Tosa’s mayor’s office looked like a colonial style home. It was a simple, symmetrical brick building with several windows and a sloped, shingled roof. If it weren’t for the sign, Trevor would have passed right by it thinking it was somebody’s home.

People were coming and going through the double doors, and he entered with a small group. They seemed to know which way they were going, but he didn’t, and thus stopped in the grand foyer. An immaculate staircase lead to the second floor, and there were hallways to either side.

“May I help you, sir?” a young woman seated at a nearby desk asked.

Trevor smiled at her. “Hello, I’m here to see Lady Adabelle,” he said. “I don’t have an appointment or anything, but I have food for her.”

“Oh, are you the new inventoryman?” she asked, looking him up and down.

His smile became a little more forced, but he nodded and pulled his coat into his inventory now that he was inside. “Yes, ma’am. Seems like I am,” he said, a little more tongue in cheek than he planned.

“Neat trick,” the woman praised before pointing up the stairs. “Head up, then around to the left. Her office is right across from Mayor Jackson’s. It's clearly marked.”

“Thank you, ma’am.” Trevor bowed before walking up the stairs.

Everything in the building was extravagant to the point of tackiness. Dark red carpet, gold trim, and large leafy plants were everywhere. Paintings featuring various figures hung on the wall, labeled as important founders of Tosa, and some even had busts on pedestals underneath them that mirrored the focus of the pictures. Several were of the mayor.

At the very end of the hallway were two offices. To the left, at the front of the building, was Mayor Jackson's office. The dark wood door was closed, but it had a large bronze plaque that identified it as such in both this world's language and in English.

Across from it was a much less impressive door that had a smaller bronze plaque with that same chicken scratch on it as well as another language he had never seen before. Assuming that the mayor came from an Earth and that was why there was English on it, the young man briefly wondered if that was Adabelle's native language.

Not wasting any more time, Trevor walked over and knocked.

“I don’t have any appointments set up at this time,” her voice came from within. “Which means I don’t have time. Please schedule an appointment with Claricia downstairs.”

“Sorry, lady,” Trevor said, raising his voice so she could easily hear him. “If you guys had phones I would have called ahead. This is a surprise visit.”

“Trevor? Come in,” Adabelle called, and he opened the door.

The inside of the office was neat and tidy, and yet Trevor could easily see why she was so overwhelmed. Everything had its place, but there was so much paper on her desk that she needed a rolling cart beside her to hold the overflow. Behind her, the windows were closed with the blinds down, leaving her in the dark. Normally, this would be fine as she could see perfectly in such conditions, but Trevor wasn’t having any of it.

“These are the conditions you work in?” he asked as he walked around her desk.

“What are you-”

“Sunlight is important to a healthy mind. Doesn’t matter whether you can see in the dark or not,” he said before moving the blinds to let the light in.

Very little light filtered in, as the window was blocked by another brick building that had been built just a foot or so away from this one. Trevor frowned, crossed his arms, and stared at it.

“Yeah, thanks a lot, Trevor,” Adabelle said in a deadpan voice as she got back to work signing papers. “My whole life just got a little better thanks to you shining light on my situation. Truly, my gratitude will know no bounds.”

“A little bit of light is still better than no light, even if the view is pretty bleak. This sucks. Man, I completely understand why you’re so frustrated all the time.”

“I’m not frustrated all the time,” she said defensively. “Only when everything piles up. Jackson should be handling more than half of all this, he’s just not here. Speaking of people who should or should not be here, why did you come to see me? Are Wayne and Rashie back?”

“Haven’t seen them, lady, I’m-”

“Then, like I said, I don’t have time,” she sighed. “I have a lot of work to do, and I’d like to get out of here before dark.”

“I brought you food,” Trevor said patiently. “And something from the apothecary that might help you. Hopefully, at least. It might be early enough in the day to be worthwhile, or maybe save it for later, or-”

“Trevor, I’m going to need you to get to the point,” Adabelle said sternly.

“We’re friends, lady, so I was worried about you.” That made the horned woman pause, and she regarded Trevor curiously. He put on a friendly smile as she stared at him. “What? You make me breakfast, I make you dinner, we eat together. We’re friends.”

“And then you decided to come and visit to eat during lunch,” she said in a surprisingly weary voice.

“I don’t have to stay,” he replied. “Melvirn wants me to come by his… tower? I guess? It was quite tall. He wanted me to come by. I can kill time here, or I can drop it off along with your gift and explore town some more.”

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why are you going out of your way to help me?”

“I know you already heard me say we’re friends, so I’m not sure what you mean by that question?”

“Never mind,” she said with a sigh as she began to rub her temples. “Sure, I can take a lunch break. But only a short one, though. Very short.”

