Page 23

Could anything beat the feeling of being openly on a date with your fiancé?

Noe couldn’t think of a damn thing.

The first day of the festival was in full swing, everyone out and about in their finest clothes, paper lanterns strewn along the streets to have plenty of illumination even when it got dark, with street vendors offering all sorts of food, beverages, and games, and a fireworks display promised for later that night. Noe had never seen Shiirei like this. The joy of officially welcoming in a new year was infectious, and he had a wide smile as he walked hand in hand with Luca.

“What’s put that smile on your face, hmm?” Luca nudged him lightly with an elbow.

“I was just thinking, the only thing that could make today better is if we were married.”

“Ah-ha. We’ll get there soon enough. Actually, when I think about the fact we’ll have a wedding in six months, I get rather anxious. There’s a lot to plan to make it happen.”

“We’ll start after the festival’s over,” Noe promised him. Truth be told, Noe didn’t want to think about the stress of wedding planning today. He’d happily put it off until next week with no qualms.

Spying a favorite treat, he pointed to a stall. “I want a cup.”

“That’s sweet wine,” Luca warned him.

“I know, I’ve had it before. I want one.”

“Just so you understand, you only get one. A single glass can make me tipsy, and the one time I was stupid enough to have two, I was a drunk noodle the rest of the evening.”

Noe looked up at Luca with some surprise. “You’re a lightweight?”

“EXCUSE YOU,” Luca spluttered, a hand over his heart as if in shock.

“Do I need to get you a fainting couch to clutch your pearls?” Noe grinned as Luca huffed some more.

“Oh, it’s on now,” Luca grumbled, staring at him with this mix of challenge and doubt. “I don’t think you can drink two and be fine.”

“You are correct. I can drink three and be fine.”

“The hell you can. I’d like to remind you that I had to cart your drunk ass home one night.”

“I hadn’t eaten all day, which was my fault, but that’s not my usual tolerance at all.”

“You know what? Fine. Fine, I’ll buy you two cups. The very second you start to get tipsy, I’ll consider it a win, and you’ll apologize for calling me a lightweight when I can drink most of my men under the table—”

“You can’t drink Ewan under the table, I’ve seen him be the last man standing,” Noe argued pleasantly. Who knew Luca could get riled up over this? Was Noe encouraging it? Absolutely. This was the best cheap entertainment at hand.

“Ewan doesn’t count. The man’s an abberration. Pretty sure he was born without a liver.”

The entire time they bantered, they went for the stall, and Luca bought three cups. One ostensibly for himself.

Noe took a sip of the incredibly sweet rice wine and gave a pleased hum and a shimmy. So satisfying, to indulge a craving, and he had no intention of rushing the first cup. He would sip and enjoy.

With both hands full, he couldn’t hold hands with Luca for a few minutes, but that was all right. He could do so to his heart’s content later.

Luca, for some reason, tilted his head back, as if trying to see over the crowd—which was ridiculous, he was a head taller than everyone around them—then frowned. “Speaking of Ewan, there he is. What’s he done now?”

The crowd on the street parted enough Noe could see Ewan—and the moment the man obviously spied Luca. For once the mischievous Bhodhsan looked semiserious. He beelined for them, calling out in greeting ahead of time.

“General.”

“Tell me nothing’s amiss,” Luca said the second Ewan was in earshot.

“Well, as to that, there be good news and bad news.”

“Tell me one of the Scovian students hasn’t done something.”

“There be only good news,” Ewan promptly corrected.

Oh dear, teasing aside, that didn’t sound good at all. “What’s happened?”

“Oh, bit of a language gap, was all. One of the students thought it a fine idea to bring his own tankard and was tryin’ to get it across he wanted the wine vendor to fill it, and I had to tell the man that be, like, four cups of sweet wine, and sweet wine be a very different kettle of fish over here in Shiirei…” Ewan’s gaze fell to Noe’s hands, and he lost his train of thought. “Er, Noe. Ye plan to drink both of those?”

