"It isn't big... But there is a spare room." Jimmy says as he winds towards the house
"Which one is it?" Gwenhwyfar asks. She is really excited.
They walk for a while longer before they reach the house. "This one." Jimmy says as they stop before a plain wooden construction. It looks very similar to those around it, but there are hints here and there that this house is of better construction.
The door fits snugly, the paint is more vivid, the knobs are brass instead of plated.
A lady sits on the porch of the house. A mug in her hand.
She is starting to wrinkle slightly but is still handsome in her middle age.
She watches the two of them approach, and as they get closer, she stand up, walks over to the railing and leans on it, "About bloody time you came home again." she says with a grin, she moves over to the top of the steps and opens her arms for a hug.
Jimmy gives Gwen an apologetic look and jogs over to hug his mum, "Love you too mum." He says
"And who is this?" Elizabeth asks opening her arms to hug Gwen while looking at Jimmy
That is a little bit faster than Gwenhwyfar is comfortable with. But to not make this awkward she joins the hug. But the slight hesitation is noticeable. Once out of the hug again she tells "I'm Gwenwhyfar. Pleased to meet you." making a curtsy.
"This is Gwen. She is my... partner." Jimmy says with a smile to Gwen
"Gwen, this is my mum, Elizabeth"
"Nice to meet you." Elizabeth says looking at Gwen with that same grin. Honestly it is quite difficult to tell what she is feeling with her face almost locked like that.
Gwenwhyfar stands there smiling and at a loss of words.
"Cat got your tongue Gwen?" Elizabeth asks as she steps asside to let everyone onto the patio
"No, I have my own." the cat replies.
Gwenhwyfar blushes, but moves inside without replying.
"Well thats..." Elizabeth says, her grin slipping for a moment before taking place again, "Your pa is out but will be back before sundown otherwise he won't get fed." she says as she walks inside and comes back out dragging two chairs behind her, turning the Noir she says "Do you want a chair too... or a mat... or..."
The cat levitates up to be slightly beneath eye level of everyone sitting and lies down in mid air like a sphinx. Fixating Elizabeth she replies "I'm fine thank you."
A smile sneaks on Gwenhwyfar's face. She wishes she could be so self confident. She takes a seat on one of the chairs Elizabeth brought. "That's Destinée. My cat." Gwenhwyfar explains while looking at the floor.
"Not like any cat I have ever seen before." Elizabeth says eyeing the floaring feline. Turning to Jimmy "Are you looking after yourself?" She asks her son
"I'm not guarding caravans anymore..." Jimmy says standing behind Gwen, "I have a somewhat more permanent position now. Gwen and I are pathfinders."
"Yes. With wayfinders and everything." Gwenhwyfar adds producing the tool out of her pocket.
"Well it is certainly better than guarding caravans. Tell me, what have you gotten up to as a pathfinder?" she asks as she leans forward and extends a hand requesting the wayfinder
Gwenhwyfar hands over the device with a short look to check with Jimmy. "It's like a compass. Just better."
Elizabeth turns it over in her hands, inspecting it, as Jimmy begins to speak.
"Well a huge amount has happened. I would rather not tell the story twice as it is so long. But that reminds me." He says as he pulls his pack in front of him and rummages for a moment, "Here you go." he says handing over a clinking sack
"Whats this?" Elizabeth says, handing Gwen back her wayfinder as she takes the sack from Jimmy.
Her hand sags at the unexpected weight.
After a moment she has the sack in her lap and opens the draw string.
The gold inside glitters and Elizabeth stares at it for a moment slack jawed.
"We sold some statues yesterday. This is a portion of what we made. I am sorry for not sending money back sooner. We have been spending most of what we make on the school and such." Jimmy says smiling at Gwen
"I wonder if my mum would want to have some money too." Gwenhwyfar thinks aloud. The thought actually never crossed her mind before.
