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Sebastian was rarely this excited about anything, but he had been looking forward to this day for weeks. He'd been collaborating with Sam, Abigail, and Lola on a LARP they were going to do. Lola smiled as she watched him double- and triple-check the list of things he planned to bring for the day. They'd never done anything like this before, and he wanted to make sure everything was as put-together as it could be. She wondered if he would bring this same energy to being a dad; it was sweet, but she might need to temper it before it exhausted both of them.
"Babe, you know we're going to be improvising some, right?" she said, a hand cradling her pregnant belly, which had emerged a few weeks prior. She was sad she wouldn't be able to take a more active role in the LARP, but she was still looking forward to watching the group play around and have fun.
"Of course, but I still want to make sure we have everything we'll need." The foam weapons he'd made with Sam and Abi fell from their place against the wall as he piled up more stuff.
"At the rate you're going, we won't be able to carry it all." Lola ran a hand through Sebastian's hair and kissed him. He'd been growing out his hair to where he could have a long ponytail, and she'd braided it for the LARP. "It's just the four of us, and we're going to have fun whether we have everything or not. If we don't have something, we'll figure it out."
"It's not just the LARP I'm worried about." He put his hand on her belly.
Lola smiled tenderly, touched by his concern. He'd taken good care of her through her first trimester, doing much of the farm work himself when she'd been sick. "Seb, I have a whole backpack full of supplies just for me. I love how much you want to help and take care of me, but I'm covered." She cupped his cheek and he nuzzled into it.
The corner of Sebastian's mouth turned up. "Okay, if you say so."
Sam and Abigail knocked, having dropped by to help carry things. The crew gathered up their stuff and made for the Cindersap Forest, chatting excitedly and admiring each other's outfits; Emily had been excited to help with the clothes, even if she didn't really understand what LARPing was. As the wizard, Sebastian had a black cloak lined with purple; he was already very taken with it, and Lola had a feeling he'd be wearing it throughout winter. Sam, the knight, had layered a blue tunic over a red shirt, topped off with a helmet and breastplate he'd found at a costume store in Zuzu City. Together, they would be battling dragon Abigail, kitted out with a black leather vest over a purple top complete with purple and red dragon wings, to save Princess Lola, who wore long white gloves as well as a lovely hooded capelet in lavender velour.
As they set up in the forest, Lola came over to Sebastian with a small box. "Hey, what would you think about being an elf?" she asked, opening the box to reveal ear tips.
"I hadn't considered it, but if you want me to, I will."
As Lola helped attach them to his ears, Abigail looked over and laughed. "You look like a goth Legolas!" She and Sam cracked up.
"Well I think you look very handsome," Lola said, giving her husband a kiss. She lowered her voice. "And I love your hair. It looks so good at this length," she said, giving it a soft tug. Sebastian fought the urge to moan, causing Lola's mouth to quirk.
"I'm glad you like it so much, my lady." Sebastian kissed his wife's hand in a courtly gesture as he looked her in the eyes, and he could see her swoon ever so slightly.
With the proverbial stage set, the action began. Lola sat on a boulder guarded by Abigail, and the guys clambered uphill, trying to avoid Abigail's gaze lest she rain fire on them in the form of orange streamers. Sebastian could see Lola whispering to Abigail and both women laughing.
"Wonder what they're laughing about?" Sebastian asked quietly as he and Sam took cover behind their own boulder.
"Eh, I don't know."
Abigail's voice rang out. "I know there are intruders nearby. I can smell you! You might as well come out and fight!"
"Okay, rude," Sam replied loud enough that the women could hear him.
Lola laughed and she projected her voice a bit so they could hear her; she spoke with a dignified and classy accent. "Dragons have better senses of smell than you think."
Sebastian turned to Sam. "Do we want to flank Abigail?"
"Yeah, let's go."
The guys split up to go after the dragon, Sam in melee range since he was fighting with a sword, and Sebastian further away, zinging the occasional spell streamers at Abigail and trying to protect and buff Sam.
Abigail had managed to dodge Sebastian's spells but she was having a hard time fending off both of them, as the guys had anticipated. What they didn't know was that Lola and Abigail had hatched a plan so the fight would draw on a little bit longer.
"I cast Enthrall on Knight Sam!" Abigail shrieked.
"What? Dragons don't really have thralls," Sam said, confused.
"This one does!" Lola proclaimed, to Abigail's great delight.
"So now you must fight each other to get to me! Muahahaha!" If Abigail's evil laugh as she retreated to Lola's boulder told them anything, it was that she was having the time of her life.
Lola could see the gears turning in Sebastian's head as he tried to evade Sam, whose attacks were now telegraphed and clumsy to avoid hitting his friend. "I don't want to fight you!"
"You have no choice if you want to save the princess!" Abigail cackled gleefully, throwing out the occasional fireball since Sam was taking it too easy on Sebastian.
"What do you even want a princess for, anyway?" Sebastian yelled at Abigail as he yanked Sam's shield away from him.
