The support group building was much busier than usual. While most meetings were traditional, every once in a while John liked to organize events that were meant to help give everyone experiences they’d need to better get along in Avalon. In the past he’d had several cart vendors show up and help explain local currency and haggling, he’d explained to everyone how to use pixies to send and receive messages, and he’d even taken everyone to the Infinite Library on a few occasions. This time was a little different. He’d spoken to several of his clients over the last few months as well as their families, and gotten nearly thirty representatives of different races and cultures to agree to come to an informal gathering with his group. There were several dwarves and elves, as well as two orcs, several naga, a dryad, a nyad, a few kobolds, and even some native humans.
John went over to the refreshments table, lugging a box with some more ale and wine so that he could set them out. He normally didn’t allow drinking at his meetings, but he felt like some social lubricant may be helpful in this case. There was a lizardfolk bard in the corner playing a tune that could pass for some generic Earth rock, but was something local. After he laid out all of the drinks he opened one of the ale glasses and took a sip. He preferred mixed drinks or straight liquor, but it was quite good and helped him to relax a little after spending nearly an hour introducing people to each other.
He saw Sarah keeping to a small group of humans in a corner and approached them.
“-and that’s when I told him, that’s not my shoulder,” getting a solid round of laughs from those that were around them.
“Hey guys, how’re you all doing?” he asked.
“We’re good,” said Sarah, sipping her wine.
“You spoken to anyone with more or less than two legs since you got here?”
Sarah frowned. “I said excuse me to one of the snake people, does that count?”
“Not quite, and they’re called Naga,” replied John. “Listen, I hate to threaten this, but if you don’t mingle a bit I’ll be forced to make everyone do…” he looked dramatically left and right, “icebreakers.”
That elicited a groan from all of them and a few broke off immediately to join some of the other small groups.
“Come on Sarah,” he said, “Let me introduce you to the bard.”
She frowned at him.
“It’s that or two truths and a lie.”
She sighed and followed behind him as they approached the lizardman as he placed his lute down and shook his fingers before taking a long drink of the wine he’d placed on a stool next to himself. He was short for a lizardkin, only around John’s height, and was wearing a purple doublet that contrasted nicely with his emerald green scales.
“Hey Tyk, great job so far.”
The lizardfolk flicked his tongue and approximated a smile. “Thanks. It’s not easy mixing music like this.”
“Well you’re doing really well.” John gestured to Sarah, “this is Sarah, she’s a performer too.”
“Oh, a fellow bard,” he stood up and removed his hat, bowing deeply to her.
“I’m called a comedian back where I’m from,” she said, returning the bow a little awkwardly. John appreciated her attempt at being a good sport.
“Like a jester, yes?” asked Tyk.
“I suppose… but with less jingly bells.”
Tyk gave a hiss laugh. “That’s good. Must make you sneakier with your japes.”
“Well, I still wear them, I just save them for the bedroom.”
John laughed and slowly backed away from their conversation. Sara was a big part of his motivation for this party. She always had difficulty getting along with any non-humans, but he figured if she could get a few laughs it may warm her up a bit. He heard a bit of a stir toward the center of the party and saw Eric, still in his jumpsuit as always, bent down over a Dwarf that was looking up at him with his teeth clenched.
“-care what you’ve built with your own two hands. I ain’t seen nothing on this pla that would ever compare to good old-fashioned American engineering,” said Eric with infuriating certainty for someone who likely saw a half-dozen floating castles on the way to the meeting.
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“I would challenge this, ‘American’ to forge anything half as impressive as the hammer of falling stars! Or build any palace so beautiful and perfect as the hall of the old lords!”
“A hammer and a hall eh? Doesn’t sound all that great compared to an old eff one fitty, and the highway system built by Eisenhower.”
“Your eye-sin-how-ear would be honored to kiss the little toe of my ancestor Ironbeard of the Golden forge.”
“Don’t you talk about him like that, he was an american president. I wouldn’t even let someone talk about a democrat that way you short fucker!”
