Fall

  “My father worked in the factories. His father worked in the mines. I’d like to show my boy a tour of those, but noooo. ‘He needs to see the lake’, she says. Like some type of damn elf or somethin’. No offense.”

  “Nah, I totally get it.” Jay said.

  “No offense taken. I live here, I don't vacation here.” Hal said.

  The dwarf crumpled another empty beer can, grumbling as he pulled out yet another. “Next year we’ll go to the mines.”

  “That’d be fun. I should do that sometime.” Jay said.

  “Mmm.” Hal agreed.

  The three men were posted on a large boulder overlooking Hal’s favorite fishing spot. It was a sheltered area where the underwater vegetation flourished next to a natural drop off. Today’s luck was pretty terrible, but as nobody had anything better to do, here they were catching only cheap beer and bullshit.

  "Anyways, the wife talked me into coming out here until Fallfest and I agreed because you knows ‘the Hells have no fury like a pissed off dwarven lass.’"

  Jay chuckled.

  Hal swore. "Jay, I was supposed to ask you if you wanted a booth for the fall festival?"

  "If it's anything like the summer festival the answer is Hells yeah."

  "Oh? What ya sellin'?" Asked the dwarf.

  "Coffee." Jay replied.

  "Coffee!" Scoffed the dwarf. "Beer would be better."

  "You're not wrong, but that brings in a whole lot of extra government."

  "I s'pose that's a fair point aaannd... I think I got a bite! Wait! Nope."

  ***

  Nohana frowned. She could hear the rattle of the sewing machine as Lilly worked on her Fallfest costume, but the Tel’ani girl still wasn’t answering the door. Nohana let out a sigh and unlocked the damn thing with her own key. Lilly was sitting at her work table putting something together.

  “Lilly?”

  The sewing machine stopped, but Lilly didn’t otherwise acknowledge Nohana’s presence.

  “Lillyana? Would you like to watch a movie tonight?”

  Lilly leaned back in her chair. She took a long inhaling breath and let it out forcefully. “Would you like to tell me why you went to the city without me?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Really?” Lilly’s bright golden eyes sparked until Nohana said.

  “But I’m not going to yet.”

  Lilly frowned and returned to her sewing.

  “Sooo, no movie?”

  Nohana didn’t get an answer. She gave it a minute before withdrawing her head and relocking the door. Lilly would get over her keeping this single secret one way or another.

  ***

  "You ready for this?" Jay asked as he sorted cups, filters, pre-ground coffee beans, and business cards.

  Nohana stood in front of the register rocking back and forth on her heels. "No." She replied quickly. "But I'm doing it."

  Jay nodded. Nohana in light gray cargo pants and a blue hoodie didn't look dressed up for the occasion, but Jay supposed that was just Nohana being Nohana. She looked nervous. It was going to be a long day.

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  The tourists had started trickling in a few hours ago. Currently his coffee wasn’t doing as well as Mrs. Holton's spiced cider, but her supply was far more limited and it was only a matter of time. The square was decorated with all the fixings and colors of fall. People crowded the food area and the bandstand. The blonde next to him continued to fidget.

  "She still upset that you went to the city without her?"

  "Yeah, but she is talking to me again."

  Jay nodded. "I suppose that will work itself out in a few hours."

  "Yeah… And there she is. Speaking of the Demon Prince of Hell."

  Lilly was dressed in a red, pink, and white, cherry blossom print kimono with her hair done up in some type of bun complete with chopsticks.

  "She's such a weeb." Jay commented.

  "Yeah." Nohana exhaled. "A very pretty weeb."

  "Are you going to spend the whole day helping him again?" Lilly asked Nohana.

  "For a while. Then maybe we can go for a walk?"

  Lilly frowned.

  "I'll tell you why I went to the city without you." The blonde added.

  Lilly gave Nohana an incredulous look. "For real this time?"

  "Well, I'll show you."

  "Fine. It's a date then."

  "Yes." Nohana replied.

  Lilly gave the blonde a puzzled look. "You've been acting weird lately."

