"Anouthhher roUnd!" Dintu's slurred words rang out across the cramped tavern, perking the ears of the bartender who was opening another keg. The hard ale in Dintu's mug sloshed over the side, nearly spilling onto the small flame that was emitted from one of the magic seals carved into the walls providing light and heat against the cold outside. I would probably need to touch up all of the circles when I had the opportunity.

My own mug was filled with a much lighter cider, mostly untouched. I had four hands wrapped protectively around it, so that I wouldn't spill if I was jostled, and I was hunched over the cup slightly to hide how little I had actually drank. I knew logically that no one was keeping a tally of how much I'd had, but I was still self conscious, and I wasn't used to going out much.

I was stood at a small table, one of several that our party had commandeered for celebration. The chairs had been pushed to the edges of the cramped space to allow for more room for the farmpaws. Their voices echoing over one another in a cacophony of merriment nearly drowned out the low howl of the wind outside. The cold had finally set in for the year, leaving the employees of Myphra little else to do but gather and socialize till the next season of growth came.

I was doing my best to make an attempt to be more social, as Korey's words rang true to me still. I needed to put effort in to talking to others, but the thought of trying to break into one of the active conversations going on nearby overwhelmed me, and I gripped my mug tighter.

Dintu stumbled his way over to my table and his face lit up. "Heyyy, do you need anothher round too?"

"O-oh, I still have p-plenty left yet."

His eyes slowly narrowed. "What, not liking it? YOu could have mine if you want!" he thrust the mug toward me, smiling wide, a bit more of the drink sloshing over the side.

"Uh, I-I, w-well I think I'd like t-to keep... oh..."

I felt a hand wrap around my back and hold my left shoulder. "I think we're fine with just the cider for now, it tastes excellent. Though, I can't say I know what it's made of. Getting all the new fruits memorized in this world is still taking me a while! Any idea what in this one?"

As Korey came to rescue me from my own inability to form words, I sank back into my hood, both to shrink from the conversation and hide the blush on my face. Dintu launched into a dubiously true explanation of all the local drinks and what they were made from. Since he had personally harvested most of the ingredients, he was actually quite knowledgeable on all the nuances of the different drinks and their blends, though he did have to backtrack several times and kept describing the drinks to the wrong names.

Dintu continued to talk, while Korey leaned in and whispered to me. "I did read that right that you didn't want anything else right? Sorry if I got it wrong. I can go grab you something."

I surreptitiously shook my head and whispered back. "No, I was p-panicking, thank you."

"...and then you leave it in a barrel with like, 2... no, 3 Dungroes, and then you can crack it open whenever you want, the longer the better though." I managed to catch the tail end of Dintu's monologue as I refocused on the conversation.

Korey raised an eyebrow. "And uh, what about this one?" and held up his mug for emphasis.

"OH, yeah, that's what we started on, I think it's mostly Romme in there." He smiled and rubbed the back of his head in faux embarrassment.

Korey nodded. "Well, I'll have to put it on the list of things I'll have to try, I'm sure it tastes great outside of alcohol form."

"We might have some left, I'll find some for you next time I see you." Dintu went to take a swig and realized it was empty. "OH, my drink!" He exclaimed, and promptly scurried to the bar.

I let out a small breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding in. It was unreasonable how stressed out I got from normal conversation. Nothing about should terrify me the way it did. It wasn't anything like the stressful halls back in...

I shook my head, stopping myself from daydreaming. Jegra was making her way towards us, and I made the determination to see at least one conversation through this evening. 

Korey had taken time the past few days to coach and practice with me on how to hold a conversation with people I wasn't very close with. I thought back to one such conversation now.

"So you're struggling with feeling like the other person isn't taking interest in what you're talking about?" Korey sat across from me at our kitchen table, his eyes earnest and thoughtful while he pondered my plight, light spilling in from the window making the rising dust behind him look like a starry sky. I was not doing a good job of focusing.

"I think I'm just b-boring people, and I don't mean to, so I try to t-talk about more... '

normal

' things, but I don't feel like I'm good at that either!"

Korey took a moment to think, and then nodded his head. "I see. Well, I'll give you some advice that most helped me learn how to talk to people."

"First you don't need to stay away from subjects that interest you, but you do need to talk about them in a way that someone who doesn't know about them can understand. Focus less about the specifics of the things you know so much about, and more about the emotions that make you want to talk about them. Like, if you were talking about a new spell you had made, focus more on talking about the process and how you felt while you were doing that, rather than about the specific glyphs or tactics you used to figure it out. If you're talking about it in a way that everyone can relate, you get to talk about the things you are passionate about, and the other person doesn't have to sift through too much jargon that they don't understand to be able to enjoy your story."

