The next morning, Trevor barely left his room. When he had left the first time, he found a note from Adabelle saying she would be back around noon and that she was looking forward to their date. That left him with a smile and butterflies in his stomach, and he spent his time waiting for her to get back.

That wasn’t to say he was staying idle, however. The young man had tried on his minotauran outfit a few times, having received instructions on the various styles he heard about from Klar before heading out on his quest. It would take some getting used to, as it definitely wasn’t something he’d wear on earth, but he would adapt.

Festive minotauran garb was essentially a pair of yellow pants and a series of cloth strips that Trevor hesitated to call scarves. It had been explained to him that everything was loose so as to keep from pulling and tugging at the wearer’s hair, and that’s exactly what he got. The whole outfit was very colorful, as well, with bright greens, blues, and reds that was meant to contrast nicely with a minotaur’s brown and black fur.

It took him the better part of an hour to figure out how to wear the outfit, but in the end he was successful.

As was proper, he was loosely covered. His left shoulder had three strips of different colored cloth over it, and they draped down before cutting across his stomach to the right side. A single scarf adorned his right shoulder, heading straight downwards both in front and in back. There was one black piece in the whole ensemble, which he wore around his waist like a belt.

Trevor stared at the mirror, looking at his chest and once again doubting Lailah’s words. There were other ways to wear the outfit that wouldn’t show himself off, but when he thought about those options he stood up a little straighter.

“No,” he told his reflection. “You look just fine this way. Trust in Klar. He may have been wrong about what you should say about kobolds, but other than that, when has he ever steered you wrong?”

Taking a breath, he gave himself an affirming nod. Catching a glimpse of his tattooed arm, he lifted it up to better observe it in the mirror. The tattoo around his bicep had gotten significantly smaller, and he frowned at it. At this point, the fact that he could go back was an albatross around his neck.

While he could have wrapped his arms to hide the magic mark from Adabelle, he chose not to. He wasn’t sure if she’d know what it meant, but he knew he didn’t want to keep it from her. After all, now that he had asked her out, going back would be a real mean thing to do.

Trevor tightened his hand into a fist as he thought it over. Whenever he had talked about returning to that other world it was always from a distance, and he did that by design. He would say he “could go back,” or “it was a choice to go back,” or that he “was leaning towards staying.” Nothing was substantial, and the young man had put off thinking about it for a while.

He had been stuck with two minds. Back in his old world, he had responsibilities. Not only to his job, but the people who were working to save him and everyone that relied on him. However, the mere thought of returning crushed his soul.

Staying here would have its own set of challenges, but despite all his talk he was not a fool. Trevor knew that this place was better for him. No matter what the rest of the world looked like, the country of Lucent and both Eskretet and Tosa in particular had been built on foundations he had only dreamed of before.

Even now, he had immediately started taking on more responsibilities here just because he couldn’t stand not having something to do. Between helping out the shopkeepers in town like Thimbleden and Dory, to helping out the workers like Laric, Trevor’s Power made him capable of helping in ways no one else could. Klar gushing about his Inventory was just another reason to stay.

The only thing that didn’t factor into his thought process was Adabelle.

She had been the reason why he decided to make the decision, but aside from their conversations she played a very small role in it. As someone who had relationships fail in the past, the young man had wanted to make sure that a potential romantic partner wasn’t the sole reason for staying. While he was hoping, almost praying, for a successful relationship with Adabelle, he wouldn’t delude himself that it would work out like some kind of fairy tale. There was still a lot to learn about each other, after all.

When that was put aside, the answer was still clear as day.

Clenching his fist, Trevor nodded to himself and firmly decided to let his tattoo show. “I’m staying here,” he declared to himself.

Trevor took another breath in and let his arm fall. He nodded to himself again, and then one more time as he tried to dispel his nervous energy. Now that he made his decision without Adabelle in mind, he found that he could easily imagine what it would be like with her in mind.