“Of course.”

Ewan doubted. All the doubt was written all over his face.

“I can drink both and be fine. Takes me three drinks to get tipsy.” Noe took a pointed sip from the paper cup in his right hand.

“Ye’re half me size, though,” Ewan protested, but he also looked thoughtful.

“Size has nothing to do with it.” Noe sipped some more, wickedly enjoying the doubt on these two men’s faces. Ah, revenge would be so satisfying once it came. “Also, for the record, the student trying to buy a tankard’s worth of sweet wine probably will be fine. We’re Scovian. We can drink like fishes.”

“I’m suddenly glad I didn’t bet,” Luca muttered under his breath. “I have a feeling I’m about to lose.”

“Oh, you’re going to lose,” Noe promised and sipped some more.

Ewan grumbled and rubbed his nose, red from the cold. “I flagged ye down thinkin’ someone needed to put a word of caution into our students’ ears, but now I be thinkin’ that be wasted breath.”

“It is.” Noe shrugged off their concerns. “The students will be fine. Warn them it’s potent and that’s all you need to say.”

“You say that, but I spy trouble already,” Luca said, and then immediately slipped between two groups of people, crossing the street.

Eh? Trouble? Where? Noe didn’t see anything.

Worried, he followed suit, but at a more moderate pace to avoid spilling alcohol everywhere. Between keeping an eye on his cups and trying to avoid people, he was several steps behind Luca. It also took him a minute to catch up and figure out what was going on.

Luca’s quarry was Nathan Asen, the towering and heavily tattooed student Noe had been mildly worried about since their first meeting. Next to the two men were a grandmother, mother, and daughter, if appearances were anything to go by, the little girl maybe three years old and being held securely in her mother’s arms.

“—sorry,” Nathan said, hunched over. “I didn’t mean to scare anyone.”

Having two giants standing nearby was clearly putting the women on edge, so Noe stepped in with a smile and duck of his head. “Hello. Sorry if they’ve scared you.”

The grandmother gave a nod in return but maintained a weather eye on Nathan. “Is he…?”

“An engineering student from Scovia,” Noe explained patiently. “He’s not part of a gang. Scovia doesn’t have any taboos against tattoos.”

“Oh.” Grandmother straightened a bit more, giving her daughter a reassuring nod. “I couldn’t understand what he was asking. Is he lost?”

“Let me ask.” Noe switched to his native tongue. “Nathan, what were you trying to ask them?”

“I like the outer coat they’re wearing,” Nathan explained, still hangdog and not looking up from the ground. “I want to know what it’s called so I can buy some and send them home as souvenirs.”

“Ohh.” Noe spoke to the ladies. “He wanted to know what your coat is called. He really likes them and wants to buy one.”

The mother relaxed at that point, lighting up a little with perhaps greed in her eyes? That last part made no sense to Noe. “They are called hanten.”

“Hanten,” Noe repeated, wanting Nathan to understand the right word.

With that answer, Nathan perked up a little. His little bound book came out of a pocket and he asked in careful Shiirein, “ Mo ichido kudasai ?”

The pronunciation was beyond stiff but perfectly clear, and the grandmother took the book from his hand to write it out herself. “Hanten. Half and robe.”

Noe probably needed to explain that last bit. “When a Shiirein writes something out for you, the blocky characters have two readings. So they’ll tell you the characters combined to make the word.”

“Ohh, is that what she meant?” Nathan gave her a wide smile. “ Arigatou gozaimasu .”

Apparently the grandmother’s maternal instincts informed her Nathan was about as dangerous as a sad puppy. She gave him a pat on the shoulder. “ To itashimashite .” Then she turned and pointed down the street. “Matoi. Come there.”

Luca filled him in. “Matoi is the name of the shop. She said come there if you want to buy some.”

A voice Noe knew well spoke from behind him. “They own the shop, you see. Hello, all. I hope everyone’s enjoying the festival.”