"Also, always try to keep track of how long you've been talking. I struggle with that sometimes, but if you keep track and make sure to pause before you go on too many tangents, you can ask something about the other person to better include them. If you ask them something specific you know about them, like how their job has been or what they've been doing in their hobbies, that can allow the other person to get a leg into the conversation, and keep them engaged. Ask them a question about what they're talking about every now and again, but allow them to continue their story, and then when they're done, they're more likely to do the same for you, and you can talk about what you want to then."

"I... I'm supposed to be d-doing all of that while talking?" It sounded like a lot to keep track of.

"Don't worry too much it sounds like a lot, but it'll come naturally with practice. Here let's try now. I can tell you about my day and you yours, and I'll let you know how you're doing. You've got this!"

Those last words echoed in my head as Jegra stepped up to us and raised a hand."Hullo, not getting up to too much trouble over here?"

Korey was quick to respond. "As much as we can avoid it, I'm still just getting used to the drinks here. How about you, been getting up to trouble much, or been resting now the crop is all in?"

Jegra let out a deep sigh. "Mostly just helping Myphra get everything sorted and counted, though I've had plenty of time for myself in the evenings. I end up here fairly often though with the cold coming in they really ought to close the windows earlier, those flame circles can only do so much."

I nodded. "I've been hoping to g-go around and touch them up and add a little more heat t-to them now at this time of year." Mental deep breath.

"Yeah, I imagine that takes up quite some time across the village. How long does that take you to make one of those spells?"

"W-well, since they're already in place just t-touching them up and adjusting them doesn't take very long. When I have to make a spell from sc-scratch, it can take weeks sometimes. Lots of testing and b-burnt robes." I awkwardly held the singed end of my robe for emphasis.

Jegra let out a hearty chuckle. "Fair point. It seems useful to be able to do, but at least I don't have to deal with that!"

There was a short lull in the conversation, and panic started to set in. I wanted to keep the conversation going, but I had already used up all my confidence to get through just a few sentences. One question. I just wanted to ask one question before Jegra wandered off and I could consider this a success. 

"I-if you c-could do that... I mean, if you c-could spellcraft, what would y-you... or if you want I c-can make... uh....

what

would you want?" Disaster. Utter incompetence. I had seen success and fallen flat on my face before reaching it.

"Hmmm... maybe something that helped with my back. Aches all the damn time these days."

"Oh, th-that would be easy, I could make you a spell that slowly warmed your back while you slept." This was my wheelhouse, problem solving.

"That sounds nice, but wouldn't I need to be awake to power it?" Jegra raised an eyebrow in question.

"Not necessarily. If I used one circle that had a very long c-casting sigil order, that didn't expel the mana, and I connected that to the warming spell circle, you could j-just fill it before you went to bed each night. I-it might run out before you woke up though." I was mentally going through what sygils would be the most efficient for such a problem while I explained, raising my eyes to the ceiling to think before bringing them back to Jegra as I finished my explanation. I had been about to launch into a lengthy explanation of exactly which sigils I'd use and why, but caught myself and let her respond instead.

"Well that'd beat the nothing I'm using now." She smiled, and started walking back to the bar. "Well, I'll iron out the details later, but I'll definitely be taking you up on that!" She waved and turned her back on us.

I wanted to be a puddle. I wanted to talk to no one else until tomorrow's tomorrow, after plenty of sleep. 

I felt a light nudge in my side. I turned and saw a huge grin on Korey's face. "That was awesome! You freaking nailed that!"

"I could barely get through it though?"

"But you still did, besides, the best way to improve is practice. It'll get easier." The grin didn't disappear from his face. He truly thought my bumbling had been good. 

I hid another blush and took a small sip of my drink. Maybe I would be able to do this.

The bright sun splayed against the brilliant blue sky could easily dupe someone into believing that it was a beautiful day out. At least, until you stepped outside, huddled against the cold in as many layers as you could scrounge up, and trying not to tip over from the wind. That last one was probably only a problem if you were as short as I was. 

It wasn't a long journey, but by the time I had made it to Wenku's house, I was starting to shiver. One of Sinsa's warming spells could be found in the entryway, and I poured mana into it until my maw stopped trying to clatter.

Wenku, peaked his head around the corner having heard me enter. "Hi Casai. Was it that cold out there?"

I turned my gaze to him and raised an eyebrow, standing huddled with my arms crossed next to the heat spell.

"Sorry, dumb question, how are you doing?"

"I'm only teasing, I'm good, been getting as many stitches and patches in the towns' warm clothes as I can. Otherwise not much has been different. Is your sister here?"

Wenku shook his head. "No, Horda is out today, she went to Lestub to try to get things for the next growing season. She says now is the best time to get it in a big city like that."