Luckily for him, as he continued to nod to himself mindlessly in the mirror, salvation came.

“Trevor!” Adabelle called from the suite’s shared area. “I’m back!”

Excitement quickly replaced nervousness as he walked to the door. He reached for the handle when he paused, looking down at his arm as he suddenly had second thoughts.

“I’ve already changed into festival clothes,” he said through the door. “Do you want to see me before you change? Or do we want to surprise each other? I’m not sure if there’s, like, protocol for this or something.”

“There’s not, but I can get changed if you like,” she replied.

Before he could think on it for too long, Trevor opened the door and took a step outside. Adabelle was standing not far from where he emerged, and was wearing the same kind of bulky robes she did when working in Tosa. There was a tired look in her eye, though it quickly disappeared as she looked him over. He noted with a mix of both satisfaction and confidence-shattering horror that she was staring at his chest.

The silence stretched until Trevor couldn’t take it anymore, which admittedly wasn’t very long, and he chuckled nervously. “Well? What do you think?”

“Did Lailah put you up to this?” she asked. “I suppose I owe her a gold piece now. She said she could get you to wear something revealing like that, and I told her that you would never believe her.”

Trevor’s smile became a little tighter. “Should… should I change?”Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

“No!” she almost yelled quickly, taking a step forward as her hand shot out to reach for him. Adabelle and Trevor stared at each other before she politely coughed into her hand. “I mean, no, there’s no need for that. It’s a very handsome outfit, so it suits you. Though, I’d like to know what she said to get you into that.”

Despite his embarrassment, he couldn’t help but grin at her compliment. “I don’t really think it’s important,” he said quietly.

“I can hear it from you, or I can hear it from her,” she said, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow. “And don’t even think for a second that she would hesitate.”

Unable to stop grinning, he mumbled something out.

“Okay, my hearing is good but it’s not that good. Please, speak up.”

“She said you like it when a man shows off a bit of chest,” he repeated, his face burning. “Said it drives you crazy, so, I thought, well…”

When it became clear that Trevor wasn’t going to finish his sentence, Adabelle shook her head. “That woman is nothing but trouble,” she sighed. “But she also wasn’t wrong. This is also my first time seeing your tattoo.”

Trevor blinked at her words. “She wasn’t?”

“Don’t change the subject,” Adabelle chided as she walked up to him. Her eyes did linger on his chest, which was something he happily noted, before fixing themselves on his arm. “May I?”

“Yeah, go ahead.”

“Thank you,” she replied. Taking his arm gently in her hands, Adabelle brought it up so that she wouldn’t need to lean down to get a better look. Her fingers traced along the magical markings, and Trevor relished the feeling. “I don’t recognize this ritual. So not only did he summon you here without me, but he also did so with means I have no idea about.”

“Maybe he wanted you to figure it out for yourself?” Trevor offered. “I don’t mind letting you study it, if it’ll help.”

“It well may,” Adabelle mumbled. She shifted so that she was standing almost against his chest to better get a look at the inside of his arm. “Did he say anything about the ritual when you first arrived?”

Trevor tilted his head. “Honestly, I was kind of frazzled when I first arrived and the whole conversation is a bit murky,” he admitted. “I think he said something about how I needed a break, and how the ritual sought out someone who was in dire need of a life change and needed one the most. I doubt my circumstances meant I was the one who needed to come here the most, but I thought I just won the cosmic lottery or something.”

“Needed it the most, hmm?” she asked, glancing at his face for a moment before moving her attention to his bicep. “Could be the old man wasn’t telling you the whole truth. It’s not always advisable to do so with new Summoned, on account of the volatile change in environment. What about up here?”

Hesitating, Trevor sighed; this was the part he wasn’t sure she would take well, and both Wayne and Rashie’s reactions were telling on their own. Still, he didn’t want to keep it a secret from her.

“When that tattoo disappears, I’ll be given the chance to go back,” he said slowly.

