Amet's writing corner.

While it is not unusual to see the farmer look rather glum, today seemed to be a particularly bad day if Wheedle could see a hint of a tear in Lluvia's eyes. He normally wouldn't think twice about it if it was anyone else, but his fondness over her made her an exception, and in turn, made him want to take up her personal space as usual to pinch her cheeks.

She tried to bite him in retaliation, finding it infuriating that he chose a bad time to bother her, but once Lluvia tried to chomp down on his fingers, Wheedle quickly retreated with a short laugh.

"Feisty today, aren't we?" he said with a stupid grin.

That made Lluvia pause, before snorting out a short laugh. As much as this sleaze is a bother, Wheedle does tend to make her laugh over the dumbest reason. If it wasn't over something he has said, it's definitely over something he has done, for better or for worse. And it's usually for worse. "Why are you bothering me, Wheedle?"

"Seeing all of my favorite customers unhappy only makes me unhappy," he replied, an outright lie, but one that nearly brought a hint of a smile from her. "And I have no desire to leave anyone without a reason to smile." Wheedle then tried to push up the corner of Lluvia's lips to force one, but she quickly slapped his hands away while laughing.

"Idiot!" she yelled out, still laughing despite it. Lluvia then shook her head, as her lips stayed curled. Whatever is plaguing her before is now gone, replaced by a mixture of annoyance and joy. "You are worse than a clown."

"Perhaps, but hey, I am glad to see your winning smile, Lluvia," Wheedle said with a wink, which got her blushing in return.

Lluvia came to a stop before a mirror once she noticed a small scar on her face that she swore wasn't there before. As she pressed a calloused finger over it, she thought about how much she might have changed over the years since she had arrived in Mistria.

It's hard to believe she is the same person that had left home all those years ago, just to get away from her overbearing mother, as she tried to shape Lluvia into an image that was far from impossible. It didn't matter how much she tried to capture their ancestor's image, even if they shared the same name, Lluvia is her own person, with her own wants in life. She had learned to accept that as she grew up, not that her mother cared.

"Oh, it's you!" Oscar piped up as he appeared from behind his elder sister with a wide, beaming smile.

From behind his booth, Wheedle watched as Lluvia burst into laughter, while in the company of Celine and Reina. It seemed that, despite her weariness, there was that spark of life within the farmer, that he tends to see more often in private. Something that he didn't want others to notice. That brilliance, that shared the same shimmer, as a perfect diamond.

As Lluvia eventually parted ways with the ladies, Wheedle was quick to put up an "out to lunch" sign on his booth, before searching through his boxes of various merchandise. Once he had found the item he was looking for, he scrambled from his stall to go after the farmer, as she was on her way back to her farm. With a whistle, he caught her attention, making her stop in place to turn to him, while he caught up. "Good afternoon, Lluvia," he greeted her with his usual smile, but not with the usual theatrics he puts on during his sales.

Which the farmer found rather unusual. "Is something wrong?" she asked, genuinely concerned over him.

But Wheedle shrugged before grabbing her gloved hand to place the hairpin into her palm. "Take this, as my way of thanking you for your valuable support, my violet-haired friend," he said, before letting her go.

As she laid her eyes on the silver pin, she gasped as she had soon realized that it had a gem, colored violet and yellow, embedded in it. "Woah... This is an ametrine!" she shrilled with a large grin. "You know, I haven't found one here in Mistria?!"

Lluvia then fell silent as her expression changed from joy, to suspicion as she eyed Wheedle silently. "What's the catch?"

"No catch, Lluvia," he replied, seemingly to be surprisingly honest, which only unsettled the farmer. "If you like there to be one, then perhaps we can discuss that later, when our work is done."

"Right..." Despite her hesitation, Lluvia didn't really want to deny such a beautiful gift. It made her take off her grey hat to clip it in her hair, which bothered her even more, now knowing it's a legitimate gift that Wheedle, of all people, have given her. "I... Don't know how to feel about this," she said bluntly.

"Take it," he huffed. "Now I need to get back to work. Until later, Lluvia."

As she trudged on back to her farm house, Lluvia eyes caught the sight of a flickering flame across the lake. Knowing the likely source of it, a weary smile formed on her lips as she made her way there instead, to find the sleaze wearing a rather ugly jacket, like usual, sitting under her gazebo.

