When we returned to the Boar Hat we all went our separate ways. Meli and Ellie were hanging around in front of the tavern, chatting. Diane was talking with King at the back of the bar, and Ban was inside on a hunt for booze. I was sitting on the roof of the tavern, above Meli and Ellie so that I couldn't see them, and on the opposite end of Diane and King. I sat with my knees curled up to my chest, hugging them close to me as my head lay on my bicep. Meli had given me my clothes back, so my hood hung loosely over my face as I stared up at the stars.
I traced them into patterns, identifying old and creating new constellations as I stared at the gas giants that decorated the sky. It was silent, peaceful. It was nice.
"Whatcha doing up here by yourself?" A voice asked. I lazily raised my head up, finding Ban walking across the steep rooftop holding four pints of ale in his hands. I smiled, releasing my legs.
"Enjoying the quiet," I responded as he sat next to me, setting two pints next to me and one next to himself, the other in his hand. I grabbed one if the ones he set next to me, taking a small sip. "But I guess hanging out with you is fine too."
He took a chug of the alcohol in his cup, then let his hand loosely hover in front of him. There was a comfortable silence between us as we sat on the roof. I smiled smally, taking a swig from my glass, then lightly sloshing the liquid around.
"Y'know, Ban," I started, and he looked at me from the corner of his eye. "I don't mind the nice side of you."
"Nice? I wouldn't call it that."
"Oh, really? Then what would you call it?"
"Pitiful."
"Wow. My pride has been wounded."
"Probably why your the Sin of Despond, not Pride," He chuckled.
"Well," I hummed, "I don't mind the pitiful side of you. Better?"
"Not really, but it's better than nice," he grinned, setting his now empty mug next to him. I did the same, only mine was about half empty.
There was a loud boom, and I jumped, squeaking quietly as I shot my head in the direction of the noise. I sighed, returning back to my original position as I saw a large, red firework in the sky.
"You good, flame princess?" Ban laughed, looking into the sky.
I glared at him for a moment, before smiling slightly and watching the sky as well. "Just fine, gigantor."
I smiled, a small blush on my cheeks as we watched the fireworks together from the roof of the Boar Hat. We were quiet for most of the time, but it was a nice quiet. A really nice quiet.
• Time Skip •
We had been traveling for a few hours since the fireworks show. I didn't get any sleep last night, which wasn't surprising. Hawk's Mom started traveling at around midnight, and it looked to be about eight in the morning now, so we had been on the road for a decent amount of time.
We were now approaching a small town built on the side of a mountain, Byzel, I believe it's called. We were all in the main room of tavern right now, except for Diane, of course. She was looking through a particularly large window on the side of the room while Meli explained what we were doing here.
"That town hugging the mountain is called Byzel. It hosts a flea market festival every year," he explained, "Anything can be sold there; weapons, junk, jewelry. There was a rumor that a crown from a distant kingdom was on sale here once."
"And what does a flea market have to do with us?" Hawk huffed, making his way down the rocky path with the rest of us. As Meli explained, we exited the tavern and onto a uneven path that lead to the town. Diane sat next to the tavern, watching us as we crowded around the area next to where she was sitting.
"There was a rumor that some merchant here regretted buying a weapon that 'couldn't be used by anyone'." Meli replied.
"I'm going to take a wild guess and say it's Diane's," I commented, "Escanor's always been one of the more responsible one's out of all of us, so I doubt he lost his. And Merlin would rather forget everything she knows than lose her's."
"Wait..." Ellie said quietly, furrowing her brow for a moment. Her face lit up as she said; "Oh! You mean her sacred treasure!"
"It could be," the captain spoke, "That's why we're here to check it out."
"Who cares about that?" Ban yawned before rolling his eyes, his hands shoved deep into his pockets. "What're we gonna do about my clooooothesss?"
"What do you me-" Meli started, but was cut off by a loud shout.
"WHO CARES ABOUT THAT? WHAT ABOUT ME?" Diane boomed, her voice echoing as she slammed her intertwined hands into the ground. I sighed as all of our bodies went soaring upward. I hung upside down for a moment or two, boredly looking at the giantess as I felt my body begin to go with the flow of gravity, falling. I turned, extending a single foot downward while keeping the other one slightly bent.
Landing lightly, I placed my second foot on the ground. A small carter had formed under where I landed, webs of cracks extending outward from my where foot made contact with the earth.
"Why do I have to house-sit again?" Diane whined once all of us found our rightful places on the ground. She huffed lightly, adding, "Especially since Ban gets to go!"
"If you want I can stay behind with you," King beamed, staring up at the girl. She completely ignored him, and my mouth turned up in a teasing smirk. He's such a dork.
