Coye Vol 2 Ch 17

One more rewrite to go!

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Shayla crashed and slept through the entire time Coye went about his business in Cransmere. He popped in at the marketplace to sell the loot he had gathered. Coye could have gone to Suzette and seen if she would take them, but he didn’t want to show up on his lover’s doorstep covered in the blood of beasts.

That would just trouble her, and people already were giving him enough looks. Still, the ordinarily shy Coye didn’t mind this sort of attention from the townsfolk for whatever reason.

As he was, it made him feel like a strong and respected hero, instead of the cute little femboy Shayla forced him to realize most of the town thought he was. There was no mistaking him for anything but an adventurer as he was now, and he thought this felt kind of nice.

Finding a buyer for monster parts was nothing new for him, and it didn’t take too long to track the right person down after he worked up enough courage to start talking to people. Coye approached a stall and asked the merchant in charge if he knew of any interested parties, and the merchant pointed the boy at a grocer who knew a hunter whose cousin was a fletcher, and that fletcher was keen to buy every feather that Coye was willing to sell him.

According to the man, Owlbear feathers made for wonderful fletchings that carried arrows effortlessly to their target. If that was true, and Coye believed it was, he knew he had to alter his plans.

Rather than selling the entire bag for 100G as the fletcher offered, Coye opted to hold back and only trade around sixty percent of the feathers. The rest would be a present for tomorrow’s date, even if it made him blush.

As he handed the rest of the feathers off and netted six golden ten-pieces for his pocket, he held his bag tight and thought of how Byng might react to her present. Coye hoped that she would smile that big smile of hers and that these would serve her well as an archer.

He then realized how odd it was for him to think of Byng in such a way and pushed it out of his mind as he went to find an alchemist to sell the other things he gathered. This took a lot less time, seeing as how alchemists tended to dress in scholarly robes and were often eccentric enough that they were easy to pick out of a crowd.

Coye approached the most suspicious man he could find, and sure enough, he was an alchemist. This man was hunched over, dressed in silky black robes, and looked as if sunlight were his mortal enemy. He was in the middle of inspecting some curious-looking herbs when Coye got his attention.

“You wanna buy some monster parts, mister?” He asked

The man smiled, revealing an unsettling row of crooked yellow teeth, and then strained his view as he looked around his surroundings. “You’re not with the Knights, are you?”

“N-No, and I’m not selling anything illegal... just some Owlbear eyes and tongues.”

“Interesting, very interesting. Let’s talk business over yonder.” He crooked his neck towards a nearby alley. Coye was cautious but followed the man into it. He got a creepy vibe from him and not a murderous one, so he didn’t see much harm in it.

Once they were in the alley, Coye produced the sack of monster parts.

“Do you mind if I inspect the products in greater detail?” The alchemist asked, adding in a suspicious number of cackles. Coye consented and was aghast when the man took out one of the Owlbear tongues and ‘inspected’ it by raking his own tongue along its length, making repeated squicking sounds.

“Very nice,” the man continued to cackle, licking his lips. “I’ll give you 120G for the bag.”

“Uh, sure...” at this rate, Coye would’ve given them away for free if the man would disappear from sight. “You got that kind of cash on you?”

The alchemist produced one hundred-piece and two ten-pieces from his sleeve, extending his hand toward Coye. When Coye extended his palm, he was shocked that the man grabbed him with both hands and pressed the money personally into his hand.

“You’re an adventurer, yes? The sort that returns home with monster parts in abundance? My name is Mervis Snyther, and I have a shop just off of Lettimore street. Bring me the goods directly next time, and I’ll pay you well, oh yes, very well indeed. It needn’t only be eyeballs and tongues, either. Brains, tallow, hair, fur, claws, marrow, teeth, penises of every length and girth... what say you, hm?”

Coye yanked his hand out of this man’s grasp like he was pulling it out of a raging fire, clutching his money tightly. “S-Sure, yeah, if I remember,” he mumbled, running off from the alley and putting distance between himself and the suspicious alchemist as fast he could.

Shayla woke not long after he started jogging. While walking through town, Coye started mumbling under his breath, telling her about both transactions. However, he kept quiet about his encounter with Mr. Snyther mostly because he no longer wished to remember it ever occurred. He also told Coye of his intention to give Byng the remaining feathers.

