A bit off the bottom

As his hand grasped the doorknob, Lucian grimaced as the horror of the wretched smell resurfaced in his mind. 

Just before he could turn the doorknob, a sweet old voice called out to him and Fei.

"Please, don't overexert yourselves." The old woman said to them with a smile.

"We won't, thank you for the tea." Lucian responded, his expression did not change, only giving her a slight side eye. Meanwhile Fei nodded in response.

'Please… Let it be better this time.' Lucian internally pleaded for the heavens to lessen the stench. With a deep breath, he opened the door with great force. The fear of the smell was clear, as he took a mighty first step outside. 

To his bewilderment, when he took his first breath, the smell was gone. Turning his head towards his companion, her eyebrows furrowed whilst her lips were curled into a frown.

"Ya two finally done?" 

The old man who sat on the steps of his porch called out to them. His shoulders slumped, clearly portraying his boredom as he looked at them. "What's with the looks on yer faces?"

"That… Smell is gone…" Lucian blurted out as his bewilderment rose. 'Where the heck did it go?! There's no way it would've gone away that quick!'

"Ah, that? That tea my wife gave ya dulled yer sense of smell." The old man nonchalantly explained as he rose from his seat. "Oh, messy hair, that staff you brought is to the side of the front door." 

"Is that even possible?!" Lucian exclaimed without much thought. He's heard of magic that could dull one's smell, but tea? This is a first for him. Impulsively, he grabbed the collar of his shirt and brought it up to his nose. Sure enough, he couldn't smell anything from it.

"Yes, it is possible…"

"Wow…"

After a short pause to take in the new information, Lucian slapped his cheeks to refocus his mind.

"So, what do you need us to do?"

"Well, first I need ya to cut the grass on the front lawn." The old man explained whilst pointing towards the lawn. A shiver ran down both Fei's and Lucian's spines as they looked at the lawn.

"And set the piles on either side of the house." Before a follow-up question could be asked the old man gestured towards the porch. "These babies will be your tools for the job." At the spot, he specifically gestured at, two scythes sat. The length of each one reached seventy-five centimeters. "Though, for ya half-ear, these might be a little too long for ya, I might have a pair of shears for ya inside, just go ahead and ask my wife, she'll grab em' for you."

Instinctively, Lucian shot his arm out in front of Fei. His other hand balled slightly as he took a defensive stance. Fei's heart skipped a beat, she took a step back the instant she heard what the old man had called her.

Upon seeing Lucian's demeanor change, the old man was taken aback. 

"What? Did I say something to upset ya…?" 

"Why did you call her that?"

"What else am I supposed to call her? I don't know her name, so I only called her half ear because of her half ear!"

"..."

Upon hearing his explanation, Lucian lowered his arm and relaxed his hand. 'Half ear' was a nickname many had used in a derogatory way against Fei. The reason they called her that was due to her left ear being cut in half. For as long as Lucian had known her, she had had it, he had no idea what happened, nor was he pushy about it.

"Sorry, we haven't introduced ourselves, my name is Lucian, this is Fei." Lucian introduced himself and Fei. 

"Eh, anyway, have ya used a scythe before, boy?" The old man immediately changed the subject after hearing Lucian.

"You didn't even tell us your name!" 

"My name is not important." The old man said as he waved his hand. "But now, I can send a complaint to the adventurer's guild if ya don't listen to me." The old man quipped back with a smug smile on his face, his threat left Lucian with a shell shocked look.

"...I don't know how to use a scythe." Lucian responded whilst hanging his head in defeat.

"Then let me teach ya. Meanwhile, Fei why don't ya go inside and grab the shears from my wife."

'I have a name!' Lucian internally cried out as he listened to the old man.

Fei watched as Lucian bent down and tried to take one of the scythes in his hands, only to be stopped by the old man who then badgered him about his form.

Fei's heart still felt like it was going to burst into a million pieces as she watched the old man direct Lucian to bend his knees slightly and have his legs wide apart. Each time someone had called her half ear, things ended horribly. Either the person screamed at her till they exhausted themselves or Lucian got into a fist-fight with them.

'He was right…' Fei reaffirmed herself, slowly her anxiety lowered. 'They aren't bad people…' Slowly, she took a deep breath. She averted her eyes from Lucian, who stood there in an odd pose. Her hand tightened on the doorknob as her anxiety shot back up again. 

