it's not romance, it's necromance

Mihai couldn’t help but huff and puff. Surely the man was about five entire miles taller than himself, he still couldn’t afford to look any bit more frail than he already was - stuck in the middle of the ocean, there were not many places Mihai could run to if the situation went poorly.

“What, and you don’t think mopping is considered manual labor? What is this, prison?” He offered a light cheek pat to the other guy.

“What’s your name, big guy?” Mihai wasn’t even making eye contact anymore, he was too busy fidgeting to fix his clothes, displaced by the rough collar grab. “I wasn’t really hurting anyone, you see.”

Maarten raised a brow with the change in his demeanor. Did the guy just pet his cheek? The nerve. 

“Too weak for mopping even? Be happy we don’t throw you off the side, hm?” He gave Mihai another look over, wondering if the boy might be too much trouble after all. 

His hand gently caressed the pirate’s face, again. “Maarten, that’s a good name. Matches your glare.” 

“Hey there!” There was something about the chef that just made Mihai all warm inside - Some kind of infectious cheerfulness that even a necromancer could appreciate. Promptly, Mihai got up to follow the guy, taking the apron from him and wrapping it around himself. It clashed awfully with the rest of his get up but he didn’t care much.

“I’m Mihai. I, uh, I just travel around. It’s nice to meet you, Feliciano.”

With a flourish, Feliciano pushed open the swinging double doors that lead to the kitchen, waving at a waitress as she exited, then held them open for his guest.

“You’re a traveler? That’s so cool! I’ve always wanted to travel lots, but I just can’t seem to manage more than quick trips to other islands.”

Once in the kitchen, Feliciano scurried about, grabbing two mugs and a jug of cream from the fridge. He handed one of the mugs to Mihai. “Okay! I’ll show you how to do something simple first– just watch me, and then you try! First I’ll get the espresso shots ready– you don’t need to do that part, but it’s still important.” Once that was ready, he grabbed the milk, then kept working as he explained the process. “Okay, watch closely! You want to hold the cup at about a twenty degree angle, like this–” He tilted the cup. “Then reeeeeeeeeal slowly pour the milk in ‘til it’s about halfway full.”

“Then bring the cup and pitcher close together and you’ll start seeing a white circle in the middle of the cup. See?” He stopped pouring, and showed off the almost finished art. “Then, you take this little thing and drag it through the circle and tada! A heart!”

“This is incredible! Are you sure I can try? I doubt mine will look any good.” He chuckled, but eagerly offered to take the cups from Feliciano. “So at an angle. Like this.” And slowly, Mihai poured as the other had shown him. It was wonky as hell, but surely enough, there was a drawing on his cup.

-

Mihai wanted nothing more than to reach out and touch the dress to feel how soft it must have been, but a tiny glance at his hands suggested he would leave the nastiest hand prints on the pure white dress. 

“Am not. It’s more important to, like…” And he drew a circle around his own face with his hand, gesturing himself. “To have a thing going, you know. Than just having a nice dress.” And Mihai smiled and gave her a little wink. “And you do.”

Then he giggled. “I could never do white. My friends always say I’m too dirty for it.”

Her bashful blush spread from her cheeks to the bridge of her nose and ears, and she used a hand to pat her face. It was no lie to say that such compliments did make her flustered, but for someone to be confident with the words and wink? She didn’t know how to react. 

“U-um, I do?” she giggled, “I- I never thought I did…” 

Latte art. Right. “I do, yes. I don’t mind waiting if you can spare a bit of time later.” Mihai looked around the street, just to make sure Eirik or Maarten were nowhere in sight. He smiled at the cook. “I can wait.”

 Mihai bit his lips at the presence of the phone, but said nothing. “I’ll, uh, be right here then.”

“Okay! I’ll come get you when I’m done~” With a wink and a smile, Feliciano hopped back over to the kitchen and got back to work.

A few more lattes and some sandwiches later, he popped back out of the kitchen, finding the man where he’d left him at his table. He gave a small wave, smiling brightly.

-

Taking another minute to watch for the more subtle reactions of the girl, Mihai was well aware he was threading dangerous territory. He offered her a little lopsided grin, but it felt a little strained. Mihai was wary of Peggy, and it seemed the other way around was also true. If Peggy was a weathered wix, she’d be able to do an educated guess on the nature of the spell.

“It’s simple enough magic, but I prefer warning you. So you don’t get jumpy, you know.” With that, Mihai spread his fingertips so his palms were parallel to the ground. For a fraction of a second, the immediate area around Mihai seemed to liquefy and then spread in all directions around them, creating this spider web of black gelatin. But faster than the blink of an eye, the substance melted back into the ground like it was never there.