Shayla was suitably pleased with the boy and made sure he knew. ‘Nice one, baby! Can’t believe you thought of that on your own. I’m so proud of you, ah... they grow up so fast...’

“I just thought it’d be nice...” he pouted, not standing for all this teasing.

‘She’s gonna love it. Just you wait and see!’

Coye could see the Guild off on the horizon, but before he reached it, Shayla had some advice for him. ‘If Tammy is still working the front desk, try to be more natural this time around. Take it easy, and don’t act weird.’

After all the adventuring, Coye had honestly forgotten how Tammy had talked to him earlier and how badly he messed up. He could’ve gone without the reminder, but he knew Shayla wasn’t trying to rile him up over it, and she meant well.

“I’ll try,” he promised.

Sure enough, Tammy was precisely where he’d left her. She had moved on from doing her nails and picked up one of the magazines from her stack, but otherwise, it looked like she hadn’t moved in the last four or five hours he’d been gone.

He approached the desk and was about to clear his throat to catch her attention, but Tammy was well aware of his presence. She set down her magazine, an issue of Chilling Short Stories Monthly, and looked straight at him.

“Looks like the quest went well,” Tammy commented, briefly glancing at his bloody clothes.

“Y-Yeah, more or less...” Coye nodded along and then remembered his goal was to act more naturally. “Wasn’t too much trouble.”

“Nice. Let’s see the goods, then.”

“Right,” Coye unfastened the bag containing the two Owlbear feet from his bag and started to hand it over the countertop, only for Tammy to stop him with a round of sarcasm.

“Cool, just go ahead and drizzle the bleeding bag of monster parts over my desk, why don’t you? I would totally love it if you did that.”

“Ah- I wasn’t thinking, um-”

“Whatever. I’m just busting your balls, dude.” She sighed, and from under her desk Tammy took out a tray for him to place his bag on. After he did, she asked, “You want me to send one of the maids up to grab your gear after you change and have them wash it for you?”

Coye was a little stunned that Tammy offered. He usually had to flag down one of the maids himself, which was nerve-wracking thanks to his anxiety. “Yeah, that would be great... thanks! As long as you can have them ready by tomorrow morning if that’s not too much trouble... I, um, I have plans.”

“Shouldn’t be a problem...” Tammy mumbled before adding in, “What kind of plans?”

“I’m going on a quest with someone,” Coye blushed a little as he said it, remembering that it was half-quest and half-date.

His strange reaction wasn’t lost on the observant Tammy, and she raised an eyebrow. “You? Teaming up with someone else?”

“Uh, yeah... it’s a long story...”

“You don’t say,” Tammy gave him an inquiring glare, like there was more she wanted to ask, but he couldn’t be bothered. “Well, whatever. I’ll have someone leave your clothes outside your door for you since you’ve got that masturbation lock now.”

“M-M-Masturbation lock...?!”

‘Technically, it’s a sex lock,’ Shayla chimed in, amused at Coye’s flustered reaction.

“Chill, I’m not judging or anything. You’re a dude. It’s natural. Personally, I wish I could get a lock on the storage closet. It’d be so much easier to take a nap on the job that way...” Tammy stifled a yawn as if talking about taking a break somehow made her sleepy.

Coye didn’t appreciate how much Tammy was averse to being helpful, not after how stressed Miss Whittle seemed earlier, but he bit it down since it wasn’t his place to get on her case.

“So... who’s your new partner?” Tammy asked.

Coye almost had a heart attack, but he soon realized Tammy was asking about who he was going on a quest with tomorrow. Relieved, he answered, “Byng.”

“Really?” Another raised eyebrow. “That green chick who needs a bath? Why?”

Coye opened his mouth and thought about it aimlessly for a moment. He couldn’t say that a Pixie threatened him into it, so he simply offered, “Why not...?”

This answer deepened Tammy’s curiosity, but she said nothing back. After letting this silence continue for a few moments, Tammy shrugged her shoulders and stood up, carrying the tray. “Fair enough, Killer. I’ll go ahead and get your paperwork processed.”

“Hold on, there were two Owlbears, so-”

“I figured the bag’s pretty heavy. Whatever. I’ll see that you get paid for two, so go on and get changed before you start stinking up the place any worse.”

