"Fifteen minutes until last call!" Rho said shouting out at the passers by. "And make sure you return my mugs!" For each returned mug Rho would give a couple of copper coins. It was a great way to ensure she got back all her mugs. Work the cost into the drink, if they returned the mug then they got the coins back. Plus for those that didn't particularly care about the coins lost, it gave the children something to do to earn some money for the candy and sparkler stalls. Some of the adults would even just give the mugs to the children to return. Saved them the hassle and got the children excited.

A small group of children had just run up, a pair of mugs each. Tossing them into the bin that Rho had put up on the counter now that the evening was winding to a close. "Here you go, four coppers each." She said as she paid out the coins from the bag on her belt. "Bring me back any more you find."

"Thank ye Rho!" They all shouted before taking off toward the vender selling sparklers, while laughing and shouting. The doe woman smiled indulgently after them, returning to rinsing out the returned mugs. They'd get a better washing later, but this way the lingering beer or ale inside didn't sit overnight.

Looking up from her work, she easily spotted the elf returning from his explorations. There were a few tall folk out tonight, but they were rare enough that spotting them in the crowds making their way toward the edge of the small lake where the show would be. Rho gave a wave, "Have fun checking out he festival booths?" She asked once Hawkflesh had drawn close enough that she wouldn't have to shout across the noise of the crowds.
 
"Much."
He replied thinking of the pig balancing juggler.
"There's a lot of talent out there tonight."

The folk of the Plumhollow's certainly knew how to throw a party, one could not deny that.
Then came the wrestling with the gift. Suddenly it felt very awkward and forward even of him.
He'd never been accused of being forward before, his sensibilities were typically reserved, still it did not have to mean anything.
"I got you something, I hope you find it, useful."

Useful was about all he could muster as he felt how very sober he had become on his walk. In the face of an enemy he was stern as stone but in gentler matters he felt he needed a bit of liquid courage most times.
So he moved a bit slower than he might have and carefully placed the candle wrapped in green ribbon on the counter between them.

"Since you've been stuck here tending to vagabonds like me, I thought I should bring you something."
Then as he realized that it simply looked like an ordinary candle he added.
"The flame burns red, it's not just a normal candle."
His explanation seemed at once obvious and cryptic to him. Mercifully a child popped a mug onto the counter to distract from his awkwardness.

@Rhosyn Firth
 
Coin was pulled from her purse and handed off to the child who raced off to go purchase a pair of sparklers.

Rho picked up the candle from the counter, a soft smile there on her face as she examined it. The green ribbon standing out against the red tones of the wax. "That was very kind of you. You didn't have to get me something." She said even as she gently tucked the candle away under the bar where it would be safe. "I'll cherish it, but also make sure it's used appropriately." She teased with a grin. He wasn't wrong. It was useful after all.

Glancing up at the sky, she turned shouting out to those walking by. "FIVE MINUTES! LAST CALL!" Children and Adults alike came to the small bar and she exchanged coins and drink readily.

She looked back over at Hawkflesh. Sliding a drink his way. "Almost done here and then we'll go find a spot to watch the fireworks." The time seemed to go by fast and soon enough, she was pulling the strings to let the heavy canvas of the tent down about the makeshift bar. A mug in her hand, the final drink of the evening.

"This way!" The doe woman said as she led the way toward the lake side, stopping to exchange a couple of coppers with a black coated sheepkin. Sparklers in her hand, she scooted around the crowd before getting to a barn. A ladder waited against the roof and she grasp the sparklers between her teeth and climbed the ladder one handed. On top of the bar there was a blanket already laid out waiting. Petra on the other side of the roof, leaning in and giggling close with the pretty Blossom. Rho didn't mind them up there, but if they started getting too handsy, she'd go kick them off the roof herself. This was her spot after all.

"Here." She handed a pair of the sparklers to the elf. "They'll start soon."
 
The relief he felt at Rho's accepting of the gift showed in his shoulders though he wished it did not.
"I know I didn't have to but I wanted to."
Waiting patiently, Hawkflesh nursed the last drink she gave him and followed close by Rho as she led them to the barn by the lake. As she ascended the ladder he removed his sword and stowed it propped against a spoked wheel. The ladder was narrow for a person of even his slim proportions and he took the rungs three and four at a time. At the top he felt even more a giant now. Wishing he could slip unnoticed to where Rho had perched herself but he was all too aware of Petra and his Blossom and of how aware they were of him.

Sitting next to Rho on the small blanket he smiled his crooked smile as he took the sparklers in his free hand.
"Thank you. You are well prepared."
He indicated the blanket, laid out in preparation, the ladder also.
Unsaid he was wondering if her plan was to come here alone all along and he was a last minute addition to her evening. The invite had been so casual. Perhaps she was something of an outcast among her folk.

