Duck Pond Stories

First, they killed her mother. Not these humans in town, no. But the ones who had come before. The ones who had built this large, crumbling building they’d been forced to live in for the meagre shelter it gave from the elements. The ones who left such dangerous liquids out in the open, allowed them to mix and fester, and create harmful gas that left her people gasping for air until they gasped no more.

Her father had made sure to teach them all from a very young age that it wasn’t these humans in the town that had built the building. And hopefully, if they didn’t go near these humans, then they wouldn’t come near them, and their people could live in peace.

But then they killed her brother.

Her poor brother, who’d gone scouting for a new place for their overcrowded subjects to move to. Somewhere away from the stink and the sludge and the rusted metal pipes that caused such terrible injuries. Somewhere where their children wouldn’t be constantly sick, and weak. Somewhere with clean water, and plentiful food.

And then, then they killed her father. They’d barged into her own home after her father retaliated against their mindless cruelty. After he’d tried to teach them how their actions would have consequences. They’d barged in and slaughtered their guards, her friends, as if they were nothing more than bags of food to be opened. They’d walked through her home, breaking boxes and stealing supplies like they had every right to do so, until they walked right up to her father, still trying to explain to them his grief over the loss of her brother, and they…

She’d seen it all from her perch high above the arena, her maids trying to pull her back into the pipes. But she couldn’t look away. Not as he fought. Not as he fell. Not as the two humans left, laughing and joking and shoving at each other

As if they hadn’t just declared war on her and her people.

As if they weren’t as bad as all the humans who had gone before.

As if the Bandirat Queen wouldn’t now make them pay.

“Looks like you found me at the right time, huh,” Mint muttered sleepily, and Remy felt the younger man lean heavily against his back. “I might have ended up washed away with the deck chairs if you hadn’t.”

“I don’t think you would have slept through the water coming up through the decking much longer,” Remy said with a chuckle, though he wasn’t entirely sure of that. He nudged Arrow back into motion to continue up the road besides Sophie’s farm. “Did you go to the fireside the other night? Gale had a report through from Vega five. This is looking to be the worst Winter storm we’ve had in a while. Maybe the biggest this decade. It’s going to take at least three days to fully blow over.”

“I must have missed that. I guess it’s a good thing I’ve got no projects going on right now. I can start drawing up plans for things that’ll need rebuilding tomorrow.”

Remy chuckled again when Mint trailed off with a yawn, holding Mint’s wrist when he felt the other man’s grip on his jacket slacken for a moment, before arms wrapped around his waist again.

“I don’t think you’ll have much to draw. The builders have all done an amazing job of fixing up everything in the last year. After the Amber Island bridge washed away, people have kept on top of repairs so everything’s looking real sturdy right now.”

“Hmm, I suppose you’re right. Guess I’ll have some free time then. I wonder if Sarah will still be free,” Mint murmured, sounding sleepy and happy, and Remy hummed thoughtfully.

“Well. Gale was talking about closing down everything but the Round Table until the storm’s passed for everyone’s safety.” 

He hesitated, trying to decide if he should say anything else. While he didn’t really want to get involved with whatever was going on in town surrounding Sarah, he knew he already was thanks to Sam being invested and giving a running commentary, and Arlo’s yo-yoing mood. So maybe if he asked a few careful questions now, he might be able to report back to his Captain and ease his mind a little. At least with regards to Mint. He already knew Gust wasn’t a threat to Arlo’s chances with Sarah, and was simply needling Arlo just because he could.

“Did you have plans with her then?”

“Hmm? Kind of. I’ve been talking to her a lot lately since we’ve both been going to Mr Gale’s house for dinner, and we’ve been staying afterwards because it’s nice to be around people, and their house is really warm. She keeps dozing off on the sofa next to me while making things with Ginger. But she said she found some things in the ruins Gust and I might like, and was going to bring them along for us to look at.”

“I see,” he murmured, mulling that over. It didn’t sound like there was anything too deep there, but it was difficult to say. He was trying to think of how to pry further, when Mint shifted behind him, and pulled his arm free.

“Hey, who’s that?”

Remy glanced to the side, following where Mint was pointing at something in the gloom of Sarah’s yard. He squinted, trying to see what Mint had, and was about to ask if he was sure there was someone there when another bolt of lightning threw everything into stark relief, and the shape of something large moving in the middle of the open space became apparent.

“What the?” he muttered, pulling Arrow to a stop and trying to make out who it was. It hadn’t looked human, and none of Sarah’s llamas should be out right now. Sarah had been on her way to settle them for the night when he’d passed by on his way to find Mint over an hour ago, and she’d promised him she’d go straight back inside when she was done. So if one of them was out now... that was rather worrying. 

“Oh, it’s just Doofus. I wonder why she’s out so late.”

“Doofus?” Remy said as Mint let go and slid off Arrow’s back, trying to see what Mint had. While he could now see the llama bouncing closer to the fence was too small to be Mr Fuzzybutt, both Doofus and Sherbet looked the exact same to him even in daylight.

“Yes. She doesn’t bounce as high as Sherbet when she walks, and there’s no bell. Sarah’s given up trying to put it back on because Doofus always finds a way to lose it within a day.”

“You sure know a lot about her llamas, huh,” Remy muttered, watching Mint pet the llama over the fence as she tried to snuggle up to him, and wondering if maybe Arlo actually was right to worry about Mint after all, but the engineer laughed.

“No, not really. Only Doofus. Sarah started teaching me how to ride before Winter, and Doofus is her calmest llama. And the smartest and sweetest, aren’t you girl?”

Remy let himself smile as Doofus started to melt under Mint’s hands, until another bolt of lightning flashed almost directly overhead, accompanied by an immediate deafening peal of thunder and the sound of rapidly approaching rain.

“Uh oh. I’ll just go let her back into the stable. If she’s out here then the door must be stuck or something.”

“Wait, Mint,” Remy tried to call, but Mint had already hopped over the fence and headed into the yard. Remy sighed heavily, and guided Arrow to the gate where he jumped down to let his horse in the yard. Doofus hadn’t looked particularly wet, like she would have if she’d been outside since Sarah had closed the stable earlier, so he suspected there was something else going on here. He followed Mint’s path, leading Arrow around the various machines and piles of materials dotted around, and got under the awning at the same time as the rain reached the roof. He stepped to the side, allowing Arrow to shift under the cover more fully, then looked around the dimly lit space.

The lantern Sarah had been carrying earlier was in the middle of the walkway, and from the small circle of light it cast he could see Mint standing by the end stall. Doofus was doing something near the open barn style door beyond the stall, staying far enough back so she wasn’t getting wet even though rain was bouncing inside the stable, and Remy frowned. There was a knotted rope hanging off the handle and trailing inside, long enough that Doofus should have been able to reach it without getting wet and pull the door closed. So why hadn’t she?

“Remington? Over here,” Mint whispered loudly, leaning over the small divide with a soft smile on his face. Putting aside Doofus’ strange behaviour for the moment, Remy joined Mint, and bit his lip to stop himself chuckling.

Sarah was asleep in the middle of the stall, surrounded by her animals. She was curled up on Mr Fuzzybutt, draped over his back with her fingers buried in the soft wool of his neck. Sherbet was stretched out along her back, his own head on Mr Fuzzybutt’s rear, and his legs stuck out at strange angles into the piled up hay. And the two newest additions to her yard, Miss Cluckles the chicken and Peckarina the duck, were also sleeping peacefully on Sherbet’s head.

Mr Fuzzybutt lifted his head when Remy tried to approach, watching intently over the top of his sunglasses. Remy simply looked back, keeping eye contact as he waited for the llama’s assessment. He’d had no problems with the Cotton Llama before, unlike Arlo, and he hoped the Fuzzmeister would remember that.

He apparently did, stretching his neck out to sniff loudly at his pockets, and he chuckled quietly before pulling out some of the apple slices he kept for Arrow and offering them. He crouched next to Sarah and pulled the blanket draped over her lap up to her shoulders, tucking it around her while looking towards the open door. She must have decided to wait for the rain to let up a little, and drifted off watching the approaching storm he decided, admiring the perfectly framed view of the open sky from where she was sitting.

“Excuse me sir, but as soft as I’m sure you are, I think she’d feel better in the morning having slept in a proper bed.”

He carefully slipped his arms underneath her and shifted until he could pick her up, holding her tight against his chest. She grumbled a little, rolling her head to rub against his shoulder, but didn’t wake. He hadn’t thought she would. He’d brought her home enough times now to know she’d sleep through practically anything once she was fully gone.

“Let’s go. The storm won’t be letting up anytime soon now it’s reached us, so we’ll be soaked no matter how long we wait. If you could--”

Mr Fuzzybutt huffed loudly, and Remy stepped back to make room when he climbed to his feet, apparently not caring that Sherbet’s head, which had been resting against him, fell to the floor with a thunk, jostling the two birds and waking them with loud squarks. He always forgot just how big the cotton llamas were compared to the colourful ones, he mused as Mr Fuzzybut stretched himself, towering over him. With a final shake, the llama walked to the door, his ears laying flat against his head as he glared then bleated angrily at the rain, before turning around as if to look for something. Remy watched, amused, as Doofus seemed to roll her eyes, and picked up the end of one of the banquet table umbrellas to bring over to Mint.

“Thank you Doofus,” Mint said quietly, quickly taking the umbrella and getting it to the door. Remy knew how heavy it was, and he felt for Mint when he looked to be struggling with getting it open, until Mr Fuzzybutt ducked under one of the folds of thick fabric and did something he couldn’t see. But then the panels stretched out smoothly, the large spokes resting on Mr Fuzzybutt’s head, and all Mint had to do was hold the pole straight.