“Ah, crap... I’m sorry!” Blushing, Coye darted out toward the hallway, not realizing that Tammy was messing with him again.

Before disappearing into the backroom, the receptionist called out to him and said, “Good work today. Keep it up.”

Unsure of what to say, Coye awkwardly replied, “Uh, you too...”

Tammy scoffed jokingly at the idea of doing more work but nodded back at him nonetheless.

He then marched up to his dorm and locked the door, where Shayla erupted from under his hat like a volcano. “Damn, that went so much better that I hardly had anything to say!”

Coye was so relieved that he let out a long sigh and clutched his chest. “I can’t believe I pulled that off. I was so nervous...”

“Well, you did, so be proud of yourself.”

“I’ll try,” he offered a weak smile to the Pixie and then changed into a casual pair of shorts, a light tunic, and a pair of comfy slippers.

He folded up his bloody gear and sat the kit on his nightstand where they wouldn’t dirty up the bed. As soon as he left to grab dinner down below, the maid with the fluffy blue hair went into his room and carried off his stuff without a word.

Dinner tonight was a spiced boar rack with almonds, served with steamed heartroot and carrot slices with a side of mashed potatoes. It looked amazing after a day of hard work, but he felt bad for the cooks here. Coye thought that from now on, anything he ate at the Guild wouldn’t live up to Suzette’s home cooking.

It was still good in its own right, at least, and Coye found a table away from the other adventurers where he could eat alone like he always did. Coye felt that after sharing breakfast with Suzette, he missed having company during his meal, though.

Shayla was there with him at least, and he took off his hat and sat it on the table so he could slip her some scraps every now and then. He was glad that her appetite had returned, but as always, he was surprised by just how much Shayla could pack away.

After dinner, he and Shayla relaxed by remaining at their table and listening to the bard who was playing close to the hearth. His Guild didn’t have any permanent live-in bards, but Cransmere had no shortage of whimsical musicians, and every day one or two of them would visit and play for tips.

Tonight’s bard, a somberly-dressed man calling himself Flowers, was one Coye recognized. Sadly, Flowers was far from one of his favorites. He was a local, whereas Coye preferred when the Guild hosted traveling bards from other regions. In general, travelers had much more exciting things to sing about, and their songs were filled with optimism.

Local bards were too infected by the dread of Cransmere and favored reciting unoriginal dirges about local history, which you could only stomach so many times. Flowers was no exception, and Coye was subjected to the tale of the brave Hero of Light who defeated the evil Thalrad for what felt to him like the hundredth time.

It wasn’t all bad, at least.

They were far enough away from other people that Coye could mumble under his breath to Shayla without attracting any strange looks. To everyone else in the tavern, Coye was sitting alone and listening to the bard while nursing a fruity wine like he tended to do. Only he knew he was having a nice chat with a lovely girl.

At some point during their conversation, Shayla had an intrusive thought the more she noticed how lively the other tables were and how lonely Coye’s was in comparison. She ended up asking him something that took him by surprise. ‘You’ve lived here for like two years now, right?’

“Yeah, more or less.”

‘I’m sorry if this sounds rude, but... do you really not have any friends in the Guild, or what?’

“Uh... no, you know I keep to myself...”

‘Sure, I know. It’s just that I thought you said you left your hometown so you could have a fresh start? I’m just confused about what you’ve done with your time in Cransmere since then.’

Coye lowered his drink. “I’ve worked on my career. I went on quests non-stop, got to Silver-rank really fast for a beginner, and-”

‘And all you have to show for yourself is a box of adventuring trinkets that you don’t really use.’

“I have more time than most people do to figure out what I want to do...” Coye frowned, finding himself no longer thirsty as he pushed away his drink.

‘How long do half-elves usually live?’

His response was slow, and Shayla could sense a spike in his anxiety. “Around five hundred years before we have to go to Sylvandiel and see about getting a top-up.”

Although Coye sounded disheartened, Shayla was somewhat relieved to find out that they at least had similar lifespans. That didn’t stop her from trying to pivot away to make him more comfortable, though.

‘You, uh... don’t wanna talk about this, do you...?’ She asked.

“No,”

Shayla wondered if Coye’s isolation wasn’t just a product of his less than ordinary upbringing. Given how simple and upbeat he was, she hadn’t ever thought he had any more profound reasons for avoiding other people but figured that this was a pretty damn good one as far as excuses go.

