Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Aleric's Birthday Scramble ❯ Aleric's Birthday Scramble ( Chapter 1 )

Aleric's Birthday Scramble

By Reanna King

 

“A-le-ric!” a cheerful, familiar voice intoned.

Aleric groaned and opened his eyes. “Ugghnn…” After mustering the energy to do so, he promptly closed them and turned over on his other side in bed.

“Aleric!” the voice repeated as if the name was the chorus of a song.

“Mmph…” Any intelligible reply was covered by Aleric's pillow.

“Hey!”

The world turned around on its side for a brief moment before Aleric hit the floor with a dull thud.

“If my life isn't in immediate danger, I'm going to be very disappointed,” muttered Aleric.

“It will be if you don't listen to me!” Tione frowned down at him on her hands and knees, her disheveled morning hair resembling the mane of an animal who's been disturbed in its lair.

“Good morning to you too, Sniggypoo.” Aleric sat up on the wood floor. Next time, he reminded himself, he'd spend the extra coinage to get a room with a rug.

Tione giggled as if she'd forgotten she'd just pushed her lover off the bed. “Hey, Aleric! It's January eleventh! Do you know what today is?”

Aleric yanked the blanket off the bed onto himself. “Below freezing?”

“My birthday!”

Aleric blinked and straightened up. “Oh!”

Tione smiled broadly for a moment, then coughed conspicuously.

Aleric blinked twice. “Uh… oh! Happy birthday!” he grinned.

“Now, don't you even think about doing anything big for me! It's not necessary at all! I'm probably too old to have birthday parties anyway!” Tione gushed.

Aleric nodded immediately. “Okay.”

The whole of Tione's being seemed to lose its energy and wilt.

“Hey!” a familiar voice called just before a cold winter wind whipped into the room.

Aleric hopped back on the bed with Tione. Kao and Kyura looked through the window to find the two of them huddled under their blanket, blushing.

“I hate this time of year,” Aleric cracked. “You always get demons coming in through the windows.”

“Hey! Unless you two are giving me pneumonia for my birthday, shut the damn window!” Tione yelled.

Kao turned his lips down in an annoyed frown and turned to Kyura. “Told you she'd guess.”

“May we?” Kyura asked cheerfully. Without waiting for a reply she and Kao piled in through the window.

The door swung open. Katrina danced into the room in a translucent nightgown, dragging a barely-dressed Geddon behind her with Shani tagging along in bright red pajamas that seemed a size or two too large.

“Katrina!” Geddon pleaded. “I don't think you should go outside the room without getting dressed!”

“Oh, our room's just across the hall,” Katrina answered, waving nonchalantly back at the elven prince.

Aleric stared agape at the half-naked angel. “Katrina, as much as I appreciate the effort—and I really do—it's Tione's birthday, not mine.”

Tione's reply was cut short by a polite knocking on the door frame. Off White and Xerei peered into the room from the hallway.

“Hello?” White said before stepping in, Xerei in hand. “We're not invading your privacy, are we?”

Tione looked around the room at the other visitors. “No, not at all. Please come in and watch us get dressed.”

White laughed softly. “Sorry, I figured since everyone else was in here—”

Xerei coughed. “Well, now that we've most likely broken the fire evacuation code for this room and completely humiliated our close friend on the morning of her birthday and disturbed the peace of anyone staying in the adjacent rooms—”

“Told you it'd be worth it,” Kao winked to Kyura, who nodded enthusiastically.

Xerei waved his arms in the direction of the exit. “Out! Everyone out! I'm sure there's breakfast downstairs or something!”

“I'm coming too!” Tione hastily called as everyone began piling out of the room.

Aleric watched Tione climb out of bed, still in her short nightgown. “Tione… you okay?”

“Oh, I'm fine.” Tione didn't look at Aleric as she pulled on the clothes she'd left hanging over a chair. “I'd just like to enjoy myself on my birthday! Even if all it is is breakfast with my friends!”

“Okay, bye!” Aleric waved cheerfully—just as the door slammed shut.

Aleric waited only a few seconds after Tione had left to make sure she wasn't returning before he too began pulling his clothes on.