Smiling like nothing wrong had happened right there, Mihai gestured Peggy to walk ahead, indicating a direction. “I got your little beast. Shall we?” 

As the thick tendrils of magic shot across the floor, Peggy did take a few steps back, eyeing the blackness of it. Of course, she may have had an idea of what it was, but she couldn’t be certain. 

That magic is something hardly anyone uses, and with good reason. She thought. Not only that, but she had only ever read of it in books - for all she knew, this could just be his quirky way of handling his magic… rather than her initial thought. 

“Your things are not too far. Just behind that house, I believe.” And he led the way, but always making sure to keep an eye on the girl in case she did decide on what she’d witnessed, and wanted to go around screaming about it. 

Mihai bit his lips, for a moment asking himself if he was asking too much. He knew Wixen often hid their favourite spells, perhaps it was the same with cooks? (He couldn’t personally tell whether the swan had been a begginer’s trick or some masterpiece.)

“Can you show me how you draw on the coffee?”

“Oh! You want to learn how to make latte art?” Well, that was a first! People would sometimes compliment the art, but no one had ever asked for a lesson. Feliciano wondered if he ought to charge the guy, but he seemed nice enough. A free lesson wouldn’t hurt.

Mihai did not mind coming back to Urga once in a blue moon. It was familiar, after all, and that brings a certain ease to one’s heart that cannot be found anywhere else. What Mihai minded very much, were the people that roamed Urga. 

Usually he had no trouble staying away from the clan’s paths, he could detect their number well before any clansman detected a single wanderer in the steppe. That is, when one could see in the distance. 

“Fucking sand, I swear to the gods-” He cursed under his breath, adjusting the goggles around his eyes for what felt like the fourteenth time that day. 

But he was here for a reason, and he almost felt reassured as the strong winds revealed the little coveted stems. Mihai almost tackled them, swiftly plucking the little plants from the roots.

Until he noticed a shadow looming above him. Mihai froze as he looked up, feeling much like a little rabbit about to be pounced by an eagle. “Well, I got them first!” Quickly, Mihai shoved the sapplings into his sidebag and rolled backwards to draw some distance between the newcomer and himself. “Now back off!”

He rolled his eyes and sighed, deciding this wasn’t a place for a fight. “…Fine.”

Seeing as there were still some left, he drew his wand and flicked it, causing the wind to part a visible line in the sand. It wasn’t exactly fair, as there were a couple more under the area demarcated for Sándor’s side…

Mihai watched carefully as the weird little fellow approached his table, in his pristine get up that seemed to match the rest of the entire town in Mihai’s mind. Far from judging anyone on their (appropriately adorable, he noted) fashion choices, the wix offered the man a smile. 

“The coffee was nice, but I would like to ask you something.”

“I’m glad you enjoyed it!” But what kind of question might he have? Well, there was only one way to find out. 

“Bushy tail and a pouch, huh?” MIhai’s immediate reaction was to scan their vicinity. He didn’t quite expect to get a visual on the creature, but just to understand the possible hiding spots. “And the thing stole your goods just now? Like, is it still in the area, you know?”

Without giving Peggy much information, Mihai offered a friendly smile. “Well. I do have a bit of a location spell I could try?” But then he hesitated, his eyes doing another sweep of the area. “If there aren’t many magic folk around here, that would help.” Naturally, the nature of Mihai’s… abilities were unlawful as hell, but Peggy didn’t need to know that. “Or I get lots of interference, you know.” He added, sheepishly.

“Yeah, he can be a little git,” she provided, moving through the street and searching every dark spot that she could, “he’s quite nifty with his hiding, and he never runs far, so he should be somewhere around here. It’s like he wants to rub it in my nose that he keeps stealing my vials.” 

At the mention of the location charm, Peggy admitted, “to be fair, I wouldn’t bother wasting my skill on a little thing like him, but I guess it will be quicker than traipsing through the street. It’s up to you, though!” 

“It’s simple enough magic, but I prefer warning you. So you don’t get jumpy, you know.” With that, Mihai spread his fingertips so his palms were parallel to the ground. For a fraction of a second, the immediate area around Mihai seemed to liquefy and then spread in all directions around them, creating this spider web of black gelatin. But faster than the blink of an eye, the substance melted back into the ground like it was never there.

“Oh stop it,” she urged, cheeks aglow bashfully, “you’re just saying that.”

Everyone says that. It’s what she got for having moonlight skin and stars in her eyes. Something she had heard her stressed mother say, a long time ago. At least, she was sure it was her mother that had said that. Josephine couldn’t quite remember it correctly, it was fuzzy, but she knew it happened.

“But, thank you for the compliment,” she bowed her head, “I feel that white is most refreshing, and any other colour washes me out… I’m sure I would look like the dead walking if I wore any other colour.”

