"The Hero's J—" Coltham snorted derisively and looked down his nose at Leif as though he were regarding a misbehaving child. "Ain't ya a lil' old for that milk tale?" 

Leif considered the answer for what it was. Despite his bitterness, or perhaps because of it, Coltham was the practical sort that did the best he could to make it through the day's goings. A belief in a figure lost to the annals of time wouldn't suit his pragmatic views. Nevertheless, the sting of hearing that tale referred to as a mere story to soothe a child's woes grated at his nerves. 

"Why do you think people tell stories like that to children?" He asked, spinning one finger in the air between them in a pale mimicry of the swirling smoke he'd glimpsed in Ambriel's eyes. While he hadn't the bard's talent for Words, he could still feel recall the weightiness of his illusions and how mesmerizing the barely-there glimpse had been. "Or why they recount it year after year, long after the Hero's passing."

Leif braced himself for a blow in return, or a snarky bite, but Coltham folded his arms across his broad chest in a plain refusal to deign him with an answer outright. "It's for the same purpose others pass on advice to one another, and scold each other for their wrongdoings by telling them the correct way to behave," he explained in lieu of a response. His thoughts wandered to Zopha and Marris' admonishments , as well as Coltham's pragmatism in teaching Alan and his friends about the patron deities of Yun-Fe.

"Didn't you say it was the responsibility of elders to create a better world for their young?" Leif asked, setting one hand on his hip while he gestured with the other as he spoke. "Then that milk tale is what taught me the way to live a proper life — one where you can die with no regrets." 

"Ho," a smirk curled Coltham's lips, though he shook his head. "Pretty words lad. But that tale has a different meaning every time i's spoken, and ye fail to answer the matter of heart, so…" 

"Help others even should you gain naught in return, for someday you may be the one in need," Leif recited without missing a beat.  

The amusement evaporated from Coltham's face, his eyes widened as he blurted out, "Wait, isn't that the Hero's petition to the Hinterlady?" 

He realized his mistake a breath too late when self-satisfaction had already settled on Leif's shoulders and widened his stance. The smirk he wore as he tipped his head to one side and quirked a brow only served to give him a better view of Coltham's fluster, and drive home his victory.  

"Seems you've more interest in milk tales than I thought," Leif teased with a humored chuckle. "I made it my personal creed when I decided to take up arms as a mercenary. Ay, the coin is good but I'd never take on a job without weighing its merits first. Since our scales are already balanced, there's no risk of incurring the Gold King's Wrath."

He considered mentioning that Zopha would never have allowed him to follow her if he didn't have the slightest hint of morals, but the point was rendered moot. Even without her, Leif knew he could have become anything with what she taught him. Whether it was a reprobate, as she teased, or something else entirely was his decision.

To choose to help others even if it proves no merit for you…

A nostalgia touched his smile as he stepped back, his tail swinging lazily while his arms crossed behind his head. "So, Mister Coltham, just what is your idea of a proper life? Living in fear when a kindness is given out of concern that it hides poisoned intentions or attempting to trust despite your misgivings?" 

The old man's stare went flat and hard for a split second as he regarded Leif. And for the first time since they'd met, Leif realized he couldn't tell what Coltham was feeling. This was uncharted territory for them both - a push and pull that Leif felt would've come inevitably. After all, no matter how charitable his help may have been to the people of Yun-Fe, their suspicions weren't unwarranted. 

They've already lost enough as it is, and there seems to be no end to it in sight. 

While Coltham gathered his mind in silence, Leif began to wonder what he would do if his assistance was rejected entirely. While it wouldn't have been ideal, he could still follow from afar and keep an eye on matters until Zopha arrived. The possibilities of the old man facing perils on the road flickered across his mind, and he considered whether Coltham would at least take the items he'd bought. 

Or perhaps his stubborn pride would get in the way of that as we— 

"You…" Coltham started, an airiness touching his voice like a wellspring of wonder had been opened. A barely-hidden smile hid within his thick beard as he began to laugh, "Yer really just a kid, aint'cha?"

The tension in the air melted with Coltham's guffawing laughter. Leif took another step back when the old man doubled over, slapping his knee while chortling as if he'd heard the best joke of his days. "The Hero's Journey, the Gold King's Wrath, you really believe all that?" 