"To ransom her for gold and jewels, obviously!"
"Alas, my kingdom is poor from years of war and famine and my father has not the gold to sate the dragon's greed." Lola dramatically raised a hand to her forehead.
"Why haven't you mentioned this before now?!" Abigail bellowed, turning on Lola.
"Because honestly, being here has been more enjoyable than being holed up in my father's castle, and no one's gotten as close to defeating you as these brave souls."
"My lady, you want to be here…?" Sebastian said. Even with the shield, he was exasperated from dodging Sam, whose attempts were getting even sloppier. "Sleep," he said gruffly, throwing his hand toward his friend.
"Ugh, finally." Sam fell to the ground in a heap.
"I mean, it's a bit warm and the food is bland, but it's preferable to an arranged marriage to some prince from another land so we can use their army to fight our war."
"Yeah, ew." Even Dragon Abigail had to agree. "Maybe I should spare you the trouble and just eat you instead!"
As Abigail turned toward Lola, Sebastian saw his opportunity. He snatched Sam's sword and jammed it into Abigail's side.
"Noooooooo!" she roared, thrashing before collapsing to the ground.
Sebastian went over to Lola, offering his hand to help her off the boulder. "My lady, are you all right?"
"Yes, thank you. But how can a mortal woman repay this life debt to an elf?"
Sebastian looked thoughtful. "Let us travel together and get to know each other. I'm sure we can find a mutually agreeable solution." There was a glint in his eyes.
Abigail's voice rose from where she lay on the ground, her voice muffled. "If this 'mutually agreeable solution' involves you two banging it out, please wait until after I leave."
Sam had gotten up and taken off his helmet; his face was somewhere between shock, agreement, and dying of laughter, his laughter exploding when he saw Sebastian's cheeks color a bit.
"Stop breaking character, you guys," Lola said laughingly, despite herself. "Uh, also, we have an audience."
They turned to where Lola had spotted Marnie, Penny, Jas, and Vincent on the path between the forest and Marnie's home. The kids waved vigorously. The gang waved back and walked over.
"Miss Lola, your cape is so pretty! I want one!" Jas exclaimed.
"Thank you! Miss Emily helped make our costumes! Maybe she'd be able to help you get one."
"I'd like that! And Mr. Sebastian, your hair looks very pretty too!"
He started, whether triggered by being called "Mister" or by being told his hair was pretty, it was hard to tell. He smiled as he responded. "Thank you. I'm beginning to like having longer hair." He tried desperately not to respond as Lola gave it a bit of a tug behind his back, away from onlookers.
Vincent was taken by Abigail's dragon wings. "Your wings are so cool! Can I try them on?"
Meanwhile, Penny was looking shyly at Sam, who had noticed and was also being bashful. "You look very handsome and valiant," she told him, barely able to meet his eyes.
"Uh, thank you! You'd be a very pretty princess…I mean, you're already pretty…"
Penny blushed. "This reminds me of a book I read…"
Vincent looked on, snickering as he watched Sam and Penny talking.
"So what exactly were you all doing?" Marnie asked Sebastian and Lola.
"There's this thing called LARPing, which means Live Action Role Playing. It's sort of like being in a play or a game, but we're also making some of it up as we go," Sebastian explained.
"Huh. Well it was fun to watch and it certainly looked like you all were having a good time."
Sebastian and Lola laughed. "Yeah, we did."
The gang had packed up all their stuff and were heading back to the farm.
"Today's been long but fun. We should definitely do this again sometime." Abigail beamed.
"Yeah. Maybe we can involve more people from town next time," Sebastian chimed in.
"I think that could be fun. It would be more work, but I'm willing to try it," Lola added.
"Yeah! My brother sounded really interested. I'm not sure he'd have the patience for it, but it would be fun to involve him somehow." Sam looked thoughtful.
Having arrived at the house, they threw down their things in Sebastian and Lola's living room. Lola sat on the couch; Sebastian went to get a glass of water and sat next to her, handing her the glass. She took a long sip and then laid her head on his shoulder, making eye contact and smiling. She put her hand in his and he kissed it.
Abigail sighed. "Ugh, you two are so cute, and your kid is going to be just as cute and weird as you guys. And since you're being all cute and lovey-dovey, I think that's our cue to leave. Byeeeeee."
Lola's eyes flitted to Sam and Abigail as they left, and she smiled at them. "Bye. Today was fun."
Sebastian and Lola enjoyed the silence of the farmhouse for a moment, taking a deep breath.
"So, now that we're alone…" he started.
"Is it time to talk about this 'mutually agreeable solution'?" she asked, smirking.
"I think it might be time to exact some payback for you pulling my hair while I was talking to Jas."
Lola smiled as though Sebastian had fallen right into her trap. "Make sure the curtains are closed and lay your cloak on the floor."
He smirked too. "Anything for you, my lady." He checked that all the curtains were shut and laid down his cloak, helping his wife from the couch onto their makeshift blanket on the floor before lying down on it himself, kissing her deeply.