Not everyone was a pariah, he reminded himself. He was of course but not everyone else at least.
"I'm afraid you may have to endure some gossip on my account. Being seen with armed strangers in such, remote surroundings, tends to make tongues waggle in unseemly ways."
Adjusting himself he took another drink and smiled again, though it was weary. Rho seemed to have an ease of self he felt envious of. Even as he spoke the words of his concern for her reputation he felt he knew her response may be in the vein of it being nobody else business whom she spends what hours with.
The red moon cast its light on them all, the folk of this place waited patiently for it. In his hand the sparklers spat bright impotent fury at him.

@Rhosyn Firth
 
"Of course!" She said as she sat crossing her feet in front of her as she leaned back onto her elbows. The perfect angle to see the sky, her drink sitting balance quite well on one of the roof shingles. "Fireworks have always been my favorite. This was the spot my father always took me as a child to watch. Helped to not have to see over everyone's heads at that age. Just something I've done since."

Her head nodded in the direction of Petra. "That one gets to share it only cause he's my apprentice, but if he makes it too uncomfortable then he'll have to go find his own spot." She said raising her voice at the end and Petra jumped back sheepishly from Blossom, putting a little space between them. Good.

She waved a hand not concerned by his concern. "All folk do around here is gossip. Nothing else exciting goes on after all. Plus," Rho looked over at Hawkflesh with a bright grin. "Gossip means gawkers and gawkers mean more feet through the door of the brewery. Gossip earns the best coin."

Little towns were strange places and they moved on quickly from one bit of interest to the next. Whatever gossip there might be would be over with in a week. "Not to mention. Technically, we're chaperoned." She said with a laugh as she glanced back over at the two others on the roof.

Suddenly a whistling noise filled the sky. A red hot spark traveling through the sky. It reached a certain point and seemed to hang there suspended for but a second before it exploded in a shower of colorful sparks. The fireworks reflected in the pond below. Like two shows for the price of one.
 
It was nice to hear that Rho held such fond memories of her father. Family was important and Hawkflesh was impressed that she approached the situation with such candor.

He even laughed at their technical chaperones even though he suspected it was more the other way around.

Then the fireworks started and it became futile to speak.
He stretched out his long legs, hooked slightly and left the mug beside him as Rho had done.

The fireworks blasted at the dark of the sky, threatening to tear it to pieces, the blasts rang softly in his acute ears and the flashes were captured in his eyes for a few seconds before vanishing but by then another firework had gone off and another flash was captured.

At first it was to give his eyes a bit of rest but he tucked in one knee and rested his arm on it and his head on his arm sideways towards Rho. For a few seconds he could not see much of anything as he blinked away the flashes until she started to form, lit up by flashes of greens and yellows and reds in between the silent dark that was disturbed only by the cheering of folk somewhere not here.

It was in these in betweens that Hawkflesh only then noticed Rhosyn's eyes, red as the moon, looking up, capturing all of the display.

It made him laugh again, this time at himself for having missed it. Red eyes, red cape, red moon, red candle.
Red red red the colour seemed to mark the entire day.

Another firework went off, it was red as well, of course it was.

He felt like the butt of some cosmic joke that he didn't understand.
Not wanting to distract her from the spectacle she so openly enjoyed he opted to say and do very little then, content to see the happiness on her face.

@Rhosyn Firth
 
The fireworks flashed and sparked across the sky in so many colors, as many as the moons. Some were just simple fireworks, powder and metal shavings that burned at different colors. Others a bit more magical. Intricate weavings of the shroud helping the metals the alight in patterns in the sky. Like the image of a large orange pumpkin rolling toward the crowd until it vanished with a cheer. She could hear Falon shouting in the distance that his pumpkin was still larger and she chuckled a bit.

Not noticing that elves eyes weren't on the fireworks, she spoke her eyes still up on the night sky. "The last ones are always the best. The Firebirds who do the show have passed on their knowledge among their family for generations on how to make the picture ones. Like the pumpkin. Though the last ones often tell a story. Last year it was the story of the maiden and her dragon." She didn't know if that was a story well told outside of Plumhollow.

It was always the most well kept secret in these parts and the topic of the most wagers, what story the Firebirds would tell during the Harvest Festival this year. "People make bets you know. About the story. I put a barrel of my finest ale that they would do The Girl with the Golden Hair."
 
He did not in fact know any of these stories. They must have been local legends. At almost a full century of age Hawkflesh had heard many stories and such and often he found the details to be the interesting part though most tended to be morality tales.

"Sounds lovely! I hope you win."
He said supportively as he continued to study Rhosyn's face.