Leif sighed, leaning back against the barrels with a self-suffering smile. He supposed after all the laughs he'd had in the passing days at Coltham's suspense, he was overdue for one being had at his own. A measure of pride crossed his mind when he realized how far he'd come from the child he used to be. 

When he caught a glimpse of a shadow moving oft in the doorway behind the counter, he looked up to find Katarina peeking at them with the smile of an adoring mother catching her children in an act of sweetness. She gave him a knowing look when their eyes met and winked, sending a wave of heat rising up to cheeks as he glanced away.  He played with the end of one of his locs and tried not to will himself out of existence as the pair had their fun with him. 

Coltham was the first to recover, pushing up his glasses to rub at his eyes with droplets of hitched laughter falling from his lips. "Well, guess those superstitions wouldn't exist without reason, eh?" His mouth settled into a crooked grin as he delivered a light punch to Leif's shoulder. "Keeps lil scoundrels like y' from gettin' to big for their trousers." 

"Oh yeah? And what does it do for you?" Leif asked when Coltham's hand withdrew. 

"Nothin'," Coltham said with a shrug, then stroked a hand down his beard with a soft hum. "Well, perhaps its served its uses t'day. Think this is the most sincerity I'd gotten outta ya since we crossed paths. Yer everything' that songbird of yers said."

Ambriel?

"Where did you see him last exactly?" 

Coltham scratched at his cheek, mumbling this and that before he said, "Somewhere oft on the outskirts of the village.  Told 'im not to tread too far near the Wood, but who knows what goes through the head of a songstress?" 

Leif was inclined to agree with him, but Ambriel's sudden disappearance had aroused some suspicion within him. If Arus had been watching him since he parted ways with Alan and Svet, so too could Her eye have been drawn to the wayward bard. The thought of Ambriel suffering the same imagined fate he envisioned for Coltham made his stomach feel heavy and cold.

"Worried about 'im?"

Leif glanced up at Coltham, then looked away at nothing in particular as he considered it. Ambriel did have his Words, and the bard's tongue was so silvery that he might have been able to talk himself into even a Goddess' graces. Or at the very least talk long enough for Leif to find him. Nonetheless, if all else failed, there was another way for them to find one another. 

"Somewhat," Leif sighed, leaning back on his elbow. "I am supposed to be his guard while we're here."

"Eh?" Coltham shouted, flapping a hand at the door. "Then why aint'cha gone after 'im? What about yer creed and all?"

"He sent me away earlier this morning," groaned Leif, feeling a throb at his temple the longer he thought of his argument with Ambriel over their breakfast. "Said I was distracting him from finding his muse."

While he would have expected a bit of snark, the look on Coltham's face was nothing short of sympathetic. Leif figured if he truly crossed paths with Ambriel then he knew very well how eccentric the bard could be. "Seems y' got it tough in yer way." 

They shared a look of commiseration, until the sound of Katarina's soft laughter dissolved the airs around them. "It seems you two are getting on a little better now, doesn't it?" She asked, beaming as she looked between them. 

Leif might have commended her on her acting if he hadn't glimpsed her beforehand, but he couldn't deny that he had been bested.  "We'll be road companions til moonset," he sighed, rolling his shoulders as he walked up to the counter. Katarina set a small, wooden chest with a silver clasped lock before him and gestured with an open hand for him to do as he wished. 

He nodded in return, then undid the lock to inspect the rice paper-wrapped vervain gels glistening in the low light. When he put them away, he picked up one of the tan corked bottles and undid it to take a whiff of its contents before smiling. "It'd be best to be amiable at the least. Right, Coltham?"

"Aye, what happened to all that Mister Coltham y'd been doin' before?" 

"Well, I have it as a personal rule to only call my employers Mister, Miss, and Mx…" He trailed off as he set the bottle with the others, then closed the chest's lid. Another nod offered to Katarina as she bowed lightly in return.  Leif scooped up the chest under his arm, and turned around with a wave over his shoulder as he walked back to the doorway, bypassing a miffed Coltham. "And seeing as I volunteered - you're not exactly paying me."

"Why ya little—" Coltham seethed after him, and Leif's laughter mingled with the door bell's chime. 

"Come on," he called back over the streets' hustling bluster. "We shouldn't waste daylight. Times of the essence after all."