"Honestly, I think she might be happy with the temple." Jimmy says thinking
"Don't lie to me Jimmy. Who did you rob? This must be hundreds of gold!" Elizabeth almost shouts
"The rich people of Magnimar. But in a totally legal way." Gwenhwyfar tells.
"Explain yourself James!" Elizabeth says, sternly with a look of a scolding mother on her face.
"Mum, really, we just sold a bunch of statues. They were quite special. You know about the runelords right? These were statues of them... It's all part of that story." Jimmy says raising his hands defensively, "Just calm down and I will explain once dad is here."
A shout is heard from the kitchen, "Where is my buttercup?" a friendly voice, you can tell it is shouted with a smile
"Come talk some sense into your son." Elizabeth shouts.
A few moments later a short, portly man with a grin makes his way onto the porch. "Jimmy!" He says rushing over to hug his son.
Jimmy has to bend down a bit as he is a good head taller than his father.
"And who is this fine lady?" He asks taking her hand, with a slight bow
"I'm Gwenhwyfar." Gwenhwyfar shyly answers in a whisper.
"And how do you know Jimmy?" He asks stepping back slightly
"I met him in Sandpoint. He follows me around ever since." Gwenhwyfar tells. And once she realizes what she said she adds "On request of Mrs. Heidmarch, that is." But that doesn't make it any better and so she blushes and stops talking.
"That's my Jimmy alright." Jakob says laughing and slapping Jimmy on the shoulder.
"Well Jimmy obviously likes you, so you are welcome to our home." He says. "Come, let's go inside."
Elizabeth has become a lot quieter now that Jakob is back
Gwenhwyfar looks at Jimmy apologetically.
Jimmy shrugs and smiles and then leads Gwen inside after Jakob.
They make there way into a lounge. They sit for a while with Jakob interrogating Jimmy about what's happened since Jimmy last visited.
So Jimmy tells the story.
Gwenhwyfar already knows all of this and Jimmy is not exactly natural at story telling and after an hour of this Gwenhwyfar starts fighting falling asleep.
Jimmy notices Gwen is falling asleep and excuses himself for a moment.
He walks over to her chair, lifts her and carries her to the spare room where he tucks her into bed.
Once she is tucked in and snoring gently he goes back to the lounge and finishes his tale.
Gwenhwyfar of course wakes as she is lifted up but decides to fake it, before embarrassing herself further. Once she is alone and Jimmy is talking again she tears her hairs out. What kind of first impression am I making here? she thinks hiding her face in her hands.
Shaking her head Gwenhwyfar decides to look around the room to distract herself.
Gwenhwyfar sneaks out of bed and examines the trinkets standing around. And then out of curiosity she checks what is in the desk.
Gwenhwyfar knows Asmodeous, but hasn't busied herself in detail with what he stands for. Something about contracts and that he doesn't count to the good deities. So she picks up the Asmodean Monograph and starts flipping through the pages. The more she reads the worse it gets. This is outright evil. It is about screwing over your business partner. Gwenhwyfar's eyes fall on her silver bracers. They are a kind of contract, aren't they? She tries to remember the exact words of what Jimmy promised to her. But from what she recalls Jimmy is either really good at screwing her over that she doesn't see the hook, or he got it wrong who should get the advantage from a contract.
Or is it just his parents, who turned evil behind Jimmy's back while he was away for such a long time? She puts the book back and slips under the sheets. Pondering if pulling the blanket over her head will get her out of this situation.
Jimmy finishes his story and bids everyone goodnight as the night grows old.
He makes his way to the spare room and tries to sneak in without waking Gwen
Jimmy doesn't wake up Gwenhwyfar as she is already wide awake.
Jimmy stops halfway to the bed as he notices Gwen is sitting at the desk.
He quickly notices something is wrong, "Gwen, are you ok?" He asks quickly rushing over
"I'm not sure." Gwenhwyfar replies looking at Jimmy. "How many written contracts have you closed in your life?"