Wheedle clicked the golden lighter closed, extinguishing the flame, while enjoying the cigar he lit as he leaned back against the marble seat. He gave Lluvia a wave with a crooked grin, before scooting aside.

While this had brought a certain memory to mind, Lluvia knew that tonight is one that won't lead to anything, so she sat down beside him to lay her head against his arm.

To her surprise, Wheedle wrapped it around her shoulder to pull her closer, and let her rest against his chest. "A lovely night, isn't it?" he said, breaking the silence.

"As long as you don't cause a fire with that thing, sure." Lluvia chuckled.

"Such a shame that you don't share such vice... but then again, I suppose that it's good for your health, or whatever."

The farmer scoffed, despite her smile, as she shut her heavy eyes. "Please, do me a favor, and hush, Wheedle. Let me enjoy this..."

"Rare to see you so relaxed, my violet-haired friend," Wheedle purred, as he leaned over Lluvia, while she laid on the field of flowers that she had grown.

"Doctor's orders..." she sighed, as she rubbed her eyes. The dark rings under them seemed to be a tad darker than usual, but it might be because she isn't wearing her glasses. "I must take an actual break for the sake of my health... Whatever that means."

The sleaze chuckled as he knelt down beside her, not wanting to get his suit dirty, despite seeking the farmer for company as usual during this Friday evening. "You certainly are dedicated to your work. An admirable trait, but not enviable in my humble opinion."

Lluvia frowned, before letting out a snort. "We have our own way of living. Speaking of, did you know that I nearly got killed because of you?"

"What?" Wheedle blinked in disbelief, making her chuckle as she sat up from the ground.

"It was like a few years ago, at the Capital. Some person you swindled thought I was working for you, so they tried to take it out on me. I didn't really understand how or why they thought that. Maybe they saw us hanging out at some point."

Wheedle paused to think over the (endlessly) long list of people that might have wanted him dead. While he understood why he would be a target, to know that Lluvia was attacked because of him was rather unexpected. Even then, knowing her, she must have fought back like a beast.

"Want to see the scar they gave me?" Lluvia asked with a smirk, tearing him away from his thoughts as she slid off her overalls to lift up her shirt.

He let out a low whistle while rubbing his chin at the sight of it on her waist. Even though he had seen it several times before, now knowing the cause behind it amused him somewhat. "Fascinating. I imagine that, despite your injury, you returned the favor ten fold."

"I mean..." Lluvia let out a brief scoff, as she remembered the fight. "I... might have gone a little overboard... But you know, nothing they probably couldn't had walked off." She paused. "Hopefully."

"What are you doing?" Balor asked, as he leaned over Lluvia's shoulder, while she was searching for sticks on the ground, with a pinecone in hand.

She turned to him with a feline-like smile before resuming her search. Once she found the thickest ones, she pushed the sticks into the pinecone, and showed it to the blue-haired merchant. "I made a cone cow! It's cute isn't it?" she giggled.

But Balor could only raise a brow at her, feeling a mixture of worry and confusion over the farmer. "Are you... Well?"

Lluvia scoffed as she placed the figure down then stood up. "I'm fine! It was just something I learned about during my travels. I thought it was a cute idea when I heard about it, and... sometimes, when I'm feeling down, I make one of these things."

"I see..." Balor looked over her carefully, before shrugging it off. "Well, if you want to make more, I can give you an entire box of pinecones."

Lluvia chuckled as she shook her head with a crooked smile. "I got enough at home, but thanks."

"Right..." Balor stared at her in silence for a solid minute. Unable to hold himself back anymore, he blurted out, "You didn't happen to eat anything weird from Wheedle, did you?"

That made Lluvia burst into a fit of laughter.

The moment he saw her pass by, Wheedle whistled at Lluvia to call her over to his booth.

Wondering why, the farmer approached him with a perked brow, while asking, "What's on your mind, Wheedle?"

He was silent as his dark eyes scanned the area around them, before signalling the farmer to come closer, to the point that she was hovering over his table. The sleaze then leaned into her, to plant a kiss on the corner of her lip, causing her to jump back from shock.

