Picking around the simple vegetable salad her host had whipped up, Astil thought about what she had heard earlier. It was unlikely that he would tell her anything about the ‘Ring of Thorns’, but there were other questions. Finally, she looked up at him. “What did the archmage mean with unique talents?”

Zacharias simply shrugged while drinking a glass of orange juice before putting it down. “No idea.”

She looked at him, unsure what to say. There was little to nothing she knew about this man. She would change that. “If you are going to be my host and protector, I can’t go on merely knowing you as someone who likes dark stuff. What are your likes and dislikes? What are your hobbies? What is your work like? And why are you constantly avoiding smalltalk?”

Zacharias gave her a long look that, for the first time since she met him, displayed uncertainty. Inhaling and sitting up, he took a moment to think.

“That’s...a lot of questions.”

“I am aware. So?”

Awkwardly scratching his neck like he didn’t know what to do with himself, avoiding her eyes - he was like her, she realized: Socially awkward. Unsure of himself. Just very good at hiding it behind sass and that smug smile that she might or might not like.

“I guess...it’s easier to show you.”

She tilted her head. “Why?”

He blew invisible steam through his nose, clearly a bit agitated by her poking and prodding. “I just don’t like talking about myself. There’s nothing special and people don’t need to know.”

“I’m not people.”

“Yeah no, you’re a royal pain in the ass.” The smile he hid told her all she needed to know. “Show me!” Astil commanded and pointed towards the corridor.

“Sheesh, fine. If her highness would rise from her seat.”

“She would.”

Zacharias walked through the floor until they stood in front of his study, the one she “wasn’t ready for yet”. He wordlessly opened the door, shrugging as if to assure himself that he didn’t give a damn.

Astil’s eyes grew wide with awe and then narrowed with confusion. The room was dominated by a large desk with a computer and all sorts of glowing lights on one side and a ragtag group of shelves in various colors and sizes on the other. The remaining walls were decorated with evenly spaced posters depicting various digital art of fantasy creatures, landscapes and what appeared to be characters from games and movies. A large map of a place called “Middle Earth” covered the wall behind the computer screen while a set of drums and metallic plates stood to the right of the door that was padded on the inside as if to keep sound in. Either it didn’t work very well or the door had been open the night she arrived.

“This is...what you do in your free time?”

“...what do you think it is?”

She looked at the various figurines of obviously fictive persons and the items displayed on the shelves. An elegant longsword in a wooden, black scabbard rested on one of the smaller shelves, a simple orange belt lay atop a white uniform. Something she identified as a server rack, recalling the books she had read, hummed, hidden behind the last shelf with several cables snaking along the wall towards the desk.

“I...don’t understand much of all this...” Astil began, turning to Zacharias. “...but I would like to.”

The man smiled slightly, clearly very glad someone showed curiosity towards his interests, even if he didn’t admit it. “Well, there’s a lot to explain. It would take a while and I don’t think I have the attention span for that. But...I can try.”

She beamed. “Alright, what is that?”

He followed her finger. “That’s a drum kit. It’s the kind that’s used by bands, although there are versions with a lot more pieces to them. When I’m mad and feel like hitting someone, I hit the drums instead. Helps to imagine each one is a head.”

“And that uniform?” The princess pointed at the white garment with the belt.

“Aikido Gi. I used to do it regularly, but lately there wasn’t much time. I guess you also want to know what Aikido is?”

She only looked at him, vibrating with excitement. He sighed. “It’s a defensive martial art. All about using the opponent’s momentum and their own power against them. I only reached the 4th Kyu. Third rank from the bottom.”

“What is this ‘Middle Earth’?”

“Fantasy world from a great book. Look, I could go on explaining every detail, but I would be very grateful if you could do that yourself.”

Zacharias handed her a flat device with a big screen, pulling up a website on it. “This is a pad. You can use it to browse the internet and look up all sorts of stuff by entering search terms. I made sure to block everything except for Wikipedia, but do me a big favor and don’t try anything funny with it.”

Astil looked at the pad, nodding, but feeling a bit disappointed. She finally got him to open up a little and now he just pulled back?

I guess this is a good start. Maybe if I know more about these things we can talk ab-

“Wait, where are you going?”

Zacharias put on his long, black mantle and grabbed his keys. “I need to...get something done. I’ll be back in an hour or two. Don’t burn the-”

“-block down, yes I know.” She looked at him, noticing how tense he was. “...have fun, I guess?”

Her host merely snorted. “How could I ever enjoy myself without your greatness to guide me, highness?”

The door slammed shut before she could respond. Astil felt like she had done something wrong. Was he angry at her?

Looking down on the pad in her hands, she decided to use the time well. The map on the wall looked promising - she would start with that.

He inhaled deeply, the cool morning air filling his lungs and calming him down a little. Why did he show the princess all that? None of her business.

