Honey 2

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Honey strode into the lounge and behind the bar, where he plucked an apron off the hook. He looked down at his dirty adventuring clothes and laughed, \"Oh, that\'s not going to earn me any tips.\"

He put the apron down on the counter, pulled off his shirt, and tossed it in the dirt rag bin. Next to the bin was a small crate with costume accessories and hair adornments, out of which he pulled a single, black bowtie. He fastened it around his neck, retrieved his apron, and tied it around his waist so that his bare chest was exposed.

\"Hey boss! Good to see you!\" he heard a familiar voice say from behind him.

He smiled as Betty appeared next to him and refilled the ice bin.

\"Boss? I don\'t know if I\'m comfortable with that.\"

Betty grinned, \"Well, Loretta takes good care of things while you\'re gone, but you are still the boss.\"

\"How can you say that?\" Honey joked. \"Look at me! I can\'t even take me seriously while wearing this thing! How can you?\"

They both laughed and hugged.

\"Oh, it\'s good to see you,\" Betty chuckled as she let him go and looked him over. \"Kiddo, you have got to eat while you\'re home. You can\'t keep up all that muscle on crackers and sweets.\"

\"I will, I will, I will,\" Honey playfully waved her off. \"I\'m too hyped up to eat now, but I\'ll make sure I have a big breakfast tomorrow with the girls. I promise.\"

Betty wiped her hands on her apron and nodded to him, \"Well, I\'ll hold you to it. The girls are getting ready to start, and there\'s already four tables waiting. Best get some drinks going out.\"

\"I\'m on it,\" Honey said with a grin and grabbed a tray.

Honey was grateful to wake up in his own bed, in his room, next to his girl. Loretta was already awake and looking at him dreamily.

\"Morning,\" he said through a stretch and a yawn. \"Have you been up long?
\"A while,\" she giggled. \"It was just nice to wake up and not be by myself. Also, you snore.\"

Honey chuckled, \"Do I now? It\'s probably from working hard and sleeping on mattresses that are little more than oversized pillow-cases stuffed with hay. Andy is saving up to go home and see her family, so we\'ve been trying to be more careful with money and staying in outposts.\"

\"Oh, so that\'s why you came back - because you missed your bed,\" Loretta joked.

Honey sighed and rolled his eyes, \"Among other things.\"

\"Betty told me what you said about breakfast.\"

Honey sat up.

\"She told on me? I am hurt. I\'m deeply, inconsolably--\"

\"She\'s making cinnamon buns along with all of the other standard breakfast fixins as we speak.\"

\"Time for breakfast!\" Honey said as he rolled out of bed and pulled on his jeans.

He pulled on a comfortable shirt, pulled on his boots, and plucked his cowboy hat off the bedpost.

Loretta giggled and laced one of her day dresses over her slip.

\"I swear, all you think about is food and adventures.\"

Honey put his hat on and tipped it to her with a grin.

\"And you.\"

She giggled again, \"And me.\"

He took her hand in his and sauntered out of the bedroom toward the delicious aroma coming from the lounge.

They walked through the double doors together and stood just inside the doorway. Betty was placing large platters of bacon and hotcakes in the middle of a long line of tables she had put together. The girls were helping set the table when two brought pitchers to the table. Honey could see a few more moving around behind the bar.

Honey and Loretta shared a smile, and she let go of his hand.

\"Good morning,\" he announced to the room. The girls all looked up from what they were doing and ran to him like a happy, giggling mob. They swarmed him with hugs and kisses on his cheeks, their voices overlapping with sentiments of missing him and asking him about his adventures. Loretta stood back and watched, giggling to herself as the girls all clamored to be close to Honey. Betty smiled, shook her head at their antics, and continued setting the table.

He chuckled, \"Ladies, ladies! There will be plenty of time to talk about it over breakfast. Let\'s finish getting this together so we can eat!\"

The girls whooped and giggled as they rushed back to the kitchen to finish bringing out the food and dishes.

Betty chuckled, \"Like a bunch of little school girls let out to play.\"

\"Were you a school girl, Betty?\" Honey asked. \"I thought school was just for wealthy families and church and state folks.\"

Betty laughed heartily and shook her head. \"Oh, Honey. I had a long, very different life before I came here. I never attended school myself, but I was once nanny to a girl who did. Had to go with her everywhere and be at her beck and call. I loved every minute of it.\"

\"I never knew that,\" Loretta commented.

\"Me neither,\" Honey said, deep in thought. \"I think one of these days we need to sit down and hear the rest of the story.\"

Betty sighed and finished straightening up the table. \"Maybe someday, when life slows down a little bit.\"

One by one, the girls all came to the table and took their seats, leaving two open near the middle of the table. Honey helped Betty finish the last of the table-settings and took his seat next to Loretta. He spent breakfast answering questions about the missions he had been on for the Adventurer\'s Guild and about his trainings.

