I read the prompt with Bard Braid’s poem on it and the lines reminded me of something. But what was it? Eh? It almost, but not entirely, resembled — like some kind of absurd caricature — that strange happy-brain-clamp feeling I experienced but dismissed when I first saw Lore. But, then again I was just thinking too much. My attraction to Lore had been muddling my brain since this party started and this was just the culmination. After all, if I were Lore’s bonded then he would have said something. Bonds seemed to be important in his culture. Hell, even though they didn’t exist in my universe, the concept of them was very important to a lot of people.

And really, the universe couldn’t be that messed up to set me up in a fucking soul bond with a bard who lied to even his soulmate. Not after what I went through with my con-man uncle. That would just be...

Lore’s voice, reciting a poem in elven, echoed through the hall, breaking through my thoughts. I closed my eyes. My whole being focused on that beautiful compelling timbre. Stunning incomprehensible words flowed like steps in a dance. I could somewhat feel the emotion behind them. Hope and joy, mixed with pain. An all-consuming obsession. And finally, heart-wrenching, but somehow lovely, terror. While I couldn’t tell accurately what the words spoke of, the emotion projected was like a soul on the verge of breaking. But, also as if, they would face the inescapable with grace even if they had little sanity.

Even sometime after he stopped and the crowd applauded I kept my eyes closed as if by doing so I could keep the loveliness of his voice in my mind.

Damn. Those were some complex emotions right there. Exactly what had he been through to make him feel this way about something that most of his culture revered?

What if… Heh. No. My universe, which was where my soul originated from, didn’t have anything like these bonded so I wouldn’t have one, despite being put in a half-elf body. Once again my attraction to him had made me delusional for a fraction of a millisecond.

When I woke from my reverie and I realized I’d missed the translation of Lore’s poem and they were collecting votes.

Shit! I quickly voted for Lore, for obvious reasons, then the judging happened. A slight majority of the audience had voted for Braid, so he was going to win.

Then it happened. The couple used their veto. That meant… Lore won? Because his poem was more like what they first experienced? Shit. What did I miss by not reading the translation?

When he mentioned that his father found himself soul bonded to a woman who was obviously not Lore’s own mother I realized that I totally needed to learn more about my partner after this. No wonder his projected emotions were so complex about this issue if it caused his parents to do the elven equivalent of divorce.

Wait a second, if Lore won that meant that I was absolutely not biased about his attractiveness! But unfortunately, his winning did not seem like a good idea considering...

Lore bowed, received bitter praise from Braid, then they both stepped off the stage. Lore’s eyes met mine as he glided toward me. Then he was stopped by someone who shook his hand and praised him.

The MC on the stage began to speak again. “Now that the short poetry contest is finished we’ll begin the dancing and socializing portion of this celebration. There will also be other contests set up at the edges of the ballroom for you to take part of at your leisure. And the music competition will take place in an hour. Those bards, who will be participating, remember to choose a song no longer than three minutes and as short as one and a half minutes. And the theme of the song must be about love!”

Ew, so sappy. But weddings always were.

Even after five minutes, Lore hadn’t made it back to my side. Everyone else was standing and talking to each other so I stood and made my way over to where I last saw him. A crowd of mostly women blocked my way as if Lore was a drop of sugar water and every ant in the room wanted a bite out of him.

The group started to move forward and I stood still until those haughty Elven faces glared me into letting them pass. And they had Lore with them. The hell! Did those people just steal my partner and give me shade?

They somehow managed to crowd Lore in and drag him to one of the stands off to the side. It looked like some booth at a high-end elven-themed county fair. The one they all gathered around had a sign that said it was a dodging competition. I followed after them and noticed an NPC waiter carrying a tray of drinks and small snacks. Damn these people knew how to throw a party.

“Hey,” I called the waiter.

“Would you like a glass of wine, juice, or mead? We also have small cakes, Savory Jackalope meatballs, Phoria cheese wedges, and mixed berry cups.”

“Actually, those all sound great but I really just want to know what the rules are for these small contests?”

“Oh, that.” The NPC waiter looked a little upset and didn’t say anything for a long while. “This one is a dodge contest. The contestants who sign up go through a randomized challenge where darts that do 5% of a contestant’s total HP barrage them.”

“Oh, what about people who are higher leveled or who have a higher dodge skill?”

