An Overdue Chat With A Certain Someone - Celina Zabinski

Co-Written with the fabulous Riah

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Celina is sitting in her room she’s rented for a few days in Daring Heights. She has been there so often now, that it feels like her own place.

It’s early in the evening, she can see the sun starting to set in the distance as she looks out her window. She glances over to her lesson notes on Halfling and groans. Studying was never a thing of hers. However this, this is important. It is her last effort to try and talk to him. Sammy, her husband. She’s never had anyone act like this with her. She can easily win over people and flirting is natural but with Sammy it‘s… different. She can’t understand what happens to her when she’s around him lately. She is baffled. Are her feelings getting in the way... maybe? On top of this, Celina also has questions about the Red House. Since he’s been there longer than her, she’s hoping that he might be one of the few people to be able to give her the information she desperately wants. She hasn’t been lucky with learning anything so far. It's clear in Celina's mind, she wants to talk to Sammy, despite everything that happened the last time she asked him to meet up. This time she has a plan. She wants to talk to him alone, away from the Red House.

Celina pulls out a piece of paper and quill. She feels confident that her halfling is good enough. She grins and begins writing.

Once she’s done she seals the letter in an envelope and writes his name on the front of it in common. She heads to the Red House and leaves it with the barman and asks him to give it to Sammy when he sees him next.

Whenever Sammy reads the letter, he can tell that her halfling is at a very basic level and definitely not fluent.

Unbeknown to Celina, the letter translates very poorly in common as:

With the warmer weather comes the desire to go out more, and with the longer days approaching comes the want to stay out longer. The fiore popolare has never been busier, Leona Autumn moving between the small tables in her cocktail bar like a humming bird flitting from flower to flower. Every now and then, branches of the willow tree reach down to tidy a recently vacated table or to deliver a bottled drink but otherwise it’s Leona doing everything herself, bright and warm smile encouraging customers to stay for just one more drink.

Her auburn braids swing around her shoulders as Leona turns towards the door. A halfling walks in, looking very dapper in pressed trousers, a waistcoat, collared shirt and smart shoes. Her mouth makes a little “O”, glances over to the left side of the bar, winks and then glides over to greet the new guest.

“Greetings and salutations! This must be your first time to the fiore popolare. My name is Leona Autumn and I will be your mixologist for the evening.”

She has surreptitiously begun guiding Sammy over to a table without him being fully aware of it. When he does catch on he smiles good-naturedly up at her.

“You’re very kind, Miss Autumn. You’re right, I have not been here before but I hear you do remarkable seasonal drinks. I will have two of the latest one, please.”

“Delightful! I’ll get to work on those right away,” Leona says, and then dashes off to the bar behind the gigantic willow.

Celina is already sitting at a table at the back of the room. She got there early, ordered a drink and waited. She’s wearing a long dark green dress, with a deep v neckline. Around her neck is a simple silver necklace with some dangly silver shaped diamonds. Her dress has long sleeves and it’s obvious that one side of her dress has a slit up the side showing her leg. This is one of Celina's more ‘subtle’ outfits. As she sees Sammy, she stares out with a wide grin. Pleased that he even came, as there was part of her that questioned if he would actually show up. She gets hit by a mild sensation of butterflies in her stomach. However, she pushes them away.

She holds her nearly finished drink in one hand, crosses her other hand over and sits back in her chair grinning. As Sammy approaches the table Celina meets his eyes and holds it. She refuses to drop eye contact, from his striking brown eyes. Celina can’t get over just how handsome he is. She winces back reflecting on how she’s not been quite herself over the last few times they’ve interacted. She’s been a mess but she’s decided today will be different. She’s nearly finished one drink, so she hopes that’s enough. She wills herself to act normally, to bring out her usual self. Like the first time they talked, minus the lying. 

As he gets to the table, she can feel the booze somewhat working. That liquid confidence she just needs. She gestures to the empty chair in front of her. “So, we meet again… So, I am guessing you got my letter since you are here. My halfling is nearly excellent, is it not?” Celina smiles with much more confidence than one would expect. “Please, join me.”

His mouth twitches a little. It’s strange, seeing him be so controlled. Probably a by-product of working with the gang or ‘familia’ as the Patriot calls it. Sammy takes off the scarf he was wearing – a thin, light thing that was more for fashion than function – and drapes it over the back of his chair before he sits down.