'I just… Have to get… The shears…' She reminded herself. Fear gripped her heart, if she couldn't do this simple task, her nightmare may come true. Slowly, she turned the doorknob and pulled the door open. Every step she took felt like a monumental task, her entire being roared at her to turn back. 

She turned to her right as she heard clunking coming from it. 

"U-Um…" 

"Oh? Hello, is there something I can help you with?"

After the old woman had turned around, Fei's bravery shattered. All the sounds that left her mouth were mixtures of stutters and fumbles.

"Y-Y-Your h-husband told, told me to a-ask y-you for the s…" Fei stopped herself as she saw the confusion rise on the old woman's face. "N-N-Nevermind… S-Sorry to bother y-you…" She apologized whilst bowing to the old woman.

"You need the shears, is that what you were trying to say?" The old woman called out to Fei as she neared the front door. 

"Y-Yes."

"I'll go get them for you, just stay there for a moment, okay?" 

"T- Fank yew…"

An iron taste filled her mouth after her teeth clamped down onto her tongue. The old woman chuckled just before leaving Fei to herself.

"Ow…"

"Here you go." The old woman quickly came back with a pair of "Shears" in her hands. "I don't know why my husband calls these things shears…. They're really just a pair of scissors he uses for our garden." The old woman let out an exasperated sigh before passing the scissors to her. "Anyways, don't run with them okay?" 

Awkward silence ensued after the poor attempt at a joke. Fei left the house shortly after.

"There ya go, good job boy! Keep doing that motion until ya get used to it!"

An odd scene entered her view just as she stepped outside. Lucian stood in the same stance as before, without taking a step he moved his body side to side. Each time he moved, he put all his weight on the leg he shifted to. His arms were slightly bent, and moved in the same momentum and direction. The old man watched him do this movement; a judgemental glean hid inside his eyes.

"Alright! Looks like you're ready! Grab that scythe and copy my movements!" the old man exclaimed as he took one of the scythes into his grasp. 

"Okay." Lucian grabbed the other scythe and focused his attention onto the old man.

"Stay right there, and just watch." The old man ordered Lucian after they stepped down from the porch. "First, ya want to keep your scythe low to the ground." He explained while moving the blade to the base of a blade of grass. "Then as ya are ready, just do the same motion I had ya do while moving around." In one swift motion, the old man mowed down a few blades of grass. "Did ya get that?"

"Y-Yes I did…" Lucian responded with a fearful look on his face. 'Am I going to be able to do this…?' He questioned himself, after he did the exercise the old man directed him to do, his legs were already burning. "Like thi-"

"Oh, Fei, just get that side of the lawn, this boy will get this side." The old man cut Lucian off after noticing Fei's presence. With the scythe in his hands, he pointed towards the opposite side of the lawn with it.

"O-Okay…" 

Setting foot on the ground, Fei took a deep breath and closed her eyes. 'I have to do this…' She repeated inside her mind. Despite this, every doubt creeped into her mind. She shook her head vigorously before opening her eyes. With the scissors in her grasp, she knelt on the ground and began her war on the blades of grass.

With such a dull task, anyone would get bored. A short time later, Fei's mind began to wander elsewhere after slaughtering an insurmountable amount of grass. 

"I SAID TO USE YER ENTIRE ARM, NOT YOUR DANG WRISTS!" 

"I'm trying! It's just too tight!"

"YA AREN'T EVEN DOING IT RIGHT! GIVE ME THAT DAMN SCYTHE AND I'LL SHOW YA HOW TO DO IT RIGHT!"

The old man's booming voice shook Fei's skull. 'What is going on over there…?' She thought after hearing a few more exchanges before going silent.

Ten minutes had passed, and Fei picked up as much grass as she could. The old man pointed towards the left side of his house after noticing Fei leave the small coverage she had made. Lucian, ceaselessly cut down the grass on his side, whilst not caring about the grass that littered the dirt.

"..." Fei stopped for a moment as she looked at the vast difference between their sides. Her side barely had a dent in it, meanwhile Lucian had cut down what seemed like one hundred times hers.

"That boy sure is something, ain' he?" The old man commented after he saw her watch Lucian. "On my first time doin' this, I could barely go for five minutes without my legs giving out! A snort came from him.

