’s pretty expensive.”

“It is for you,” Jurot said. “You could make a sheath out of it for a weapon.”

“It’s at times like this, Jurot, that I wish I was as smart as you,” Adam said.

Jurot, taking the compliment at face value, nodded. “You are plenty intelligent, Adam.”

Adam accepted the snake skin. “I feel bad accepting such an expensive gift. I mean, I didn’t even get the children something so expensive.”

The group stared at him, their eyes accusatory.

“What?”

“You did,” Jurot said. “The White Wolf pelts.”

Jaygak then tapped her Bloodseeker, the beautiful sword at her side.

For a moment, Adam didn’t quite understand. “Oh,” he said, when he eventually understood their point. “Right.” He turned tomato red with embarrassment. ‘I can’t just decline it now.’ “Thanks.”

“Sometimes I don’t know if you’re smart or stupid,” Jaygak said. “You should be like me, and reveal that you’re neither, not until it’s the right time to strike.”

Adam had a feeling that she was talking about her various pranks, not that he had seen any. “Right.”

The group retired for the evening when it began to rain, with Nirot chatting away with Jurot about the people she had met on her adventures. She spoke in their own tongue, and Adam assumed that he should probably ignore whatever she was saying, since she didn’t know he spoke their language.

Adam lay on the floor, staring at the ceiling. Lanarot came crawling on top of him, planting her head on his chest.

“Abubaba?” she asked.

“No,” Adam said. “I’m fine.”

“Ooh.”

He wrapped his arms around her legs and leaned down to kiss her forehead, causing her to smile and laugh, before she crawled over to kiss his forehead, her hands firmly pressed against his forehead and shoulder so she could stabilise herself.

Adam chuckled again. “Aren’t we friends?” he asked.

"Yes?”

“You don’t sound very certain.”

“We are, but what does that have to do with anything?”

“That had everything to do with it,” Adam replied, firmly.

"Is that your definition of friend?"

"If I didn't help you in your most trying time, how could I possibly call myself your friend?" Adam chuckled, shaking his head. "Lanarot will be safe and sound in the Iyr, which is the most important thing. Even if I miss her taking her first steps, miss her when she says her first words, some of her most important milestones...”

Adam picked the girl up, staring at her as she dropped her cubes, but looked down at Adam. She brought her knees up to her chest and kicked downwards, before laughing at her pointy eared brother. “I may end up regretting not helping you sooner.”

“We still have a few years,” Lucy said, awkwardly. She had been at his throat to try and get him to take the matter seriously, and now she was trying to stop him.

“What if something happens to the forest? Even with the Iyrmen’s protection, there are many things which could go wrong. What happens if something happens to Mara before the ten years pass? What happens if you die before that?” Adam placed Lanarot down, letting her play in peace.

“That’s highly unlikely,” Lucy said. “I won’t let it happen.”

“There’s no such thing as impossible,” Adam said. “Not any more. Not after I was killed and brought back. Not after I was killed and brought back a second time.”

“Do you think about everything like that?” Lucy asked, staring at the Half Elf, almost in despair at his thoughts.

“Yeah,” Adam replied, casually.

“Why?”

Adam stared at Lanarot, trying to not look at her brother who was still not whittling his wood. “I don’t want any regrets in this life.”

"You'll always regret something."

"Lana’s first steps and you reuniting with Mara, both of them will be great. I’m sure I’ll be happy seeing either. However, only one of those stops suffering. As much as I am a sentimental idiot, emphasis on the mental idiot, I know where my priorities should lay.”

“Now I feel guilty,” Lucy said, glancing aside.

"Good,” Adam said. “I want you to remember what I've done for you. My friends mean a lot to me, and I’ll go through hell with them if I need to. I want you to know how important you are to me.”

"Why are you going so far for me?” Lucy whispered, as though she didn’t want to ask. “You don’t really know me, and we haven’t spent that much time with each other."

“Because,” Adam said. “That’s manly.”

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Manly indeed.

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Had another idea today for a cultivation series in the shower. Why am I trying to write other stuff?