Thoughts swirled around in his head, mixed feelings giving him a headache. I shouldn't have snapped at her.

Zacharias wasn’t used to people caring about his hobbies, let alone himself. In fact, Astil was so completely different from everything he was used to. Sure, he had friends, but they were really more of a distraction than anything else. He didn’t open up to people, especially not to ones he barely knew. The risk that he would just end up getting hurt again was just too damn high and he sucked at dealing with complicated emotions.

Looking up, he could see the dark shadows of birds pass over the light clouds. Autumn had just arrived and already, they left for warmer regions of Europe. The first leaves were turning brown, red and yellow, painting the mostly grey city landscape in a way that made it look less sullen and dull. He liked that. The beauty of decay.

Sighing and clearing his throat, Zacharias decided to go to the only person he really ever talked to about his problems and feelings. The only one who seemed to care, for whatever reason.

“Ah, Mr. Gryphon. Good to see you. I was wondering where you were last Friday.”

He smiled wryly, his bar stool squeaking a little. “Hello, Geralt.”

Die Grüne Fee was a classy bar ten minutes from his apartment that tended to all sorts of worries through the experienced hands of its barkeep. The furniture was dark wood with red brick walls. Simple, but relaxing jazz played from high quality speakers placed throughout the main room.

Geralt was the shining image of how people imagined an old school barkeep to look like: A friendly, chiseled face with a square jaw, a friendly mutton-chops beard and well kempt brown hair. His green eyes always seemed awake and focused under his straight brows. A red tie was tucked into a black vest over a simple, white shirt.

He was a man people knew as a professional and good listener with even better advice.

“I’ve been, uh, busy.”

The barkeeper nodded. “The usual?”

“No, I think I’ll go for a scotch. Need to think. Single Malt, don’t care which.”

The man opened a bottle with deft hands and poured amber liquid into a square glass. Patiently waiting while Zacharias took a sip, he began to polish a glass out of habit. “It is unusual for you to drink this early.”

“It’s also unusual for a bar to be open in the morning.”

“We are always open for our regulars.”

For a few minutes there was silence in the otherwise empty bar, safe for the soft jazz in the background and Zacharias’ occasional sipping. Geralt patiently waited until he was ready to talk. They all came to talk on Monday mornings.

Zacharias hesitated for a while, intently thinking before he spoke.“I was...asked to care for someone. They live with me now, and I’m supposed to protect and educate them, in a way. Grew up very sheltered and knows little to nothing about the world.”

Gerald’s face remained focused as he continued to polish the glass with experienced hands. It was a bit of a tick. “Someone’s child? Family?”

“No, just a few years younger than me.”

“Male or female?”

“Does it matter?”

“You tell me.”

Zacharias frowned. “...female.”

“And is she giving you trouble?”

“She is...yes. No. I just don’t know how to handle her. It was simple enough at first, but now she wants to know about my hobbies and myself, even though she understands nothing about them.”

The beard rustled. “I don’t see the problem. You always complain that nobody really gets you. It seems like she is just trying to be social - does she judge?”

“No, not at all.”

“And that unsettles you?”

Zacharias looked up from his glass. “It makes me uncomfortable. Don’t get me wrong, old man, it’s nice that someone cares and we get even…we kind of get along. I’m just not hellbent on telling her my life’s story. Not pretty.”

“Well, you don’t need to. Do you know anything about her past?”

“Not much. Just where she comes from.”

“Then maybe try and ask her about it. She is showing interest in you or at least trying to be nice. It won’t kill you to return the gesture. Are you romantically involved?”

He felt his cheeks light up. “Hell no!”

Geralt chuckled. “No need to get flustered.”

“I’m not flustered.”

“And I’m not a barkeeper. Give her the benefit of the doubt. Not everyone in this world is out to hurt you.“

Quickly downing the rest of his scotch, Zacharias pulled out his purse to pay before getting up. “In my experience, people are assholes.”

“I’m not people.” He pursed his lips, remembering the excitement on Astil’s face. “You know what, maybe I will. But if this backfires, I’m blaming you.”

“Always a pleasure.”

“Pfft.”

Astil stood in the corridor, impatiently bobbing up and down. The moment the door opened, she thrust the pad into his face. “I want to watch this.”

Pushing the device out of the way with a finger, Zacharias looked at her determined face, then at the screen.

“The Lord of The Rings?”

“Yes. I want to see it. Wikipedia says it has elves in it.”

He took off his coat, not sure what to make of her behavior. “Are you...trying to socialise again?”

Astil crossed her arms. “Watching a movie together is supposed to be a good experience. You don’t need to talk about yourself, just explain the movie when I have questions.”

“Can’t this wait until eveni-”

“No. We are going to watch this movie now. Shared experiences build trust.” She began to drag him along towards the living room. He just gave up and let it happen, his annoyance quickly replaced with excitement.

Why does the old man always have to be right about everything?