“Sweet, alright, so here’s the food,” Trevor said as he laid out his coat on the desk from his inventory followed by four different plates on Heating Stones. After the taco bread ball debacle, he had made sure to purchase a set of them, and they were surprisingly cheap.

Adabelle’s stomach growled as she looked over the options before grabbing what Trevor likened to chicken parmigiana from his world with a side of thick, buttered bread. “Do you have sil-“

Trevor was already offering her a fork and knife when she asked, and she took them from him. He picked a thick sandwich with black tomatoes, pink onions, black lettuce, and several slices of this world’s equivalent of bacon before sending the other two plates and their heat sources back to his inventory. Next, he pulled out two glasses and a carafe of blue lemonade. Careful not to spill any, he poured for them both.

Raising his glass, he motioned for her to do the same and clinked them together when she hesitantly acquiesced. He took a drink before taking his sandwich in both hands and taking a big bite. Adabelle was more civil in how she treated her food.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Okay, this is a pretty good gift,” she admitted between bites. “Napkin?”

Producing one with a flourish, he handed it to her. “This isn’t the gift. This was because you deserve more from all your hard work. Do you bring your own lunches? I haven’t noticed things going missing in the Hero House.”

Adabelle paused before quickly eating the bite that was on her fork to bide time. It didn’t last long, and she was forced to answer. “I haven’t,” she said slowly. “But I generally don’t have time to eat so I don’t bother. Even this is pushing me in regards to time.”

Trevor found himself nodding at her answer. Back on Earth, his favorite time to take lunch was an hour before he had to leave. Not his favorite by choice, but because there was so much to do everywhere that he didn’t often get a chance to eat earlier. There was always something stopping you from taking that break on time.

“Why are you staring at me like that?” Adabelle asked defensively. “I don’t need your pity, you know.”

Shaking his head, Trevor held up his hands in front of him. “No, no pity here. I think you might be pushing yourself too hard, though,” he said, looking at one of the papers that wasn't covered by his coat. He still couldn't understand the language, yet, and was thankful that his Summoned status translated speech. “What’s got you stuck in here that you can’t even take an hour to yourself?”

“I’m one of the few nobles in town, so I’m well suited to handle this kind of bureaucracy,” she stated. “Besides, this is all required for the good of the town. Housing requests, business permits, road maintenance. It all needs to get done, and I’m doing it.”

Trevor couldn’t help but smile. “Lady, you’re actually really kind, aren’t you?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Adabelle asked, clearly offended.

“Like, in the second conversation we had, or was it third? Fourth? Either way, you said that you would cool down and give me a proper apology. You haven’t been kind to me, but that’s fine, because you haven’t hurt me, either. I’ve got thick skin. But this,” he gestured towards the stacks of paper everywhere. “All for the townsfolk? That’s a real noble right there. Very kind.”

Adabelle took in a breath and closed her eyes, and Trevor thought he could see her tawny skin darken. “Thank you, Trevor,” she said in the same way she had admitted he was right days before. “I may not always show it, but I’m happy when the people of Tosa are happy. They accepted me here, and I want to do right by them.”

“Back where I’m from, we didn’t have nobles but politicians,” Trevor said. “So seeing someone in a position of power doing the work to make sure their people get taken care of is very admirable to me.”

“Okay, now you’re just buttering me up,” she accused.

“I’m a firm believer in the power of praise,” he chuckled. “And if it’s deserved, I’ll dish it. Besides, you’re smiling, and that’s worth it.”

Adabelle reached up as if to check her face, but stopped with an unnaturally jerky motion instead. “You’re just teasing me now, aren’t you?” she asked, narrowing her eyes. “For all those times I was less than civil to you.”

“What can I say? I’m only mean to the people I like, lady,” he said, grinning. “If you see me being incredibly polite to someone who doesn’t deserve it, then you know I’m cursing them in my head. They want to bring me down to their level, so the best way to fight back is to deny that satisfaction. Either they’ll see the error of their ways, or I’ve won the battle. Many people have tried to drag me down, few have succeeded.”

Nodding, Adabelle took a few bites of her chicken before looking back up at him. “You’re… very different from the other Earth Summoned I've met,” she stated.

Trevor shrugged and swallowed down the food he was chewing. “In a good way or a bad way?”

“Both, but in this way I mean you seem to be very curious,” Adabelle said. “But you refuse to pry.”

“Is there something I should be prying for?”

“I’m just surprised you haven’t asked about my horns yet,” she said. “Wayne brought it up immediately upon seeing me, and mentioned that it was a question most would naturally have.”

