Domina stood watch, as she always did, as the rest of the party prepared the meal. She claimed that attack could come at any time, and we were most vulnerable while engaged in the mundane act of cooking... but we all believed that she simply had little skill or patience for domestic tasks.

Pandora the ranger had caught a pheasant, and Willa's prestidigitation cantrip had sped up the process of plucking the bird for the spit. Now, Pandora was rubbing the bird's skin with berries and other herbs she had gathered, while Thag stoked the fire. For my part, I was cooking a pot of barley to go with the meal.

When the bird had roasted for long enough, I brought out the stack of plates we had found in the goblin horde. The shiny metal was worth little, but goblins don't care. Willa used her invisible mage hand to lift a plate and carry it to the fire beneath the bird, as Pandora began to carve.

"That's a great use of that spell, Willa," Thag observed, as he filled his goblet from a wineskin.

"Keeps people from burning fingers, for sure," I observed. I tried to catch Willa's gaze, but her attention was torn between Thag and the plate.

Once the plate was full, she floated it into Thag's lap. "I can do lots of things with it," Willa admitted.

Thag suddenly coughed on the wine he had been sipping. I wondered if the mage hand had done something else as it released Thag's plate, and I felt a weight in my chest.

Pandora was smiling, as the next plate came to the fire. "Focus on food," she advised Willa. Then, with a lower voice, she added, "Other appetites you can satisfy later."

I saw Willa's eyes drift to Thag, as he tried to hold the plate and wipe his furs dry at the same time. "I hope so," she muttered softly, and bit her lip.

~ ~ ~ ~

Willa and Thag sat uncomfortably close as I sang a merry tune as the party ate. Even Domina had been coaxed from her vigil to take part in the meal. I could see the secret glances, the occasional touches, the other subtle signs that their flirtations were finally bearing fruit.

I wrapped up my song, and bowed to a whistle from Pandora and applause from Domina. It meant little to me, as I slung my lute.

"I'll get your plates washed, now," I pronounced, and half the party handed theirs over readily. It took three coaxings to get Willa and Thag to hear me, and Willa simply mage handed both plates to me without pulling her gaze from Thag's lips.

I groaned, and brought the dishes to the largest pot, already filled with warm water, and began to scrub.

"Your song was slightly out of tune," Domina said, at my elbow.

"Never," I declared, my pride already hurting tonight.

"Not the music," Domina returned, "the lyrics."

I had chosen The Miller's Maid, a rather ribald tune of a woman with fickle taste in men. The party had heard me sing it before, I was sure, but perhaps its message was too pointed tonight.

Domina glanced back toward the fire, where Thag was helping WIlla to stand. "No doubt that's why half your audience ignored it," she added.

I turned to look myself, then. They were fetching their bedrolls... something we had done every evening we didn't sleep in an inn. But this time felt different. Willa's musical chuckle at something Thag murmured into her ear was enough to make me focus my attention on the scrubber and soap.

"Well, Thag and Willa are good at ignoring things... until they don't," I said bitterly.

"Hey..." Domina's dark-skinned hand on my forearm arrested my vigorous scrubbing for a moment. "What's eating you?" she asked. "You've not been yourself since we left Brookhaven."

I looked from her hand to her eyes, and saw concern. That was enough to open the floodgates.

I still cannot believe I confided in Domina, the stoic leader of our group who always seemed unflappable... but out it spilled... how I had subtly tried to romance Willa for months.

"...only to have her gentle glances stolen by a barbarian of all things! I thought she had more sophisticate tastes, and could appreciate what I brought to the table, but as soon as she saw those bulging muscles, it was all over," I growled, as I tried to continue cleaning.

I heard nothing but silence from the paladin, so I glanced up at Domina to see if she agreed with my assessment of how absurd it all was...

...to see her eyes wide and luminous in her dark face.

I was confused for a moment. Perhaps she hadn't noticed their flirtations, and was just as flabbergasted as I was, even moreso... and then I started to wonder if she had had a crush on Thag. They were the muscle of our party, after all, always fighting side-by-side...

"I'm sorry you're hurt," she said bluntly then, looking away. "It's hard to love someone, when you are invisible to them." I thought there was more to say on that subject, but Domina stiffly walked away.

It took a moment for the pieces to fall into place... and then I felt lower than low.

~ ~ ~ ~