“You ready?” Thera asked, her dress on now that the day of the wedding had come, needing only to drop Mora off before the two of them got going, leaving Ben to admire her while he buttoned up his shirt.

  “Almost, but don’t worry, we’ll still be there early. There’s one more thing I want to do first.”

  “Better not be working when you’re cleaned up so nicely.”

  “Nah, nothing like that,” he told her as he pulled a chair over to a mirror. “Take a seat, it’s been a while since I’ve had the chance to do your hair.”

  “What, looking to pretty me up a bit more?” she teased.

  “You always look beautiful, this is as much for my own enjoyment as anything else. It’s just an excuse to see my lovely girlfriend with a bit of a different style.”

  “Well, if you’re going to flatter me like that then how can I refuse?”

  She sat down and smiled, watching in the mirror with interest at what he would do while he ran his fingers through her hair, seeing how long it had gotten. Other than some light trimming, she hadn’t had a real cut since the last time he’d done it for her to make a more powerful staff, the few years it had been growing leaving it comfortably down her back.

  “Just going to play with it?”

  “Just thinking about how long it might get if you leave it for a century,” he laughed. “Maybe something you should consider in the future. You could roll it up into the biggest, most unwieldy bun when you need it out of the way.”

  “Pfff, if I was going to let it grow for that long, I’d just get you to make me something with a spatial effect I could store most of it in. I’m sure you could throw together something that would look nice while doing it.”

  “True. Could be fun too. I’ll make you one later if you want, I’ve got more than enough voidstone.”

  “What a shocking waste of one of the rarest materials on the planet.”

  “Hey, last time Jake was here I used him to make a ton of it. If I ever run out I’ll just grab him to make more.”

  “And I’m sure he would just love hearing that,” she laughed. “If you do, figure out a way to make it up to him.”

  “Hmm, maybe I could slip everything I know about swordsmanship into his head so he could finally take advantage of that laser sword I made him a while ago. He’d probably enjoy that, so long as he was ever given the chance to use it,” he told her as he got started, braiding her hair into something akin to a half-up crown but leaving it looser at the back as his fingers nimbly moved through it to get the result he wanted, leaving him smiling at the end while she looked at it. “So, what do you think?”

  “I think you could have had a decent job as a hairstylist if you’d wanted one,” she told him, plenty pleased with the job. “Maybe I should get you to do my hair more often, at least on days when I’m not hunting or in a hospital.”

  “Ha, that doesn’t exactly leave many days.”

  “All the more reason to get you to do it then, let me enjoy feeling pretty on my days off.”

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  “You always look pretty,” he told her, bending down to kiss her cheek before offering his hand. “Now, shall we head out?”

  “Sure, let’s go.”

  Walking out, they dropped Mora off with Delair and Fontesh, catching just enough of his student’s machinations with the boy to get the impression she was going to try and talk someone into letting them renovate their house as he and Thera went back to the shop and through one of his gates to the greater gate network beyond, leaving them looking for the one that would take them to the city they’d be meeting at and going through to the area on the other side.

  Being one that Ben had created the gate for. It was on the smaller side as far as cities went, but he could instantly see it was busy. No invasion point nearby meant it was a perfect place for other cities, towns, and villages to evacuate too, with the war likely having breathed life into it in a way it never would have gotten without it and left him to examine it as they walked through the streets.

  With the flood of people who’d moved there in the last few years, a mix of species was to be expected but Ben couldn’t help but spot a sizable dark elf population, leaving him to wonder if that was why the area had been chosen. If there was already a large dark elf community around and they were supposedly having a traditional dark elf wedding ceremony, it wasn’t hard to imagine that they’d either found the easiest spot to arrange one if the location hadn’t simply come down to being that was where Gennet was from, with those bits of curiosity floating around his thoughts by the time they got to their planned destination, a small cafe Greed had asked them to meet him at first, hopefully to reveal whatever the secret he was keeping was.

  Without finding out it’s some sort of emergency. Maybe he just wants to introduce me to everyone as the guy he almost died with. That could happen.

  The temptation to read the crab’s mind was strong, but he held off, instead grabbing a selection of food and drinks for them to eat on the patio while they waited, the two of them there early and it gave then a view of the streets, letting them see exactly when Greed, Gennet, and the younger girl with them who could only be Greed’s daughter arrived.

  Looking like she was probably around Abel’s age, at least comparing how the two presented biologically, it was clear that the girl took more after her deceased mother. Her body plan was hominid to a shocking extent when compared against Greed’s, with the traits she’d inherited from her father presenting in another way.

  Much like the crab, every inch of her was a ruby red, leaving her looking almost glass-like, even if she wasn’t completely see-through. Skin, hair, and nails all held her father’s sheen with only her eyes being different, a deep black that still matched Greed’s own.

  With just the way the three were walking together painting a subtle picture of their small family. He could see Jeeves, politely off to the side, professional and giving them some space while Greed let himself sit on Gennet’s shoulder so he wouldn’t be forced to try to keep up.

  Gennet herself looked the picture of cheer and positivity; it was plain she was excited, either for her wedding day or perhaps even to just be with her partner and his daughter, but it was the young girl who left the most to glean from.

  As they walked, the girl, Saph, held on to Gennet’s hand, smiling subtly when the other woman spoke and looked completely at ease in the other woman’s presence. Considering that from the sounds of it, they’d only known each other for a bit over a month, it seemed Greed’s bride had done an exceptional job of bonding with the girl. Perhaps not a surprise coming from the woman that had left Greed to break his vow to completely swear off romance, but just went to show her personability in a way that Greed had failed completely to replicate.

  While every word from Gennet was met with at least a bit of smile and an active attempt at conversation, any time Greed added anything, even if Ben couldn’t hear what was being said, it made it clear it brought a neutral expression to her face and a clipped reply, the girl coming across as completely disinterested in a way that was plain for all to see, with even Thera taking note as they made their way over.

  “Is this seriously the best relationship Greed has with any of his kids?”

  “It’s possible he might have a better one or two, this is just the one that lives with him. She is also recently orphaned, so it might just be taking some time for her to figure out how to act with him.”

  “Seems like she warmed up to his partner just fine,” she pointed out.

  “Well, yeah. He’ll figure it out though, it will be fine. While we’re with them, we’ll just try and help smooth things over a bit, right?”

  “... Well, I guess it’s better than the last time we saw him with one of his kids at least.”