“Gotta get out without anyone noticing…” he muttered to himself, pulling on a thick tunic and a hooded cloak.

 

“Oh, Tione… I'm sorry,” Off White said sincerely.

“I should have just asked him if we could do a little something special. I'm sure he would have agreed. But now I'd feel silly after telling him we didn't have to, even if I didn't mean it.” Tione looked down dejectedly into her hot cereal.

Katrina pointed her fork, a bit of egg still on it, at Tione. “Why don't you do something with us? We'll take Aleric along, and it'll be just like if you had.”

Tione smiled up at her friends. It wouldn't be the same, but her friends were trying to cheer her up. “All right.”

 

Aleric lowered himself out the window onto the frame of the awning over a window on the first floor of the inn. If he could get to the marketplace to get everything he needed, he should be fine from there. He fingered his coin purse in the cloak's pocket. It should be enough. He took a cursory glance into the nearest window as his feet hit the ground.

 

“Ah!” Geddon pointed past the group.

“Geddy? What is it?”

“Look out the window… over there…” Geddon spoke in a hushed tone. “Slowly.”

On cue, as if rehearsed, everyone turned slowly to the window Geddon was pointing at to see a figure in a long black cloak fleeing into town.

“A mysterious figure in a dark cloak…” Xerei said. “We haven't run into trouble in a while, so we should hardly be surprised that it turns up eventually.”

Tione almost collapsed into her bowl, but stopped herself. “Why today, of all days?”

Shani stood up. “Let's act like it never happened! Let's make today a great day for Tione and deal with any trouble when it comes up.”

“So we'll be caught completely off-guard! Great plan,” Tione muttered.

“You should enjoy yourself, Tione,” Kyura insisted.

 

Aleric dashed into town, convinced he wasn't being followed by his friends. If they got suspicious and decided to pursue, his plan would be ruined.

It was late morning by now, so most of the shops would be open. Juste, being a coastal tourist town, had no lack of shops, but most of them were for useless overpriced junk. He'd have to filter through it to find what he was looking for. If only he'd cared enough about a girl to buy her something nice before, he might have a little experience. He wasn't even sure if he wanted to go through with his plan. But then, there was still room to back out.

He lifted his head to see what appeared to be a jewelry and trinket shop at the end of the street. No, there was no longer time to back out. He felt pulled toward the arch-shaped doorway. He would go through with it, and there was no getting out of it now. At least he would if he didn't faint first.

 

Tione's boots made pleasant crunching sounds in the thin layer of snow that had accumulated overnight. The sun was bright and everything seemed to sparkle in the morning light. Maybe things would work out after all. Even if Aleric wasn't there, she could still have a good time.

“I wonder where Aleric went, though,” Shani wondered.

“Probably got bored alone in my room,” Tione muttered.

Katrina turned to her. “I thought it was the both of yours.”

“Not anymore.”

 

“So… what exactly are you looking for?”

“Something really special!” Aleric replied. “Listen, I don't know. She's probably really mad at me right now, and… well, she's done a lot for me. She's comforted me, supported me, fought a demon to the death over me… that means a lot.”

The stout man behind the counter stared blankly at Aleric for a moment. “Right, well… why don't you take a look and tell me if you see anything you like?”

 

Kao put a hand on Tione's shoulder. “Really, Tione. Aleric's not that bright. He'd probably have no clue why you're angry at him if you were to run into him right now.”

“Awp!” Tione dove face-first onto the snowy cobbled street, but not of her own volition. She rubbed the snow and grit out of her face in time to see the same figure in black running away with a good head start. She hadn't seen many people run that fast.

“After him!” Kao commanded, taking off.

“Why?” Xerei asked even as he took off after him.

“We can't let a suspicious character like that roam around without at least asking him a few questions! It's our civil duty to protect the citizens of this fair city from any harm that may befall it!”

Xerei glared over at his brother. “And the real reason?”

“It's fun!” Kao smirked. “I sense guilt and fear coming from him. Let's see what this is all about, shall we?”

