A Lunch That Didn't Happen

The two men bid goodbye to Serena who came all the way to Lynx’s hometown Landailue to provide them with some food, then Saif and Lynx began their trip southwards.

They weren’t in a hurry and took their time to enjoy the view outside their hometowns. Thar Nua was mostly mountains and vast forests, in some places a deep silence, and some richly inhabited by elves, fairies, druids… A peaceful region, but sometimes a little change was nice. Though it’s not like the two really made the effort to visit cities on their way or make new friends, they mostly walked through infinite meadows and camped under the skies; which were way more visible than in the depths of the forest. They didn’t count the days or look at any map, they’ve already made this trip several times throughout the years.

 

About two weeks must have passed by the time they reached Tír Ríoga. The friend they came to visit was at his usual place — sitting on his knees, he seemed quite busy arranging decorations in just the perfect angle on a flat rock he appointed as the dining table, and didn’t even notice them arriving. The two decided to watch him make a little fuss about a water lily that kept sliding off the “table”, and Lynx sighed with a smile at the scene.

 

“Hey there, Princess” Saif greeted him as they walked closer, to which the naiad couldn’t decide for a second if he should first get angry for that comment or welcome them.

“I’m n- You! Quit with that!” Jinhai decided to take offense first, but then proceeded to stand up and give them a warm hug.

“We certainly feel like visiting a princess who’s locked in her tower and has no way of getting out” Saif bullied him some more.

“I told you to quit with that!“ Jinhai warned him, but did feel a little bad for the two for having to come all the way to meet. "Instead, try looking at it as having a nice family reunion afar, maybe? Lynx is visiting his dad after all!” he proudly put an arm around Lynx’s shoulder.

“A grandma, maybe. Who can’t walk much so everyone visits her, and she’s waiting for them with a delicious lunch”

“HAH? You know what, you’re not getting that lunch, kid!” Jinhai tried looking very offended, but all three just started laughing instead.

 

They sat around the table to eat. Although Jinhai’s cooking was limited to aquatic foods, the dishes he made were always very appetizing. Desserts consisted of fruits which were local to the naiads’ area, so the two were always looking forward to the things they don’t normally have the chance to eat. At times like these they sat around that flat stone and talked for hours.

 

When evening was about to come and it started to get cold, they built a campfire  and continued talking there. Saif and Lynx always brought local foods from Thar Nua with them too, and they watched as Jinhai was amazed by each one of them, even though it wasn’t the first time he tried them. He really was happy for the simplest things, and the other two were utterly entertained by it.

 

As Jinhai was trying to suppress his excitement (unsuccessfully) as he unpacked another grain cake with a jar of blackberry jam, Lynx asked about how Seely’s been doing.

“I brought a little gift for her too, so could you pass it on?” he held out a box, carefully packed.

“No way, you can do it yourself!” Jinhai replied, to which Lynx seemed rather reluctant.

“I- think she might be scared of me a little," he admitted.

“You could try smiling more, maybe?”

“Say something, Saif. You’re the only one out of the three of us that has a girlfriend!”

“Well, I don’t know..”  Saif looked like he was thinking hard about how he could have made Serena fall in love with him.

“Saif has a refined calm aura, that could be a charming trait” Jinhai said.

“Do I not look calm?”

“You rather have the look of an assassin!” Saif accused him jokingly, to which Lynx was very surprised.

“A what?? Do I look like a criminal or something?”

​

Jinhai didn’t want to admit it, but his sister Seely really did mention that she was a little scared of Lynx. She said that for a second she thought that some kind of criminal came after her. She was certainly over exaggerating, she says the most dramatic things all the time; even though there was some truth in there about Lynx’s overall look.

​

“Huh?! Is it my arms?” Lynx guessed. His muscular arms were all visible, so no wonder some girls would be afraid of him. “..I’ll try hiding it.”

“And smile more! You’re real nice, so don’t let your angry face mislead her”

“Are you just bullying me now?” Lynx sighed. “Do you think I have a chance though?” he looked at Jinhai.