“The challenge sets everyone’s level and dodge skill to the same, level 2 for each so those who can last have very good control over their ability to dodge.”

“And how do they choose who wins?”

The waiter sighed and started looking around, probably for a better person he could pawn off his hors d'oeuvres to. “If multiple people can last three minutes and get a perfect score then they’ll be in the finals later tonight. If no one does, then they’ll take the top three and give them prizes based on their placement.”

“And the prizes are?”

“Nothing much. Just 500PMk and a little trophy.”

I thanked him, even though talking to him was like pulling teeth. He rolled his eyes then went on his way.

“I’m going next!” a woman with a sweet but slightly shrill voice said and stepped up to the booth. She vanished and the screen above the booth showed a count down. The woman then gracefully began dodging darts made of light. As time increased they came faster and faster, until thirty seconds later when the lady took her first hit. She cried out in pain and her movements slowed which made another dart hit her. After that, she lost within the next twenty seconds. This was apparently harder than I thought.

She re-appeared in front of the booth and everyone lightly congratulated her. She looked up at Lore as if asking for praise and for some reason I really wanted to slap her stupid expectant face.

Lore smiled at her. Stupid Love ‘em and Leave ‘em bard. “Good work. You’ve improved. Shall I go show everyone how it’s supposed to be done?”

The crowd cheered in agreement.

He stepped up to the booth and disappeared. When he reappeared in the countdown window, his clothes had changed to the ones he wore to teach me how to dodge.

“3”

“2”

“1!”

Then he started moving. Like water. Like a dance. The darts sped up. So did he. A minute passed and one dart hit him but it didn’t stop him from moving. He straight up powered through the pain like he didn’t feel it and moved faster instead of slowing down. Around the 2 minute mark, when four darts attacked him almost at the same time, he miss-stepped and they struck his shoulder, thigh, neck, and hip. An expression of scorn appeared then vanished from his face all while he kept moving. He didn’t speed up, but his movements started to get more and more — well, I could only describe it as — badass as he would spend the least amount of effort possible to avoid each dart.

Damn, but the man was hot. No wonder this crowd of people stole him before we could meet back up.

Three minutes was a very short time… unless you were fighting, then it felt impossibly long. However, watching someone who was a low level dodging master like Lore, the time flew by. Seriously, how did he do it? It wasn’t like he was fighting against people who could telegraph their next movement. It just looked like he could feel the attack coming before it hit and dodge it.

I wanted to try it. To compare myself against him.

Finally, the last barrage of darts managed to nick Lore once more but the time ended. Lore re-appeared in front of everyone, back in his elegant attire that matched mine.

Through the crowd, his smiling eyes found mine.

Then they returned to his admirers. He basked in praise. And considering his amazing dodging skills were much more than something given to him by levels, he deserved it.

Ah. Good thing I was only his partner. If I was his actual girlfriend or bonded I would push myself into that crowd like the impolite American I was and… Fuck it. I was supposed to feign lustfulness towards him anyway.

With a fierce smile on my face and some ‘excuse me’s that I didn’t mean, I actually shoved myself through the crowd till I reached Lore’s side. By the time I reached him, the person who participated in the contest after him had already exited.

Just as I was about to grab onto Lore’s arm someone pushed me up to the booth. “You go next!”

Mother fucker. Yeah, I wanted to try it, but on my own time.

[Would you like to participate in the Low-Level Dodging contest?]

May as well since I was here anyway.

With a grimace, I agreed. My clothing changed to my normal gear and I vanished from the party. When I reappeared, the room around me had changed into a dark grey void filled with an array of very faint star-like lights.

After a countdown, one of the lights brightened to near spotlight levels and a white dart zipped toward me. I took a step back and to the side to dodge it. Is that how he could tell where they came from? But what about the ones that he couldn’t see?

As if answering my question, a very bright but harmless light came from behind me and caught my eye. I could feel its heat as it shined on my back. I dodged to the left and dunked down, then rolled, dodging a few more darts while I was at it.

So. I had to pay attention to the angle of the light and use that to judge where the attacks would come from. Holy fuck but that sounded hard. And this was supposed to be the low-level contest.

The light darts started speeding up. And so did I.

I didn’t know how long I spent dodging but if I had been in my normal body, I would’ve totally been sweating by the time the first dart hit my waist. Pain shot through my body and I missed a step leading to the second dart hitting my ankle. It didn’t take long for me to die after that.

