Waitressing

Elin was excited to be given a job. What Elmo described sounded exciting to her, especially since she'd never heard of such a thing. Although, she had to admit that was probably because of how she'd never left her father's house before. Part of her wondered if the commoners on her world had something like this. If they did, she couldn't help but wonder how similar it was or if it was pretty much the same, no matter what world they were in.

Elin was ready to start the job whenever, but she also didn't want to leave Kim. Especially since she wasn't able to do anything for herself or pretty much by herself. Not to mention that her life was in danger with the curse on her. Elin hoped that Jonas would be able to find something that would allow the curse to be removed.

Owen's team didn't seem to be able to do anything for Kim, so there wasn't much of a reason Elin could think that they needed to spend time together, despite them sharing the same table now. However, she had to admit that they were among the few people that she would have been willing to trust Kim, Heather, and Sonya into their care if it became necessary. After all, they'd proven themselves to be trustworthy to that extent at least.

After Jonas finished talking with the innkeeper, he briefly stopped by to let them know that he was going to look for a chirurgeon. That maybe they'd be able to tell them something that they could do to help Kim. Although, he did hope that they'd be willing to help her for free, but didn't hold that hope out very far.

Elin wanted to go with Jonas, but knew that she'd probably end up being in the way. Besides, she wasn't sure when she would be needed to be a waitress. After all, not only were their rooms hanging on her doing that, but she was also looking forward to seeing what it was like.

Elmo had already been pulled into the back to help with the cooking, which left Elin to be the only member of her team to stay and keep an eye on Heather, Sonya, and Kim. At least until either Jonas got back or until she had to go start being a waitress.

Time rolled by slowly for her, especially since no one from Owen's team talked to her much. Bart occasionally would speak a few words to her, but other than that, she was left to keep herself company. Which, in the past never bothered her, but now that she knew what it was like to be around others so much, it felt like time was moving like really thick molasses.

She was starting to feel like she was getting ready to fall asleep out of sheer boredom when the innkeeper tapped her shoulder and said, "It's time. I'll need you to take the orders of the patrons when they come in and sit down. Then you'll need to get their orders and serve them. Think you can keep that straight?"

Elin nodded even though she really had no idea. She was just eager to do it, even if she found out that she had no idea what she was really doing. So, he introduced her to the others he had working for him, which was his bartender and cook. When she met the cook, she noticed Elmo dicing potatoes up to put in what looked like a stew. Nearby, there was a peeler and potato peelings, so it was clear that they'd been peeling the potatoes not too long ago.

Then as she stood at the bar, occasionally asking the bartender, Kael, a question about her job, she wondered how long it would be until someone came in for her to 'take their order.' Not that she was complaining. Even just standing here was giving her goosebumps.

Then as the first patrons came in, Elin was eager to take their orders once they sat down. Which the moment the did, she quickly walked over to them and asked if she could take their order. Then, as the men laughed, she wondered if she'd said something wrong.

"Girl, normally when Ol' Sal gets someone to take orders for him, they just ask what we want. Not if they can 'take our order,'" one of the men at the table tells her before they burst out laughing again.

While Elin couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed, she at least appreciated the advice. "If that's how its done, then what will you have?" Elin asked, feeling a little confused at how they laughed again when she said that.

"Looks like we have someone refined working here today," another of the men at the table said.

"At least she doesn't have a parasol with her," a third man joked as they all burst into another round of laughter.

Elin wasn't sure if she should wait any longer, as she noticed other tables filling up. Then just as she was about to go to the other tables, she was stopped as the first man said, "Alright, we'll each have a bowl of the slop they serve here and a pint for each of us."

Elin nodded and headed up to tell Kael what the order was. She didn't know what they meant by 'slop' or 'pint,' but she figured that Kael would know what they meant. After all, it sounded like they'd used those words often enough for it to sound so natural.

The night mostly continued on like that and Elin found herself enjoying herself. The only real problems she encountered was the roaming hands of some of the men. However, she was able to put a stop to their attempts to grab her bottom as she passed by or to grope her when she returned with their order by quietly using her Sacred Shot spell. It generally stopped such attempts, but there was one man who seemed to enjoy even getting hit by her spell. So, she learned to avoid getting to be within arms length of him.

Then as people started to leave, not that people stopped entering, she noticed Jonas return with another man. She could only assume that the man was a chirurgeon and would be able to help Kim. Although, she worried that they wouldn't be able to afford whatever he was asking.

Elin put down the latest order when suddenly she heard the voice of the announcer, although it was clear that the people from this village couldn't hear it. She couldn't help but wonder if it was tied into her system or if there was another explanation for it.

"Now the end of the first day after the dungeon has been completed. We'll see what else is coming up. For now, we'll let our contestants rest and maybe train their systems if they choose to. The next main challenge will be announced in the morning after next. We'll also wait to remind everyone of who has how many completed challenges. Have a good rest."

Elin had stopped moving as she listened to the announcement, which she realized hadn't gone unnoticed by the patrons. "Are you alright, girl?" one of them asked.

"This job too much for you?" another asked.

"Do you need to sit down?" yet another patron asked.

Elin did her best to assure all of them that she'd just gotten lost in thought and there wasn't anything wrong. It took her serving three tables without any problems before all of the patrons let her be. Not that she could blame them. She probably would have thought the same thing if she saw someone just standing there like that.

As she continued to work, she kept glancing over towards where Jonas was talking with the man who was examining Kim. Part of Elin was annoyed that they hadn't taken Kim up to their room so she'd have privacy over whatever it was that the man was doing, but at the same time, she was happy that she was able to keep an eye of Kim herself, even though she wasn't able to spare much attention for Kim.

Eventually the man shook his head, nodded to Jonas, and left. Elin could tell that whatever the man said wasn't good as Jonas' expression fell as the man left. Elin couldn't help but wonder if there wasn't anything they could do for Kim.

That thought slowed her pace down to the point the patrons were starting to ask her what was wrong. She tried dismissing their concerns until she finally had to admit to one of the patrons what the problem was.

"My friend Kim has a spider's curse. I just don't know what to do about it," she told him

The man nodded. "Yeah, those can be ugly. All I really know about spider's curses is that it's like they drain something from you that just makes you a shell of what you were," he said, his voice bitter. "If only we had a way of eliminating those spiders in that god forsaken forest then maybe we wouldn't have to deal with those anymore."

Elin couldn't help but wonder if he'd lost someone close to him from a spider's curse before. Although, what he said tickled something in Elin's mind and she couldn't quite figure out what that was. It was almost like something he said make her think of something, but didn't quite know what she thought of.

She merely sighed and tried to put the whole subject out of her mind. She wouldn't be able to concentrate and do her job if she let herself focus on the spider's curse that Kim was suffering from. She was also confident that's she'd screw up her job if she didn't push it out of her mind.

Even though the room wasn't completely full, she knew that she needed to do and what she'd agreed to do she needed to do that to the best of her ability. If only so she knew that she wasn't letting any of her team down. After all, they needed her to make sure that they lodging in this inn was secure, if only for the night.