“Weelll.. She writes all the time, so I wouldn’t be surprised if her type would be a blond prince or something — ” Jinhai admitted, but quickly thought of something to avoid Lynx being too disappointed by that answer. “I don’t know, I never asked. She’d probably like you if the two of you talked for longer”

“I see..” Lynx thought for a few seconds “Well anyway.. I’m here to see you so let’s just talk about something else. How are the others? How’s Gabriel?”

​

Saif rested his chin in his hand and tried to not smile because he already knew that Jinhai’s eyes would light up at that question.

 

“He’s good! He was here about a month ago, actually! We were training, we cooked together, we talked..”

“So the usual”

“Yeah!”

“You’re so excited as if it was the first time”

“Oh shut up!” Jinhai blushed a little, because him being excited about such ordinary activities makes it really obvious that he doesn’t have friends otherwise. “Apparently, things at Lelhalean are getting more and more dire. Sirens are coming to the shores frequently —  all along the route to Geal too. It was always a hassle to deal with those people from Geal, now it’s nearly impossible to trade. But you probably know about all this already”

“Yeah.. A few weeks ago, the Lord of Lelhalean visited ours with his son in Landailue to discuss the situation. So I’m guessing it was his father and him?” Lynx asked.

“Yeah. Wait, so you two finally met?!” Jinhai was excited again, now he wanted to hear more.

“Ah no no, they were there for business so I wouldn’t have had the chance to casually go up to him anyway. The place was quite crowded too. I think I saw him from behind though? Is he blond?

“Yeah!! No, ah—” Jinhai almost dramatically fell down from the rock he was sitting on, he was so disappointed by hearing that the two still couldn’t meet. Come on, they don’t live that far from each other!

“Just admit that you were too nervous to go up to him” Saif finally spoke, it seems that today he was trying to make everyone feel embarrassed.

“I— NO! He’s a lordling though, so of course!”

“So were you or were you not, now?”

“It wasn’t the right timing, okay? They came to talk with the Lord, and left in a hurry to protect their people back home”

​

Saif didn’t seem convinced, so Lynx was thinking of any other reason for why the two couldn’t talk.

​

“So he’s a blond, huh! He might be Seely’s type then. They should get together instead”

“WHAT?” Jinhai was flabbergasted, he didn’t know how the conversation suddenly come to that conclusion.

“He has rank too, so he can be her blond prince” — Lynx seemed to be both very jealous of a situation he created in his head, and proud of himself for finding an excuse for both people to avert talking to them.

“He’s not a prince! No!” Jinhai seemed very upset, and now Saif was more than entertained.

“Could it be that you’d be jealous?” Saif tried his best to put oil to the fire when it meant watching Jinhai’s overly expressive reactions to everything.

“No! Yeah! No I mean, he can get a girlfriend all he wants at home but I don’t want him coming here just to see Seely! I cannot have that!”

​

The two watched the result of their blabbering.

​

“When he comes here he’s mine.” Jinhai stated when he realized that it’s unnecessary trying to hide in front of these two just how attached he is to Gabriel. But wasn’t he right? Gabriel is his best friend, so it'd be horrible if he came here and started hanging out with his sister instead!

​

After thinking for a few seconds, he realized that he once again overreacted when the topic was about him —  Lynx only said that stuff to make excuses for himself after all.

​

“Hmph. So how did it go? The meeting” he brought back the previous subject.

“We’re sending some enforcement to Lelhalean against the sirens”

“Aedon too. They came to Aedon as well. Probably all bigger settlements in Thar Nua” Saif added. “If they cannot keep trading with Geal and cannot protect the shores, that would be bad for the whole of Thar Nua, so I'm sure they'll get the help they need.

 

The three ​​friends continued their chatting late into the night.

Saif and Lynx stayed for a few more days, then began their journey back home. Even though a trip like this took a lot of their time, they never once felt like it wasn't worth it. They were already looking forward to the next occasion and wished they could continue their get-togethers until the end of time.