Honey 2

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Honey\'s blood red cowboy boots thumped against the hardwood floors of the Adventurer\'s Guild outpost as he approached the desk. He tossed his cowboy hat on the desk and ran his fingers through his golden, blond hair, trying to give it some sense of style that didn\'t look like he\'d narrowly survived a lightning spell.

\"What\'s the hurry?\" Andy chuckled as she jogged to catch up with him. \"It\'s not like you\'re hurting for money.\"

Torq chimed in, pushing a disgruntled prisoner along, \"Yeah, that reminds me? How\'s business going with the new management and all?\"

Honey\'s black leather duster fanned open as he turned, revealing the matching vest underneath. His bright blue eyes twinkled. \"Very well, thanks. The girls have all been a big help in figuring out what the place needs, and Betty knows more than anybody how to keep the bills paid. It\'s been tough to change the place enough that people know it\'s...Well, it\'s not exactly what it used to be.\"

\"The ad in the paper really helped,\" Andy said with a nod. \"It was very well-written. Even I would have gone to see it after seeing that ad.\"

Honey blushed. \"Well, thanks. That was one thing I really did help with.\" He held the wanted page out to person behind the desk and smiled. \"Maevin Arrin, The Scourge of Centralia.\" The man behind the desk plucked the wanted poster from his hand and inspected it.

\"That \'im?\" the man asked, pointing from the poster to the man. Two younger males, mages Honey guessed, eyed the poster and looked over at the man. Torq sighed in frustration and pulled the man\'s head back by his short, scraggly hair. They nodded in agreement and came around the desk, each taking hold of one of the man\'s arms, and walked him off to the holding cell.

The older gentleman still behind the desk nodded.

\"Very well. A handsome sum for the three of you, and we\'ll call in the bounty, as per usual.\"

Torq brushed his hands off and beamed. \"All in a day\'s work.\"

\"A day\'s work?\" Honey chuckled. \"More like nine days\' work. That\'s why I\'m kind of in a hurry to get back. I have to check on my girls.\"

\"And your guys,\" Andy added, \"and your \'other workers.\'\"

Honey cleared his throat and turned his attention back to the man behind the counter.

\"Thank you. Have a good one.\" The man silently bowed his head and meandered off to the other end of the desk to attend to a pair of adventurer\'s holding maps. He put his hat back on his head and split the large, gold coins three ways, and scooped his share into his coin purse. The others followed suit with their respective coin purses. Then he turned his attention back to Andy. \"As proud as I am of employing Nobodies, it\'s probably best not announced,\" he quietly chided. \"I\'d be proud to admit it if they wouldn\'t be hunted and punished for it. It\'s the least I could do after Ashelynn saved my life, twice actually. They\'re good workers, too. Always happy to help around the kitchen and such.\"

Honey gazed at the large, brassy face of his wristwatch, bordered in what looked like a cog wheel with little turning cogwheels that could be seen inside. \"I have to get going. I\'ll check in with you guys in a few days.\"

\"Alright then,\" Andy nodded. \"I could use some time recuperate.\"

\"And polish gear,\" Torq said, eyeing a scuff on a metal plate he had riveted to his leather bracer.

Honey nodded to them. \"Ok. I\'ll talk to you guys soon.\"

They waved as he hurried on out the door and started down the street toward Beaumont\'s Mansion. The streets were all hustle and bustle with people walking around in the warm daylight of early Summer. He tipped his hat to the baker, the flower shop girl, the postman, and anyone else who crossed his path. They were all people he had grown to know and love during the three months he took off from adventuring to get the House back in order. The stores they told about the neighborhood amazed him. How had he gone so long without being a part of this wonderful community?

Autos zipped by him on the street. Some red, some white, even a few black autos hummed at they passed by the pedestrians on the street. He watched them humming about on the street until a shop cart blocked his view. The metal of the carriage was pearlescent white with silver trims and wheels attached to two statuesque mustangs, halted in the usual one-hoof-up pose, comprised of both black and white panels and cogs. On the sides of the heads, where the horse\'s eyes would have been were large, flat lights that faintly glowed, even in direct sunlight. Honey stopped to examine the constructs and spotted a line of black squares almost entirely concealed by the horse\'s faux mane.

Ah, he thought to himself. Solar. Very nice.

He passed the cart and moved along the sidewalk, eyeing the shops and people about. Everyone looked so happy. Businesses were bustling

He let himself in through the front doors and was met with cheers from the girls working the lobby, who ran up and hugged him.

\"Oh, you\'re back!\" they squealed and hugged him tightly, taking turns as more of them came down the stairs and came in from the lounge.

\"Thank you, ladies,\" Honey giggled. \"It\'s nice to see all of you too.\"

\"You must be so worn out. Loretta\'s upstairs,\" Scarlet chirped.

\"Thanks,\" he replied. He started to walk away but turned and tipped his hat to them. \"Ladies.\"

They swooned and giggled among themselves as he ascended the stairs. He stopped at the top and smiled at a young man with dark hair and eyes wearing a suit made of blue crushed velvet.

\"Leo,\" Honey said, tipping his hat to him as well. Leo chuckled waved him on.

It\'s everything I always dreamed it would be, he thought. I wanted to run a place where people smiled when the master came through. They\'re always so happy to me and each other. The place looks great. I couldn\'t have asked for more.

He made his way up to the Master\'s Office and gently tapped on the door with his knuckle.

\"Come in,\" in sweet voice called from inside.

He let himself in and stopped midway through the office, observing the pale beauty sitting at the desk, her fiery red curls draping down her shoulders and over the back of the chair. They bounced lightly as she turned to look at him.

\"Honey!\" She nearly knocked her seat over as she ran to him and hugged him tightly. Honey spent several moments taking in her sweet smell and feeling her warmth seeping through his traveling clothes. She stepped back and looked up at him. \"I\'m so glad you\'re back! When did you return?\"

\"Just now,\" he replied.

She nodded and put her hands on either side of his face. \"Fates, it feels like you\'ve been gone for years.\"

\"Not this time,\" he chuckled, \"but yes, it was a long one. We went far out for this mark, but it was well worth it.\" He plucked the coin pouch from his belt and lightly tossed it onto the desk. The coins inside clinked and shifted what little they could.

\"Sounds like a pretty good payout.\"

\"Sure was,\" he said. \"It looks like everything is running pretty smoothly here.\"

Loretta\'s smile waivered.

\"Yes and no. Merril isn\'t well, so we\'re a server short in the lounge. I\'m about to go down there now to fill in. I was just finishing up some paperwork.\"

Honey took her hands in his. \"That stack of papers on the desk look important. Why don\'t I change into something less cumbersome and head down there to help?\" Before she could argue with him, he added, \"I can rest tomorrow.\"

Lorrain scrunched her nose at him but smiled and conceded her defeat with a simple, \"Okay. Thank you.\"

\"No problem!\" Honey chirped. He quickly kissed the end of her nose and sped off to their shared bedchamber. He carefully removed Cinderella, her holster, and other support gear and placed it all into a trunk he kept under the bed. He locked the trunk and slid it back under the bed before tossing all of his adventuring clothes into a pile in the corner of the room and changing into nice, black slacks, a white shirt with a frill down the front, and a pair of shiny, black loafers. He loved his cowboy boots but was relieved to get into a shoe with a lower heel.