Shayla thought it best to get him out of here before he felt any worse- Gods know that Flowers and his mopey-ass voice weren’t doing the mood any favors.

‘...Hey, this music blows. Let’s scram so I can stretch my wings.’

“Yeah, that sounds good...” Shayla was glad to see a small smile return to Coye’s face as he donned his hat. The two returned to their dorm after returning all his dishes over the counter and tossing a ten-piece of gold he’d brought for the lucky bard into his tip jar.

Coye changed into a pair of green pajamas- a button-up shirt with a pocket over his breast and loose boxers. Shayla felt the urge to catcall him as he stripped but held back since that might not be what he needed right now.

She was surprised when he brought the subject back up while lighting the candle on his nightstand. “I didn’t mean to get all sad. I just don’t like thinking about how I’ll probably live a lot longer than most other people I’ll meet.”

“Ah- yeah, no, I get that... but we really don’t have to talk about this if you don’t want to.”

“There’s not much else to say,” Coye shrugged with a weak smile and sat down on the foot of his bed. “It’s not like it’s the only reason I have trouble getting closer to people. I’m just bad at it in general.”

Taking a chance, Shayla pushed forward and said, “It’s not all doom-and-gloom, y’know. There are all kinds of magical bullshit spells, artifacts, and potions that can increase human lifespan, I bet. If you get strong enough, I’m sure an adventurer like you could find a way to keep anyone you care about alive!”

“Maybe,” Coye laid back on his bed. “Maybe not.”

Shayla flew over to his chest and sat down, staring at the gloomy boy and feeling distraught. “... I’m sorry I thought you were wasting your time here, Coye.”

“Nah, you still have a point. Even if I have more time than other people do, I didn’t like Roselake, and the whole reason I left was so I could have a new start somewhere that nobody knew my name... but all I’ve done since then is dig my personal hole even deeper. I didn’t even mean to. It all just sort of happened...”

“...Well, you don’t need to worry about that happening again. I’ll make sure you end up with lots of friends, lovers, all that good shit. Whatever you want, baby, we’ll get it for you.”

“Thank you, Shayla... I’m so lucky to have met you... it almost makes up for those months you spent stalking me.” Coye laughed, thinking back to that creeping feeling he’d felt whenever she watched him from afar.

“It’s not like it hurts to be on your guard in the woods, you know! Technically, I was only helping.” Shayla blushed and folded her arms but Coye only laughed harder, and quickly a toothy grin replaced her put-on pout.

After a moment of silence, Shayla asked Coye something that had been on her mind ever since this conversation started. “Hey, so... about you learning magic. Is it really just because you think it’d be cool?”

“Yes and no,” he admitted, which was more than enough to confirm Shayla’s suspicion. “Even putting aside my fears, I also want to learn because of my mom...”

Shayla tilted her head but remained quiet so he could speak.

“I told you I don’t know much about her, but... my dad always said she was a powerful Mage, and I always thought it would be nice if I could take the best parts of both of them and become even greater. It’s silly.”

Shayla couldn’t empathize with respecting your parents to that degree, but she thought he was a good kid nonetheless. “Can you do any magic at all?” She asked, trying to be supportive and not sound mean.

Coye sat up halfway and extended his pointer finger, closing his eyes. Shayla could feel a small spike of mana pressure in the air around them as the boy chanted, “Burhnit,” and a tiny spark no larger than the last ember of a flame erupted and withered in the exact moment from his red-glowing fingertip.

“See?” Coye sighed. “I told you I’m no good at it.”

“I didn’t say anything like that,”

“No, but I can tell what you’re thinking.”

“Maybe you’re just not good at fire magic?” Shayla stood up and patted his finger supportively, finding it wasn’t hot.

He shook his head but didn’t seem too down-trodden. “It’s like this no matter what kind of magic I try.”

To demonstrate, Coye chanted similar entry-level spells for a few other elements and created a pebble, a single jolt of lightning, and the tiniest droplet of water Shayla had ever seen. He could’ve gone on but felt that he’d made his point.

“I’ve paid a bunch of different tutors in town for lessons, and they all say the same thing. I’ve got the mana but no natural talent for using it. No matter how many hours I put in or how many different people I try to learn from, it’s... not very likely I’ll ever get any better than this. If that was the case, I would’ve had a breakthrough by now.”

