Sugar didn't budge. She looked at Ari and wagged her tail twice, then barked at Honey. His face went scarlet. He wasn't sure what was happening. Did she think he was going to hurt Ari? He wouldn't dare to raise a finger against the young man, and it was heartbreaking that she'd turned on him so quickly. Maybe he wasn't always the perfect owner, but they loved each other. Or so he thought. Her trust had apparently vanished in mere minutes.
"It's fine," Honey huffed. He wasn't mad at Ari in any way. Really, he just wanted to apologize, but there was that fire in his blood again that told him to run. He'd never been all that great at fixing his mistakes. "Like I said, just stay here. I'll send Lovey in a bit."
He walked out of the room with his hands in his pockets, not turning back once. Sugar whimpered.
Ari kept glancing from Sugar to Honey, uncertain what, if anything, he could do about this. He didn't know why Sugar was acting this way towards her owner, nor what he could do to help mend things. All he knew was that this had all fallen apart so quickly. "I'm sorry." he said softly, scratching behind Sugar's ears again.
Sugar stood and trotted around the perimeter of the fort. She pressed her little nose to the ground as she sniffed the pillows, making sure that the space was safe. Once she was done, she did a small hop and raced back to Ari. Her tail was wagging impossibly fast. She pawed at his leg, spun in a circle, and pounced onto his lap. Then, her ears perked. She spun towards the door and started to growl but stopped when she identified the figure in the doorway.
"Sugar?" Pretty asked, visibly confused. Her long, dark hair was slicked back from rain, and it framed her face like a curtain. "I thought I heard Honey. I've been meaning to talk to him. Why do you have his dog?"
Ari poked his head out of the fort, blinking at Pretty with confusion in his own gaze. "I, uh…he just left." he said slowly. "We were talking and…" he exhaled, trying to think of how to explain. "I couldn't…I can't help him the way he needs. It's too much. He needs a therapist and I told him that I wanted to help but it was just a lot, and…I don't know. I'm doing a very bad job of explaining, but he left. He went back to his room, and Sugar wouldn't go with him. I don't know why."
Pretty frowned, crossed her arms, and propped her hip on the doorframe. "Well, that was rude of him. And Sugar. She's pretty well trained. I'm not sure why she's acting up all of the sudden."
There was a pause where she struggled with what to say. She kind of wanted to comfort Ari, but they didn't know each other very well. He'd been there to support Lovey's brother, and her partner seemed to like him quite a bit. Then again, Lovey kind of liked most people. That was her whole deal.
As if she'd been summoned, Lovey moved in the doorway beside Pretty. She stood on her tiptoes so she could kiss her girlfriend's cheek, then turned to Ari. Her expression was one of confusion. She wasn't sure what was going on, just that Honey had seemed in a hurry.
"I'm here for a Sugar pickup!" she chirped, trying her best to stay positive. Maybe things were fine. Honey could've just had an errand in town. "Divinity's watching the desk for a minute. Not that much has been happening today, honestly. I think the rain's keeping everyone inside."
Sugar wiggled around in Ari's lap, her paws in the air. When she heard Lovey's voice, she barked excitedly and tripped over her own paws trying to get to her. Lovey scooped her and pet her head.
Pretty turned back to Ari. "Hey. So. Do you have plans for the day? Someone said something about you doing gardening work, and the house in town that we've been looking at—they're willing to give it to us in a week if we can get the yard in shape. I'd pay you."
Ari looked up at the two, smiling at the way Sugar ran to Lovey. "I don't, ah, have any, no. And I'd be willing to see what I can do about the garden, yeah. You don't need to pay me, though. I have enough." he got out of the fort, smiling a little bit and running his hands through his hair. "I like gardening, so it's not like it's some massive chorse."
Pretty shook her head. Some of her dark, silky hair had fallen into her face in the process, and Lovey stepped forward to brush it behind her ear. The young swordswoman gratefully kissed her lover's palm before glancing at Ari again.
"Whether or not you like it, it's still physical labor. We'll have to pay you back somehow. It's only fair, especially if you're going to be working with me in this rain."
"It's more of a drizzle," Lovey piped up, and Pretty smiled one of her rare, small smiles.
"Criticizing my choice of words? I don't exactly see you offering to join us." If it had been anyone else, the statement might've sounded passive aggressive, but it was obvious that Pretty was teasing. Amusement bled into her tone. “Maybe it’s raining harder than you think. You’d never know.”
"I'm pregnant! I can't be doing hard labor.”
Ari listened to them, snickering faintly at Lovey's comment. "We'll see how hard it's raining, but uh, I really don't mind helping out." he said, standing and stretching a little bit, running his hands through his hair. "Seriously. If it helps get you guys out of here and into a place of your own, it's no big deal to help out."