“Ella, what have I told you about bursting in like that? Remy and I both live here,” he asked, pushing himself to his feet.

“Well yeah, but we saw Remy on the path up here, so we knew he wasn’t sleeping this time. But anyway,” she rushed on, completely ignoring his point. “Look. I was hanging out with Alice today, and she was making these really amazing bracelets out of string. And they were so super pretty, so I got her to teach me. She said that you’re meant to give them to people you like, so here, I made this one for you.”

He could only stare at her blankly as she reached out and grabbed his hand, pressing something into it.

She’d made string bracelets with Alice. Which you gave to people you liked. 

Slowly looking down while something like dread coiled in his stomach, he stilled when he saw it wasn’t a heart. It was made of red string like the hearts, and was the same complicated woven design, but it was vaguely rectangular instead. And there were wonky gaps where some bits weren’t pulled tight enough. Some of the tension that had built in his shoulders drained away, and he let out a long, slow breath.

“Ah, thank you. But Ella, Beany, don’t you remember what these are for?” he asked carefully. “I mean, I’m guessing you didn't have them in Barnarock, but I remember them definitely being around when you were a kid.”

“Well, yeah. I mean, no, we didn’t have them in Barnarock. And when I asked when I was little, no one would tell me. They always said I’d find out when I was older. And Alice just said you give them to people you like, and, well, I like you? Why, what am I missing?"

Ah. Well, that explained things then.

“They’re good, right Captain?” Sam drawled as he struggled to think of how to explain to Ella what handwoven bracelets would mean to most Portians, slinging her arm around his sister’s shoulders as she stopped next to her, and his eyes snapped to her wrist where a two tone pink bracelet rested. Which was also not a heart he was relieved to see. Sam’s was a line of several square knots with small wooden beads set between them. “Gaby worked really hard on them, and everyone’s loved them so far.”

“Yeah, they’re great Ella, really well made,” he acknowledged, allowing himself to actually relax, because they clearly weren’t heart knots after all. But then the rest of Sam’s sentence registered, and he froze. Sam’s quiet snicker did nothing to reassure him as he slowly looked up at her, and her polite mask was starting to crack as she lost her battle with her laughter.

“Everyone?” he heard himself whisper and hated the slight squeak at the end.

“Oh, yeah. I made a whole bunch! Alice’s book had these triangle ones, so I thought it'd be nice for Sonia and Antoine and Emily to match.” 

Ok, that wasn’t so bad--

“And then I made another like Sam’s, which we gave to Mei,” she went on excitedly, sticking her hand in her work belt’s pocket and rummaging around. “There was this really cool green string that almost matched Remy’s hair so I made one in this sideways eight pattern for him. And then I made some flat circles that look like they’ve got stars in the middle, that I sewed on these weird plaited bands? I mean they look plaited but they aren’t, and they were really hard to do, and we gave them to Oaks and Ginger. Ginger really liked it, she was so happy. And I made one for Alice too, since she was super patient with me all day while she taught me, and she didn’t have to be. Oh, and then I’ve got one left to send back to Aunty Kendra.”

He kept staring at Sam as Ella cheerfully babbled, who was full on biting her lip now, her face getting redder and redder as she struggled not to laugh. Ella sounded so happy about all of this, and he wasn’t sure what to do. He was focusing on the fact that she hadn’t mentioned any hearts, and kept saying ‘we’.

“Sam?” he asked, knowing that she’d know exactly what he meant, and he waited the long moments she took to calm herself down, deliberately ignoring Ella as she looked between them, obviously confused.

“I stopped to talk to Alice at the end of my rounds, and I found them finishing up, so I went with her to give them out. They all adored their new friendship bracelets, right?” Sam asked her, squeezing Ella against her side. “And you said you’ll go back next week to practice hearts, since you didn’t quite get them today?”

“Yeah,” Ella drew out slowly, still looking between them, but frowning now. “Yeah, I only made one heart, and it’s not perfect, but it is good enough to send to Kendra.” She held out her hand palm up to show him the red heart knot she was holding, and he made himself breathe slowly. Because ok. Sending it to Kendra wasn’t so bad, and she wouldn’t be doing it right away, so he could explain to her the tradition before--

Wait.

“You gave one to Ginger?”

“Yeah. Lolo, what’s going on? You’re being super weird about all of this and-”

“When? When and where did you give it to her?”

Ella blinked at him blankly, and Sam’s smile faltered before comprehension slowly took over. And he had to scowl when her only reaction was to bite her lip harder and slap her hand over her mouth, loud enough to make Ella jump.

“Er, maybe five, ten minutes ago? Outside her house? Why?"

“Ok, he might not have got home yet, I’ve got time to go find him and-”

The front doors slammed open, bouncing off the walls with the force as Gust stormed in scowling, and already shouting.

“Arlo! You need to control your damn idiot sister!”

When he saw Gust’s eyes lock onto Ella, Arlo moved on instinct, lunging forward and wrapping his arm around her waist to pick her up. He held her close as he swung her around his body to put himself between her and Gust, ignoring her startled yelp and fingers digging into his forearm as he backed away from the other man as he stalked closer, Arlo’s free hand held up placatingly.

“Gust, calm down. It isn’t what you think.”

“Considering how I heard my sister tell our father about the new bracelet Gaby gave her, I don’t see how it could be anything else!”

“Gust, you have to stop. Arlo’s right, it isn’t that. Gaby made a whole bunch today, I’ve got one too, see, and--” Sam tried to intervene, moving between him and Gust and raising her hands to try and block him, but it only managed to make him angrier, going by how the spots of colour high on his cheeks seemed to grow.

“You think telling me that Ginger isn’t enough for her is going to make me calm down? What the fuck is wrong with you Sam? I know you’ve fallen for her idiotic charm but really--”

“They are friendship bracelets,” Sam shouted over him, shoving her wrist in his face and jiggling it so the knots shifted round. “She’s been giving out friendship bracelets to people. Do you see the difference? Did you even look at Ginger’s before you stormed up here? And also, low fucking blow honey wax hair.”

“I, I,” Gust spluttered, grabbing Sam’s wrist and staring at the pink strings wrapped around it, and Arlo let out the breath he’d been holding. Slowly letting go of Ella so she slid down his side until her feet touched the floor again, he kept a protective arm around her, just in case.

“I’ve got one too, see,” he offered, holding up his own and trying to talk calmly, and started to relax a bit further as he watched the colour in Gust’s cheeks slowly morph from angry to embarrassed.

“That’s, it seems I might have made a mistake,” he muttered, sounding petulant as he dropped his head and let go of Sam, stepping away. “I, gnh. I’ll be leaving now.”

Arlo nodded carefully at him, finally letting go of Ella completely.

Which was a mistake.

“What is your fucking problem Gust?” Ella yelled, stomping forward before he realised and then twisting out of the reach of his fingers when he tried to grab her. “Are you really that upset that I didn’t give you one yet?”

“That’s, no. I mean, that’s stupid. Why would you think I’d want one from you?”

“Oh? So you don’t think we’re friends then?” She moved so they were practically touching and glared up at him. And Arlo would swear he saw Gust flinch slightly as she rolled onto her toes, trying to get in his face. “I thought we might be, after you kept inviting me out for lunch and dinner. So here Gust, I was going to give you a nicer one, a better made one next week. But since you’re so bothered you can have this.”

She slammed her hand into his chest, and Gust’s hands moved up to catch the bright red heart knot when she let go. She stayed in front of him for a moment longer, staring up into his face as if waiting for a response, before sniffing loudly and stepping around him, deliberately bumping her shoulder into his and stomping to the door. It slammed into the wall with an echoing bang as she left, then slowly creaked closed before clicking shut in the deafening silence.

Arlo shifted his gaze from the new dent in the wall from the door handle to Gust, expecting to find him seething again. Only, he wasn’t.

The light flush he’d gained from realising he’d been mistaken had gained a few shades, and another few inches of skin. He was a brilliant red from his nose to his ears, and down to the neckline of his shirt, and he was doing an abysmal job of hiding behind the hand he had over his mouth, staring at the knotted string in his other hand.

And Arlo wasn’t quite sure what to think.

Because why would Gust be so worked up over Ella giving Ginger a friendship bracelet, and then react like that when she mentioned giving him one? And the way he was acting now, staring at the heart knot in his hand with shiny eyes, pulling it closer to his chest as if it were something precious. Then there was what Ella had said, about Gust taking her to lunch, and dinner...

Unless...

He distantly heard Sam and Gust talking, but the words wouldn’t quite register as his mind tried to put everything together. Because Gust didn’t much care for Ella, right? After all their bickering and fighting as children, that had carried over, hadn’t it? 

Because yes, fine, he’d been encouraging her to get to know Gust now that he wasn’t likely to pull her hair or dump monster slime in her school desk, or tattle on her when she tried to sneak into the wasteland. He’d been talking Gust up to her, and pointing out all the nice things he’d done for people while hiding behind his gruff mask. And he’d been happy to see them talking occasionally, but…

Did Gust actually like Ella?

…

Had he always liked Ella?

Fingers wrapped around his elbow, and he allowed whoever they belonged to to lead him to a sofa and push him gently down on to it. He couldn’t do much other than stare blankly straight ahead as he re-examined every memory he had of both of them.

Because holy crap.

Gust liked Ella.

And he’d had no idea.

“Is he ok?”

“I’m honestly not sure. I think him realising you like her might have broke him.”