Few would accuse him of being a people person but when he did like people he liked them passionate and honest. He saw this in Rhosyn now as he imagined her heart and mind were mixing memories of her father with the excitement of the show and her hopes for the future.
It was a rare enough thing for him to see a person so given to not just this moment but to all the moments past and yet to come.

Despite having been in this woman's presence all day Hawkflesh was only really seeing her now and had the impression that this much of herself was something not many were privy to.

At last he broke off and returned to watching the fireworks.

They were spectacular and he had not seen many sites like this before.
"You have a lot of stories about girls."
He mused.
"I hope they all end happily."

At the other end of the rooftop of the barn, in the edge of his hearing over the booming crack of fireworks he heard a short yelp and a giggle.
If he had to guess he would have suspected that Petra and Blossom were taking advantage of Rhosyn's fixation.

Calmly he leaned over to Rhosyn and spoke in a lower tone.
"Not to tout but, well..."
Tilting his head towards the young couple he hoped to draw Rhosyn's attention to them.
Not because he disapproved but because he knew Rhosyn did, her rooftop, her rules.

@Rhosyn Firth
 
The doe woman laughed at his wish, a light sound almost drowned out by the sound of the fireworks. "I bet on the same story every year and I have yet to win." It was one of her favorites, about a girl forced to live in a high tower with golden hair that could reach to the ground and of the man who came to save her from the loneliness of the tower. There was an evil step-mother and magic. All the things that made a good story.

"We have stories about boys too." She said laughing again the fireworks sparkling in her eyes. "Like the Boy who Flew or the Lamp of a Thousand Wishes. I have to vote for my favorite though."

Her face turned thoughtful. "Not all tales do, but the Harvest Festival is about celebration so the Firebirds tend to keep to happy stories."

At the nudge and the whispered words, her eyes turned and she leaned forward to peer through the darkness her eyes narrowing both to see and because if the lump was anything to go by. She dug her fingers into the pouch at her side, pulling out a cork from one of the casks that had been drunk dry earlier and with careful aim and at the next flash in the sky she sent the wood flying. A muffled curse let her know that her aim was true. "If you want to do things that would make your mothers blush. Do it elsewhere."

The pair seemed to find that idea quite more appealing and quickly shuffled off the roof. "Before noon tomorrow Petra!" She shouted after him, her lips quirked in a smile as she rolled her eyes. Young love.
 
"You must tell me some of those. A flying boy sounds remarkable."

Again he looked away from the fireworks to rest his eyes wanting to save them for the story to come.
Having sharp senses was not always practical. Gently he rested his head on his arm and huffed a laugh at the young couple while his vision cleared of the colourful lights.

As that happened he found himself looking at Rhosyn again.

"You are not afraid to be up here with me alone?"

He wiped his hair away from the burn on his face.

"Not even a bit worried?"

Clearly she was bold and not easily shaken but he could not help but ask anyway.

@Rhosyn Firth
 
"I think I got a old book somewhere with the stories in it should you want." She offered as she watched the show still. She didn't think he planned on staying much more than long enough to pay off his meal with the work offered. Nor did she want to make him feel obligated to stay longer for the promise of some story. "Or next time you're around Plumhollow, come share a meal and I'll tell it to you." She found herself offering anyways. It was rare though for travelers to make their way back to the little settlement, unless they were merchants by nature.

The next question, seemingly out of no where, that she turned to look at him surprise on her face. "What type of silly question is that?" She answered, almost half scolded. "I like to think of myself as a good judge of character. The alcohol helps with that. What a person is like when they're drunk, shows all those hidden sides we don't want to share." Rho holds his eyes with hers in the dark as the fireworks light up the sky.

"You are clumsy, a bit clumsier than I might have expected from a elf even drunk. You've got a good heart, even when just given the choice between pay and work. Instead of picking one or the other, you were willing to give both. The gift, just another example. Not necessary, but you put real thought into picking it out." She clicked her tongue against her teeth. "Psh. The only thing I have to be worried about if that fool of a boy does something that has that girl's dad after him in the morning."

She huffed turning back to the fireworks, eyes brightening. "Damn not the Girl with the Golden Hair, but still a good one. My second favorite story. Sorry it's another about a maiden. The Sword Maiden of Plumhollow."
 
"Hmmm."
It was not how he saw himself. What she said was true, he did do all those things but he was painfully aware that this was but a single day and anyone can have a good day when given the opportunity.
Rhosyn did not see all the days that came before, she did not see him bite a mans nose clean from his face less than a week ago or hear him plot death with a woman he had just met as casually as one may speak of the weather nor did she witness the ruthless efficiency that followed.