The dwarf threw a swing of a fat fist and nailed Eric in the gut. Eric returned the blow by kicking the dwarf in the face. After that the dwarf tackled him and soon they were rolling around exchanging blows and curses.
Rene moved to intercede, but John held up a hand to him and shook his head.
The scuffle continued for a bit longer, and after Eric got a particularly rough hit to the ribs John was about to move to break them up, but very suddenly the dwarf was standing and laughing.
Eric pushed himself back onto his feet and looked angrily at the laughing dwarf for a moment, seeming as if he may actually attack him again, when he hesitated, and a chuckle broke from his lips as well, followed by a full canter belly laugh.
John had never heard Eric laugh so hard before, but found himself smiling at the sound.
“You fight like a dwarf,” said the dwarf. “Maybe your ‘american’ smiths are as impressive as you claim if you fight to defend their honor like that.”
Eric nodded. “Maybe your dwarven ones are too. I’ll bet your grandpa Ironbeard was an impressive guy if a guy that took a kick to the face like you came out of his balls.”
“You and I, we must drink!”
Eric nodded sagely. “Hell yeah brother.” They moved over to the recently refreshed beverage table and grabbed two beers each. John considered seeing if a healer could take a look at them, but knowing Eric he’d refuse on some grounds of toughness and his dwarven friend seemed to be of a similar disposition.
Rene shook his head in surprise. “I’m really impressed. You knew that the fight would lead to that, didn’t you?”
John laughed. “Oh, I had absolutely no idea that that’s what would happen.”
“Then why did you let it happen?”
“Because I thought Eric could use a light beating.”
Rene held a hand in front of his mouth to hide a smile, but couldn’t help letting out a small guffaw at what he’d said.
John didn’t mind being wrong. A short fight might teach Eric a lesson or two about respecting other people’s cultures and ideas, but a new friend could do the same thing and more. Eric didn’t even get along with any of the others from Earth.
John finished his drink and went to find Ben muttering to himself grumpily in the corner.
“You alright, Ben?” asked John, already knowing what kind of complaints he’d be hearing from him.
“No. I’m hideous and none of the women here will look at me without scowling.”
“Half of the women here have beards or are half snake. I don’t know that your looks are the problem.” It had been a while since John had tried to confront him about this, and he hoped that this time he’d be able to get through to him a bit better.
“What else could it be?”
John sighed. “You’re very aggressive, suggestive, rude, and entitled. Women don’t tend to respond well to those attributes. Well, most women don’t, I shouldn’t generalize too much.”
“If I was still hot it wouldn’t matter.”
“Have you seen all the different types of people that live here in Avalon? Trolls, giants, dwarves, gnomes, naga, lizardfolk, birdfolk, dragonkin, elves, demons, undead, elementals, deepkin, and they are all sleeping with each other.”
“I’m not interested in the ugly ones.”
“Even some of the pretty ones may actually like your looks.” John pulled out the bag he’d filled with books he got from Mia, pulling out one of the books and shoving it into Ben’s claws. This one had a man with the head of a bat clutching a beautiful woman tightly and was titled, Leather wings and Lavender Lips. “These types of books were popular back on earth and are just as popular here. You need to stop using your looks as an excuse and start looking at other reasons you’re having so much trouble.”
Ben scowled and shoved the book back into John’s chest.
“Fuck you man. I have it hard enough as it is without you telling me it’s all my own fault.”
“Your bad behaviors aren’t necessarily all your own fault, but they are your responsibility. As is addressing the-”
“Fuck this,” Ben turned away from John and walked toward the door, pushing his way rudely through everyone in his path.
John sighed and put the book back into his bag. His eyes drifted over the crowd and he was happy to see Eric and the dwarven man still sharing a drink and Sarah sharing a laugh with the bard. He reminded himself that one failure didn’t outdo the good he’d done. He moved over to the refreshments table to grab another drink.
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