“What? I don’t, I’m not, no, you’re wrong! Why would I like her, she’s an annoying brat who terrorised me for years!”

“Oh shut up Gust. I’m in no mood to deal with your denial on top of Arlo breaking. Go home. One of us will go explain what Gaby did to her tomorrow, since you know damn well she has no idea she just asked you out. And maybe I’ll ask her myself while I have the chance, and go warn Oaks too in case he wants to as well.”

He leaned forward, bringing his hands up to cover his face with as the two of them started to argue in front of him, and quietly let himself whine.

How was he meant to protect his darling, innocent little Beany Boo, when she got herself into shit like this?

~

“You ready to tell me what was up with you last night?”

Arlo wrapped his hands around the mug Ella set on her kitchen table before him, staring down at the swirling liquid. He was, but where to start?

“Words Lolo. I understand better when you use them.”

He pulled a face as he looked up at her, meeting her faintly amused eyes as she sipped her own drink.

“Ella, I have to ask. Do you really not know what the bracelets are for?”

Slowly lowering her mug, she sighed deeply as she set it down with a quiet thunk.

“No, I don’t. You know I’m not good with stuff like this. I don’t, I don’t understand people, or pick up on social cues so well, or know when I’ve done something wrong. I’m better than I was as a kid, but you know I always relied on you for all that. I mean, you should have seen some of the shit I got into in Barnarock because I completely missed what people were trying to tell me.”

She stopped to rub at her face, then looked at him, wide eyed and pleading.

“So please, please just tell me what I did wrong with the bracelets? No faffing, no carefully picking words, because I know you do that sometimes and it’s been driving me nuts. If I’ve upset people, I wanna know so I can go apologise.”

He tapped his nails against the mug, quickly debating with himself, before nodding.

“Heart knots, which are the bracelets Alice normally makes and what people think of when they think of string bracelets here in Portia, and what you gave to Gust last night, are for asking people to be your significant other. So you basically asked Gust to be your boyfriend.”

The choking sound she made as her eyes widened was faintly amusing, he had to admit. As was the way she started to slowly shake her head.

“No, no, oh Peach no. Please say you’re messing with me. Please.”

He leant his cheek on his palm, watching her work through the revelation.

“Shit. So, wait. So he was upset because he thought I’d asked Ginger? And, and you were upset because you, what, thought I was asking you? I, wow. I love you Lolo, but not like that. And, and shit.”

She stared blankly before meeting his eyes in a panic.

“So does everyone I gave a bracelet to yesterday think I was asking them out?!”

“No, stop panicking. It’s only the heart knots that mean that,” he soothed, tilting his drink to keep the bubbles on top moving. “So they might have when you mentioned it, but as soon as they saw it wasn’t a heart they would have known you weren’t. You only really asked Gust. But some of the others probably wish you had. You honestly have no idea who likes you like that, do you?”

Her mouth opened, as if to tell him of course she did, only for her to stop when she met his eyes again, and she slowly closed it. A confused look settled on her face, and she shrunk down in her chair, biting her lip, before shaking her head. He sighed, lifting his drink to carefully sip the hot liquid.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked quietly.

“What?”

“Well this obviously isn’t something new,” she went on, slightly more confidently. “You must have known for a while that people liked me. So, why didn’t you tell me?”

“I, well, I mean-”

“You were doing the protect thing again, weren’t you?” she asked flatly, and sighed heavily when he deliberately sipped his drink instead of answering. “For the love of Peach’s fuzzy slippers Lolo, please tell me shit like this? I kinda rely on you to explain this sort of stuff to me.”

“I. I know. I’m sorry. I guess I just,” he paused, sighing and slumping back in his chair. He’d known this would come up, and he hadn’t been looking forward to having to explain to her what he’d worked out. 

“I know you’re an adult, and I know you can take care of yourself, and you deserved to know. But I don’t think I was ready to see you be that kind of adult yet? I think I liked having you back, I liked you being my little sister too much, to let someone else take you away from me so soon.”

The smile she gave him was so soft and warm, even while being completely done with him, he couldn’t help but smile back.

“Idiot. Snaillob slimed and panbat brained idiot!”

The chair scraped loudly on the floor as she pushed herself up to her feet, and walked round to poke his chest. He scooted his own chair backwards, allowing her space to sit on his lap and throw her arms around his neck.

“I’ll always be your sister. Me going away didn’t change that, and my growing up and possibly dating people won’t change that either. You’re stuck with me, forever.”

“I, yeah. Ok.” 

He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her close as they trailed off into silence, simply sitting and holding each other and being together. Only for Ella to pull back and groan loudly.

“So what do I even do about Gust now? He’s gotta hate me all over again. And who else like-likes me that I gave a bracelet to anyway that I’m going to have to deal with?”

He winced slightly, remembering his revelation about Gust from last night, before he made himself breathe deeply. He had to tell her now, rip the bandaid off so to speak, or he probably never would.

“Where do I even start…”

-~-

“Boss,” Sam puffed at his elbow, pulling him from his thoughts of soft fluffy blankets and cushions and making him look up at the path ahead of them. Ella was sitting on the fence next to the gate looking straight at them, and lifted her hand to wave when she saw they’d noticed her.

“Morning Gaby,” Paulie called as they got nearer, slowing to a stop in front of her, then starting to stretch. “Are you finally going to join us on a run? It’s a beautiful morning and the fresh air is wonderful.”

“Not today thanks, I’ll be getting plenty of fresh air when I go poop hunting later I’m sure. Emily wants me to try out this new planter box,” she explained when they all gave her strange looks. “And I need poop to put in a fertilizer tank to make the soil for them, because I am not mixing it in my blender no matter what the instructions say and urgh, it’s this whole thing. No, I was kinda hoping I could steal one of them for a minute or two. Sam or Remy preferably?”

Arlo felt himself start to frown as he watched her,  because there was something slightly, off about her. Her smile wasn’t quite as wide as usual, and her eyes were slightly dimmed. Her shoulders were hunched more than her position on the fence would cause, and her left hand was tapping a constant almost inaudible rhythm on the fence bar.

“Gaby, what happened to your mailbox?”

His eyes snapped from her to said mailbox when Remy asked, and he winced. The wooden post was broken, making the whole thing lean over at an angle, and the actual box was dented with the front flap barely hanging on by a hinge. He was kind of amazed it had taken him so long to notice now he saw it, because someone had really gone at it.

Sighing heavily as her head dropped forward for a breath, she lifted herself up again with obvious effort and reached to pull something out of her back pocket.

“And that’s why I wanted to talk to one of you. It was like that when I woke up, and I found this in it.”

Holding the paper out between her fingers, she let him take it and he quickly flipped it open while the other three crowded round to read over his shoulders.

Little pest, you might notice work is a little harder this morning without your precious mailbox. It’ll be even harder to work without your Resource Box. Quit doing stuff around town like you’re some sort of gift to Portia and leave. X

Distantly he heard the paper crumple as his fingers clenched. Someone was threatening Ella? That was, no. No, there was no need to panic. Ella was perfectly capable of looking after herself, she’d demonstrated that last week when she fought Sam. There was absolutely no reason to start panicking or get worked up about this.

“Threats and destruction of property are serious crimes,” Remy said solemnly as Arlo started to go over everyone in or around town for potential motives. “I honestly can’t think of anyone in town who would do something like this, especially after all you’ve done to help almost everyone in some way or another.”

“Maybe Higgins?” Sam offered, moving over to pull herself up onto the fence next to Ella, leaning against her side. He threw her a distracted and half hearted glare, because he’d talked to Sam about putting the moves on her, at least in front of him anyway, and was now really the time? But then he shook his head and made himself look away, because that wasn't important right now. Working out who could be after Ella was.

“Nah, Higgins hasn’t come near me since Lolo talked to him after that thing with his broken pickaxe," Ella said with a laugh, which seemed inappropriate given the circumstances. "Which reminds me. What did you even say to him that day? Antoine says he’s refusing to take any commissions until I’ve looked them over, even if I don’t go to the guild until after ten or eleven.”

“What I said wasn’t important,” he muttered, handing the letter to Remy who was waiting to copy it into his notebook, then fishing his own out to start making notes. There were scuff marks on the ground around him, but they could have been there before. The muddy shoe mark just above the break however, was definitely new. There wasn’t enough there to get a print off, and it was too smudged to even get a rough size, beyond that it was far too big to be either of the boys, thankfully. “But you’re right that it probably isn’t him. This isn’t his style, and he wouldn’t have waited so long to do something.”

“Which leaves the question of who,” Paulie cut in, leaning against her fence next to her, making both her and Sam wobble slightly until Ella grabbed his arm. “You haven’t been arguing with anyone, have you? You and Gust aren’t bickering again?”

“No, me and Gust are fine now, I think? I actually went to dinner with him the other day without Ginger. That was, weird.” She stopped to pull a face, and he blinked at her, because he’d had no idea that that had happened.

“And the only person I’ve been arguing with is Lolo about the whole bandirat thing. But I’m not actually all that bothered by it all,” Ella said with a sigh. “Whoever it is is obviously scared to face me head on, so they can’t be that much of a threat. And I can fix whatever they break easy enough. I am a builder after all. No, I’m bothered that I’m going to have to paint the mailbox again. I’d been meaning to since I moved in, but only got around to it last week.”

“Ella, this is slightly more serious than a little bit of paint,” he told her wearily, hand lifting to his temple to start rubbing. His headache was starting to come back, now he wasn’t as distracted by his initial panic over Ella’s safety. “Like Remy said, this is destruction of property and a thinly veiled threat of violence in an effort to make you leave. I’m going to need to report this to Gale.”