“Shit... you know I’d teach you if I could, right? Magic for the Fae doesn’t really work the same as it does for you guys. It’s inherent. I don’t know magic. I am magic- I can just do the crap I do just by thinking about it.”

“Yeah, I figured, it’s why I haven’t asked you. Either way, I’ve mostly accepted that it’s just not gonna happen... even if it still stings a little sometimes. It doesn’t help that when I tell people about it, they just assume it should come naturally to me as a half-elf...”

“Gah-” Shayla felt even worse over saying that. “If it makes you feel better, I’m a Pixie, and we’re all supposed to be total pieces of shit, but I’m only like... a third of a piece of shit. Half, at worst.”

This made Coye laugh, and his smile started to grow more genuine with each burst. “That’s true.”

The tricky girl countered, “So you agree that I’m at least partially a piece of shit?”

“H-Hey, your words, not mine...” he smirked, the Pixie joining him in laughter as the mood changed for the better between them.

There was a lot Shayla wanted to say by the time the laughter faded. Coye had a long lifespan, there was time for him to figure these things out, and he didn’t need to stress himself over something he just didn’t have the talent for. Furthermore, she wanted to help him live the best life he could right now instead of fearing for the future and being afraid of opening his heart up to other people.

Shayla had seen the way Coye fought. He was efficient, intelligent, had good instincts, and was powerful- even if he couldn’t do magic, she figured he still had tons of potential. He just needed the drive to use it, to become greater than he was.

She wasn’t sure if rising the ranks of the Guild would be enough to earn the boy the gold he’d need to fund a comfortable life of collecting trading cards and to stock a pantry full of de-aging potions for everyone he cared about, but wouldn’t it be better to dream big rather than not at all?

With that thought hot on her mind, Shayla resolved to start pushing Coye to make something of himself. She’d do so subtly and without him knowing that was her goal, since that wouldn’t help his self-esteem, but she’d do it nonetheless.

But Shayla had enough of thinking grandiose thoughts and grew tired of everything else. Ready to move on, she asked, “So, are you as sick of talking about heavy shit as I am, or what?”

“Gods, yes...” Coye half laughed, and half sighed.

“I figured as much. Does your pervy ass need a distraction, or are we good for tonight?” Shayla teased, wanting to comfort the boy with affection as much as possible. “You got a big date tomorrow, so it might be a good idea to get rid of any tension you got left.”

This attempt to capture his attention worked and Coye was drawn in by the thought of lewdness, even if he didn’t feel as turned on as he usually did. Instead, he was thinking of taking things in a different direction.

“I wouldn’t mind playing around,” he said. “But... is there anything I could do for you? You’re always taking care of me, even now, and I want to show my appreciation if you can think of a way.”

Shayla blushed and scratched behind her ear. She wasn’t prepared for how he looked at her with his bright, adoring eyes. As always, she was weak against his innocence. “Oh, geez... I dunno, you’re kinda putting me on the spot here...”

“You told me that Pixies have high sex drives, so there’s got to be something dirty you want that we haven’t done yet, right?”

“Well, yeah...” Shayla pouted, feeling something was off. She’d have jumped at this chance before, but their emotional night had left her more vulnerable, and she was having trouble expressing herself.

Still, It was an exciting offer. Until now, Coye had been spoiled non-stop. He hadn’t done anything explicitly special for Shayla since the night they met. This was understandable because of his condition, but it didn’t change the fact that she wanted more than to be used as a toy.

Just picturing everything he could do to her little body made Shayla’s entire body pulsate with pure need. Her lewd side won out in the end, and after struggling, Shayla found the words she was looking for.

“Alright, you perv. You wanna make me feel good, huh?” She asked, looking him straight in the eyes, cocking her head, and fluttering her long lashes at him.

“Y-Yeah, I really do....” Coye blushed, feeling guilty over how much Shayla looked after him and desperate to please.

“Well, I suppose I don’t mind. You owe me a lot for everything I’ve done, so it’s only fair...” Shayla licked her full, luscious lips and stood, snapping her clothes away with her magic. There was no longer any hesitation as she commanded, “Do me a favor and open your palm up for me, baby.”