Adabelle immediately released his bicep and placed her hands on his shoulders, turning to be eye to eye with him. “Trevor, you’re not thinking of going back, are you?” she asked, her voice having an underlying tone of urgency that he hadn’t heard from her before.

“What, would you miss me too much?” he joked, suddenly nervous from this turn of events.

“First, yes, I very likely would miss you more than I realize,” she admitted quickly. “But the more important reason is because you would be absolutely miserable back there. Do you remember our conversation? About how you barely wanted to talk about your old world and how you were simply going on and on about Tosa?”

Trevor blinked. “I do remember.”

“You need to stay here, even if it’s not with me- us. Even if it’s not with us in Tosa,” she stated. “After everything you’ve been through here, going back would absolutely crush you. Especially now that you’ve started making a life for yourself here. You could barely tell me any good memories you had of that place, Trevor.”

“Lady…”

“And that’s not even speaking of all the people you’ve met here that would miss you,” Adabelle continued. “During our talk at the Danger Zone, that was one of your biggest praises of Tosa. You felt as though you were more than just a random person, that you actually belonged here. You felt taken care of, which is hard for people like us because we’re always pushing to do what we can for others.”

“Adabelle.”

“I’m just saying it for the record,” she said, taking a fist and gently thumping it against his chest. “That I think going back is the worst thing you can do. Not for any reason other than it would devastate you, and certainly not for the selfish reason that I would miss you.”

“But you would miss me, right?”

“Most certainly, but this is about more than just me, Trevor,” she said. “I just want to help you, to take care of you.”

Taking both of her hands into his, Trevor smiled. “Lady, I’m not going back,” he said gently. “Everything you said is true and, while I still have some lingering responsibilities there, there’s nothing back in that world that needs me specifically.”

Adabelle exhaled deeply, squeezing his hands. “Good, Son of Ander,” she said with a nod. “So long as you know that, then I suppose we can go on with our date as planned.”

“I’m really, really excited about it,” Trevor said as she pulled away. “The atmosphere, the food, the company. All of it.”

“I’ll go get changed, then,” Adabelle said with a smile. “Just like Lailah pushed you in one direction, she gave me advice as well.”

“Oh no?” he asked, smile fading.

“She said that, as an American, there’s a good chance that you’ll like this outfit,” she stated, backing up towards her room.

“Oh, no,” he repeated in a completely different tone.

“Well, I don’t think it warrants that kind of reaction, but I’ll go and change now.” Adabelle said, giving him a curious look before moving to her room.

While Trevor wracked his brain on what a Scottish woman would think an American man would like, he realized that he had no frame of reference. Still, if she thought that he wouldn’t wear something as revealing as minotauran festive garb, then it likely wouldn’t be anything outlandish. She certainly didn’t strike him as the type to wear a dunbar.

When she returned, Trevor’s eyes went wide.

Adabelle was wearing a robe with intricate black and orange patterns. Her hands emerged from long sleeves that nearly fell to the floor and swung at even the slightest movement. Around her stomach was a wide ribbon that was tied off into a large bow in the back, and the young man could make out that the swirling pattern made flowers all over.

“How is it?” she asked, sounding as though she wasn’t fully confident.

“Well, I’m not sure what she meant by me liking this because I’m an American, but I do think you look beautiful,” Trevor said honestly.

Smiling, Adabelle’s face softened. “She said there was a good chance that you were something they called a weeb, which she said just meant you love all things Japanese,” the woman said as she raised her hands to show off the sleeves. “These have been popular since the first King Eskretet, due to him bringing his heritage to the country, so I thought it was worth a chance.”

Trevor couldn’t help but chuckle. “Well, I’m not a weeb, but I can certainly appreciate this.”

“Good. I find it funny that, after matching yesterday morning, we chose to go in completely opposite directions today,” she stated.

“It is kind of funny, isn’t it?” Trevor agreed before offering his arm. “Are you ready to go, then?”

“I am,” Adabelle said as she slipped her arm in his. “Let’s go on our date.”