He wakes up early, and reaches for his eye only to remember he is, in fact, in game. He stands with a groan, stretching, and heads down. Both Nora and Leon are up, with Nora stirring something aggressively with her ‘god given muscles’ and Leon piping a cake. 

“Rainman!” Nora says when she notices him. “You’re strong, right? I can’t get the brownies to pull away from the bowl enough…” he takes the bowl from her hands, taking the mixing tool and whipping that thing around as hard as he can. “Man. Talk about god given muscles… it’s ready now,” Nora says, disheartened. 

“Oh, trust me. I’ve worked out every day for many years now. Don’t feel bad about it.” 

Nora pouts but regains at least a little dignity, setting the brownies into their tray and sliding them into one of the massive ovens. 

“Now that Rainman’s up, go ahead,” Leon murmurs, meticulously adding the frosting of what looks to be a griffin to the center of the cake. “It’s for Griffin’s birthday party,” he explains at Vesper’s critical eye. “The shoemaker on third street’s kid.” 

“Oh, Griffin! Yeah.”

“Can I really go?” Nora asks, both bubbling with excitement and a hint of guilt.

“Be safe,” Leon says, waving her off. She smiles, calling goodbye before bolting out the door. “That girl. Well, come on then. Get started on the muffins!” 

“Yes sir,” he says, and Leon laughs as he flips the recipe book to get started on a massive load of muffins. 

—

The morning rush is over, and he sits down on Nora’s stool with a heavy sigh. “That was worse than leg day,” he calls, and Leon smiles, before eyeing around the bakery frantically. 

“Say, Rainman…” Leon hesitates uncharacteristically, and he tilts his head ever slightly. “I need an herb. It’s rare, and hard to find if you don’t know where to find it, but it’s the next step in the secret recipe, I think.” 

No wonder he’s paranoid. 

Leon was updating the secret recipe of bread that was passed on by his father, and his grandfather, and his great grandmother- well, the point is, something is added every generation to create the perfect bread recipe. And it is a secret recipe, after all.  

“Okay. I assume you want me to find it?” 

“I… yeah. I can’t show my face where it’s found, but I can give you this.” And Leon hands him an {Elven Pass.} 

He gapes. Gapes again. Looks up at Leon, who looks away. 

“This means…” 

“Yeah.” 

“…”

“…” 

“Well, no problem to me,” he says, and Leon’s face melts into relief. 

“I trust you, Rainman. So much so that I won’t even make you promise to our God that you won’t give it away.” 

“Are you sure? I mean, I’m not going to give it away, but-“ 

“Yeah, I’m sure. Just bring it back and we’ll be fine.”

“So, what's the herb?”

“The Seven Year Water Lily. It grows in the royal gardens on the top of the magic lake there. Could you?”

He accepts the quest with a nod of his head, and looks down at the Elven Pass. Normally, you have to be high level and get a temporary Gate Pass, but this just… lets him in. He could sell it for so much money that anyone else would. 

“It’s safe with me. I’ll be back soon.” 

Leon smiles. “I know you will.”  

He heads into the portals, gets some weird looks because he’s in beginner gear, but he ends any drama before it starts just because he looks intimidating. Some people are accusing him of gear-smurfing, which really is kinda funny because, well… he isn’t. 

He hands the guards of the gate his pass, and they test it with their magic before nodding and waving him in. 

The elves narrow their eyes at the sight of him, tall and human and… weak, admittedly, so he just puts the pass in his pocket instead of his inventory- in case he needs to flash it.

Like an old police badge, from way back in his childhood, or a black badge. 

“An Erthan?” Someone stands in front of him, and he looks up at the elf across from him. “This is the entrance to the palace, you know?” He fishes the pass out of his pocket, and they observe it. “What are you doing here anyway?”

“I’m going to the royal gardens to collect an herb for a friend.”

“I see,” they say. “Then, I’ll take you. It’s not everyday a human as weak as you comes to the palace.”

He nods. It’s true- and the elf in front of him carries himself very confidently. They lead him forwards, and he takes in the sight of the magnificent architecture. 