"Since there's so many people, Ban can blend into a crowd," Meli replied, looking up at her as he casually groped Ellie's behind. My eyebrow twitched, and I kicked a rock at his head. It made contact, causing his skull to cock to the side slightly. He let go of the princess and continued to speak. "You'd just be stepping on people."
"Plus, giants aren't allowed because they made a huge ruckus a few years back," I added nonchalantly, causing the group to collectively look at me, surprised. "What? The drinking competitions here have huge prizes."
"I can always stay back with you, Di-" King started again, only to be cut off by a soft-spoken princess. He glared at the ground, his face turning a light shade of pink as he floated to the back of the group.
"May I house-sit with Lady Diane this time?" Ellie asked quietly, looking at the captain. He shrugged.
"I guess that's fine."
"Are you sure Elizabeth?" Diane asked, "House-sitting's gonna be really boring."
"Mm-mm," Ellie smiled, shaking her head. "I want to have girl-talk every once in a while."
I exhaled, looking off to the side, sweatdropping. What are talks with me, then? I'm hurt, Ellie.... I'm hurt.
"Girl... talk?" Diane asked curiously, before giggling quietly and covering the bottom half of her face with her pigtails. "Uhm, sure! Ehehe..."
Everyone began going their separate ways, and I quickly grabbed a few barrels of ale from the back of the tavern. Hoisting them onto my shoulder, I caught up with the group. Ban lingered at the back with me, raising an eyebrow at the large stack of alcohol on my back.
"What's with the ale?"
"Well, I told you the drinking competitions have great prizes," I smirked, "I'm gonna challenge every guy that's gullible enough to go against me. The guys that attend these tournaments are total alcoholics, and seeing a small girl like me looking for opponents, they'll think it'll be an easy win."
"Small? You?" He smirked back, causing my face to turn bright red as I looked away. "You may be short, buuut..."
"Hey! Have some class!" I huffed, looking away from him. "It's a foolproof strategy. Men are the only people who drink in this town. I'll rack up money for the tavern just like Hawk's doing, and if possible, I'll have some side cash to keep too."
"Fair enough," Ban sighed, looking forward. "If I saw a girl like you looking for drinking opponents, I wouldn't hesitate to take the bet."
"You're saying I'm right?" I teased.
"I'm saying it's an okay strategy," he countered nonchalantly, "Stealing directly is much easier."
I grinned, "I guess I'll have to do a little bit of that too, then."
He chuckled to himself, smiling smally. My face grew into a small shade of pink. God, I'm so dumb... he has a girlfriend...
• Ban's POV •
Geez, what's wrong with me?
I glanced to the side at (y/n), staring at her eyes, which were directed forward at the path. They look just like her's. So bright, yet so filled with pain.
She's so much more of a dumbass, though.
I've only ever felt this way about one person. I've only felt so fucking weird about one other person. I hate (y/n). I've always hated (y/n). She's a monster who slaughtered thousands of Britannians....
"Hey, Ban, you okay?" She asked, snapping me out of my daze. I raised an eyebrow at her.
"Fine. Why d'you care?"
She rolled her eyes, smiling as she did so. "I don't need you being depressed while you're fighting." She laughed; it was cute, like a child's. "It's always really sad to see you fighting like that. You look like a lost puppy beating the shit out of somebody. It would be funny if I didn't feel so bad for you."
"Ey, shut your trap!" I barked, baring my teeth. She laughed again.
"Geez calm down," she grinned, before looking down at the floor. "Just so you know, I'll be rooting for you."
"Huh?"
"In the fight. I'll be rooting for you to win," she said, huffing lightly. "And if you don't win, join me in the drink-offs." She turned to face me, grinning, her face a light pink. "It'd be fun to double-team some old alcoholics."
My eyes widened slightly, and I turned to face forward again. She'll be... rooting for me?
Gah, why does (y/n) of all people have to do this shit to me?! With her dumbass smile and her dumbass laugh....
...
Why does she have to be the most like-
"Ban? Hey, I thought we were having a moment."
Her voice interrupted my thoughts, and I snapped my head toward her. Her eyebrows were furrowed slightly, she looked worried. Geez, the dumbass.
"Yeah," I spoke, rolling my eyes. "Destroying a bunch of old asshole's pride together would be fun."
She laughed, "Yeah, now you're getting it!"
I rolled my eyes, smiling ever-so-slightly. I stared at the path again, following mindlessly behind Master and King. What's wrong with me? Why am I thinking that... that...
She isn't so bad.
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I know the way I portrayed Ban's thoughts in this one sucks ass, but I couldn't think of any other way to introduce a budding romance, per se.
Nevertheless, I hope you're enjoying the story as much as I'm enjoying writing it!
Sorry for the slow updates...
Thanks for reading.
Goodbye~