I reappeared in front of everyone wearing my original party outfit.

My eyes searched the crowd until I met Lore’s gaze. When I moved to stand in front of him, some random girl blocked my path.

“Bard Lore,” A man behind me said. “I’m going next! Watch me!”

At this point, I was pretty sure this group was doing this on purpose.

“Excuse me.” I shoved my way past that girl, earning her glare, and hooked my arm with Lore’s. A burst of pure joy and satisfaction made a shit-eating grin show up on my face.

Mia: Caught you!

We turned to watch the next guy dodge.

Lorevinel Silvercat: I was here the whole time.

Mia: I know, but this crowd was keeping me away from you. So, how did I do?

Lorevinel Silvercat: You need more practice. You’re not good at all.

Mia: It was my first time though! Didn’t I do well for my first time?

Lorevinel Silvercat: No.

I narrowed my eyes at him and he looked away from me as if he could only just stand me.

Lorevinel Silvercat: You did an incredible job for your first time.

I tightened my hold on his arm as my face flushed.

Mia: Thank you.

Lorevinel Silvercat: But you still need more practice.

Mia: Agreed. So when do we leave this group and go to the rest area for our rendezvous?

Lorevinel Silvercat: When we move onto the next contest I want you to start pulling me in that direction.

The man died in the contest area with 1 minute remaining and reappeared in front of the booth. He looked to Lore with sparkling eyes. “How did I do!”

“Very well done!” Lore replied with what sounded like very real enthusiasm.

“Hey, Bard Lore. Who is this Halfling hanging on you?” the lady with the sweet-shrill voice asked eyes burning with jealousy.

“Isn’t that question a bit impolite?” I asked her. My fingers twitched with the urge to scratch her face for too obviously eyeing my bard. I mean partner.

She crossed her arms under her chest. “What of it?”

“Mia is my date, Hunter Reiana. Please be polite.”

“Uh-huh. And how did this noobie halfling become your date?”

I was about to tell her that it wasn’t any of her concern when Lore grabbed my hand and squeezed. “That’s a bit of a private matter.”

“Because I heard that she became your current¬ “

“That’s enough.” Lore glared at her.

Her face turned red and then white. “Sorry. I just…”

Her big eyes blinked a lot then she suddenly turned and left.

Mia: Is she going to cause trouble?

Lorevinel Silvercat: No. But you are.

Mia: ???

Lorevinel Silvercat: We’re going now instead. This is the perfect time for you to drag me towards the rest area. Make sure to take the entryway on the right.

“I think we need to talk in private,” I said. “You know, where people can’t see our faces.”

Lore nodded and allowed me to drag him through the crowd towards signs that pointed further into the mansion where the private rest area was. Determined to finally get this thing started, I headed toward the one on the right.

Over halfway there another woman stepped in front of us. She wore white as her main color with silver as her accent. Her appearance was clean and beautiful and the expression on her face seemed like she’d been betrayed.

You have got to be kidding me! It took so much effort just to get him away from that crowd of rabid fans. Now we have to deal with this asshole? I glared at Lore. What was this bard made out of? Honey? Addictive substances? Pure sex appeal? Seriously, this was too much.

She completely ignored me and looked up at Lore with shimmering eyes. She bowed in greeting. “Lore. It’s good to see you.”

He bowed in response and I, in irritation, barely did so as well. “And you, Mage Whitedove.”

“I wanted to congratulate you.”

“And so you have.”

“Did you get that item I sent you?”

“I did. It was very helpful. Thank you.”

“C-can we talk privately? I wanted to tell you a few things. Also, there are a few people who are arriving late and one of them is… Well, we can talk about that when we meet.” Her cheeks turned red.

Does she seriously not see me? Because I don't remember activating any of my stealthy spells.

I turned to Lore and raised an eyebrow.

Mia: Am I invisible?

Lorevinel Silvercat: Yes.

Mia: …

Ah, Lore doesn’t pull his punches.

I tugged on his arm and slowly guided him away from her.

“I’m sorry. I may be a bit busy tonight. But we can talk later if there’s time.”

Just before we entered the hallway to the rest area I felt a slight chill run down my back. I glanced behind me and just caught that Whitedove lady turning her head away. Shit. She was going to cause trouble for me later. Her and... just how many women was my partner stringing along anyway?