  "You look very pretty."

  The Tel'ani girl's eyes flicked over to Jay, then back to Nohana. "Thank you? I've got. To go… See you later?"

  "She's getting suspicious."

  Jay shrugged. "Too late now."

  "I'm not ready for this."

  "You'll be fine. Just let me know when you want to shut this down."

  ***

  "Where are we going?" Lilly asked as Nohana led her by the hand down the alleyway and away from the main body of the festival.

  "Almost there."

  Nohana stopped under a very specific streetlamp and physically turned Lilly until she was in the correct spot. "Oh I totally know where this is going. I thought you were acting nervous. Are we really going to..."

  Nohana drew in a deep breath to steady her nerves, took a step back, then dropped to one knee. "Lilly?"

  Lilly's eyes went wide and her hands reflexively moved to cover her mouth. "Gods. This is not where I thought this was going."

  Nohana pulled a small black box out of her hoodie’s pocket. Lilly virbated. “Lillyana Illiana Fisher, will…”

  “YES!” Lilly squealed.

  “Gwwahh!” Nohana yelled as she was tackled to the ground.

  “Oh my gods yes! Oh my gods yes!”

  “Lilly, I didn’t get to finish asking the question.”

  “That was hilarious.” Jay chuckled.

  Lilly let out a sound that was half chirp, half scream, and threw a rock at Jay.

  “Ow! Lilly! Ow! Hey!”

  “Fuck you!” Lilly yelled, throwing more rocks.

  “Stoooopp! Ahhh!”

  “You knew!” The Tel’ani girl threw another rock. She looked toward Nohana. “He knew? How long?”

  “About two months.” Nohana said, pulling herself up into a sitting position.

  “Two months!?” Lilly grabbed another rock and took aim at Jay. “Why the hell are you here?”

  “Ooww! Stop that!” Jay yelled back.

  “Can you stop throwing rocks?” The blonde asked. “That’s my phone he’s holding.”

  ***

  “Congratulations.” Said Selina while holding Lilly’s hand and examining the ring. Hal stood straight with his arms crossed and wearing a somewhat confused look on his face. He looked from a slightly red faced Nohana to a beaming Lilly, then a quick glance at Jay who was recording everything with Nohana’s cell phone. “How long?”

  “Hmmm?” Lilly asked.

  “How long have you two been a thing?” He clarified.

  Lilly shrugged. “Like four or five years.”

  “How in the Abyssal-Hell did you keep this a secret for that long?”

  Nohana continued holding Lilly’s hand and staring at the ground. “We…”

  “Not you.” Hal interrupted. His gaze honed in on his little sister. “You.”

  “I can keep a secret!” Lilly protested.

  “Since when?”

  “Since it was important to Hana.”

  Hal moved his gaze to the blonde who seemed to be trying to shrink away into oblivion. “Is this going to be a problem with your family?”

  Nohana nodded.

  “Oh, her mom’s gonna go ballistic.” Lilly commented.

  Hal frowned. His eyes shifted over toward Jay. “Would you turn that damn thing off?”

  ***

  Nohana and Lilly were sitting on the retaining wall that separated the sandy beaches of the cove from the lawn of the town’s resort. The sky was dark and the moon cast its light over the Big Lake making the water sparkle. Lilly’s head lay on Nohana’s shoulder and it was impossible for Jay to tell if she was sleeping or not as he tapped Nohana on her free side. The blonde looked up at him.

  “I’m gonna clean up and head home.” He said, handing her cell phone back to her.

  “Oh. Thanks Jay.”

  “Not a problem. See ya tomorrow.”

  “You too.”

  “Hey Nohana?”

  “Hmmm?”

  “Congratulations.”

  “Thanks.”

  Nohana listened to Jay’s footsteps slowly disappear. Her legs and ass were cold, but the side the Tel’ani girl was leaning on was warm and the view was perfect. She wondered how things were going to change. Lilly’s family loved her. Nohana’s family was too pious to admit they hated Lilly. There was going to be blowback for this. Yet somehow, Nohana couldn’t make herself care.