“So, what’s it like living here?” The elf flickers their eyes to look back at him, and they sigh.

“Boring, mostly. My father doesn’t let me do anything fun. But, it’s one of the only places we have left, I guess.”

He nods. “I understand that. My father was a pain in the ass as I got older and older. It’s like he was stuck in the mindset that I was the same stupid college student who gave up a life of education to fight.” 

“Was?”

“My parents passed away.”

“Rest with your God,” the elf says, and he nods. “My mother is dead. She was murdered by humans.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. Rest with your God,” he mimics, and the elf nods, a tiny smile twitching onto their face. 

“It’s alright. It was a faction that was later wiped out by other humans in an act of goodwill.” The elf looks at him with a critical eye, before nodding to themselves. “You know, you aren’t so bad for an Erthan, or a human. Even though your race is so prone to war… amongst other things. Most of you Erthans love to bother me.” 

“Really?”

“Yeah. Everyone comes to me and my father, begging for different adventures and quests to go on. They speak like we’re some kind of animal, too- as if we don’t notice.”

“I’m sorry. You must be important, then.”

“You could say that.” He comes to a stop in front of a giant hedge, and turns to him. “It was nice talking, really. Here are the gardens.”

“If you want, you can come with me. I have no idea where this ‘lake’ is.”

“Oh! I know what you’re talking about. I’ll come with you, then.” The elf tries to regain his cool with a very elven kind of sigh. Vesper smiles a bit. He reminds him of Leo, and it never hurts to be kind to angsty teenagers.

They pass a gardener, who bows low with a twitch of the ears. “Hey, uh. What’s your name, again?” He has a feeling he knows who this is.

“Lyaiar.” The name tag pops up with the purple of an important NPC. Okay. Yeah, he’s talking to the prince of the elves. No big deal.

“I’m Rainman,” he offers, and the elf nods. He seems a little glad he didn’t mention it, but really, Vesper gets it. Being a glorified celebrity is tough enough around the old base, but being the prince of an entire kingdom? “You compare to my glory days,” he says with a laugh, and the elf tilts his head a bit.

“Oh?” Rainman searches for something to say that will make sense, before settling on a quote from his mother. “The way we are when we are young, is different, I mean. Young and important, I should say.” 

“You fought in the civil war of Earth, I assume?” 

It’s still kind of trippy to hear them talking about Earth willy nilly. “Yeah. I was, well, a…” there is already a system put into place that transfers their speech into ‘fantasy terms,’ that way it fits with the narratives. However, he really doesn’t want to hear how his exact job comes out. “An elite general, I guess.” 

“I heard that the blessing from your God changes your own body and skill. Is this true? You do not seem particularly elite.” 

“Yeah, it changes. If we were over on my continent, I would be the one people are schmoozing to. Sorry, I don’t know if that’s disrespectful, actually.” 

“Oh, it's true,” the prince says easily. “I wish your God did not keep our continents separate. I would like to go there someday. To see what they put in your alcohol to make so many so… strange.” Well, about that. 

They arrive at the lake, and Rainman smiles. “It was nice to meet you, Lyaiar.” 

“And you. I hope you continue to have possession of the pass, as your straightforward company is refreshing. Sometimes, it is tiring to be reminded of my status. I have found a friend in you, Rainman.”

“And I you. There isn’t much I can do, weak in this world as I am, but if you need someone to talk to I’m always here. Or, herb finding l, I suppose.”

“Thank you. I’ll leave you to find this-“

[

The Contional Quest: A Fathers Worry (B) has been activated!

Unique Activation: 

The Death of the Unnamed NPC {Leon}

Conditions: 

Protect the Unnamed NPC {Nora} until maturity, three years in Ada's time

Reward:  Title {Faith of a Father} (A) Perk {!LOCKED! Favor} 

Failure Penalty: 

Death of Unnamed NPC {Nora}

Tartrost Reputation points -5

Personal prices in {Tartrost 'Tintin' Smithery} and {Tartrost 'Leon's' Bakery} go up by 2%

]