Mihai wanted nothing more than to reach out and touch the dress to feel how soft it must have been, but a tiny glance at his hands suggested he would leave the nastiest handprints on the pure white dress. 

“Am not. It’s more important to, like...” And he drew a circle around his own face with his hand, gesturing himself. “To have a thing going, you know. Than just having a nice dress.” And Mihai smiled and gave her a little wink. “And you do.”

But in the middle of a picture perfect little seaside village? 

It was more or less noon and Mihai was getting restless. There not all that much to see in a town like that, and it’s not like he could follow his friends into the ocean. So he roamed (and probably scared the nice old ladies who were just trying to water their plants). And roamed. And roamed some more.

Until a scent caught his nose. And like in a cartoon, Mihai followed that sweet, warm aroma that led him straight into this nice little restaurant, the kind with the little tables set out on the sidewalk and all. But the smell had seduced him, and he needed it. 

Mihai stood for a couple of minutes on the other side of the road, just studying the restaurant situation. He was used to crusty pubs and sketchy taverns during the life on the road, but a nice upstanding, shiny place like this? Uncanny.

After some deliberating, Mihai crossed the road, went inside, ordered a coffee and took a seat outside. He produced this moldy old tome from somewhere within his clothes and pulled the coffee to his lips. Before he could even taste it, however, the necromancer took notice of a frilly little design on the surface of the foam. 

Holy shit. There was an entire swan drawing on the coffee!! 

Now, a pause to explain the outsider perspective: a Scooby-Doo-worthy swampy little beast, sitting in this fancy, spotless restaurant, staring into his own mug with this awed grin on his face for a few minutes. 

Once over his initial excitation, Mihai drank the coffee and it was alright, but he still had a bit smile on his lips. After a brief exchange with the waitress, he asked for the chef, to compliment them personally for such a great little trick.

Today, the café was bustling, as of course, it was the perfect day for getting a nice lunch or a cup of coffee. Most of the seats were occupied by cheerful friends, partners, or some even just enjoying time to themselves. As he cooked, Feliciano liked to peek his head out from time to time and see who was there, waving at the regulars and people who knew him. All in all, it was just a splendid day.

Sometime later, while he was finishing up the garnishes on a nice lunch sized sandwich, one of the waitresses popped into the back, informing him that a customer had asked to see him. As if the day couldn’t get more perfect! The bubbly otterfolk sent off the meal, then, dusting the flour from his apron, popped out of the kitchen and to the outside seating area. 

“Good afternoon!” he greeted, a bright smile on his face as he observed the customer. His first thought was the guy seemed cute, in the way that a mangy, feral cat is cute; in desperate need of a makeover, but still with something nice hidden under there. His second thought was that this really wasn’t the normal sort of patron they got. How had this guy even afforded a coffee? Well, beggars can’t be choosers, and Feliciano was a beggar of compliments, so he simply continued smiling in that bright, sunshiney way of his. 

They Fey twittered, tone tinkling lightly. His little display was a little entertaining, and she noted he certainly knew how to wow with his fashion. It was one-of-a-kind, unique - something she could come to appreciate, despite it being starkly different from her own. Each to their own, she remembered, each to their own.

“I think it suits you,” she commented, “if I do say so myself, it makes a stranger like you quite handsome to the passerby.”

Mihai couldn’t help but chuckle. He puffed his chest out like a little peacock, it was not often he heard this kind of compliment - and from someone so proper looking, as well. He offered the girl a playful bow. “You flatter me, my lady.”

Hm, well, she guessed you could say that… Peggy was certainly headstrong, in the very least.

A brief pause was followed by the trying of his name on her tongue, and she found that it wasn’t as bad as she thought it might be. He may appear intoxicated, but she supposed acting, somewhat, friendly wouldn’t hurt her.

She huffed, frown softening, “I’m not gonna lie, ya kind’a did. Nothing ya can do about it. Just lost something, that’s all. Anyway, Mihai, was it? Is there something you need?”

Mihai couldn’t help but wonder. “Well, if you lost something, why don’t you tell me what it is? Maybe I could help you look. I’m not doing much of anything, you see.” Truth is, he was looking to purchase a few… eyebrow raising items, but one could never be too careful these days.

She heaved a sigh, “it looks like a rat, but it has a bushy tail and a small pouch on its tummy. It’ll store anything that it takes interest in, and well, this time it nabbed three of my vials. There’s balms and potions in there that I need. They’re for my- one of my regulars, so I need ‘em back, y’know?” 

“If ya’ve seen the little blighter, it’d be sure nice that ya tell me where he got to,” she said, sternly, fixing the other with a critical gaze. Surely, if he had seen something he would tell her. 

What could she say? Flowing dresses made her feel pretty.