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RESPITE FALLS MARKET - EARLY AFTERNOON
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Narrator: The rescued townsfolk and the few guards who escort them have finally made their way back to town. While there are some people who have heard of the incoming group and come to wait for their (hopefully) returning loved ones, the news still hasn't filtered out to the wider town just yet, so many of the survivors who live in town are left to their own devices.
Narrator: Caravanners and others from outside of Respite are escorted to the guard barracks for rest and further logistics planning. Among the group of townsfolk is Emmeline, who still looks very tired and a bit gaunt, but has reclaimed most of her dignity at this point. After scanning the crowd for Jennica for a fifth time, just to be certain, she splits off from the group by the gate and makes her way into the marketplace, her hooves treading the familiar cobblestones toward her and Jennica's stall.
Rhask mans the market stall, cheerily humming as her knitting needles clack along to the beat of the melody. The tune she's humming this time is something of a lullaby from her home town, and the melody translates well to most any instrument as well as vocals. Her long tail swishes idly, lazily sweeping the ground behind the stall as it soaks up the slowly waning sunlight of the day.
Emmeline feels her heart fall a little when she sees only Rhask sitting in the stall as she rounds the corner, but maybe she's working in the back? At any rate, the stall is open and Rhask is working, so Jennica must be doing fine, right? She hastens her pace as much as her tired legs allow coming to a stopin front of the small. "Rhask... thank goodness you're here. Is... is Jennica around?"
Jennica wanders back towards the stall from hunting lunch, but freezes at the sight of Emmeline. She's behind her best friend by some distance, and in a silly another way, beneath notice by way of height too. The kobold stares, not really certain how she imagined this happening and ends up doing no motion thus.
Rhask smiles and looks up upon hearing someone approaching the stall, though her practiced greeting trails off into the air as she realizes who she's looking at. "Hello there! Can I... help... you...? E-Emmeline? Emmeline, you're back?!" Her dumbfounded expression instantly brightens as she abandons her knitting and jumps up happily from her seat, "Y-yeah, Jennica went to get a late lunch! She should be back in a few minutes, I think."
Emmeline moves up to the front of the counter and leans across to hug Rhask as best she can. "Yes... I'm back... I came back... and... she's coming back too? Good... I... I missed her so much..."
Jennica swallows as she steps closer, one tiny step at a time. She opens her mouth, then closes it, words failing as her throat dries up.
Jennica idly scratches one of her ear-horn thingies, twitching it slightly.
Rhask blinks in surprise as she's pulled into a hug, but hugs Emmeline back tightly. "We both missed you a lot, but Jennica more so, definitely." She blinks as she gets a look over Emmeline's shoulder and notices a certain kobold frozen in place a bit of a way into the back, "Oh! There she is!" She pauses, then sheepishly gives Emmeline another tight hug to keep her from turning around for a moment, "Uh... by the way, Emmeline? Don't be surprised. Jennica had a bit of trouble with a health potion about a week or two ago, and, uh... yeah, just don't be too surprised."
Emmeline tries to turn around, but the hug does its job and keeps her from seeing anything much other than the side of Rhask's head. "Trouble... is she? I mean... what happened? Please... is she..." She slumps a bit into the hug, feeling tears of worry welling up inside her.
Jennica steps closer, just couple of meters away: "H-he. Um." She takes another swallow and looks up - way up - at Emmeline: "H-hey. E-em." Her brains are scrambling for answers, things to do, anything, but results are thoroughly inconclusive. At least we are not freaking out yet.
Rhask shakes her head a bit and releases the hug. "She's fine. Just, uh... scaly. We're hoping it's temporary."
Emmeline turns as the hug is released, scanning the crowd in the market for Jennica until the voice directs her attention downwards. She blinks as she looks over the kobold, noticing similarity in features and colors with her... best friend. And the voice. Something in it is... unmistakably her. She squats down and looks Jennica in the eyes. "Jennica? I..." She half-falls against Jennica as she hugs up her friend so very tight. "Oh Jennica... I'm so..."
Jennica squeaks in surprise, having expected and feared... a lot worse things. She hugs tight, tearing up: "S-sorry! I just used the potion, p-probably wrong and I didn't mean it though I did and I just wanted to be healthy for you and I suppose I am just a kobold and and and..." She trails off, just holding her... friend close. Closer. Tight, small as she is.
Emmeline just holds the hug for a while, tears flowing down her cheek, which is pressed tightly against the kobold's cheek. "It's... it's still you. And... we'll figure this out. Together now... We're together... that's all that matters."
Rhask nods a bit, though she's aware that the two probably can't really hear her at the moment. "It was a health potion that was supposed to keep her from getting sick, because she was starting to get under the weather from all the stress and worry. It worked, since it perked her right back up, but... well... side effects..."
Jennica squeaks again, her heart taking leaps and bounds ahead of schedule: "Y-yes!" ... before any sensible - anything - can provide cues of what to do, she grabs herself close to Emmeline and kisses her, kobold or not who cares right now.
Emmeline blinks a bit at the kiss for only a moment of a moment before falling into it, kissing back. It's not how she had imagined their first kiss would go, but...
Rhask blinks at Jennica giving Emmeline a kiss, but she simply raises a hand to her mouth and stifles a happy little giggle.
Jennica lets go, and finally some thought lands. "O-oh!" She lets out another squeak and blushes fiercely: "S-sorry! I mean, I uh... wow. D-d-dunno where that c-came f-from!"
Emmeline laughs along with Rhask once the kiss ends. She stands up, lifting Jennica in her strong arms. "The heart... that's where." She kisses Jennica on the cheek before setting her down on a clear section of the counter so they stand at eye level to each other. "Jennica... I... I love you. I've loved you for... so long... I just..." She shakes her head, another few stray tears escaping her big eyes. "Well.. you know how it was back home... it just... it didn't seem like a thing... that we could do."
Jennica nods slowly upon being set down on the table, not really sure she is believing Emmeline is thinking what she has been. "Y-yeah. Oh wow. I luh-love you t-too." She scratches her ear-horn: "T-though t-that was probably obvious, now." She looks at Emmeline in the eyes: "I uh yeah. We. That. Um."
Rhask idly sweeps the section of counter Jennica is sitting on clear, so her tail doesn't do the job itself. "I guess you two have been sitting on that for a while, huh? Not quite a rescue romance, but it's still a pretty fitting greeting to come back to!"
Emmeline laughs at Rhask's comment and smiles at Jennica, still holding her close. "That. Yes." She kisses her friend, her love, once again, letting the meeting of lips do more of the talking for the moment.
Jennica melts into the kiss, her short tail starting to sway from one side to the other as she does. "Mmmm~."
Rhask glances at Jennica's tail as it starts to swish, and she smiles to herself, feeling a bit happy at having anticipated such a reaction to her reunion with Emmeline.
Emmeline breaks the kiss reluctantly only when she starts to run out of breath. She takes a short step back, her hands still holding Jennica lightly. "That was..."
Jennica nodnods, grinning softly: "...it was."
Jennica seems to finally notice Rhask and gives her a blushing smile: "O-oh. Hey."
Rhask giggles and smiles in turn. "Hey there, Jennica. I'd ask if you had a good lunch, but I doubt any lunch could compare to what just happened."
Emmeline blushes a bit, then looks between the two. "Uh, Rhask... would you mind... being by yourself here today?"
Jennica looks at Emmeline: "W-we c-can't ask that!" She pauses, blinking: "O-or can we?"
Rhask shakes her head, smiling. "Not at all, Emmeline. The marketplace is only going to be a bit busy for another hour or two anyway, and you just came back." She makes a little shooing motion with her hands, "Go on! The stall will still be here tomorrow!"
Emmeline giggles a bit. "All right then..." She scoops up Jennica into her arms then leans down for a quick kiss. "You didn't move our apartment while I was gone, did you?"
Jennica squeaks loudly at being scooped up - although some part of her brain thinks she could really get used to this sort of thing - and holds close to Emmeline: "Mm, n-no. S-same place."
Rhask chuckles as she watches Emmeline picking Jennica up, then nods at the two as she sets everything on the counter back in order before she scoots back and takes her seat again. "I'm glad you're back, Emmeline. It might not seem like much compared to, well..." She looks towards Jennica for a moment with a smile, "But it's good to see you safe and sound after word came back about the caravan."
Emmeline nods to Rhask. "Yes, we'll talk... later." She smiles at the lizard before returning her attention to Jennica. "So... home? I could really use one of your good meals..."
Jennica blinks and looks at Emmeline: "O-oh. Um, yeah. You would. I mean, I would. We would." She shakes her head: "Something like that."
Rhask reaches over and picks up her knitting again and gets back to it, resuming her job of handling the stall as though nothing has changed for the past few weeks, though she's now sporting a happy little smile, both for Emmeline's return, as well as Jennica clearly being over the moon about more immediate developments.
Emmeline giggles and just carries off Jennica, heading home after far too long away...