Intent to Avoid

Rejecting a quest was easier said than done. Poltas had done his best to avoid Winzton whenever possible, but it clearly was not good enough.

Unwilling to do the quest was only one of the reasons for not talking to Winzton. The other reason was his own lack of knowledge. All Winzton wanted to talk about was Poltas' past, none of which was spent in Floretia.

Even if he skipped lunch, Winzton would find him after class and try to start a conversation. It had come to the point that Poltas had even resorted to working at the clinic again to get away from these conversations.

Alas good things did not come to those who evaded, and that was definitely why Winzton ended up with an invitation for dinner at Brandial's cottage.

No, it had nothing to do with Poltas feeling bad when Winzton confronted him on whether Poltas hated him, or disliked his company.

The quest was not Winzton's fault, and neither was Poltas' lack of information. So it was definitely unfair how he was being treated.

The guilty conscience had only been there to weaken his resolve. Once the invitation for dinner was made, Poltas went back to panic mode.

"You invited your coworker for dinner on a night you are unavailable?"

"Eh yes, something like that."

"And you want me to make dinner and eat it with him as an apology."

"It sounds bad when you say it like this, I will make it up to him myself. But could you have dinner with him instead, please Brandial."

Unwilling to spit or swallow, Poltas turned to Brandial for help. Since he could not go back on his word with Winzton, the dinner had to happen. But if he wasn't present, surely the quest couldn't proceed. Afterwards to remedy Winzton's misconception, he would eat lunch with him once in a while. It was a foolproof plan, until Brandial refused to help.

"It doesn't sound appropriate to me Poltas. I am familiar with Winzton but we have never even greeted each other outside of work. If you can't make it, just apologise to him and reschedule."

"....but."

"Are you embarrassed about rescheduling in person?"

"Maybe…"

"Then just write him a note and leave it at his desk. He will come see you with an alternative solution himself."

Poltas couldn't tell her that doing this would only worsen the ideas in Winzton's mind. Either he had to have a talk face-to-face, or not reschedule at all. But the whole reason for requesting Brandial's help was to avoid having dinner with Winzton.

"I…"

"Poltas, I know you are new here and don't want to offend others unnecessarily. But if you make a mountain out of every molehill, can you even survive alone?"

The topic derailed the more they discussed. Next in line was a motherly lecture about Poltas' irresponsible behaviour.

"Is there really no way for you to attend this dinner instead of me?"

"No there isn't."

When Plan A fails, there is always Plan B and C, or even D. Since Brandial didn't agree to the dinner, Poltas had to come up with a new scheme.

Acting like the precious disciple of the guardian that he was, he followed Brandial's advice to reschedule the dinner with Winzton.

Winzton had a lot of doubts about the way Poltas behaved around him. He was not the best at interacting with women but with Poltas he had been the most social one of the two. Still she kept him at an arm's length.

Being at the cottage with Poltas greeting him convinced him that perhaps his ideas had been incorrect and his coworker had just been very busy in the past few days.

"Glad you could make it Winzton."

"Thank you for inviting me."

"It's my pleasure, I didn't want a certain someone to think that they were hated or something."

"That…uh…"

"You came sort of early, we weren't done making dinner yet."

"My apologies. As my punishment I can help you out with anything that is left."

Poltas guided Winzton to the living room as they chatted. Brandial must have heard his offer because she immediately called out from the kitchen.

"If you can help set up the table that would be wonderful."

"Oh uh. Good evening Miss Brandial. I didn't know you would be home as well."

"Hahaha, were you expecting to have a romantic dinner for two with my friend instead."

"No..uh…"

"Am I third wheeling here?"

"What?! No! Not at all Miss Brandial, I am very happy to see you!"

"You don't have to be shy. If you came for a date, we can consider this a date, but with three people instead."

Winzton blushed into speechlessness, while Poltas felt himself gag a bit.

'Me and him, don't even imply it, Brandial.'

"Don't tease my boss so much, I still need him to work tomorrow."

"Hahaha."

"This…."

"Okay okay, I won't tease the top scholar of Pamsteria anymore. Let's make sure dinner gets done first."

"That's very high praise coming from the Keeper, I am humbled."

Winzton was ill equipped to deal with Brandial's attention, but even the offhand comments didn't do him justice. Poltas decided to cut the conversation off before Winzton combusted on the spot.

"Having dinner sooner would be great."

In front of the Keeper, Winzton was like a whole other person. He would stutter quite often and talk a lot more quietly. Poltas had to reevaluate if the man even had any presence at the dinner.

'Did he really come here thinking it was a date with me?'

Meanwhile Poltas' thoughts drifted far off from reality. Luckily this is why he had a plan. Not soon after the dinner was set on the table and the meal began, an unexpected guest showed up at the cottage.