\"Magic is still really hard for me,\" Honey admitted, \"but I\'m trying. I\'ve met a lot of magic users in my travels. They\'ve all been really helpful.\"

\"Well, that\'s great,\" Scarlet said from the other end of the table. \"Magic is a wonderful tool, especially when you\'re out in the world. You never know when you\'ll need to make a fire or open a door.\"

Honey blushed. \"Uh, well, I still can\'t do much more than imbuing, but it\'s gotten easier and I\'ve learned some new spells to put in my ammunition.\"

\"How long will you be home?\" Annette asked.

Loretta looked over at Honey and cocked an eyebrow.

\"That\'s a good question. How long?\"

Honey shrugged, \"I can\'t really be sure, but after being gone for so long, I\'m kind of hoping for at least a month.\"

\"Oh, good!\" Annette said, smiling broadly. \"A hinge broke on my closet door. I wanted to see if you would fix it.\"

Loretta chimed in, \"And I think we need some shelves put up in the dressing room. The girls have been bringing in good coin, so we had the tailor, haberdasher, and cordwainer come and make new wears.\"

\"Cordwainer?\" one of the girls asked.

\"The shoe maker,\" Loretta replied to the girl and turned toward Honey. \"They need shelves for their hats and shoe racks for their shoes.\"

Honey nodded, \"Sounds easy enough. I\'ll start with those and then go around and take down a list of everything that needs to be done around here and try to get through all of it before I go.\"

Platters started to make their way around the table. Honey was the first to be passed the plate of cinnamon cakes. He only took one before holding it out to Loretta. She smirked at him, plucked another cake off the platter, and put it on his plate before accepting the platter from him.

He chuckled, \"I didn\'t want to be greedy.\"

\"It\'s not greedy,\" she replied. \"Betty made them especially for you.\"

Honey blushed, \"I\'m sure they\'re for everyone.\"

The girls giggled and said in unison, \"Nope!\"

They all laughed together and spent the morning chatting and passing the platters of food around.

After breakfast, the girls all helped clean up and reset the tables in the lounge before heading upstairs to ready for their shifts. Meanwhile, Honey went to his room and tied his coin purse to his belt. Then he returned to the foyer where he found Loretta straightening and dusting the fixtures.

\"I\'m heading out to get building materials for the dressing room. I\'ll be back shortly.\"

She smiled and walked toward him. \"You sure you don\'t want to rest another day? You just got home.\"

\"I\'m fine,\" Honey replied. \"Besides, I don\'t want this place to get rundown. And I don\'t really know when Andy will call me back in to service.\"

Loretta\'s smile faded. \"You know, you don\'t have to go, even if she comes calling. I\'ve read the paperwork from the guild.\"

Honey sighed and adjusted his hat. \"I know I don\'t have to, but she and Torq are my team. I can\'t let them down.\"

\"And what about the rest of us?\" she asked coldly. \"You\'ll serve the guild for weeks on end and only come home when it\'s convenient for them? You have other people in your life, you know.\"

Honey took his hat off and held it. \"I know I do. You and the girls mean the world to me, but I also have a duty to the guild. I\'m part of something bigger than myself or this house. I love being here for all of you, but it feels good to be able to serve people out in the world too.\"

Loretta looked down at the floor and chewed her lip. He continued, \"Hey, I\'m here now and I\'m going to do right by you - all of you. I just have this other thing I also need to do sometimes.\"

Her face twisted into a strange look of thoughtfulness and distance. She smiled slightly as she met his gaze. \"I guess, as long as you always come home, it\'s enough.\"

\"That\'s the great thing about Andy and Torq,\" he replied. \"With them, I will always come home. They\'re both tough as nails and would never let anything happen to me.\"

Loretta nodded and plucked his hat from his grip. \"I suppose I\'ll just have to learn to trust them.\" She put his hat on his head. \"Go on, then. I\'m sure the girls have a long list for you, but this one is the most important.\"

Honey hugged her tightly and kissed her forehead. \"I\'ll be back before you know it.\" They stood in embrace for several moments before she finally pulled away.

\"Don\'t be long,\" she said as she passed him to go up the stairs.

Honey left the house and started up the road. It still felt odd to leave the house sometimes. He remembered Beaumont\'s warnings and punishments to those who stepped too far past the porch. Years of fearing what lay beyond the house still haunted him, but they soon faded once he saw the smiling faces of the local shopkeepers as he passed. He waved to the woman who ran the bookshop, and she waved back. The florist bid him \"Good day\" as he passed, and he returned the sentiment. The baker spotted him walking by and flagged him down to give him a cookie.

He continued on his way until he came to the carpenter\'s shop. He stepped in and looked around at all the shelves and bins full of planks and chunks of building materials. Honey walked along the wall, eyeing the different types of materials. One of the shelves had a pile of long, straight boards that looked to be made up of chipped pieces of board with a colorful paint or layer of some type on one side. They were not very expensive, but the tag carried a warning stating that the material could not get wet or else it would deteriorate and the color would form bubbles. Different shelves had different colors of the unusual material with black being the biggest stack.