Despite this, she was right, he had been this good person today at least and the day was not over yet. He could be this good person until he left tomorrow.
Idly his hand went for his sword but he found he had put it away earlier, yes, at the bottom of the ladder.
"I agree." He decided and smiled as he laid his head on his arm again.
"You are an excellent judge of character."
His short dry laugh came, more at himself than anything else when she mentioned Petra again.
"I don't think a castle and mote would keep those two away from each other tonight. Some things are just too powerful to stop, It would be like trying to deny the dawn."
Again he paused, thinking before looking again up to the sky.
"And yes. I think I will come to dinner some day, but not for a while. I should get going tomorrow. You'll have to keep the stories until I pass this way again."
*And rid myself of this curse* He added to himself.
Such a lovely time would be ruined if the hands got all of these good people, especially Rhosyn. He knew he'd miss her.

@Rhosyn Firth
 
She nodded firmly. Of course she was, she was glad he agreed.

"You're likely right. I just hope he doesn't come to regret it on the 'morrow." She supposed she'd have to be the one to be in the boy's corner if it came down to it. He'd been orphaned so long ago, so he didn't have anyone else aside from her. He was like a younger brother to her and if she had no children of her own, then she'd leave the brewery to him and his children. Those little ones that looked like they might happen soon rather than later.

"The invitation will always be open and I can share whichever story you'd like next time." The story being told in the sky via the fireworks flashed in the air. Telling about a girl who dared to take up her father's sword, to learn to fight while pretending to be a boy, proving to all that young women could be as strong as men. The story was generations old, such limitations not seen in Plumhollow, whether they were common still in the greater world she didn't know.

As the last of the fireworks ended. She stretched, her muscles sore after a long day of standing and then sitting for a couple of hours enjoying the fireworks. Belong them parents picked up children who'd fallen asleep, as people began to take the trek back toward town.

"We'll wait for everyone to clear out, then I'll lead you to the barn where you'll sleep. It's one of our bigger ones just because it stores a lot of the barrels and such as they ferment."
 
Closing his eyes helped them be rid of the light echoes that bit sooner.

"Regret? Oh you mean a child. Yes, well..."
Elf kind considered family only on occasion. They tended to populate slower than most folk, not due to infertility but due to their longevity. It took nearly a hundred years to raise a single elf to adulthood. Most other folks might go through whole generations in that time.

"Wouldn't that be cause for celebration?"
His curiosity was clear as his own puzzlement as he elaborated.
"Surely they are not the first young couple to give into themselves on such a night, conceive a child and such."
He had never understood the tendency to shame people for following their hearts.


"I look forward to coming back here."
He still had his eyes closed and his head resting on his arm.
"Not many friends this far north, it's nice to make a new one."
Of the story he thought it funny. Women with weapons as a novelty still existed in places. The world woke up to itself slowly it seemed. The only thing he found himself objecting to was the young girls age.
If the father was still able, he should have gone instead. Wasn't that the purpose of parents, to protect their children though he knew enough to not question the fable. Picking apart stories never brought anyone happiness in his experience.

The thought of sleep hit him like a wet towel and suddenly he wanted nothing more than to curl up and rest where nobody and nothing could find him. Briefly he opened his eyes and caught Rho stretching. Working the tired out as she relaxed in the moonlight. It made him wonder if it was the light that enhanced her appearance or if he had only now noticed how attractive she was. Either way the sight gladdened him and he found himself give a long stretch of his own.
"I could sleep up here truth be told. The company is certainly pleasant enough."
Another short laugh left his nostrils as he recoiled back into his resting position.

@Rhosyn Firth
 
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Rho considered his question. "Oh they most certainly wouldn't be the first. There are plenty that have, but whether a celebration, I think that might depend on them. Well them and her father. Blossom's father isn't exactly fond of their relationship, but he could come around given time. If they aren't ready for a family though, if this is just young love. Well live if too short to resent someone because you got trapped in a marriage because you weren't ready for a family."


At one point, she might have considered such a thing a celebration, had even considered a family once upon a time. Now, well she had Petra and that was enough for her at the moment. There was a hidden pain in her past that she wasn't one to talk about. One that made her hesitant at starting a family passed the found family she had in Petra.

"You're always welcome." She said softly responding to him, a smile on her face at his claim of friendship.
"I can't wait to hear more about your adventures the next time you visit."

The quiet settled between them as the firework show finished and they both considered sleep. There was a soft giggle in response to the suggestion of sleeping on the roof. "I'm more than likely to roll of the edge in the middle of the night sleeping up here. I don't fancy a broken neck anytime soon." The quiet voices of the other fireworks views shuffled by quietly. "Are elves that much more capable at sleeping on high perches without risk of falling?" She asked while chuckling softly.
 
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