'Hi...' Jos lent onto the counter, a small smirk playing across their lips. Now they were at the same eye level as the Halfling.

'Whaddya want kid?' She didn't return Jos' slightly flirty attitude, still glaring.

'This is an inn right? We'd like a room, preferably two. Four of us in total.' Jos did a vague hand gesture in Julian's direction, who was lurking by the door, obviously feeling awkward.

'You think we got any room?' Their voice was laced with sarcasm, and a bit of spite. 'The circus, means everywhere's booked up.'

Jos hummed in thought, but Julian couldn't understand why she was being so rude and uncooperative. Jos was being fair, and simply asking for a room, so he had no idea why she was being so vague. A few more moments passed in silence, and Jos didn't budge. The Halfling was getting pretty damn agitated.

'Well have you got any room?!' Jos strummed their fingers on the counter, which annoyed her even more. She snarled at Jos.

'One. Was gonna save it.' She didn't explain her reasoning any more, but grabbed the key to the room from under the counter, placing it in Jos' open palm. 'Won't be comfortable for the four of you.'

Jos didn't seem to mind, and instead spun on their heel to face Julian and the door. 'Thank youuuuu!' They sung before returning to Julian's side. 'My annoying stubbornness has finally got me somewhere!'

Julian chuckled and shook his head at their antics. 'Good job, they seemed a bit, uh, uncooperative.'

'Eh, it's what they do.' Jos shrugged, still with a smile on their face. 'Save a room or two for the real late arrivals, and then charge massive prices.'

'Sounds a bit naf.'

'Naf? People really say that?? Well, anyway, it's a business strategy.' They returned to the streets, both finding it slightly unsettling to be confronted with such a crowd after a bit of peace and quiet. 'We should probably go and find Alice and, uh, the grouchy one, shouldn't we?'

'The grouchy one?!' Julian's voice was laced with amusement.

'I have a thing about remembering names.'

'It's Oliver. But, yes. Let's go find 'the grouchy one' and Alice.' Julian smiled and looked out over the crowds again. It was obvious they wouldn't be able to find them from there. 'We’ll be able to find them easy I'm sure.'

His voice was flat, and he looked over to Jos whose face was also expressionless.

'Yes, yes. Very easy.' Jos nodded and looked back at Julian, before both of them fell into fits of laughter.

'Come on, let's go. We should find a vantage point or something.' They nudged him on the arm slightly, before leading him off in a random direction yet again.

The buildings on the outskirts were very similar; small, cramped and on story tall. But, as they ventured further into the middle of the town they saw the newer buildings, where most of them were at least two stories. It was obvious that magic was used in their construction, as their structures looked more stable than most standard housing. It was probably all thanks to their Elves, and their experimental magic which a lot of the humans refused to take part in.

'This is pretty cool, right?' Now Julian really was comparable to a puppy with his wide eyes and the bounce in his steps.

'Sure, sure!' Jos raised their voice slightly so he could hear them over the loud noises and shouts around them.

Both of them definitely got distracted from their original goal of finding Oliver and Alice, and letting them know they had found somewhere to stay. Instead, they got lured off to the side where a half-elf was performing small and silly magic tricks and illusions. Jos didn't find any enjoyment in watching them perform, but instead found it funny to watch Julian react to it. It was obvious to them that he wasn't a normal traveller, but they found his company great nonetheless.

'Not seen much magic?' Jos laughed and tapped Julian to gain his attention from the silly illusions.

'Not really!' Julian's face was bright as he turned towards Jos, 'I've only really known one guy with magic, and he's normally quite reserved about it.'

'Well you know two now!' Jos produced a small flame in their hand to remind Julian that they did in fact possess magic.

'Oh, right! Sorry! I completely forgot!' Be bounced nervously, and slightly awkwardly, on the balls of his feet. 'Should we go find Oliver and Alice? They're probably wondering where we've gone off to.'

'Fair point.' Jos led him away again, keeping their eyes peeled. 'You know, if you really are interested in magic I can teach you some things.'

Julian could barely hear them, so instead just stuck his thumbs up in their direction. He was a little more distracted than Jos though, so instead of keeping his eye out for the others, he tried to catch sight of all of the weird and wonderful demonstrations that were being shown.

After barely a minute of walking, Jos spotted a small bit of space where no one appeared to be standing. There must have been a reason, but they didn't particularly care. But when they finally were able to see more than a metre around them at once, they still didn't have any luck with spotting them.

'I can't see them...' A hint of worry was noticeable in Julian's voice.

'I'm sure we'll find them-' Jos stopped midsentence.

An arrow was flying towards them, aimed right at Julian's head.