Noe turned in place to find the Brahms family right behind him. General Brahms also had a paper cup of sweet wine in hand and was sipping away, seemingly content with the world. Sakura had been adorned in a pure white kimono and red hanten, with thick leather boots on. She was poised for the winter climate and seemed unfazed by the nip in the air.

There were bows and hellos, and Ren chatted with the ladies for a minute and put them wholly at ease with a smile. Noe wanted half of Ren Brahms’s charm. Was half too much to ask for? Dammit, in two sentences or less, Ren did what Noe had attempted.

The women left smiling, clearly more comfortable than they had been before, and Nathan watched them go with a long sigh.

“I wasn’t trying to scare anybody,” he muttered.

Ewan patted him on the back. “It be the size, man, and honestly the language barrier ain’t helpin’. General Brahms had to carry around candy for months before the kids would even get near him, and he be mostly fluent.”

“Still,” General Brahms corrected.

“Ye’re still carryin’ candy? Oh, they just be takin’ advantage now.”

The Aartan general shrugged as if he didn’t care.

Seeing how upset Nathan was, Noe tried to smooth feathers. “Nathan, listen, it’s because of interactions like just now that you’re here. We Scovians need to learn how to communicate and respect another culture. The Shiireins need to learn how to accept other nationalities. It’s precisely because of interactions like this that the exchange program was developed to begin with. Don’t lose heart, all right?”

Finally, Nathan’s head came up and he looked less ill at ease. “That’s true. I can’t be disheartened so soon. Um, is there anything else I can do in the meantime? I’m learning the language as fast as I can.” He held up his book in illustration. “I copy down every word I hear or see and ask someone what it means, but I feel like I’m making slow progress.”

“No, that’s precisely the way to learn,” Ren said in encouragement. He jerked a thumb at his husband. “Which is far easier than trying to pry words out of this stubborn mouth—”

General Brahms snorted a laugh, eyes twinkling.

“—in a fucking war zone, while being fired at, but I digress. You’re doing fine, man. You’ve been here only a few days, after all. Let me see your list.”

Nathan handed his book over.

Flipping through pages, Ren let out a whistle. “All this since you’ve landed? Gods, you’re going to be fluent at the rate you’re going. You’ve also misspelled a few words. Give me your pencil.”

Sakura popped up on her toes to read over her father’s arm as he wrote and pointed at one. “This doesn’t mean that.”

“You’re correct, it doesn’t.” Her father gave her an amused smile. “Good spotting.”

To the surprise of everyone, Sakura looked at Nathan with a calculating expression. “I’m Sakura. You are?” she asked in careful Trader.

Nathan perked up. “Nathan.”

“My Trader not great. Aartan not good either.” She was visibly picking words she knew to explain. “You help my Trader, I help your Shiirein?”

“Teach,” General Brahms corrected.

“I would love that, Sakura-chan,” Nathan said.

Pleased, she took his hand. “You come with me.”

Noe had a feeling Nathan had just been adopted, he just didn’t know it yet. Still, Noe couldn’t think of a better pairing. Staying near Ren and Sakura would make Nathan less alarming in appearance, he’d have someone on hand to supply word meanings, and frankly, the two’s language skills were about on par with each other. They could grow together and it not be awkward.

“All right, we’ll take this one.” Ren caught sight of the two glasses in Noe’s hands and snorted. “You Scovians. Don’t get sloshed, that’s all I’m asking.”

See? Even he knew Scovians could drink alcohol like it was water. “I’ll be fine.”

With a wave, the other group took themselves off, Nathan in tow.

“Well, seems like all be well here. I’ll be moseying.” Ewan bounced off while whistling a tune.

“We should do the same.” Luca put a hand to the small of Noe’s back to silently guide him into place. “And hopefully language barriers is the most dramatic thing to happen today.”

Noe pointed a cup at him. “Do not jinx us.”

“Perish the thought.”

It was true, though, that so long as language gaps and drunk people were the worst things to happen, then today would be very good indeed.