 

Aleric looked back to find the whole party tearing through the snow toward him. “GAH!” he screamed, panting as he took a detour into a series of alleyways. He remembered this part of town from previous visits—it would be easy to loose them in the maze of alleys and tunnels.

Sure enough, the party flew past him and kept going.

Aleric couldn't take any chances. One of the demons and White could sense his negative emotions and be back on the trail in no time. Aleric took off running down a side passage. “Noll, give me wings to fly like the wind, Noll, give me wings to fly like the wind,” he pleaded.

Suddenly he was flying through the air, but only for a moment. With a thud he hit a nearby stone wall. The wind had been knocked out of him by a kick to his side. Not even Tione would do this to him—it looked like he'd have to deal with his attackers first and hope he didn't attract the attention of his friends. He looked up—up the dress of a plump, middle-aged woman.

“Now, boy,” the woman crooned slyly. “What be yer business round here?” She bent over to look Aleric in the face. “Got the wind knocked out of ye, eh? Speak up!”

Aleric blinked. “H- huh?”

 

“Damn it, we've lost him!” Xerei hissed. “I'm sure that guy was trouble—he wouldn't have kept running otherwise! We've got to find him. There's no telling what mischief he might be up to.”

Tione sighed. “All right, let's start looking.”

 

“Ye just wanted a present for yer lady? And ye wanted to keep them from seein ya?” the woman asked Aleric.

“Y- yes.” Aleric admitted.

“So ye dress up like some religious cultist or thief or something and go skulkin about the town?”

“I… yeah, that probably wasn't the brightest thing to do.” Aleric checked his pocket to make sure his package was still intact. Yep, everything was there.

“Well,” the woman said. “Yer lady's prolly pretty cross with ye by now. Ye'd better really make it up to `er. Follow me.” She took off down the alley and turned into a doorway.

Aleric figured he'd already messed things up enough—why not risk everything he'd worked for one more time to follow this strange woman? He hurriedly took off after her. “Ma'am! What's your name?”

“Alylin! But ne'er mind that! We've work to do! I know the staff at this inn nearby—they'll give ya a bit of space to work unless they don't wanna see straight the rest a' the day!”

 

“Enough!” White insisted. “I'm putting my foot down now!”

“Huh?” the party collectively asked.

“We interrupt Tione's special day to go chasing after what would probably have turned out to have been some petty thief when she's right here with us, even after what happened with Aleric? We should all be ashamed!”

“But—” Xerei began.

“The proper authorities will probably deal with it, and it's best to leave it to them,” Geddon pointed out. “Now, let's try to have a little fun.”

“Ooh, ooh!” Katrina jumped up. “We should have lunch! I think I saw a cute little café while we were running!”

Xerei rolled his eyes. “Well, the gods bless your eye for detail while chasing down criminals. We might have missed something really important.”

“Hey!” Tione looked into a shady alleyway behind a building. “Let's go this way.”

 

“Well, this is it,” Aleric opened the little box from the jeweler's and showed its contents to Alylin.

“Ye may not be bright—but ye seem to have an eye for what's pretty!” Alylin said, admiring Aleric's gift. “Now let's get to work. Ever done this before?”

Aleric shook his head.

“Well go to it! Your lady won't wait forever!” She gave Aleric a little shove.

Aleric looked at everything laid out in front of him. This wouldn't be easy. But… Tione was already disappointed in him. He had to do his best for her.

 

“Feel better, Tione?” White asked.

“Yeah, after having a bit of lunch. It was nice, but…” She really wished Aleric could have been there, even if he had been a jerk this morning. How could she be mad at him? She should have made her wishes known from the start.

“But?” Kao prompted.

“There was one important thing missing.”

Katrina smiled sincerely at Tione. “Right. Let's go find your boyfriend.”

The moment was interrupted by a commotion a few blocks away.

“Never mind that! It looks like there's a fire somewhere in that direction!” Xerei cried.

“Right, let's help out!” Geddon said. “Everyone this way!” He took a commanding lead, running forward into the gathering crowd toward a thick pillar of smoke climbing high into the chilly winter air.

“Looks like an inn caught fire!” Tione said. A corner of the building was on fire, and the flames were quickly spreading. “Come on, we should do something!”