It seemed that it wasn't just Lluvia that was surprised, however, as some townsfolk gasped from the sight of their interaction. And from the looks of his stupid grin, he was counting on that, which made her incredibly embarrassed, to the point that she ran away with her face buried in her hands.

"I didn't expect to catch you so off guard," Wheedle said, once he found Lluvia at her hideaway, deep in the woods at her farm. He gazed at the floating clouds scattered within the fenced off area, finding it a pity that the farmer has yet to ship them off for some tesserae.

"I didn't expect you to do that at all!" she returned in a sharp tone, as she fixed her long purple hair into a braid. "I imagine it helped give you quite the boost in sales..."

The smirk on his lips definitely said enough, but Wheedle couldn't help himself but replied, "Oh, it definitely did! I am truly thankful to have you there for me, Lluvie."

"Rare to see you so relaxed, my violet-haired friend," Wheedle purred, as he leaned over Lluvia, while she laid on the field of flowers that she had grown.

"Doctor's orders..." she sighed, as she rubbed her eyes. The dark rings under them seemed to be a tad darker than usual, but it might be because she isn't wearing her glasses. "I must take an actual break for the sake of my health... Whatever that means."

The sleaze chuckled as he knelt down beside her, not wanting to get his suit dirty, despite seeking the farmer for company as usual during this Friday evening. "You certainly are dedicated to your work. An admirable trait, but not enviable in my humble opinion."

Lluvia frowned, before letting out a snort. "We have our own way of living. Speaking of, did you know that I nearly got killed because of you?"

"What?" Wheedle blinked in disbelief, making her chuckle as she sat up from the ground.

"It was like a few years ago, at the Capital. Some person you swindled thought I was working for you, so they tried to take it out on me. I didn't really understand how or why they thought that. Maybe they saw us hanging out at some point."

Wheedle paused to think over the (endlessly) long list of people that might have wanted him dead. While he understood why he would be a target, to know that Lluvia was attacked because of him was rather unexpected. Even then, knowing her, she must have fought back like a beast.

"Want to see the scar they gave me?" Lluvia asked with a smirk, tearing him away from his thoughts as she slid off her overalls to lift up her shirt.

He let out a low whistle while rubbing his chin at the sight of it on her waist. Even though he had seen it several times before, now knowing the cause behind it amused him somewhat. "Fascinating. I imagine that, despite your injury, you returned the favor ten fold."

"I mean..." Lluvia let out a brief scoff, as she remembered the fight. "I... might have gone a little overboard... But you know, nothing they probably couldn't had walked off." She paused. "Hopefully."

Lluvia isn't sure where it came from, but the white porcelain figurine of a cat, holding one gold coin, while lifting up a paw, is rather cute. Perhaps it was because of the gold, or maybe because of its smile, but she couldn't help but think about Wheedle whenever she looked at it.

That gave her the idea to bring it to him next time they meet!

"Curious..." Wheedle said as he looked over the figurine. While he isn't familiar with it, he found it rather amusing in a way, when Lluvia had said it made her think of him. "And you just so happen to have found it?"

"Weird, isn't it?" she replied. "I still kind of like it though."

Wheedle let out a short hum, before placing it on his booth. Something about it just felt right to him, despite not knowing where it came from. "It certainly is rather adorable... I think I'll keep it."

"Lluvia?" Wheedle called out, but all he got in return was deafening silence. "Lluvia..." he repeated, while poking her cheek this time, which got a slap from her. "Are you awake?"

"I am now..." she groaned as she turned to face him.

"Good. So, here's a thought--" Lluvia quickly shut him up by planting her mouth against his, stunning him, before pushing him away with a scowl.

"Now isn't the time, Wheedle. Go back to sleep."

He only nodded in agreement, as he laid on his back and stared at the ceiling. "But--" "I will bite you again, Wheedle, and I will make you bleed this time."

"Now don't threaten me with a good time, Lluvie." He chuckled, before being hit with a pillow.

"Idiot..." Lluvia huffed, as she buried her blushing face into the mattress, before getting her pillow back. She then scooted closer to him to allow herself to enjoy his warmth, while wrapping her arms around his waist. "Be quiet, or I'll make you sleep on the couch."