Next, he looked into one of the bins below it containing brightly-colored plastic. Honey picked one up and turned it over in his hands. It was thick but light-weight and contained holes for bolts to go through to affix it to other pieces. Not all of the pieces were straight. Some were corner pieces, square pieces, and even large ones that curved sharply like the slide of a laundry chute. It was fun, colorful, and water-resistant, but it was limited by the sizes and shapes available in the bin. It did not appear that they could be cut without damaging the plastic material. He moved on, looking at the different things. Panes of glass were stacked neatly nearby. Metal sheets leaned against the wall behind a bin of metal grates. It was expensive but looked sturdy. Across the way, Honey could see boxes of tools designed to handle the different materials and gears for making machines. He had some basic tools at the mansion but wondered if he would need more. He looked around again and spotted a bin behind the shopkeeper\'s counter. The man was sitting nearby, polishing the rust off of a gear.

Honey\'s eyes grew wide as he asked, \"Are those real wood?\"

The shopkeeper looked behind him and the stained planks in the bin. \"Yes, sir. Really real.\"

\"May I hold one?\"

The shopkeeper put the gear and rag down on a shelf below the counter and walked over to the bin.

\"Which piece?\"

\"It doesn\'t matter,\" Honey replied. \"They all look nice.\"

The shopkeeper slid a board out from the bin and presented it to Honey as though it was a sword. Honey reached out and took the board. It was surprisingly heavy and smooth to the touch, almost velvety. It smelled like nothing he had ever smelled before; natural and hardy. The wood was dark with a red tinge that looked to be natural. It didn\'t look painted or like a covering of any type.

\"Well?\" The shopkeeper asked.

Honey looked up from the plank. \"How much?\"

\"Four coins per plank.\"

Honey placed the plank on the counter and opened his coin purse. \"Looks like I would have enough for four planks but not the parts to finish the job. I can just buy these for now\" He dumped the purse out into his hand and put one coin back before dropping the rest into the man\'s hand. The shopkeeper paused, looking closely at Honey\'s hat.

\"Is...Is that an official guild pin?\"

Honey touched the brim of his hat. \"Oh, that. Yeah, I\'m part of the Adventurer\'s Guild. I just got back, so I\'m on leave for a bit. Just making some home improvements while I\'m here.\"

The shopkeeper dropped two coins on the counter and put the rest in his cash drawer. He then took three more planks from the bin, stacked them on top of the one on the counter, and wrapped them in thick, brown paper from one end to the other. Then he pointed to the box of gears and allowed Honey to pick a three-gear set-up, a crank, and four small, metal plates with holes already drilled to attach the boards to the machine. The shopkeeper produced a paper sack from behind the counter and put all of the mechanical parts into the bag.

\"Will that be all?\"

Honey nodded to him. \"Yes, sir! Thank you so much!\"

\"No, thank you for being on the side of the people,\" the man said. \"The law ain\'t so good about being the law around here. Seeing your pins makes me feel safer than those bums wearing those blazers, driving those mechanical assholes down our streets and making our air foggy.\"

\"It\'s smog, actually,\" Honey corrected him. \"When it\'s pollution from a machine or something, it\'s smog.\"

The shopkeeper smiled at him. \"Boy, when you\'re right, you\'re right. You have a great day, sir.\"

\"You too,\" Honey said as he dropped the coins back into his purse and grabbed the goods off of the counter. He walked back to the mansion at a brisk pace.

Honey heard three knocks on the dressing room door and called out, \"Come in.\"

Loretta came in and looked around.

\"Wow! It looks amazing in here!\"

Honey chuckled and stepped down from the foot stool he had been standing on. \"Thanks! I found real wood at the carpentry place, so I made this shoe rack...\" He walked over to the contraption he had built next to the vanity. He turned a crank on the side, which rotated wooden boards holding several pairs of shoes.

\"That explains why this room isn\'t a minefield of heels,\" Loretta chuckled.

\"Exactly,\" Honey replied. \"There are two unmatched shoes I did not find mates for, so I put them next to the shoe rack. Plus, I put up hooks on the wall for the hats. There\'s even a few extras, in case the girls are currently wearing any and in the inevitable event that they buy more.\"

Loretta chuckled and crossed the room and put her arms around him.

\"How very clever of you. You\'re a cute, little handyman.\"

Honey chuckled and sighed, \"Well, I\'m trying to be here for everyone. I know it\'s not easy on you, me being gone all the time. And I appreciate everything you do, so I\'m going to do everything I can while I\'m home to try to take the load off.\"

\"Honey,\" Loretta frowned, \"I\'m sorry I acted the way I did before. You have every right to follow your dreams and help your people. It\'s an honorable thing. I just miss you.\"

He held her close and swayed as though they were dancing to music only they could hear.