"Okay... you definitely won, Em... I'll give," Zephyr groaned, putting down the large wooden flagon with a clang. He took a few deep, ragged breaths while I supported his back, trying to keep him upright.
"AVAIN!!" Mother translated the cry from the crowd for us: "Again!"
Zephyr clapped, and we all felt obligated to cheer as Carlos finally sat down, missing the edge of the table four consecutive times with his empty flagon before we all erupted in laughter. Mother quickly helped him, trying to repress her own hysterical amusement. Carlos was completely out of it, far more quickly than Zephyr.
"Just imagine, my love..." Zephyr smelled strongly of whiskey, and his kisses wandered on my neck. It felt great, but he completely forgot whatever important thing he had meant to say.
"Imagine what?" I asked the ceiling, enjoying the moment despite his inebriation.
"What?" he looked up, his blue eyes cloudy.
He was truly out of it.
"Oy... he needs some air!! GO... IDIOT DUO!"
Alexander and Lucian left their beloveds and came over. They helped out a now docile man who kept telling them repeatedly how much they had improved and how proud he was of them. It was a bizarre, drunken stream of sincere compliments.
I walked closer to Carlos, whom Mother was now fanning with her hand. He looked to be mumbling something completely incomprehensible.
Just then, the tavern door opened, and Nifa and her wife, Cintia, walked in.
"...it was much firmer than I thought..." Nifa was saying.
"It was perfection... carried by... uhh. Hello all!" They noticed us and immediately stopped talking about something that made no sense without context.
"Zephyr sure is loaded, what happened?" Nifa walked closer, kissed my cheeks, and then noticed Carlos's mumbling state. "...Never mind. With water men, it's obvious."
She walked closer, clearly having some fun with the now sleeping man. She activated her powers, and his black hair turned slowly to shades of green until it exactly matched the color of fresh vomit. Eww...
We all smiled at his new, sickly transformation. Wait...
"Can you change someone's hair color, Nifa?" I asked, suddenly serious.
She turned to me, confused by my solemn tone. "You didn't see me turning your house into some snow-white monstrosity, Lylly? Painting is my thing, loves." She clapped her glowing hands, and her own red hair was covered in a swirling ball of energy that dropped down onto her shoulders as beautiful, almost blue-black locks framed her face now.
"""WHOOA..."""
She bowed with her new hair, which was almost as deep blue as Zephyr's, but not quite right. Should I... looking around, the ladies seemed to be having the same thought.
"You don't have to decide now." Nifa saw our collective hesitation and pointed at herself and Cintia. "We decided to stay until the summer at least... but who knows?"
I pulled them both into a happy hug. "I'm so glad! What made you want to stay? Is it the wedding in the summer?"
It was Cintia who answered, her blue eyes shining with quiet joy. "That too, but there's a lot to love in Emet Village... also," she pulled on Nifa and twirled her around. It had to be a practiced move; it was fluid and graceful. "...We talked and wanted to slow down a little. Maybe, build a life amongst friends."
Nifa looked happy as she nodded along, just as Zephyr returned... with wet hair!
He had sobered up a little, and only his eyes shined now, but it was with fury. "You two violated a drunk married man!"
Nifa and Cintia suddenly disappeared like ghosts!
"Like you can run forever!?" he bellowed, still loaded enough to make threats but too drunk to act on them. He quickly tumbled down to a chair with a groan. "Ughh... Later..."
Cintia and her wife reappeared behind the bar, a good distance away, with guilty smiles.
"""Blegh!!""" They were brave enough to taunt him, considering the situation.
"Ohh... baby... they groped you, huh?" I knelt down, so he didn't have to strain himself.
"My arms were... ughh... never mind."
He leaned back, and I walked behind him, drying his hair with a towel Eli brought.
"Good news is they decided to stay... forever, probably."
"Yay..." he mumbled, completely unenthused.
I kissed his forehead, feeling how hot he was. Idiots.
"Which one of you dunked him into water!?" I snapped at Alexander and Lucian.
Idiot One and Two just shook their heads in silence, pointing at Zephyr.
"They are liars... princess! We need to be vigilant." Zephyr insisted, but his eyes were heavy.
"It was obviously him," I sighed. "She's not even close, darling." I saw Ilianna noticed very little and was fighting her own battles with the kids in the far back.
I sat behind him, running my hands through his hair, which he liked so much. "Hmm... perfect."
With him feeling better and the other green idiot safely passed out and covered up with a blanket, our boredom certainly vanished.
~
The sober bunch ended up carrying the Rivals—Zephyr and Carlos—and tucked them into the same bed in an empty room, side-by-side.
Which Nifa quickly painted.
It was her best work yet: a highly detailed, small painting of the two men splayed out, drooling slightly, with Carlos's hair bright green and a tiny, glowing angel (Zephyr's blessing, perhaps?) hovering protectively over them.
"Alright," she lifted the small painting and showed it to the room. "...and it will cost one bronze coin, ladies."
I quickly put two of them into her hand and patiently waited for a second one. Once done, I gave the first painting over to Mother.
"Ahhh... thank you, sweetheart." She admired it for a while, passing it around to the others who made fun of the two rivals.
I put my second painting aside and went to undo my husband's shameful position next to his brother-in-law. I shooed out the crowd, then returned to the main tavern room.
"See, there is plenty to love in here," Cintia said, walking behind the bar, popping some wine and getting some cups.
"By the way... how was it, his behind?" Liz asked Nifa and Cintia as she took her cup, her eyebrows raised in wicked curiosity.
They understood the question faster than some and looked at me. ""10/10... Lucky girl...""
Liz simply raised her eyebrows with a cheeky smile, and we toasted to my good luck with the rest of the jealous lot.
Miri and Setil came in a little while later... with Stuart in tow. They were followed by an exhausted-looking Granny, leaning on Metill's shoulder, who himself looked a little dazed.
"Family, we didn't have time yesterday." Setil grabbed an eternally embarrassed Stuart and pushed him forward. "Meet, Stuart Bol..."
"They know him... by Ehlite, they all grew up together." Miri quickly reminded Setil, robbing her husband of his moment with a few well-placed words, reminding everyone we had known Stuart since he was a little kid.
"Lylly, Eli, Lizzy, how are you girls?" Stuart Boolt was a nice, polite guy who never pushed his company on anyone long enough to feel uncomfortable or annoying.
Zephyr himself liked the "nervous little brother" who refused to leave after training and kept practicing.
"Hey, Stuart... where are your parents?" I asked.
He looked behind him toward the door. "They're still sleeping after overdoing it last night, to be honest... I didn't tell them about whom I planned to ask yesterday. So, it was a bit of shock."
Eli tapped his shoulder and pointed at the bickering sisters, Miri and Setil, who despite having buried the hatchet when drunk, didn't seem to stay sobered up for long.
"How is your new situation treating you?" she asked with an evil smile.
He looked like a man who had accepted his fate. "Just like Master Zephyr always says, every day: Better!"
"""""Better!!!"""""
His random students around us all repeated the mantra that my drunk husband had been teaching them since he arrived.