Chapter 61: Ch 61: Date with the Bunny Woman…
With the activation of the communication array, Baldeur didn't physically need to check in everyday at the trade company. Since he was a part of the special operations department he would have extended time off between missions.
After two weeks of leave he had to start showing up at least three times a week for training and evaluation.
Their department consisted of roughly 40 people, at least four for each Source and just under a dozen with two Sources. Since they didn't know what Sources the worlds they would be assigned to would have, they had to make sure they could work with every type of Source.
The first time he showed up to the trade company training facilities he met back up with Sigurd and Haydn. They let him know that Derbail was recovering well but was already going crazy with not being able to use her Source.
The two of them introduced him to a few of the others in their department and he got to spar with them throughout the day.
He even got to meet the head of his department, a seventh circle mage named Noemi. She had only briefly stopped by to see if this new recruit was everything Piaras said he was. In the end she was happy with what she saw.
After they finished, Baldeur exchanged communication runes with most of them and accepted invitations to head out on the town with a few of them.
His only disappointment was that he didn't meet up with Aisling. According to Haydn, she showed up the day before for her evaluation. He'd just have to come back until he was able to see her again.
Of course there was another person whose communication rune he wanted to get while he was here.
Renie was working the general requisition counter as Baldeur approached. He made his move the moment she was free.
"Well hello there. Did you worry about me while I was gone?" Baldeur said.
"Of course I did. We've known each other for years. I'll always worry about you which is why you need to get nice and strong." Renie replied.
"Since we're such good friends, why don't we celebrate my successful return with dinner?"
"I don't know. You did wait a few weeks to come see me. Maybe we aren't that good of friends."
Baldeur scratched behind his ear as he didn't have a good reason for not coming to see her earlier.
"Plus I heard you got a girlfriend during your last trip." Renie said.
"Oh, I'm just her sponsor for immigration. There's nothing special between us, so you don't need to be jealous." Baldeur said.
"I guess there is that one as well. Plus…" Renie leaked forward and flicked good forehead, "both of us know you don't plan on being monogamous, so don't try to trick a girl into thinking they're the only one."
"How was I trying to trick you?"
"The whole 'don't need to be jealous' line. You'd only say that to make me feel like I'm your only pursuit."
"Alright you got me. But how about that dinner?" He wanted to know who Renie thought was his supposed girlfriend but held off for now. Did she know something about Aisling?
Renie didn't respond right away which he took as a good sign. But then she got a wicked grin on her face.
"Sure. There's a festival outside the gate to the world of Ohskyo. Meet me at the entry north of there plaza."
He was so surprised that she had agreed that he ignored her grin and the mischievous twinkle in her eye.
"I'll be there an hour before sunset." Baldeur started to rush away but remembered to exchange communication runes with her.
Right after he exchanged contact runes with Renie, a second disk tapped his and exchanged information.
"Remember you still owe me a walk in the park." Arisha said after getting his contact runes on her communication disk.
Renie started to giggle behind her hand as the other woman walked off, leaving Baldeur speechless.
He eventually just shook his head knowing he'd just deal with her later. Right now he was just too happy about his date with Renie to let her quick appearance ruin his mood.
Back at his apartment, Baldeur showered and prepared for that night. He was thankful that he had just moved in and didn't have to do any major cleaning just in case things went better than expected.
As he was getting dressed, Baldeur realized he didn't know anything about this specific festival.
Each district was connected to enough worlds that there was some kind of festival every few days. Each had their own unique characteristics.
In the end he didn't stress too much since with a city with this much diversity traditions tended to blend together with few people batting an eye. It would be different if he was going to the world in question.
Since he wasn't, he wore what would be acceptable for most festivals. It was a white button down shirt with a dark waistcoat. A deep blue loose robe that went just past his knees was worn over that. To finish it off he wore black slacks with polished shoes.
After doing a second look to make sure he'd impress, he made his way to the plaza.
Because the city was flat with a giant wall of fog surrounding it, there wasn't a true north. The citizens used the position of the large central pillar that the monarchs and city elders ruled from as the designation of north.
With it being much taller than the rest of the city, the central pillar could be seen easily from most places in the city. Though from their district it was mostly just the top that was visible.
When he arrived at the plaza Baldeur found the festival just beginning. The booths were lined with paper lanterns, children were running through the area with paper fish and birds attached to long sticks, and dragons made of light soared above the crowds before bursting into sparks.
There were a number of people who weren't in the exact attire for this festival like Baldeur. But most of the people were in two types of outfits.
The first was primarily worn by men. It consisted of open robes in earth tones that hung just past the knee. A loincloth covered their lower parts. On their bare chests were painted various flowering vines.
The other outfit that was mostly worn by women consisted of longer form fitting robes. Weaved into the fabric were scenes of the sky, fluffy clouds, flying birds, and occasionally a tall mountain. In their hair were ribbons of yellow and red, representing the sun.
Everyone was wearing wooden sandals and had brightly painted toes.
All different types of races could be seen in the plaza; humans, elves, dwarves, gnomes, lizard folk, demons, angels, and beast-kin of every variety.
Once he got to the north side of the plaza he found the beast-kin he was looking for. People seemed to give Renie space as they admired her from afar. She was wearing a tight robe that depicted a bright hopeful sky.
Baldeur smiled as he took in her beauty, thankful that the tight festival garb helped emphasize her assets both front and back.
As he got closer, Baldeur noticed that the clouds on her robe were slowly moving. He could sense Laksulm energy enchanted into the fabric. It drew in his gaze even more.
Right before she turned to notice him, another man approached her from the other side. The man was wearing a brown open robe with thick green vines painted on his chest with bright blue and gray flowers.
Baldeur faltered a little as he recognized the man as Egar. He was one of the men that she mentioned now and then as taking her out on dates. They had met a few times but didn't know each other well.
'Fuck!' Went through Baldeur's head. Was he supposed to be here or did they just meet by coincidence?
That question didn't take too long to be answered.
"Oh, is that you Baldeur? Fancy meeting you here." Egar said.
"Baldeur you made it." Renie turned and gave him a friendly smile. It had that same mischievousness that he had missed earlier.
"Wait, did you invite him to join us? Does Geoff know?" Egar asked.
"Kinda. I did invite him but not to join us." Renie replied.
Before either man could ask for clarification a second bunny woman joined them.
She looked a lot like Renie, though her proportions were slightly smaller. But with the tight robe she wore, they were still able to draw the eye of many of the other festival goers like her sister.
Unlike her sister the second bunny-kin was wearing a dark robe that depicted a storming sky complete with moving lighting bolts.
"Alright, I showed up. Now you better hold to your end and not say anything to mom. I can't believe you'd use that against me." The second woman said.
Baldeur was already losing hope that he'd have a romantic time with Renie when he saw Egar. That hope was shattered when he saw her sister Anika. And he understood he had been set up.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone