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“Rhonin, come on, I was nearly at a breakthrough! I know it.” Jaina whined. Her friend gave her no quarter.
“Jaina, you've been nearly at a breakthrough for the last five hours. It's time for a break,” he scowled, placing the laptop in his bag. “Come on, I found a seafood place down the block. I want to know if it's Kul Tiran approved.”
The food was… passable. Better than she could say for most of the seafood restaurants in East King.
Bzzt bzzt. Jaina looked up from her overly salted fish and chips to see Rhonin smiling apologetically at her as he grabbed his phone, a picture of his fiancée beaming at her, as she waved him off. Idly, she took out her own phone, huffing at the picture of her kid self dressed in an old-timey Kul Tiran uniform as it flashed up on her home screen. She used to love the Renfair in Kul Tiras. She felt her eyes burn as the homesickness hit hard. It’d only been a few months, and her apprenticeship was well worth it, but she missed the sea breeze. She missed her brothers. She missed home. She was startled out of her nostalgia by Rhonin tapping her on the shoulder.
“Are you okay, Jaina?”
She nodded. “Yes, sorry, I just zoned out for a bit.”
Her friend smiled sheepishly, sitting back down across from her. “Ah, yeah, sorry for leaving so long. Vereesa gets chatty.”
“You love her for it,” Jaina chuckled.
Rhonin’s smile widened as he melted into a love-sick puddle. “Yeah, yeah, I really do.” He paused for a minute, gazing at his phone screen before catching himself. “Ah! But anyway, Vereesa informs me she has three free tickets to the Renfair. I was wondering if you'd like to join.”
Jaina shook her head. “Rhonin, I wouldn't want to be a—there's a renfair here?”
He leaned forward, propping his elbows on the table and wiggling his eyebrows. “Ahhh, so I have your attention, Doctor Proudmoore?”
She rolled her eyes. “I'm not a doctor yet, Rhonin… but yes, you have my attention.”
Rhonin grinned an evil grin.
The selkie look had been a mistake, or at least the seal skin had been a mistake. It was so hot out. Around the third hour of dumping summoned ice down her own back and watching her friends eye-fuck each other while calling each other “Mi Lady” and “Ma Lord,” Jaina was considering just calling herself a cab home. It wasn't that she wasn't enjoying herself. She loved her friends dearly and the fair had been amazing so far. She was quite proud of her new crown she’d won at ring toss, but she couldn’t help but feel left out during all the shmoozing.
Vereesa giggled as Rhonin's stomach rumbled. “Ah, perhaps Ma Lord would like to stop by one of the food stalls?”
Rhonin laughed. “Of course, and perhaps some wine for the lady?”
Vereesa looked like a woman offered water in the desert. “Oh, belore yes! Jaina, which stall should we try first?"
“You two go on without me, yeah? I want to go check out some of the performances.”
“Oh, of course,” Vereesa waved at her as she began dragging Rhonin toward one of the stands. “Have fun!”
ckrkrkrkrkrkkkk CLICK CLICK
Jaina was enthralled as a drum began to shake her ribs, pulling her toward an already gathered crowd.
Peering over the other guests, Jaina could make out large puppets excitedly pouncing around a clearing. Pandaren lions, if she remembered what her history professor, Cho, had told her.
One of the lions had zeroed in on a basket sitting on a makeshift table. Jaina was struggling to see around a Night Elf when she felt someone tug on her bag. Whirling around, she was caught face-to-face with the second lion. It blinked at her. She blinked back. It tugged, harder this time, on her bag. She huffed as she was pulled into a small game of tug-of-war with a puppet. Quickly, the lion relented, instead opting to ‘lick’ her, flicking its beard at her face a few times and fluttering its eyes before moving on to the next spectator.
Jaina had managed to push her way to the front of the crowd as the first lion finished killing a large rubber snake, throwing its ‘corpse’ straight at the drummer, who quickly tucked the sticks into their belt as they walked out in front of the lions.
“Hello, ladies, gentlemen, and assorted creatures,” the drummer visibly held back a laugh as one of the lions tried to place the snake on its head. “Has anyone here ever seen a lion dance before?”
Jaina was pulled from the speech by the lion from before, sneaking rather unsubtly up to her, eyes locked on her bag. She quickly slung her bag onto the opposite shoulder, causing the puppet to flutter its eyes at her innocently.
“Does anyone want to feed the lion?!” the drummer shouted.
The lion’s mouth closed around her arm, a hand gripping her as the performer dragged her to the middle of the clearing, snapping at her as it let go.
“Ah! well, there’s our volunteer then!” the drummer laughed to the crowd before leaning in to whisper to her. “Alright, love, real simple. Just tease the lion wiyh the lettuce while it chases you. After the third time it goes into Seven Star,” she paused, seeing Jaina’s confusion, “Uuh, it’s a lil’ dancy dance. After thats when you’ll let him have it. You got that?”
Jaina didn’t get the chance to nod before the woman was behind the drum again, and the lion was on her.
Twice she ran at full sprint, forcing the lion into a high dance after her, and three times she stopped, watching the lion as the drum directed left, right, and center. On the third, she felt that slender, calloused hand touching her own for maybe a little too long as it took the lettuce from her.
Three times, the lion spat lettuce out onto the crowd, apparently blessing whoever was hit with good fortune for the rest of the year. Jaina wasn't sure getting blasted in the face with it was exactly lucky.
Eventually, came bows, the head of the lion that had been harassing her slung over the shoulder of a muscular elf, red faced and dripping in sweat. Jaina felt her face flush as the elf winked at her, a cocky grin revealing very large, very sharp fangs.
Tide, mother’s tits, she was hot. Jaina quickly summoned more ice to press against the back of her neck. How long ago had she last remembered to do that? Surely too long. Surely the blush was just the heat getting to her. Surely.
Jaina turned away, as the drummer thanked everyone for coming, looking over to the food stalls to see if she could catch a glimpse of where Rhonin and Vereesa had gone.
“Excuse me?”
Turning, Jaina found herself looking up at the pretty elf from before. “I—yes?”
Smiling, the elf held out a disturbingly blue sports drink. “Here. You look ready to pass out. I hope at least our performance was worth the near heat exhaustion.”
Jaina chuckled. “Your dance was wonderful, but I’m fine, really. Thank you, though. And besides, you probably need that more than I do.” She gestured at the drink.
“Please? We’ve got extras. I don’t want you passing out in the middle of the fair.”
“If you're sure.”
The woman nodded.
Gratefully, she took the drink, immediately cracking it open and downing some of the extremely blue-flavored liquid. “Thank you… uh?”
“Sylvanas.” Her name was followed by a ridiculously low bow. “Pleasure to meet you, Lady…?”
“Jaina.”
Sylvanas grinned as she stood from the bow. “Jaina.” The way she said it made the heat in Jaina’s face drop straight to her core. “I love the selkie outfit. Did you make it?”
“No, no, the shirt and everything are store-bought, and the cloak was a moving gift from a friend.”
“It looks amazing on you. May I ask where you moved from?”
Jaina smiled. “Kul Tiras.”
“Oh? Well, what brings you to our humble shores, Lady Jaina? Perhaps scholarly affairs? Your trade?” Sylvanas gasped, leaning in conspiratorially. “Perhaps you’ve run off to be wed to a secret paramour?”
Jaina covered a laugh at the elf's antics. “Here for my trade, Lady Sylvanas.”
“It’s sir, thank you. I am no lady by any means.” The way Sylvanas said “lady” had Jaina vividly imagining what actions might have disqualified her from the title. “Really, though? No illicit love affairs? Dashing young pirates to sail into the sunset with? I thought that was practically a requirement of being a lady.”
Jaina huffed, throwing the seal hood over her head. “Well, Sir Knight, perhaps you should follow me to the beach one of these days. I’ll show you just how much of a lady I am.”
Sylvanas laughed. “I would love nothing more, but something tells me I should make sure you’re too full to hunt before following you into any water. Perhaps you’d like to accompany myself and my squires to the food stalls?”
A yell from where the team was packing up. “We’re not your squires, Sifu!”
Sylvanas chuckled, yelling back over her shoulder. “Keep eavesdropping, Anaya, and I’m making you do a ten-minute Mabu!”
The drummer, Anaya, scuttled off toward the parking lot.
Jaina laughed. “I suppose I could be convinced to accompany you, especially if those curly fries from the stall over there are involved.”
The elf grinned. “Oh, they will very much be involved. Just let us pack up; we shall embark on our quest for the curly of fries.”
Jaina cackled, watching Sylvanas quickly scoop up the now-empty drum stand, her homesickness forgotten in the back of her mind.