"Aw. You're such a sweetheart, aren't you?" Lovey singsonged. She waltzed over and ruffled his hair. It was easy to imagine her doing that to a young Honey, even though they'd been children at the same time. She grinned, and it was bright and genuine, much different from her brother's forced, perfect smiles. They really were separate people. The hardships they'd faced had granted them such unique perspectives on life.
"Maybe he's trying to get bonus points. Get on a certain someone's good side." Pretty winked secretively at Ari to show she was joking. Her tone was cool and casual. "Not a bad way to do it."
Ari laughed a little bit. "Ah, maybe I am. Who can tell but me?" he replied, shrugging a shoulder. "Either way, I enjoy gardening and I will help you." he laughed again, sticking out his tongue at Lovey when she ruffled his hair. He didn't have an older sibling to ruffle his hair when he was younger, and it was a strange feeling now.
"Alright. Well, let's get to it, then. I've got some stuff that we can take that I usually use for around here. Just basic stuff. Shears for the flowers when they grow too wild, gloves for twigs or anything with thorns, even a scythe for the really tall grass. We might have some seed packets that we never used. Think you can help me carry all that?"
Lovey reprimanded her girlfriend with a look. "Oh, don't say it like that! It sounds like a challenge! You're not challenging him. He's a guest! And a very strong, capable young man."
Pretty rolled her eyes, though she was still smiling. The whole thing was clearly a joke. "Of course. Sorry. Ari, you sweet, darling angel," she said in a falsely bubbly tone, "can you help me carry some stuff?"
Ari laughed, smiling over at them. "I can help carry stuff, yes." he replied, grabbing his jacket and slinging it on. "Though if it's raining too hard, we aren't going to be able to get much done." he ran his hands through his hair, and then tied it back so that it would stay out of his face while they worked.
Pretty said, "It's thundering," at the exact same time that Lovey replied, "Light mist, at worst." The two side-eyed each other, then burst out laughing. Even Sugar seemed to join in, wagging her little tail and yipping. Lovey giggled and kissed the pup's head. She kissed her girlfriend's cheek as well before saying goodbye to everyone in the room. Though she'd like to stay for longer, she really did have to put Sugar in her crate and go work the front desk. Money didn't earn itself.
Pretty turned to Ari and tipped her chin towards the door. "C'mon, let's get going. Supply closet isn't too far from here. We'll see what we can get done while it's wet out, and I'll probably go back to do most of the work tomorrow when it dries."
It took her two long strides to get through the door and into the hallway. As she'd said, the supply closet wasn't far. She put her employee key into the lock and turned it. The room smelled of stale dust and old paint. There wasn't much in it besides a bunch of tools, ranging from home repair devices to rusted paint cans and an array of wrenches. She started loading gardening stuff in a small wheelbarrow.
"Seed packets are in the drawer of that workbench. See if you find any you like. I'm not too good at flowers or anything, so you'll probably know more than me."
Ari laughed again at their interaction, unable to stop the soft smile that pulled at his mouth. Watching two people who were clearly in love with each other was always a sweet, lovely thing to see. It really was. Oncce in the supply closet, he crouched to look through the seed packets in the workbench, examining them carefully. He wanted to mainly pick native flowers and plants, as those were the easiest to maintain. Non-native species would require more watering and care, and also could turn invasive if they weren't kept in check.
Pretty watched him out of the corner of her eye. At this point in time, she didn't have a reason not to trust him, but caution was built into her blood. She was a warrior true and true. Once it really was apparent that he was just picking seed packets, she turned to her task of filling the wheelbarrow with supplies.
"So." She coughed as a cloud of dust rose and swatted it. After it dissipated, she glanced over, sizing him up again. "Ari. I used to serve in Kevra. I used to serve in a lot of places, but Kevra was the most recent. It's an interesting place."
She placed an old, leaking bag of mulch into the wheelbarrow and followed it up with a large shovel. The edge of it was rusted.
Ari cleared his throat faintly. "Yeah, it is." he replied slowly. "Where were you, in the country?" he asked, still looking through the seed packets. "The capital? N'varre is lovely, especially in the summers. Or were you closer to our border with Anvillea?" he rather hoped she hadn't been stationed in N'varre; there was too much risk she would have seen eitehr his family or, perhaps worse, the royal family. Rinlos's family.
"No," Pretty said slowly, "I wasn't by the border. Pretty close to N'varre. Not fully in there, more on the outskirts. I was tasked with infiltrating a crime ring that was known for stealing from trade routes, but I did get to see some of the capital while I worked. And you know, the politics there are kind of complicated, aren't they?"
She kept her head down as she dug through some drawers, looking for some old gloves. Once she found them, she searched for a bucket to put weeds in. They could tie and dump a lot of the cut grass into the wheelbarrow, but smaller plants would need a special bucket so that they wouldn't blow away. She found one and set it with the rest of the supplies.