“Really?” she whined, slouching again. “Do you really have to? I’m really, truly not bothered.”

“It’s like Arlo said,” Sam started before he could, bumping sideways into Ella’s shoulder. “This is a serious threat against you, and we need to investigate thoroughly. We’d do this for anyone in town, so this isn’t Arlo being over protective.”

“Yeah yeah, I know that,” she huffed, blowing a puff of air up into her fringe as she shook her head. “Well, do you need anything from me? Like, do you need to take the mailbox as evidence or something, or can I fix it?”

“No, we don’t need to take it,” Remy chuckled, crouching down next to the broken post and running a careful finger around the edge of the mark before he started to measure different parts of it. “There isn’t much we can get off of it I don’t think. Normally I’d suggest you leave it as is until we catch the person responsible, especially since they mentioned your resource box in the letter, but the postman won’t deliver until it’s fixed and you might miss out on work.”

“Ah, that’s a point,” she hummed, lifting her thumb to her mouth and chewing on her nail. ”I wonder if I have any springs left that I could set something up...”

“I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear you say that,” Arlo said dryly, pressing the side of his head harder to try and dispel the tension there. “There are rules about what you can do to mail and resource boxes for the sake of the people who use them properly. What would you do if Emily went to leave you some milk or cheese from Sophie, and sprung whatever trap you’re cooking up, hmm? And stop chewing, you’ll make it bleed again.”

Ella’s mouth worked for a moment after she pulled her thumb free, her face scrunching up in thought, before she sighed and dropped her head in a nod.

“Yeah, you’ve got a point. Oaks has been dropping off the bits of llama wool he finds each day in it too now you’ve said. Urgh.”

He sighed fondly as he met Sam’s eye, jerking his head back towards town. She nodded at him, jumping down from the fence and going to help Remy up from where he was stuck in a crouch.

“Sorry to cut things short Paulie. Same time Wednesday?”

“Not a problem Arlo. You go ahead and take care of this, and our smallish builder here.”

“You're not going to let that go, are you? I make one completely justified comment about how huge you got--”

Paulie ruffled her hair as he laughed loudly over her, pushing off the fence and walking over to join Sam and Remy as they started back to town. He stepped closer to her, carefully searching her face. There were still little tension lines around her eyes, showing she wasn’t as unaffected as she was pretending, but he was relieved to see she was already more relaxed than when they’d arrived.

“Watch your back, ok? I’ll try to solve this as quickly as I can, but I don’t want to hear you’ve done something reckless and gotten yourself hurt.”

“Little faith Lolo, little faith.” He watched as she pulled her hair tie out and started trying to finger comb her hair back into place. “Like I said, I’m going to be out walking the fields picking up poop with Oaks most of today anyway. He said he’ll try to talk to the llamas and see if they’ll all pick one spot so it’s easier for me to find, but llamas are different to the other creatures so he said there might be a bit of a translation issue at first.”

He let that process for a moment, wondering if it was a date. But then, it involved poop, so, how romantic would it be even if it was?

“And then if we have time there’s been something we’ve been looking for, and I think we’re really close to finding it, so that will keep me out of the way for a while too,” she told him with a secretive grin, before holding up a finger to stop him and rolling her eyes. “Don’t worry, I’ll make extra sure I lock up my house and machines before I leave, I promise.”

He pursed his lips as he looked at her, but she simply blinked up at him, fluttering her lashes overly innocently. She was planning something, he was sure of it, but he didn’t really have the time or brain power to try and figure out what.

“Please try to stay out of trouble. For me?” He waited until she rolled her eyes again and nodded before going on. “I’ll try and drop by later with an update.”

“Aye aye sir,” she chirped, giving him a mock salute, and he flicked the end of her nose to earn a startled yelp before walking away.

Looking down at his notes, he internally grimaced over the lack of information he had to go on. But he’d find something. Even if he had to stay up all night again, he’d find something.

~

Arlo lowered his large mug of coffee as he walked through the Western gate in order to drain the last gulp of his herbal juice. The sun was far too bright for his pounding head after another sleepless night, this time from going over the reports he’d taken from everyone in town. Even after the hours he’d spent trying to work out who could possibly have it in for Ella or why, he was no closer to an answer. And while he knew that coffee and herbal juice didn’t mix well, and Phyllis would throw a fit if she found out, he needed something to help get him through the day.

After roughly shoving the empty bottle in his jacket pocket he lifted his hand to push his hair back, sipping his hot drink. Yes. he’d take whatever the combination did to him if it meant he could actually function today he told himself, finally looking towards Ella’s workshop.

Only to stop in the middle of the road, and stare.

Because ok, maybe Phyllis was right to advise against the mix. He had to be hallucinating from the lack of sleep, or the chemical reaction in his stomach. Either that, or he wasn’t actually awake yet. Maybe he was still slumped over the desk with his notes stuck to his cheek, and he was going to wake up to Remy shaking his shoulder any second now?

Because that made far, far more sense than the sight of Tuss and Huss sat on the floor in front of Ella’s resource box, looking a little worse for wear with planks of wood strewn around them, and ropes tied around their ankles trailing off to Ella’s hand. Ella who was sitting on the fence next to the gate, leaning on Oaks’ shoulder as she alternated between watching a giant bandirat who was waving around an even larger fork and squeaking excitedly, and Oaks who was smiling up at Ella in a way he did not like.

So yes. This wasn’t real. He was still asleep. That was the only explanation. This was just a strange dream from the caffeine and herbs.

Because bandirat’s didn’t get that big. Not tall enough for its head to be level with Ella’s despite her sitting on the top bar of her fence. Nor did they grow what looked like blond hair, or wear crowns. And they certainly didn’t have giant forks that were taller than they were. 

Yes. Just a dream. A really vividly bizarre dream.

But just in case it wasn’t…

“Ella, why is there a giant bandirat standing next to you, and why are Huss and Tuss fixing your resource box?” he asked as he slowly walked forwards, stopping behind the brothers who shrunk in on themselves and stopped hitting nails into wood.

“Ah, morning Lolo! Huss and Tuss are fixing my resource box because they’re the ones who broke it this morning, and my mailbox yesterday,” she chirped cheerfully, her hand snapping out to catch the bandirat as it startled, spinning round and lowering the fork towards him. “They can’t pay to fix it, but they sure can keep trying until I say the repair is good enough, isn’t that right you two?”

“Yes Miss Gabriella,” they chorused meekly, Huss lining up the two planks again and Tuss carefully started tapping nails into the edge. She grinned at him happily, until he slowly pointed a finger at the bandirat she was holding.

“That’s Bob,” Oaks offered. “Gaby and I have been looking for him for the last few weeks, and we finally found him yesterday, up by the Bassiano Falls. He helped us track Huss and Tuss to the Amber Island cave, and then he helped get them back here. He’s really quite nice, and he knows some of the same animals as me and Papa do”

Arlo slowly turned to look at Oaks, who was smiling in that bland way of his, as if everything he’d said had made perfect sense. Weren’t dreams meant to make at least some sort of sense to the person dreaming them? And the fact that what Oaks said didn’t, would then mean…

“I’m actually awake, aren’t I?”

“Er,” Ella started, sharing a quick glance with Oaks. “Lolo?”

“Never mind. So, gentlemen,” he made himself ignore the bandirat issue for now. Later. He could reorder his entire world view around the things he regularly fought later. “What do you have to say for yourselves this time?”

They both stopped again to look up at him, and he quickly assessed them. Tuss had a rolled up tissue sticking out of his nose and a puffy lip, and Huss had the start of two black eyes, and they both looked rather subdued.

“We’re very sorry for the trouble we’ve caused to you and Miss Gabriella. She has explained to us the, ah, the error of our ways. And we will be making efforts to contribute properly to town now.”

“Yeah, Miss Gabriella is going to teach us how to use some of her machines, so we can help her make things,” Huss cut in, sounding actually happy about the idea. “And she’s going to pay us too for our work. And then when she’s got animals, she said I can help her with the baby duckies.”

He looked up at Ella again, silently asking why, but she simply shrugged a shoulder.

“I like ducks.”

His mouth opened and his finger lifted, but he made himself stop, settling the tip against his lips. That wasn’t what he’d meant, but ok. Later. That could also be a later thing.

“Ella, I’m going to need to take them up to the Corps to process them for the property damage case. I know,” he went on loudly when she started to protest, “that you probably don’t want to press charges against them, but I still need to take statements and close everything. I’ll need statements from the two-”

Stopping, he made himself look at Bob. Bob looked back at him warily, his tail flicking side to side behind him and Arlo could see he hadn’t loosened his grip on the fork even slightly.  He sighed, and rubbed at his head.

“Three. I’ll need statements from the three of you too. Oaks, would you be willing to translate for Bob when we do that?”

“Oh, of course! I’ll be happy to.”

“I, great. Ok. Just bring those two up to the Corps when you’re ready then. And I don’t want to see any more bruises on them when you do. I’m, I’m going to talk to Gale about all of this.”

He turned and walked away before any of them could say anything else strange, draining the last of his coffee as he did and wondering if it was safe for him to have more.

Today was going to be a long, strange day.

-~-

Blinking at her a few times before he straightened up, he let his face settle into his blank Captain expression as he stared at her.

“So you’re fine with killing sea urchins, who are completely harmless unless you deliberately attack them, but not with killing bandirats who are a menace and were stealing from the town?”

“Yes,” she agreed, smirking when he scowled at her and lifting her fingers to tick off the same points she’d made every time the argument had come up. “Bandirats are clearly intelligent enough to have formed a complex society all of their own, communicate detailed ideas to each other, and use items and weapons. They’re basically the same as Papa Bear at this point. Whereas sea urchins are, you know.”