I nodded my head and set my many layers on the coat hanger until I was wearing an acceptable amount of clothing. As I followed Wenku into the main room of the small house, I smiled at the fact I hadn't had to lie even a little while answering him. Things 

were

good. All the way, no ifs, and, or buts. Sinsa and Pransai had both been making a real attempt to be more communicative, which had done wonders for both of them. Who knew that would help? Oh right, me. I did. Really though, I couldn't appreciate the way Korey had stepped in and pulled their heads out of both of their...

"Oh, I have some, uh... sewing stuff for you. Some colorful fabric, so maybe you can make something for you that isn't just for work?" He had taken a few steps ahead of me and pulled out a stack of colorful fabrics, more vibrant than the one's I was used to. One of them was even patterned.

"These look expensive, how'd you end up with these?" I questioned, holding up one to inspect. It felt soft beneath my paws. It was well made, much more well made than I was used to.

"Horda said she got it from a caravan passing through Lestub the other day. Apparently some rich folk were fleeing west from the conflict, but they were carrying too much and were struggling to sell off their stuff. Horda had helped them earlier, so they gifted these to her. Not that she had much use for them."

There was a bit of pain in his voice as Wenku spoke about the war. It had been years since he had seen his parents. They were both too accomplished to spare, by far the best warriors in this small village. Probably the best including every surrounding village. Occasionally a letter would come through, but they were so often overworked, and so often behind enemy lines, it could be months in between letters sometimes. 

His sister had been mostly taking care of him since, and we had bonded over our shared experience therein. Though one day, his parents would be back.

"Well, tell Horda I said thanks, I'll definitely be able to make something nice out of this." I folded the piece I was holding back up, and sat down in a seat at their table in the main room. Wenku stationed himself at the seat across from me. He pulled out a book and started reading, and I pulled out a few loose pieces of paper and pencil I had. We had made it a habit to meetup once a week and work near each other. Each of us was used to having family around, so when they weren't now, it felt better to work by someone else.

We each sat in silence for a little while, enjoying our respective hobbies, but Wenku was more fidgety than usual. He was about as hard to read as the book he had very clearly stopped paying attention too. 

"What's up?" "Hey Casai..." our voices overlapped one another, mine getting out just a moment before his. He looked at me sheepishly for a moment, then continued.

"Umm, a bit of an odd question, but, do you ever wish you could be someone else?"

His trepidation was palpable, he was leaned forward, his hands lightly clenched, but the question was innocent enough. I took a moment to think it over. I didn't really spend much time wishing I was someone else. When I was little, I'd wanted to be a princess, though that phase had passed. Nowadays the only person I wanted to be like was...

"Sometimes, I wish I could be more like Pransai, at least for her courage and her confidence." At least, when she wasn't being an idiot.

"Well, that makes sense, but I was thinking more like... uh... do you wish you could look like someone else?" Again, he seemed like he was hanging on the edge of his seat.

I wrinkled my snout a bit. "No, not really, I'm pretty happy looking like this." I'd get at least a little taller. Eventually.

I put on a shit eating grin. "Who do you wish you could look like, someone like Evendill, big and strong, cause I'm sure you can get there, but it'll take a lot of work." Evendill was a Volesew Hero, taken from another world, who had almost single-handedly ousted the then royal family of our lands. He was said to have stood almost 8 feet tall, and to have had the might and cunning of twenty wolves. Truly a mountain of a man.

Now there was panic on his face, and my suggestion didn't seem to have helped, and he mumbled a response "I uh... I don't know."

The lie was obvious to both of us. "I won't make fun of whoever it is you want to look like, I was just joking about Evendill. So come on, spill." Wenku had always been quite reserved, and it often took a good deal of effort before he would open up, but I was good at making him do so.

His voice was barely a whisper when he answered, and I had to strain both my ears in his direction. "-ansai."

He hadn't been looking at me when he spoke, his eyes downcast, so I hadn't heard. "Who?"

He took a deep breath and his eyes met mine. "You said you wanted to

be

like Pransai. I want to look like Pransai."

He looked fragile now. He sat almost completely still waiting for my response. It took a few moments for me to fully process what had been said.

Oh.

That's why she had been so nervous.

"You have TERRIBLE taste, Yelfa is way prettier!"

Wenku looked like she was a dam that had broken. I stood up and walked around the table to give her a big hug. It was reciprocated, and we stood like that for several moments. When we extracted ourselves, Wenku responded.

"Yelfa doesn't know how to wear clothes that suit her at all though."

"Neither does Pransai, she only looks good in them cause 

I

 make them for her."

I paused for a moment, and my gaze drifted off. Wenku followed it until we were both looking at the pile of colorful fabric. 

"How about I make you something that suits you."