“Got it!” Xerei replied, calling out an incantation as he approached the flame. Jets of water spouted forth from his outstretched hands and began to douse the flames. Geddon and Kao immediately joined in and gradually the flames died down, leaving the corner of the building singed. Smoke still billowed lazily out of the windows.

“Someone might be hurt!” Kao called to his brother. “We need to get in there!”

Tione looked into the nearest window, which was opened to allow smoke to escape. It appeared as if the kitchen had caught fire. She braced herself and climbed in as quickly as she could through the window, propelling herself off the sill to avoid the thick smoke.

“Hey, look out!”

Tione collided headfirst into a figure obscured in smoke and felt her face hit something moist and sticky.

“Ti- Tione?” a familiar voice squeaked.

It couldn't be… Tione wiped cake off her face to see Aleric grinning uneasily, wearing only an apron with a pink heart on it, holding the remains of a sloppily baked cake that now had a perfect face-print of Tione's face on it.

“Aleric?!”

“Looks like you found me!” Aleric laughed.

“Not hard when you set your hiding place on fire!”

Alylin approached the couple, waving off the thick smoke like it were a pesky insect. “Ah ha! Aleric, is his the hot-headed girlfriend you were talkin about? I told you ye had an eye for pretty things!”

Tione felt disoriented and confused. “Wait… who are you?”

“Ne'er mind that, dear. Your man here went to all this trouble—nearly burnt down my brother's best friend's inn to make ye this. You're lucky, you know that?”

Tione blushed. “Aleric, I'm sorry I was mad, I—”

Aleric smiled. “Shh. Never mind that. Here, this piece still looks okay.”

Alylin interspersed herself between the two. “Now you two catch up on your little little adventure while I see what I can salvage of this! Go on now!”

“Thanks, Alylin,” Aleric said as the woman brought the cake to a relatively unscathed portion of the counter. “Tione, I… I have something for you.”

“You… huh?”

Aleric nodded. “I pretended this morning, so that this could be a surprise. I guess it kind of backfired on me. But everything's all right now, right?” Aleric reached into his pocket for the little box. “Here.”

Tione blushed brightly as she gingerly received the gift from him. “Aleric…” she opened the box delicately. “Aleric… there's nothing in here.”

“Tione, will you—huh? Empty?!” Aleric grabbed the box. Indeed, there was nothing inside. “Where—but—but I—where did—I'm sure I…” Just when things were looking up and they were sitting in a scorched kitchen covered in splattered cake, this had to happen.

“Dears? Is there a problem?” Alylin handed a little plate with a little piece of cake delicately placed in the middle to Tione. “Sorry, dear, this is all I could manage unless you'd—”

“Alylin, it's gone!” Aleric wailed. “I was sure I had it… I was sure! And now I've ruined Tione's birthday twice in one day!”

“Yaah!” Tione screamed and slapped her hand to her cheek, wincing. “What the… what kind of cake did you make me anyway, chocolate with rock and grit?” She reached into her mouth.

It couldn't be…

What Tione pulled out sparkled in the afternoon light. “What's this?” Tione wiped the object free of cake and frosting, and gasped at the silver ring and its triple polished blue stones underneath. “A- A - Aleric…”

“Tione…” Aleric took Tione's hand. “My beautiful, cake-covered Tione… I…” he smiled weakly. “I'd like you to marry me.”

Tione's deep brown eyes glinted with happy tears. “Well, I… I suppose.” She winked tearfully at Aleric as cheers and whoops arose from their friends outside. “Just don't make a habit of setting fire to inns on my birthday and you've got a deal.”

Aleric embraced Tione warmly. “Tione… I... love you.”

Tione smiled, blushing. But then, she frowned. “Hey, why are you only wearing an apron, anyway?”

“So you can blow out your birthday candle!” Kao called from outside.

“You—!” Tione scowled at the demon.

“Tione?” Aleric interrupted.

“Yeah?”

“Let's get out of here,” he winked, looking around the destroyed kitchen. “…before we get in trouble.”

 

END

Happy birthday, Tione!