Rolling his eyes, he tried to make himself put aside his residual annoyance over the whole thing. He knew all about her dislike of sea urchins, better than she did he’d say, and while he would always be fine with helping her with them, he did want to help her get over her issues with them if he could. 

But with the bandirats? It didn’t matter if she had a point about their intelligence, or that there had been no more thefts since then. Nor did it matter that when he’d gone down into the tunnels, they’d all been cleared out, with the other stolen items piled up near the exit. None of that meant anything. It was all a giant coincidence. Because he’d been fighting bandirats for years now, and he knew what they were like. He shifted his hands to his lower back and started to twist side to side.

"Not the point. And Ella, we’ve been over this. If you want me to kill things you're meant to put in a commission."

"I didn’t say that!” she immediately countered, lifting her finger in a ‘one moment’ gesture. “I didn’t ask you to kill anything. I’m not asking Captain Arlo for a commission, I’m asking brother Lolo to come with me. For, erm, moral support?"

Smiling at him, eyes wide and obviously trying to look innocent and cute as she fluttered her lashes, he felt his already shaky resolve crumble further. 

“Please,” she whined, drawing it out. "Just this once? I’ll do your stable duties for a week!"

He groaned, tipping his head back and weighing up his options, then dropped his head forward and sighed again.

"You say ‘just this once’ as if you won’t be back the second you need some more killed,” he mimicked her, rolling his eyes before throwing his hands in the air. “But fine! Fine. Give me five minutes, and I'll meet you down in Central Plaza. We'll go after the ones by Bassanio Falls. But you’re going to kill at least one by yourself today! I'm serious. I don’t care how slimy and gross you think they are, I’m not doing this for you again, even if you post a commission! And I’ll tell the others not to either. Not unless you actually kill one without my help."

"Thank you thank you thank you! I’ll try, I promise! You’re the best!" she called, already perked back up and smiling again, and he half heartedly glared after her as she turned to jog across the open space to the slope.

"She won't, but we don't mind, do we boy," he told Spacer fondly, patting his side then turning to run his hand down his back leg. "C'mon, let's finish getting you clean so I can not go kill things for her.”

He started down the steps towards Central Plaza ten minutes later, sword and a loot bag slung over his shoulders, and frowned at the hubbub he heard. It sounded like someone was going to spar, but that was unusual for half past ten on a Tuesday morning. He scanned the plaza and almost missed the next step when he saw Sam and Ella standing opposite each other, both having taken off their outer layers and weapons, and the crowd of people surrounding the edge of the ring all looking amused.

Running down the remaining steps and drawing the attention of everyone gathered, he strode quickly to Sam, both brows raised in question.

"She saw the Wasteland is open again, and was heading towards the gate. So I told her she's got to last at least a minute against one of us to be allowed in, and she wants to give me a go."

His mouth worked silently as he tried to find words, and Sam shrugged helplessly at him. He knew the rules, she couldn't actually turn down a challenge like this, not for official Civil Corps matters. He turned to Ella, and his brows rose higher in disbelief.

Meeting his gaze calmly, she merely blinked at him, head tilting to the side as she shrugged.

"Sam said I gotta beat her to go in, and I’ve always wanted to see what's in there."

He opened his mouth to say something, remind her that Sam was tougher than she looked, but paused when he registered the carefully neutral tone she’d used, and the glint in her eyes.

“What else did Sam say?” he asked warily, and almost groaned at the smirk that sprung to her lips.

“Oh, she just thinks I shouldn’t even try, since I’ve got two left feet and no stomach for killing things.”

He winced, because damnit Sam, tact was a thing.

"Ella, Sam does have something of a point," he started, trying to quickly think of how to persuade her to withdraw without making things worse, but she cut him off with an eye roll and a groan, giving him an exasperated grin.

"Lolo, have a little faith in me, would you? If I lose I lose, and I'll know what to work on for next time."

“It’s a little difficult to have faith when I watched you trip over thin air and into a wall not two days ago,” he muttered flatly, earning a stuck out tongue. But he stood back, walking over to stand next to Mei and settling his hand on top of the BooBoo pouch to wait for Remy to start the match.

To be fair to her, she did seem to have some combat skills from the little bits he’d seen so far. Or more accurately, defensive skills. She hadn’t got a single scratch from fighting in the tunnels despite not using a proper weapon. And the giant corpse they’d found, which had been even larger than he’d expected despite her description, had shown signs of a proper fight. Then the way she’d dodged out of the way of Huss had been even smoother than he could sometimes manage when sparring. He’d seen her practically dance around the Mr Ladybugs without a problem while she gathered things from the trees they lived by, and she only ever had problems with the snaillobs and mudcrabs by the river when the sea urchins came too close. Plus she was strong and sturdy, carrying around those giant branches and beams, and one of Paulie’s sofas, like it was nothing.

But then none of those creatures or people were Sam. 

Hmm.

This was going to be a very interesting fight.

“Who do you think is going to win this one Captain?”

Glancing down at Mei, who was flipping her little notebook to a new page, her eyes fixed on the two women stretching their arms out before them, he let a tight smile settle on his lips and stood taller.

“You know that as the Captain of the Civil Corps I cannot condone betting Mei. I need to been seen setting a good example for the people in town,” he said, sparking quiet chuckles from those around them as he dug in his pocket. “So as Captain, I can’t possibly comment.”

Relaxing his shoulders as she groaned, he smiled properly down at her when she shifted closer to him.

“Ok ok. Who do you think is going to win, Arlo?”

He waited until Remy started the countdown, three short pips on a whistle before the harder one that marked the start of the match, before he slipped coins into Mei’s hand.

“Five gol on Ella winning, and another two on Sam not actually landing a hit,” he whispered quickly, leaning down towards her to avoid his voice carrying too far.

Ignoring the quiet murmurs around him as Mei took his money and wrote his bet down, he focused instead on the start of the fight. Neither of them had moved yet, both balancing on their toes and eyeing each other up, but then Sam burst into action.

She darted forward with her fist raised, aiming for Ella’s shoulder, but missed when Ella stepped back and to the side, hands lifted to guide Sam’s fist into the now empty space just like she had with Huss as she danced backwards out of range. Stumbling a step from momentum, Sam then whirled around to try again, eyes narrowing.

Moving in to swing out with a high kick, Ella dove to the side in a perfect roll. She came up in a crouch with her hand lifted to behind her shoulder, as if reaching for her sword, and her annoyed “tsk” sounded loud in the quiet plaza when she jumped to her feet, hands settling back in front of her chest in ready position.

The fight wasn’t really much of one from a technical point of view. Ella was quick on her feet, constantly dancing out of the way of Sam’s kicks and punches, deflecting the ones she couldn’t avoid completely to her sides, and at one point over her head as she rolled out of the way. Her skills were fairly impressive for a civilian he would admit, and he recognised some of his own techniques in the way she moved which made him smile. 

But then Remy was blowing the whistle to mark the end of the fight, and he nudged Mei’s arm. Because he’d been right, and Sam hadn’t landed even a single punch or kick on Ella. He was enjoying the look of utter shock on Mei’s face when Sam whirled round to face him.

“You cannot seriously be thinking of letting her go in there Arlo!”

“What? Why? I lasted didn’t I?” Ella yelled, hands going to her hips as she faced him too. He eyed her thoughtfully, noting how she looked just as fresh as when she’d started, baring her hair which had puffed out of the hair tie again. She wasn’t breathing any harder than normal either, which fit in with how fit he’d suspected she was, and her endurance levels. 

“Seriously kid, you won’t last five minutes in the wasteland if all you’re going to do is dodge. The monsters in there will have you for breakfast,” Sam told her bluntly before turning back to him with a pleading look, and Arlo winced because again, tact. And also he could see the change in Ella’s eyes as he looked at her.

“The rules were that I last a minute, not that I had to beat someone,” Ella said slowly, head tilting in question, and he rocked his head side to side while making a considering noise because yes, yes that was the rule. But Sam had a point. He shrugged at her, and she huffed in annoyance.

“Fine. You want to see me fight, I’ll fight. C’mon Sam, let’s go.”

“You’re on kid. Remy, count us down.”

Arlo watched carefully as they squared off again, and focused on Ella as Remy blew the whistle.

She was standing in a ready position, but seemed oddly relaxed still. She didn’t seem at all bothered when Sam lunged forward, much like she had the first time, with her fists raised and aimed at her shoulder. But unlike last time, when Sam was nearly on her she dropped to the floor, shifting out of the way and leaving one leg sticking out in Sam’s path with her other tucked under herself. She planted her hand firmly on the ground behind her as she twisted on her extended heel, before sweeping out and up with her other leg straight into the back of Sam’s thighs. 

With a loud yelp Sam tripped forward and rolled into a ball when she hit the ground, twisting herself out of it to finish on her knees facing Ella, staring in shock. Ella merely huffed as she pushed off with her foot, lifting herself up into a one handed cartwheel to land back on her feet again, and dusted her hands off. She looked at Sam, smirking, then held out her hand to wriggle her fingers in a ‘come on then' gesture, and Sam stood up with a soft huff.

Stepping towards her, Sam looked slightly warier this time as she lifted her fists up, which didn’t seem to be bothering Ella at all. She was actually holding her arms out in front of her, fingers linked together, and lifting them above her head in a stretch which tugged her top free of her waistband. He heard Sam tsk in annoyance, before she darted in close again.

