"I didn't know you had company." Peter stammered when he saw the elf queen lounging in my couch.
"She's a friend from work."
"Loraina Althurien Tua'nan, high queen of Lithurien." Of course she had to introduce herself with title and all. I started thinking what would I say to the director and how to explain I brought the elven queen to my apartment when Peter bowed politely as if it was the natural thing to do.
"Your highness."
"At least someone knows a thing about manners in this world." She glared at me and Peter dragged me to a corner.
"It's not what you think, she's just a friend." I explain to avoid misunderstandings, but he tilted his head in confusion.
"I know you wouldn't cheat on your girlfriend, but your friend's cosplay is on another level. And she's a LARPER!"
"Yes." I voiced though I didn't even know what that meant.
"Live-action roleplaying." Peter explained.
"Oh, sure." I shrugged.
When takeout finally arrived Loraina seemed pleased. She eyed the food like she had been starved for two weeks, mostly because that was precisely the case. I learned a couple things from watching her eat. Like the fact that elves are not vegetarian or vegan like some people believe. Also, that she was incredibly dextrous with both chopsticks and a fork. She didn't drop a single grain of rice with gracious movements that used the precise amount of force.
"I apologize for looking down on you, this dine was as lavish as palace banquets." She wiped her mouth with a napkin, though there were no crumbs or stains anywhere.
"You really went all out. Are we celebrating something or you expected more people?"
"So, what did you do now to get yourself kicked out?" I changed the subject.
"Nothing, she said she needed space." Peter let out. Noticing that Loraina was interested he proceeded to narrate his entire relationship to her.
"And you are not married to this woman you speak of?"
"No, we're not even engaged."
"And it is your castle the one in question?" She asked as if owning a castle was the most ordinary thing. In this case she wasn't wrong, though, since Peter's mansion does look like it was taken from straight from a fantasy novel.
"Yes, I own it outright."
"I am not familiar with the customs of this world, but it seems to me that you are either incredibly generous or blind when it comes to love. You must not let others take advantage of you, especially when they use love as a facade." Loraina's sage advice came accompanied with sad eyes, as if she spoke to herself rather than giving advice.
"I know it's my home, but she has nowhere else to go."
"Maybe she should think about that before kicking you out."
"She has a point." I cheer to that with a can of soda. Peter seemed thoughtful for a minute, then asked me directly.
"If you think the same then why didn't you say something?"
"Honestly, I didn't want you to think I only said it to get you out of my place. Besides, I rarely get to see you and these are the only times we get to hang out." I shrug. Peter looks emotional for some reason and Loraina nods knowingly before speaking.
"If you want your relationship to succeed, then you need to be honest to her, but also to yourself."
"What do you mean?"
"You think her demands are fair which is why you let her reach out of all right and kick you out, instead of addressing the root of the situation."
"You are wise as you are beautiful, high queen Loraina Althurien Tua'nan of Lithurien." I swear I don't know how did Peter even remember all that. He's a goof that can't remember what he ate for breakfast.
"And you, Peter of Silicon Valley are a flirt." She chuckled.
"Well, don't let my girlfriend know or I'll be back here tomorrow." Peter said goodbye and left the place in a rush.
Next morning I woke up feeling wrecked like every time I slept on the couch. I would usually curse under my breath about how my day is ruined because of it, but it was fated to be a bad day from the start. I couldn't go to the office and had to remain with the elf queen all the time. More than a bodyguard of the sorts I felt like a babysitter where the baby was an adult. Now that I think about it the director mentioned Elves are non senescent which means they don't age.
"How old are you?"
"Around three thousand years, but it's not like I keep track of my age." She said without taking her eyes out from the TV. She was awfully invested for just a commercial advertisement about cereal.
"Wow." I let out.
"Are you impressed because I look young?" She snorted. That's not the case, for someone so old she's pretty immature. Not that I would ever say that.
"So, they say the gate will probably be ready this evening. Is there anything you would like to do before returning to your world?" She pondered for a few seconds before replying.
"I'm sure there's much to see in your world, but there's enough magical devices here to keep me entertained for a century or two. I'm considering a technology exchange with your world."
"I don't think that will be allowed, we are pretty strict with that sort of thing."
"Too bad, my people could largely benefit from your technology."
"So you say, but technology is just like magic," She directed me a puzzled look that forced me to continue. "it can do a lot of good, but it has the downside that it can also be used for evil. You can say technology isn't to blame, but maybe it is." I'm not trying to make a point, just conversation.
"You're probably right, my world doesn't have anything to offer to yours except for magic, but it's also pretty dangerous. People here live comfortable lives, they can fly to other countries without a drop of mana and there's magical devices in every house that can be activated even by children. Even the peasants of this world enjoy luxuries not even royalty in my world can afford."
"You're talking about toilets, right?" She blushed so it appears I hit the nail on the head. I'm not that experienced in dimensional travel, but the one thing I missed in other worlds are modern toilets.
"Your friend is nice." She changed the subject and I allowed it. I don't think talking about toilets is appropriate with a queen.
"He is, but he's always in some romantic drama." Now that I think about it, Patrick and Harris are the same. Good thing I'm stable in that regard. My friends always said I'm boring, but I'll take peace over melodrama any day.
I was occupied on these thoughts when Thompson notified me the preparations for the gate were almost done. Loraina seemed like she wanted to stay a bit longer, but then mentioned something about her duty being more important than her selfish desires and joined me outside. The elevator made it to my floor and when it opened Patrick and Maggie walked out.
"See you later." I said after entering the elevator and pushing the close button the moment Loraina walked in. Bullet dodged.
By the time we made it to the office the gate was waiting for us at the white room, but it was decided I would walk in first to confirm if it was the correct world using the system as a means to communicate across worlds. Of course, they didn't know about the system manager being a person and thought it was just a gadget. Working on a need to know basis was troublesome at times, but that's just part of the job. Ten minutes later I was back at the white room with bruises all over my body. My face told the entire Rocky Balboa saga as I returned disfigured from the other world.
"You're useless." Loraina said as she placed her hands on my chest to chant a healing spell. It was different to the first aid I received from agents before. It wasn't just more powerful, but also very pleasant rather than itchy.
"Wrong world I take it." Thompson spoke calmly as he adjusted his glasses. Funny how that simple gesture summarizes half his identity.
"Definitely, there were these human like people with monkey tails and odd looking clothes. They were fighting each other and then one of them gave me a beating without a reason." I say the moment my swollen face recovers.
"Sorry, it was my first try." Nora apologized profusely then proceeded to calibrated another gate. Now that the mana was ready it took her only a few minutes to prepare the gate.
"Where did you get that from?" Asked Thomson when he noticed the straw hat in my hand.
"There was this weird guy who claimed to be the pirate king or something. As an agent of the law I had to arrest him, but he somehow slipped away." I throw away the useless hat and look sternly at Nora.
"I'm sorry, I'll get it right this time." She said, but she clearly was tired.
"Perhaps it's better if I use my mana. I have plenty to spare." Loraina, the high queen of Lithurien stepped forward.