Fei's mouth opened for a moment then snapped shut. "Y-Yes, he is…" Fei stammered after a few seconds. 

Quietly, she went back to the task at hand. 

"Just a bit more, Boy, then ya can take yer break!"

"Urgh, seriously?!"

"What? Ya still got a whole bunch more to do!"

"...Why did you have to point that out?!"

"Not my fault, ya chose to do the request I submitted, now stop complaining!"

"...Fine."

Many more exchanges went on as time flew by for both Fei and Lucian. They only stopped after the old man told them to take a break.

'I'm really…Not helpful to him…' Fei looked at her hands, bits of her skin started to peel off just before their break. Her ears drooped as she looked at her side of the lawn. She frowned as she brought her knees up and rested her chin on them.

Her self wallowing kept her occupied, she had not noticed Lucian slowly sit at her side with 2 mugs in his hands. 

"Here, they said it'd help with the soreness." Lucian said to her whilst waving a mug in front of her face.

"T-Thank you…" 

She carefully took the mug from Lucian while her palms hid from his view. A green liquid with steam that rose from the top filled the inside. The steam quickly dissipated from her vision, the warmth from the mug started to cool as every second passed.

A dull bitter taste swatted at her taste buds when she took her first sip. 

"This is pretty bitter…" Lucian mumbled, his eyebrows furrowed as he stared at the cup with a disgusted look. "Fei, what do you think?" 

"N-Nevermind…" Lucian mumbled as he saw Fei take another sip without much reaction to the flavor. 

'Thankfully… It's not like that other tea they had us drink.' He thought as he hesitantly took a big gulp from his mug.

"I wish we had a more exciting request than this." 

"H-Huh?" 

"I was hoping we could have gotten a hunting request as our first request. Instead we got this… At least it'll give us a decent pay." Lucian explained, his head hung low as he finished his explanation. His rambling stopped after he noticed Fei's dampened mood.

Their break ended after some time. Lucian began to bring the mounds of grass from his side to the designated storage area. 

"Good job so far, boy. Finish cutting the rest of the grass, I'll pick up the grass as ya go." 

"Huh? Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I don't feel like sitting around watching ya two do everything."

With the help of the old man joining in, his side became much easier to mow down. Twenty minutes passed and every blade of grass had been cut.

A loud yelp could be heard as he walked over to set the last bundle down. A chill went down Lucian's spine. He looked down, his foot rested on a fluffy white tail. The owner of that tail, looked at him with a pained frown. 

"S-Sorry! I didn't see you there!" Lucian stammered, he instantly took a step back. "I-I-I'm so sorry, I didn't m-mean to!" Due to Fei being shorter than the average woman, and the grass covering her entire body as she crouched down, Lucian didn't see her.

"I-It's fine…" Fei told him as she wiped the dirt off her tail. "I-I-It didn't hurt much…" Seeing the regretful expression on Lucian's face, she downplayed the pain she currently felt. 

After profusely apologizing many times, Lucian eventually went back to what he was doing while being more aware of his surroundings.

"Now, let's finish this last part!" The old man exclaimed as soon as Lucian set the bundle down. With that, the three of them quickly finished the area Fei was assigned to. 

"That was quicker than I expected from ya two, good job!" The old man exclaimed. Currently, they all sat in the living room. Lucian grimaced as his legs felt like jello, whilst Fei rubbed her hands together. "Anyways, would ya like some more tea before you leave?"

"No thank you." Lucian instantly responded for both he and Fei. 

"Suit yourselves." 

Soon after, they got the signature from the old man, and acquired their rewards. To both of their shock, the old man doubled the amount of copper coins he had originally put.

"Take care ya two!" The old man shouted whilst waving at them as they marched away slowly. 

Lucian returned the wave without turning around. 

"That was easier than I expected…" Lucian mumbled after they left the yard. 'Aside from my legs wanting to give out.' He internally sighed. 

"Y-Yes…" 

"Are you going to be okay holding that?" 

"Y-Yes I will be okay." Fei responded. She could barely close her hands around her staff. Lucian didn't push trying to hold onto it as his were occupied by holding the basket that the old couple gave them as a reward.

Mixture of exhaustion and feelings of accomplishment aired around them as they set off back to the adventurer's guild.