“I did receive your letter. I would hesitate to call your use of my native tongue ‘nearly excellent’ though,” he says casually. Again, one corner of his mouth quirks upwards and the gold speckles in his eyes seem to dance with amusement but he’s holding it in. “I hope you’re not paying your teacher a lot because, well… let’s just say you might not be getting your money’s worth.”

Celina smirks. “I’ll have you know that letter was a whole five classes worth of lessons.” She takes another sip from her glass. ”So… what are you saying is wrong with the letter? Was my grammar wrong?”

He studies her for a moment. “Amongst other things. But if you’re only five lessons in then that would explain it. Why are you studying halfling anyway, Celina?” Sammy asks, a brief flicker of confusion mingled with curiosity scrunching his nose.

Celina stares at him and grins. “Well, why don’t you buy me a drink first and maybe I’ll tell.” She stares at him after saying the last part, trying to get a read on him.

“Oh don’t you worry about that, he’s already got you covered.”

The bright and cheerful voice of Leona comes up behind her just before the mixologist places two stunning drinks of sparkling light pink liquor with what look to be lilac flowers floating along the surface.

“Live. Laugh. Lilac! The newest concoction and part of the Greengrass cocktail selection. Enjoy!” Leona says with a smile before whirling around and away back to the bar.

Sammy shakes his head. “I had no idea this place existed until I read your letter. When I found out what the aesthetic was I was surprised you’d suggest it.” He raises the glass and takes a sip. “Oh wow that’s really good. Okay, this place might be the best bar in town, better than even the Mirror.”

“Drinks already ordered… Well, Well, Well… you know how to spoil a woman.” Celina smiles, reaches for her cocktail and also takes a sip. The flavours hit Celina quickly and are just perfect. Celina can taste the fresh fruits and liquor with just enough lilac added to the drink to be perfectly balanced throughout. Celina smiles more, the whole drink tastes delicious. No where else does drinks quite like this. “And I agree with you, Leona is talented… I mean she does great booze. It’s one of those places I just happen to stumble across. A hidden gem I would say. It has a… nice character. I also agree that it's not really my aesthetic and I mean it’s no Port Ffirst but it’s a close second…” Celina chuckles for a moment comparing the two locations. “Also interesting, that you say you’ve never heard of her until now. I learned that Leona actually does business with your family, on the farm”. She stares at Sammy looking to see if he reacts to that, but he remains the same. 

Celina takes another sip of her drink and grins before continuing. “So… to answer your previous question… I mean maybe I’m studying Halfling because I’m bored? Or else maybe I’m studying it as a way to… get your attention so we could talk. Who knows?”

The shadow of a frown passes over Sammy’s features. “And why would you want my attention, Celina?”

“Well, I mean if I just asked you to meet up I didn’t think you’d show. Also, maybe it’s my way… of, you know… saying… s-” Celina stumbles over her last word, she can’t manage to finish with ‘sorry’. She sighs and tries to quickly move on. “Look, I know things have been weird. You might not believe this but I… do care about you. And you don’t even have to like me right now but since we’re both part of this thing in the Red House. I thought maybe we could share information? Work as allies? I mean I know you’ve been part of whatever this is longer than me. I tried to find out information and that backfired completely. Like I still don’t even know our ‘group’s’ name. Do you?” She says cautiously in case Leona or one of the other guests in the place overhears the conversation.

The halfling across from her looks at her slightly confoundedly before he chuckles, shaking his head. “You really haven’t changed, have you? Still unable to face the truth of what you’ve done, to take responsibility.” Sammy takes a sip of his cocktail. As he places it back down he leans forward into the table, giving her a discerning look.

“I don’t know the group’s name,” he starts, keeping his voice low whilst acting casual, “but that doesn’t matter to me. What does is you spying on members of the ‘familia’ and getting caught. You got off very easy, no thanks to what the Lady did. Honestly…” Sammy shakes his head again and when he chuckles this time it has a tone of exasperation. “It’s like you enjoy biting the hand that feeds you. Celina-” he takes her hand, “-I don’t want to see your recklessness get you hurt.”

“I can… handle myself,” Celina says with fake confidence. Celina forgot what it was like when he held her hand. The moment he touched it, it gave her a rush of energy. Butterflies filled her stomach. Time stood still in that instant. She stares at their hands. The way this halfling makes her feel completely mystifies her.

