Spice & Wolf XIV (DWT)
Page 18
“Jeez.. did you really lose all of your confidence because I was unclear? I really would have bitten you a moment ago if you were not such a.. merchant.”
She complained right into his face.
“How can you be so forceful and manly in one second, yet so weak and flimsy in the next? Just what is wrong with you?”
“?”
He couldn’t help but react with a hurtful glare. At first she seemed stunned, but then put on a look of pure hate.
“And you still have the gall to ask me to be more forceful and fight for Cole?”
Wait.. that’s all she meant? Lawrence could feel his mind shutting down even as he stared at her.
“Oh.. of course..”
“Fool.”
Now she was getting really upset. In fact, it looked like she was going to burst into tears as they stared into each other’s eyes.
He’d practically begged her not to force herself to be a Wisewolf if it wasn’t what she wanted. He meant every word. He’d be there for her, even if it meant more work for him. She already knew why he was willing to be there for her. And he knew she was the same way.
It was too embarrassing to say it out loud, but he even knew that she would hunt him down again, once she’d had her fill of Yoitsu. But in the end, that apparently wasn’t what this was about.
She had lost her temper because she was losing Cole, and now she was losing her temper at Lawrence because he was her outlet. She had a lot of things to be upset about, including the end of their trip, and she wanted to vent. She just wanted to blame him again.
“You are so selfish it is stunning.”
He couldn’t turn away. He had to let her do it. He didn’t like being on the receiving end like this, but he was willing to do so in order to avoid an even worse fate. If he wanted to sugarcoat it, he could say it was just the way merchants were, but he knew just how cowardly it really was.
“Especially when you think about me.”
Holo’s face was swelling up as she got angrier and angrier. She’d finally grabbed his ear in rage. His back was bent down even more than it had been all this time. But he couldn’t take this forever, and his mind was already fishing for a counter attack.
“You’re no better.”
“What?”
Lawrence didn’t plan on going this far, but the time had come. He pulled an envelope out from under his jacket. It was the other one that Hugh had sent them from Gerube.
“I wasn’t planning on showing you this.”
He pulled the letter out of its envelope and held it up for her. It was filled with numerous, skilfully-written words, so small that it was hard to imagine that Hugh was the one who had written them. Even the first sentence would spell it out for her.
This is the story of the travels that we, a non-human and her arguably-human companion, shared as we did business in the cities..
“If you’re really confused, then just read this.”
What he really wanted to say was, “don’t you dare pretend you’re confused,” but he just couldn’t bring himself to say it when he saw crystal-like tears spilling from the eyes of the girl still clutching his earlobe.
Time stood still, and even sound itself vanished for a while. But when she finally looked back up into his eyes, he realized her tears were ones of happiness.
“This is exactly what I am talking about..”
Her fangs poked out like she was trying to put on her trademark smirk.
“I wasn’t planning on saying this, either..”
She pulled his ear down to her mouth.
“But you are just so stupid that I must spell it out.. I love you so much..”
In an instant, things like Kinisen, Yoitsu, Myuri, or Cole were completely insignificant. Lawrence didn’t need to worry about what God thought anymore. He’d given Holo a blank check with his signature on it just to hear those words from her one day.
“..honestly.. I have seen so many couples over the years in those wheat fields.. and even in a farming village full of dullards I have never seen any quite as dull as you..”
Lawrence didn’t need to hear any more. All he wanted to do was to hug her, slouching or not. She could even have his earlobe if she wanted it that badly. She flinched at first, but then rested her head on his shoulder and sighed.
“Well, then, since you insist on going with me, let us hand Cole over to that meat bun and get it over with..”
She gently smacked his back with her hands.
“We should really get back to the shop for lunch..”
She kept talking, wanting to leave, but that only made him hold her tighter.
“Hey.. you..”
She was smiling, but she was also trying to push him away. Maybe she didn’t want to dirty herself after just having a bath? But after a bath, every little move she made smelled like a spring breeze to him. This was her pure scent. It was wonderful. He couldn’t help but kiss her neck.
“Hey.. stop playing..”
She was getting more violent, but he wasn’t going to let her go. Not in this alley, free of the hustle and bustle of the city. Not here, where the church steeple wasn’t looming over them. Not even God’s eyes were spying on the two of them now..
“What.. are you..”
He wasn’t going to let her get away this time. She couldn’t push him away if he held her more tightly. He just had to press her up against the wall..
“Not.. in public..”
With something behind her to push off of, she struggled even more.
“You.. foo-”
Lawrence didn’t even hear the rest.
* * *
No eyes were on them as they walked back to Flynn’s, but he still heard people laughing. Oh well, they were probably just merrily laughing with others over lunch. Such rationalization became impossible, however, when they finally stepped into the courtyard in Flynn’s place.
Cole and Elsa noticed it first, then Flynn gasped. Finally, Lou sprayed beer everywhere with his mouth. Holo didn’t care at all. She just held his hand and continued smiling. It took a while before even Flynn opened his mouth this time.
“Oh my.. it looks like we’ll need more eels.”
He darted back into the shop.
“I’ll help you..”
Lou darted in after him. With the other adults now gone, Cole desperately tried talking to Lawrence, but Elsa dragged him into the shop as well. Lawrence and Holo were alone again.
“What are they playing at?”
Holo grinned even wider as she joked. Lawrence said nothing, but it wasn’t because he was sulking... his jaw hurt too much to even try talking.
“Oh? ‘Twould seem that our eels are ready.”
A bit of smoke rose from the stove; a sure sign that the oil-glazed eels were over-cooking. Holo brought one back to him on a plate. She then skilfully carved it with a knife. Finally, and inevitably, she lifted it up to his mouth. He really didn’t want to deal with this right now..
“Come now.. say ah˜”
He scowled and kept his jaw shut. It wasn’t out of embarrassment. He just wanted to make it clear how much pain he was in.
“Oh, you do not want any?”
Just the response he expected. He grudgingly opened his mouth and sure enough, a sharp pain hit him. It was actually enough to make him double over. Holo’s smile didn’t leave her face, though. She patiently waited for him to work past the pain.
At least the eel was delicious, even the bit that had been burned already. It was as bitter as he was, after all. He knew she was stuffing her face delightedly as he fought to chew his first mouthful, but he was looking up into the sky so he wouldn’t have to see that.
There was that damned steeple again. It was like he just couldn’t avoid it’s gaze. If felt like God Himself was sitting on it, arms crossed, looking down on Lawrence.
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