Sam threw a fast punch directly at Ella’s face, and he winced, expecting to hear the sound of flesh meeting flesh. But when it came, it didn’t sound like he was expecting. Because Ella had instantly dropped her hand to catch Sam’s fist against her palm, then grip it, stopping it dead in the air in front of her face. Gritting her teeth, Sam tried a rib shot with her other hand, which Ella also caught. She leaned in to Sam, and, and-- 

And he would swear that Ella blew a kiss at Sam when she practically brushed the tips of their noses together, but that couldn’t be right, could it? He was still trying to work out if he’d actually seen what he thought he saw when Ella suddenly leant backwards and brought her leg up between them, before she planted her foot squarely in Sam’s stomach, and pushed.

He could only stare as Sam grunted and staggered backwards several steps, only to fall flat on her back with her arms wrapping around her stomach as she wheezed. And Ella, Ella was left standing on one leg, her other still stretched out all the way in front of her, perfectly balanced with her hands in the air from where she’d let go of Sam’s fists. She pulled her leg back in and tipped herself upright with deliberate slowness, then lowered her leg back to the floor to set herself in a ready position again. And at no point during any of it did she lose the small smirk on her lips.

“What’s the matter Sam, I thought you wanted a fight, not a nap,” Ella taunted as she walked over to his fallen friend, and Arlo had to lift his hand to his mouth to cover it. She sounded so sure of herself right now, and he was starting to understand why. 

But the laughs he was trying to hold in died away when Ella stepped over Sam as she struggled to sit up, then dropped down to squat over her so they were nose to nose again. And when Sam seemed to instinctively lean back away from Ella, his little sister took advantage and laid both her hands on Sam’s shoulders to push until Sam was flat on the floor again.

Something in his brain broke a little at the sight of Ella settling down on Sam’s hips, palms pressing into Sam’s shoulders, leaning down and smirking like that with her eyes all twinkling, and Sam all flushed and breathing heavily and holy crap did she just lick her lips and try to sit back up?!

“Time, Remy?” Ella called out, glancing away from Sam, and apparently not noticing her trying to get closer. “Or does Sam not being able to fight anymore count as a win for me?”

“You win. Well done, congrats, you can get off her now,” Arlo cut in before Remy could answer, quickly walking forward and reaching down to grab Ella’s forearm and pull her to her feet. He could hear the other townsfolk murmuring behind him, and Mei starting to work out payouts for people, but he’d deal with all that later.

He glanced at Sam, laying on the floor and staring at Ella in a dazed way, and shit. No. Damnit. He’d already had to warn Albert off, and was keeping an eye on Oaks. He was pretty sure he might need to talk to Alice soon too about her intentions. He did not need his colleague getting a crush on his Beany!

Glancing down at Ella, who was staring up at him all confused, he finished placing himself between her and his friend before letting go of her arm. Because of course she had no idea what she’d just done, or what it had looked like. Of course she didn’t.

“Yes. You won,” he made himself say in his bland professional tone. “You can go in the Wasteland whenever you want now.”

“Sweet! Thanks Lolo.”

Ella flashed him a bright happy smile as she turned to head towards the bench she’d left her things on. He looked down at Sam again when she spluttered, pushing herself up to sit and waving her hand around before pointing at Ella.

“But you can’t even fight sea urchins!” she yelled breathlessly, seeming torn between outraged and confused.

“Well yeah!” she said, her shoulders scrunching up as she shivered violently. She started to shake her arms out and dance on her toes. “They're just so wrong! Because they’re all slimy and squelchy and icky and weird and their eyes are so creepy and bleeergh.”

She danced on the spot, eyes squeezed shut and a look of disgust on her face, before she shook her arms out one last time and picked up her knotted string waistcoat thing. She threw it over her shoulder instead of putting it back on, and grabbed her bag and sword. "But that doesn’t mean I can’t fight everything else I want to just fine," she went on simply with a smirk, tilting her head to the side.

“Any more objections? I’m happy to go another round if you need me to.”

He would laugh at the dumbfounded look on Sam’s face while she shook her head, her mouth moving silently as she obviously struggled to process what had happened, if he couldn’t also see the other emotions playing behind her eyes. Or the way her eyes were darting all over Ella’s body as she spun round to face him, bouncing on her toes.

“Great,” Ella chirped, shooting Sam a slightly happier grin over her shoulder. “I’ll go check it out later! But now, sea urchins. C'mon Lolo, let's go!”

-~-

Chewing her lip as she walked further into the room, she perched on the edge of the sofa opposite his desk and waited until he’d sat next to her to start talking.

“I had some strange visitors earlier, who said they were from the Free Cities’ Debt Collection Agency,” she started slowly, rolling the hem of her t-shirt between her fingers. “Called themselves Agents T and H. They said that I owe them fifty thousand gol for business debts from Pa that have fallen to me. And if I don’t have the money in a week, they’ll take the house.”

“They’ll what? Shit, Ella.” He leaned towards her, reaching for her without thinking only to stop himself, his hand hovering in the air between them. He dropped it to the seat instead and used it to push himself to his feet. “Right, ok, we can sort this. We need to go talk to Isaac, since he’s the agencies rep here in Portia. I’m sort of surprised that he didn’t come to you himself, or mention this before now.”

He held his hand out to help her up, then stopped as a thought occurred to him.

“Wait. T and H? What did these Agents look like?”

“Huh?” Trying to keep his face blank as she frowned up at him, her fingers curling around his, he waited patiently while she thought. “Erm. Agent T was short, and had a long skinny face with sticky out ears. Looked like he was wearing a really bad wig. And Agent H was tall, bulky, bald, and I’m pretty sure he outgrew his clothes a while ago.”

Arlo sighed, letting go of her hand and sitting back down on the couch, slumping back against the cushions and running his fingers through his hair.

“Tuss and Huss. Urgh, I should’ve known. Ok, that’s not so bad. You don’t actually owe them anything, don’t worry.”

“I, I don’t?”

“Naah,” he said, rolling his head to look at her and trying to smile as reassuringly as he could. He allowed himself to relax, and lifted his arm to her, wrapping it around her when she immediately shifted closer to him and leaned into his side, her head resting on his shoulder. “They’re a pair of local idiots who’ve been pulling things like this for years. They like to pretend they’re bandits for some reason, and normally just do dumb things like eat and run, or try to sell rocks they find as “special relics”. This is actually one of the better scams they’ve tried, I’m sort of impressed with them on some level.”

“So I’m not going to lose my workshop? Why would they even tell me that? They even said they’d tell the Civil Corps if I tried to run, the freaking gooeys.”

He pulled her closer, chuckling at how cross and indignant she was starting to sound.

“They probably told you that to try and sound official. Most people wouldn’t make threats like that if they couldn’t actually follow through on them. And no, the two that talked to you today most definitely can’t follow through and take anything from you. But we can go find Isaac and double check if your Pa owes anything if you want, though I seriously doubt he did or that anyone’d come after him after so long. Want to go find him now?”

“Eh, maybe in a bit,” she hedged, sitting up and shifting away from him down the sofa. “You really need to shower before you try going outside with civilised people.”

“Wait, what?” He blinked at her, taking in the slight smirk on her face, the mischievous twinkle in her eyes, and the way she was still shifting towards the other end of the seat. “What do you-”

He stopped, sniffing, and glared at her when she covered her mouth with her hand to try and muffle the giggles.

“Well excuse me for actually training, pest. Go away. I’ll meet you outside the Round Table at one and we’ll go talk to Isaac before we eat, and then we can plan on how we want to deal with everything.”

“Sure thing,” she said happily, bouncing to her feet and over to the door. He stood up again, stretching his arms out in front of his body as he turned back to the dummy, only to pause as he heard the door creak open again. He looked over his shoulder to see Ella sticking her head back into the room, looking at him with a strange expression he couldn’t place.

“Thanks Lolo. For always being there to help me.”

She was gone again before he could say anything, which was just as well since he had no idea what he was meant to say to that. Shaking his head, he looked at the training dummy, then paused. He lifted his top up to sniff it, and pulled a face. Ok, fine. Maybe he did need a shower after all.

~

”How do you do builder. Do you have the money to pay off your debts?”

“Nope,” Ella said, popping the ‘p’, and Arlo covered his mouth with his hand as he heard Tuss splutter. He sunk down further against the stone wall that separated the path from the wheat field, and tried to breathe slowly through his nose. Laughing now would spoil their plan.

“I, eh, well. This is quite a serious matter then. But I suppose I can be reasonable. I’ll just take whatever money you have managed to gather, and we can return later for the rest if you--”

“No, no you won’t,” Ella interrupted, sounding irritated. “See, I talked to Mr Isaac about all of this, and he said I don’t owe you any money at all.”

“Err, Tuss, I don’t think--”

“Be quiet Agent H! Ahem. Listen here Builder, your father owed us a substantial amount of money from his business and as his nearest-”

“Yeah, exactly. If my Pa owes you money, then that’s got nothing to do with me. If it’s from his business when he was here, that’s twelve years ago and I was seven. I’m pretty sure that not only has your chance for collecting any money he owed gone by now, but I’m also very sure that you can’t just randomly decide to pass that debt onto someone who was a child when it happened and hasn’t seen the person in over a decade.”

He winced slightly at how matter of factly she said that last part. He knew her Pa had left her with Kendra twelve years ago, but had he really not been back to see her even once since?

“So since I’ve got no intention of making any payments towards this supposed debt, which Mr Isaac said would then make the debt my problem if it was actually real, I guess you’d better start trying to track him down. Best of luck to you. I haven’t the foggiest where he might be.”