He paused for just a second, then continued sorting through the seed packets. "The politics are very complicated sometimes, yes." he replied, brows gathering for just a moment. No one but those very close to Rinlos and the king knew that Rin was the king's son; to everyone else, he was the king's orphaned nephew, the son of the king's long-dead brother. It explained away the physical resemblance between the two, and explained why the king took care of him, and why Rinlos was not in the line of succession. And, of course, Rinlos was not the name the public knew him by. Rinlos Tamare was, for the most part, an alias.
Pretty heard that slight pause and tensed. She turned towards him. There was a dangerous glint in her otherwise cool gaze. The rake she was holding suddenly seemed like a lethal weapon, especially when the rusted prongs of it caught the light.
"Listen. You seem like a nice guy, and it's not my place to get involved with whatever secrets you may have. But I need to be clear about something. If you're going to be leaving for Kevra soon, don't get involved with Honey. Alright? This isn't a threat. I need you to understand what I'm saying. You've seen what he's like. Right now, he can't afford another heartbreak. So if this is going to be too much for you, or if you've got someone back home, or if you've got some big destiny or life plan or bullshit you're going to run off to in the near future, that's fine. It really is. Just stay away from him."
He cleared his throat faintly. "I don't know how long I'll be able to stay, Pretty." he replied slowly, glancing up at her for a moment, then looking back down at the seed packets. "And it's less about my secrets and more about, ah, other people's. I don't have anyone back home– not romantically, in any case –and as for destiny and life plans…those have never been set in stone for me anyways. It's too dependent upon changing factors to be something I can count on."
Pretty rubbed the tip of her thumb along the rake's rough handle. The corners of her lips were downturned, but she wasn't exactly frowning. She looked pensive.
"I know. The future's messy. Nobody can predict how things will turn out, and hardly anything goes as planned. I didn't mean to sound hostile. I know you two aren't serious, at least not right now. But I know that he likes you, and I know that liking people hasn't turned out well for him in the past. If you're thinking this is just going to be a fling, a quick one time thing with you and him, then you're going to hurt him. A lot."
She'd been around when Honey had realized that Myr didn't actually love him. It hadn't been pretty. He'd kept putting on his makeup and mask and pretending like everything was just fine, but she'd seen him wandering the halls after midnight, drunk out of his mind.
"I'm not going to blame you if you don't want to be with him, or if something goes wrong between the two of you. That's your business. I just know that right now, he needs people who're going to stick around. A steady support system. So if you have any inkling that you might be leaving in the next week or two, try and do the right thing. For his sake."
He nodded slowly. "I get it. I think I'll be sticking around for a while, but…yeah. I'll keep what you've said in mind. I don't want to hurt him." he replied, still flicking through the seed packets. He was glad they had gotten off of the topic of secrets and N'varre; there were too many secrets hidden about that, and some of them weren't even his to tell.
Pretty nodded, then, when she realized he couldn't really see her, cleared her throat. "Yeah. Good. That's good."
She wasn't sure what else to say. Usually, she didn't speak that much; she preferred comfortable silences over small talk or emotionally charged conversations. This silence was anything but comfortable, however, which meant she'd have to fill it. She pushed the wheelbarrow out into the hall and re-entered the closet, her arms crossed.
"You know, I'm curious. You came here for your friend, right? What do you think of his partner?" She wasn't much for gossip, but the stranger was a subject of interest. Lovey was certain he was someone important. Pretty didn't really care if he was. He seemed scrawny and somewhat harmless. But she did kind of wonder what other people thought of him.
"Rinlos and Arquis? Yes, ah…Rin is one of my best friends. Arquis seems…he doesn't seem like a bad person. I don't know him well enough for a full opinion, yet." Ari replied slowly, shrugging his shoulders a little bit. "He seems like a good match for Rinlos, though. I think they'll do well together."
Pretty nodded. "He's just kind of, well, you know. Not what I'd expect."
She paused and threaded her fingers through her silky hair. Her expression was impassive, not betraying even a hint of what she was thinking. She finally sighed and glanced out to the hall.
"I've worked for a lot of rich men in the past. They usually act a certain way. Anyone that's not on their level becomes a commodity, a resource." There was no trace of bitterness in her tone, just cool certainty. "If he's part of that crowd—and Lovey thinks he is—then he shouldn't gain anything from being with Rin. Or at least that's how he should perceive it. What would he get from dating a bard? And a male bard, at that? Rinlos can't elevate his social status. They can't offer him a fortune. And what about Honey? Arquis has been helping him, but most people in his circle would just tear Honey apart for his work. It's just been bothering me. I don't like not knowing someone's motives, and he seems like a mystery."