Sammy does his best to hide it but Celina sees he doesn’t believe her. He seems to reluctantly let go of her hand, sitting up straighter. The moment he pulls his hand away from Celina, is like a small punch in her chest. She tries to conceal her moment of sadness. She pauses to collect herself. She pulls her hand back as well and goes to grab her drink and takes a sip.

There’s an awkward pause for a moment before finally Celina breaks the silence.

“You know I have been in a ‘group’ before but I already knew up front what they were like. However, right now in our current one, I know nothing. And if I’m honest that makes me… a bit nervous. Like how do you feel? The ‘familia’ protect each other… like who are the other people? I have yet to meet anyone else with a similar tattoo.” Celina will roll up her sleeve and show Sammy her apple dagger tattoo on her forearm. She leaves her arm out for him to look at, almost daring him to touch it.

He looks around, making sure no one else is watching their table. Leona has sauntered over to a table on the other side of the place, casually chatting with them in a bright way, drawing a few other customers into the conversation. In as casual a way as he can he says, “Everyone’s tattoo is different but those that know to look for it, see the telltale marker.” He looks back at her, brows furrowed a little in worry and quickly adds, “Though it’s still best to not go flashing it around everywhere.”

Celina thinks about his words for a few moments. After that, she asks curiously, “Care to show me yours?”

“Not here,” is his short, clipped reply.

Celina frowns disappointedly. She sighs and quickly pulls down her sleeve, hiding the tattoo. She sits back in her chair and crosses her arms annoyed. She tries to think of something else to ask, she wants to know more about the Red House. Eventually she looks over curiously to Sammy. She uncrosses her arms “So, tell me what type of work do you do for ‘The Lady’? Do you talk to her often? You know, strangely enough, I can't help liking ‘The Lady’. But… from what you’re saying do you think she’s still mad at me?”

The halfling has picked up his drink, swirling the shimmering lilac flowers around counter clockwise in its pink, sparkling feywine. He stops, sighs, then takes a big sip before carefully putting the nearly empty glass back down on the small table.

“I’m in acquisitions. You know that shop you went to, Thistle Do Nicely? I run that now. So, ya know, if you wanted to come by for a visit…” He smiles warmly but it doesn’t last. “As for ‘the Lady’ I don’t see her often, well, not any more often than anyone else would. She and I only speak in the odd correspondence. I would have thought you’d speak with her more to be honest.”

“Why do you think I’ve talked to ‘the Lady’ more?”

“Well, you get your tasks directly from her, don’t you? I don’t have such a direct line. But then again, I kind of deal with a lot of different people from the familia.”

Celina is surprised to hear this, she wasn’t aware that The Patriot was treating her differently. She wonders what that could possibly mean, if it's either a good or bad thing? She figures time will tell. She goes back to their conversation.

“So wait let me clarify something, you’re a business owner like myself now?”, actual shock and surprise mixed in as she asks that question. “Well, look at you,” Celina smiles genuinely and is actually very impressed. “I mean… it’s no apple shop but I guess it could work…” She gives a cheeky grin. “How long have you been there? Have you made any changes to that place? I mean… that place was interesting last time I was there.”

“It’s still interesting, I guess. Certainly isn’t the bakery I wanted but…” Sammy’s face lights up with genuine excitement, “I get to talk to a lot of people from all over the place. It’s honestly keeping me quite busy. I don’t know how you do it – run a shop and find time to go off and adventure.” His smile is warm, admiring, and it makes Celina’s tummy flutter.

“So things are going well for you. It’s good to see you… actually happy.” Her hand goes by her head and she automatically starts to tuck her hair behind her ear. She gives a big smile “Also, was that a compliment, Sammy?”

“It might have been. Or it might be this too good drink speaking for me,” he says with a smile and a slight flush to his cheeks.

Celina chuckles and thinks to herself, finally a breakthrough. She notices Leona walking to a table nearby. She looks at Sammy and says cheekily, “Well, if that’s the case… shall we get more drinks?” Sammy nods.

Celina motions to Leona smiling. “We’ll have two more of these lovely drinks, please.”

“Oh yes! Coming right away,” the mixologist says with a wink.

Celina directs all her attention back to Sammy. She stares at him, straight into his piercing brown eyes and gives her biggest grin, “Now, where were we with these compliments…”