Shifting himself round onto his knees and rising up to look over the wall, he saw Ella by her gate with her arms wrapped around herself, clutching at the sleeves of her cardigan. She was standing tall with her head held high and generally looked just as irritated as she sounded.

“Or you could just stop being idiots and get real jobs instead of scamming people all the time and being utterly useless,” she went on, glaring at them and trying to look fierce, and Arlo had to slap his hand back over his mouth to hold in the laughter. Because no, no she just looked adorable. Like an angry kitten. “No one in town had anything nice to say about you at all when they heard you’re trying to scam me.”

There was a pause and Arlo pulled himself to his feet as quietly as he could, wanting to get behind Tuss and Huss so he could make sure they didn’t run. Tuss and Huss were staring at her, appearing confused by how she simply wasn’t reacting to their threats, and he couldn’t really blame them. But his plan flew out the window when Tuss balled his fists at his side and snapped “Get her!”

He jumped over the wall, but not in time to stop Huss lunging towards Ella. And he was only half way across the path to them, and Remy had only just standing up from where he’d been hiding behind her worktable, when Huss’ fingers brushed her shoulder.

But Ella simply stepped back and gracefully spun out of the way, pushing Huss’ hand into the air next to her and letting him stumble forward into her fence. She took another step back and lifted her hands in front of her in a defensive stance when Huss pushed himself up, one arm wrapped around his stomach, but then Remy had reached him and pulled his other arm behind his back.

“Rude,” she muttered, dropping her hands to prop on her hips.

Arlo couldn’t help the soft “Huh” of amazement that slipped from his lips as he stopped behind Tuss, crossing his arms. That had actually been rather impressive. Ella had never mentioned that she knew how to fight. His attention was drawn down when the shorter man whirled around and he tried to smile at least semi pleasantly. Though he doubted he was managing it going by how pale Tuss was turning.

“Tuss, how nice to see you. It’s been a while hasn’t it?”

“Ar-, Arlo!”

“So that’s two counts of impersonating a Free Cities’ official, two counts of attempted fraud, one count of inciting violence, one count of attempted bodily harm, and two counts of threatening my sister,” he rattled off cheerfully. “I think you’ll be coming to the Corps with us for a little chat.”

It was vaguely amusing to watch the colour drain even quicker from Tuss’s face, before his head whipped round to stare at Ella, who had turned her glare towards them and was pouting slightly, still looking like an angry kitten. Her hair had puffed out of her ponytail, which only added to the comparison.

“She’s your, your what?”

Arlo felt his grin shift from the fondly amused one from seeing Ella like that, to something that probably showed far too many teeth given how Tuss gulped. But he didn’t much care if he was upsetting him, given how he’d told his brother to attack Ella.

“My sister. Ella has always been very important to me, and I take a very dim view of anyone trying to hurt, upset, or scam her. Now are you going to come with us quietly, or do you want to add resisting arrest to your charges?”

Tuss looked over at Huss, who was slouching in front of Ella as she said something quietly to him while Remy held his arms behind his back, and shook his head quickly. He held his hands out in front of him with his wrists together.

“No no, that’s perfectly fine, we surrender. We’ll come quietly, and are very sorry for what we did.”

“Sorry you got caught more like, but I’ll take it,” he muttered, pulling his handcuffs out his belt pouch and fastening them around Tuss’ wrists. “Remy, let’s go. Maybe a few days in the cells will actually teach these two something this time.”

“Aye Captain, we can only hope.”

Turning Tuss around and giving him a gentle push forward, they started walking back towards town. He reached out to ruffle Ella’s already messy hair as he passed, earning a half hearted glare and the barest hint of a smile as she batted his hand away, which is what he’d been after.

“All over now, see? Told you it’d be fine.”

“Yeah, I know. Thanks a whole bunch Lolo, though you don’t need to arrest them on my account. Just leave them here for ten minutes or so, so I can have a chat with them about manners.”

He started coughing to try and hide his laughter when Tuss whined, and let go of the man so he could practically run over to Remy, waiting with Huss further along the path.

“Ella, please don’t say or imply anything that’ll make me need to arrest you too.”

“I’m just saying Lolo,” she said cheerily, and he was immediately suspicious of how innocent she was looking. “You won’t have to arrest them if they're not an issue anymore, right?”

His mouth worked for a moment while his brain tried to connect the words and their meanings to the sweet, innocent, wide eyed woman in front of him. And he simply couldn’t. He must have heard her wrong. He must have. Because she wouldn’t have implied… would she?

“I’m going now, and you’re not going to say anything else about this again, ok? Not a word.”

Frowning up at him for a moment, looking confused, she broke into a grin again before shrugging happily. “If you say so. I’ll see you later Lolo. Bye Remy! Bye Tuss, bye Huss! Have fun in jail!”

Joining Remy and the bandit brothers on the path he got them moving, rubbing at his forehead as they started the long walk through town back to the Corps. She, just, no.

-~-

“Oh, hey Lolo!” she chirped brightly, dropping the hand with the apple to rub her leg as she lifted it, wobbling slightly. “Come meet my new friend! Isn’t she pretty.”

Humming thoughtfully as Spacer slowed, he eyed the llama who was slowly taking steps backwards, gaze switching between him and Ella, until she held out the apple slices again. The llama, she Ella had said, though he didn’t know how she could tell, stepped forward and delicately took the top few from her hand, before making happy llama sounds and retreating from him again.

“Very pretty,” he agreed, leaning forward over the saddle horn as he pulled Spacer to a stop next to her. “Looks fairly young too. You going to try to catch her?”

“Huh? Oh. Maybe. I guess I could, but I’ve got nowhere to keep her right now. I can afford that bit of land next to my platform, so maybe after I finish this job in the cave? Oh, but I’ll have to build a stable too, and that’ll mean talking to Albert and Gust.”

The face she pulled as she said Gust’s name was incredibly unimpressed, and he let himself laugh. She’d been doing surprisingly well at being nice to him so far in the month she’d been back in town he’d thought. And he’d even seen them having a sort of carefully civil conversation the other night at the Round Table, Ginger sitting between them and sparking conversations about books they’d all read. Ella had almost seemed to be having fun when he left, and Gust had actually looked relaxed, for him.

“Well, she isn’t likely to be going anywhere. She seems quite taken with you.” He watched while she looked back round at the llama, who had sidled close to her again and was sniffing at her hand. Ella laughed and held out the last of the slices, then gently scritched at the llama’s ear. 

“And I told you Gust wasn’t so bad now, didn’t I?” he teased, amused when she stuck her tongue out instead of answering. He looked down into the wagon, seeing something large covered in fabric was strapped down. “Job in the cave… ah! Is that the battery for the generator?”

“It surely is. So maybe if I get this done quickly enough, I can go ahead and buy that land today when Gale pays me, and then I’ve got some things I made I can sell to start me towards the stable.”

She trailed off, muttering numbers and items and prices, and he shook his head as he looked her over. She had a rucksack on, one strap let out and worn across her body instead of on both shoulders like she should. Her work trousers and belt looked fine, as did her boots, but the spaghetti strap top covered in what was either wood stain or grease, and the strange waistcoat thing she was wearing, that honestly looked to be more hole than string, was not going to be warm enough for inside the cave. He didn’t think it was warm enough for out here either really, given the chill breeze that was swirling around them, but that wasn’t the point. And he couldn’t see any weapon on her anywhere.

Lifting his finger and clearing his throat to get her attention, he waited until her eyes focused on him to start.

“Captain voice,” he began, shoving down the smirk that tried to form as she rolled her eyes. It wasn’t perfect, but the system they’d come up with the night of the river incident seemed to be working so far. “There are still some potentially hostile creatures inside the cave that we haven’t fully cleared out. A few snaillobs and I saw signs of bandirats. Do you have medical supplies and a weapon?”

Grinning widely she pulled away from the llama to pat her bag.

“I’ve got a basic first aid kit, extra bandages, herbal mixes, and a juice. I’ve also got some dried fruit and my water bottle for if I get peckish. And as for a weapon yeah! I just finished upgrading my sword and it’s so shiny and-”

Stopping abruptly, her hand waving around behind her head to where the handle normally was, he had to bite his lip when her eyes widened in realisation, and then her entire body slumped.

“And I left it on my worktable after I sharpened it, didn’t I? Bollocking piss sticks I’m dumb.”

He snorted, slapping his hand over his mouth to try and hold in the rest of the laughter, but gave up quickly because what? After all the other creative and crude curses she’d been letting out more and more often after that first time at the bridge, just what?

Glaring at him tiredly from her still slumped position, she sighed loudly enough to hear over his laughter while he leaned forward and wheezed.

“Yeah yeah Burny boy, laugh it up. Urgh. I’m going to have to drag this all the way home and then all the way back, and there go my plans for the afternoon.” She groaned, rolling her head back and standing up straight again, then looked at him with a slight smirk. “And in brother voice?”

Wiping at his eyes he allowed himself to chuckle one last time before clearing his throat and sitting up straight.

“In brother voice, do you know how cold it is in there? You’re going to freeze in that top.”

Ella blinked at him, then looked down at her bare arms with a slight frown.

“But it’s so warm out here and fine, fine,” she said as she lifted her hands in defeat, making a show of shielding herself from his raised eyebrow. “I’ll grab my cardigan too when I get my sword. Anything else?”

He shook his head fondly at her, and offered, “Would you like to borrow my sword and jacket, instead of heading all the way back?”

“What? Really?” Perking up instantly and dropping her hands, she looked up at him in surprise.