Trevor’s eyes shifted from hers to the horn on her right side. It had been one of the first things he had noticed about Adabelle, aside from her ears. The horn had been sliced in two through to her temple, and if she moved her hair just right then he could see a scar on her skin. All in all, it looked painful. While she didn’t seem to have any trouble with it, he knew all too well that some injuries you could only ignore.

His eyes flicked back to hers. “I was told by a friend of mine that horns aren’t a topic of conversation unless they’re decorated,” Trevor said, thinking back to Klar. “Minotaurs like to talk about their horns if they are, gnomes like their hair, dwarves like their beards. Oh, and kobolds are the same as minotaurs except with their tails.”

“Oh, oh no, that’s not right,” Adabelle said, her eyes widening. “Did you talk to a kobold about their tail?”

“No,” Trevor said, frowning. “Was that bad advice?”

“Very,” she said, snorting out a laugh. “It’s really hit or miss, but you could end up alienating whole families if you say the wrong thing. Who told you that?”

“Well, I didn’t think he was lying, but it was Klar. Uh, merchant prince Klarkartar.”

Adabelle shook her head, but she was clearly amused. “Okay, so we’re talking from the perspective of a rich minotaur,” she laughed. “Don’t follow that advice. He’s got enough platinum in the bank that, if anything goes wrong, then it will not affect him in the slightest. Plus, he's very large and intimidating. You? Not so much. How did you even meet him, anyway?”

“I stepped outside of Summoner’s Tower and he pretty much ran me over,” Trevor admitted. He could feel his ears burning as she prodded him about this, but all he could think about was how nice it was to hear her laugh. “Then he taught me some lessons. That was one of them.”

“Sure, sure. The bits about gnomes, dwarves, and minotaurs are accurate, as is the horn thing,” she said, reaching up and brushing a hand against her own. “If it’s not adorned, then don’t bring it up. That would explain why you were so hesitant to even stare at them despite being new here.”

“It would have been impolite,” he said, offering her an easy smile. “Though, since you’ve brought it up, is it okay to ask now?”

Adabelle put a hand to her chin, staring into his eyes as if searching for something. Then, she smirked and shook her head. “Nope, the moment’s already gone,” she claimed.

Trevor snapped his fingers and sighed. “Dang, that’s what I get for name-dropping some rich guy I know, huh?” he chuckled. Taking the last bite of his sandwich, he watched as she finished up what was left on her plate.

“That was really good, Trevor, thank you,” she said.

“You’re welcome,” he replied, beaming. “And before I go, there is the matter of your gift.”

With another flourish that would make a magician proud, Trevor produced the vial he had received from Dory’s quest. The Full Night’s Rest was small and thin, only about the size of his pinky finger, and was full of a viscous red liquid. He offered it to Adabelle, and she took it before squinting at the contents.

“It’s a potion,” she stated.

“I did a quest for Dory earlier, and one of the things I negotiated for was a Full Night’s Rest.”

Adabelle’s eyes quickly met his own. “She makes those for the guards. Nearly exclusively.”

Trevor shrugged, offering her a secretive smirk. “What can I say, I really know how to charm the ladies.”

“Wayne said something similar to that before. Is that supposed to be a snake charmer joke?" she accused.

“Maybe.”

“Okay, the moment’s over, it’s time for you to leave,” Adabelle said, pointing towards the door.

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry,” Trevor said, laughing. “I figured you were always tired in the morning and at night, and I can now clearly see how hard you’ve been working, so I wanted to make sure you got something to help you out. It’s not a traditional gift, but I thought it would help.”

Adabelle appeared surprised for a moment before offering Trevor the first genuinely warm smile he had seen on her. “That’s a good gift,” she said before uncorking it and drinking the potion right then and there. Taking in a gasping breath, she shook her head as a red glow emanated from her body for just less than a second. “Wow, okay, that really hit the spot.”

Gone was her weariness, and Trevor noted with satisfaction that her movements no longer had the same sluggish quality to them. He picked up the two empty plates and their Heating Stones before grabbing his coat and standing up.

“Thanks for eating, lady,” he said.

“Thanks for bringing it to me,” she countered. “I think I can get through the day a lot easier now. I suppose I owe you a bit more than just a proper apology when I get around to it.”

Trevor waved his hand. “Nonsense. This is what friends do for each other. At the very least, this is is how I treat my friends when I’m not being mean to them. If you want to keep playing cold, then feel free.”

Adabelle looked away for a moment before standing up and offering him her hand. “Friends, Son of Ander. You can call us friends,” she said. A knock came from the door and she sighed. “Duty calls. Surprised it took them this long to interrupt us, honestly.”

With a wide smile, Trevor shook her hand before saying his goodbyes and taking his leave, letting a small group of people inside as he left the room.

When he stepped outside, it seemed a little warmer, though he couldn’t tell if it was actually the weather or just him.