“So long as you promise to be careful with it. It’ll be a lot sharper than the wooden or bronze ones you’re used, and possibly lighter, so be aware of how hard you swing it.” He grabbed his sheathed sword from its holder on his saddle and passed it down to her before climbing down himself.

He shrugged his new jacket off and held it out to her, shivering as the cold breeze blew straight through his thin shirt while he waited for her to balance his sword on top of the battery and take her rucksack off before sliding her arms into the sleeves. Turning around to face him, her eyebrows went up as she flapped her hands around to show him the loose fabric covering them in this one too, and he snorted a laugh. She looked just as ridiculous and adorable in this jacket as she had in his Civil Corps, and he felt he could actually take the time to appreciate it this time.

It really was like when she’d bundled herself up in his clothes as a child. Only it seemed worse now, because the size difference between them shouldn’t be this pronounced like it had been when they were seven and fifteen, surely. His brown suede jacket absolutely swamped her, the front edge falling down to her knees where it wasn’t zipped closed, and the front of the collar stuck up around her face to poke against her cheeks. The little pouches on his shoulders dragged the spare fabric halfway down her upper arms, and the sleeves, well.

He grabbed one of her hands and undid the cuff fastening, then started to fold the sleeve back and rolled it up until her hand was free, before doing the same on the other. He couldn’t do much about the body length, but at least she wouldn’t freeze in there. And it would be slight extra protection against anything that jumped her.

“There. Do you mind if I take your sword with me while you’ve got mine? I don’t expect to need it, but you never know.”

“Yeah, sure,” she said absently, picking up his sword again and drawing it, holding the long iron blade out in front of her and looking down the edge. She turned away from both him and the llama to swing it through the air, humphing as she ended up spinning on her foot from the force she’d used. She pulled it back up in front of her to slide back into the sheath. “I left it on my workbench, I think. Or it’s on the coffee table, so you can go ahead and let yourself in. Just don’t get mud on my rug, ok? Or dent my sword.”

“That’s my line,” he muttered under his breath, climbing back up on Spacer and ignoring the raspberry she blew. “Be careful in there, ok? Come find me when you’re done, I’m going to be staying around town investigating the thefts some more all day.”

“Sure thing Lolo. Have fun!”

Raising his hand to give her a mock salute, he watched as she waved and turned to step back. Then winced as her foot caught on the handle for the wagon and she tripped over with a yelp to land on top of the battery.

Closing his eyes and covering his face, he made himself breathe slowly and deeply as she grumbled and huffed. He was so, so tempted to go with her. Just to make sure she didn’t end up hurting herself somehow, probably with his sword. But no. No, she was an adult. She was fully capable of looking after herself, and would have had her own sword anyway if she hadn’t forgotten it. And really, it was only snaillobs and maybe a few bandirats that might be in there. What was the worst that could happen?

Plus, he had to find out who was stealing all the random things he reminded himself, dropping his hands and waving one last time as turned Spacer away, listening to her start talking to the llama again. Sam had found some tracks by Sophie’s farm the night before that looked promising, and he was interested to see where they might lead.

~

“I still can’t believe we didn’t notice anything going on,” Sam muttered as she climbed up onto the ledge to look around the door again. “It’s so close to the Corps, you’d think one of us would’ve seen something.”

“Well most of the thefts have been during the night or the early mornings,” Remy said, crouching down next to the scuffed tracks they’d followed. “And it’s not like any of us are over here that often, is it Captain.”

Arlo shot a glare at Remy, gritting his teeth. Yes, fine, he came to the well with Nora sometimes to tell her stories of some of his adventures. But that was at night time, in the dark, and they stayed together close to the well, and it wasn’t like he’d really been paying attention to his surroundings when he was here those times, so he couldn’t have been expected to see the tracks and… and he knew that wasn’t what Remy meant, but he wasn’t thinking about that right now.

He turned his glare on the door, ignoring the smirk Sam was doing a bad job of hiding, and lifted his hand up to wrap his fingers around the hilt of Ella’s sword.

“Are you both ready to go?”

“Aye Captain, I’m ready when you a-”

“Shush,” Sam hissed, freezing in place and staring at the door, her head tilted slightly. She silently jumped down from the ledge and backed towards them, her eyes never moving from the door, and Arlo held his breath to listen.

Something was moving around inside, a steady clunking that was getting louder, and closer. He set his feet into a ready position, and lifted his hands in front of him. While he did have Ella’s sword with him, and had been about to draw it so he could use it if he had to, it was so much shorter and heavier than his that he wouldn’t be as effective with it. Single file inside the narrow tunnel beyond the door, fine, he could have made do. But close combat against bandirats in this wide space, with the chance of misjudging and hitting Sam or Remy? Not a risk he was willing to take.

All thoughts of battle plans and tactics disappeared like a puff of smoke when loud, violent swearing suddenly rang out in the air, quickly followed by an even louder clang as the door shook on its runners. The cursing continued, and Arlo had to bite his lip at the colourful description of the doors heritage and character Ella was shouting as he heard Remy choke, then watched Sam slap her hand over her mouth to hold in her laughs.

Trying to smooth his face out into blandness as he crossed the space to the door when it shook again, since Ella clearly wasn’t going to open it anytime soon, he grabbed the handle to pull it to the side. He’d been expecting to find Ella standing at the top of the stairs, and maybe the internal handle broken. But instead he was face to frame with the end of a sofa.

“I, ah, what?” he spluttered, all the comments he’d been planning on making about her language drying up on his tongue. “Ella?”

“Oh! Hey Lolo! Hold the door open for me would you, so I can get this blasted thing through?”

He blinked, then stepped back, pulling the door as far it it would go on the runners, and watching as the sofa slowly plodded through the gap. She was bent almost double with the weight of it across her shoulders, though he was slightly relieved to see the back legs of it were balanced on her little wagon, which she’d tied to the back of her trousers somehow.

“Ella, what are you doing here, and why do you have a sofa?” Arlo asked, quite reasonably he thought as he let the door slide shut behind her and stepped off the ledge down to the grass. “I thought you were going to install the battery in the cave?”

“I did. Ah. Look, can you give me a hand with this? It’s kinda heavy, and getting it up the stairs was harder than I thought it’d be.”

“Oh shit, yeah, right. Remy? Sam?”

Moving quickly to grab the end over her head and lifting it up from her shoulders, he heard her groan happily as the weight left her. Sam and Remy rushed to the other end and grabbed a corner each, and between the three of them they moved it off her wagon to set down next to her.

“Aaah, thanks,” she sighed, standing up straight and rolling her neck, setting her hands on her lower back and twisting side to side. “I’ll have to go compliment Paulie later, that sofa is a whole lot more solid than I thought it was.”

He quickly scanned her as her hands then moved round a little further and she untied the wagon from her belt. No visible injuries he could see, no rips or tears in her clothes, just a single dark stain across the front of his jacket and her top, and a smear across her cheek. He tilted his head, considering, as she dropped the handle and walked the few steps to drape herself over the back of the chair cushions.

“Urgh. So you were right Lolo, about there being snaillobs in there,” she said into the chair, before rolling herself over so she was laying backwards. He thought he heard things start to crack and pop before she continued talking. 

“There was this absolutely huge one in that first wide area? That was fun to fight. I installed the battery in the cave, and the door back to the entrance closed, right? But then this other door opened up, and a whole bunch of bandirats came swarming in. So I had to fight them to get through. And then as I was walking through the tunnels, I found some of the things that people have been saying are missing. Like Gust’s lamp, and it was already dirty when I found it before you say anything. And, oh! Like your shoes Remy! They’re in the wagon!”

“They are? That’s great.”

“Yeah, you might want to wash them before you try using them, they were in a puddle of, erm, something. But anyway. So I got to the room that’s at the bottom of those stairs, and there was this one bandirat just sitting on the sofa ordering the others about, and when I asked it for the sofa back, it attacked me. I ended up tripping it into a wall and bashing it on the head with Emily’s bucket until it stopped trying to get up, then I got out of there.”

Arlo covered his eyes with his palms and used his finger tips to start rubbing his forehead.

“Ella, I gave you my sword for if you had to fight,” he started, trying to keep his voice even, but stopped when she pulled herself up with a grunt. He narrowed his eyes when she reached down onto the cushions behind her and grabbed what he assumed was his sword, but quickly moved it behind her back before he got a good look.

“Yeah, about that. You were right that it was a lot lighter and sharper than anything I’m used to. It really threw me off when I fought the giant snaillob. Soooooo, I, er, I...”

Something in his eye twitched at the way she said that, and the way she seemed to shrink in front of him. What had she done to his sword?

“I didn’t dent your sword, I swear!”

That wasn’t reassuring in the slightest.

“Ella.”

“I can make you a new one just as soon as I get the bits, I promise.”

“Gabriella.”

Wincing, she pulled the sword round to hold out to him, and he could only stare while his mouth dropped open. He distantly heard Sam and Remy trying to stifle their laughter, but he didn’t care.

The sheath was battered and ripped, with suspicious stains all along it. The stitching around the back and belt straps was coming out, and there was something slimy smeared over the end of it.

“What did you do with it?” he asked, not caring about how squeaky he got because what? What?

“E-heh. Well like I said, the sword was way too sharp and light for me, so I was swinging it way too hard and making a mess, so I figured it’d be better to just... hit... them…?” she said slowly, as if asking, before rushing on quickly. “I mostly went for leg shots, so I think they’re all probably still alive down there. Which is fine! I mean, I did invade their home, so, ya know.”

“Their home-- Ella! They’re bandirats!” he groaned, almost whined, letting a hint of his frustration through.

“And they’re living creatures who live in a community and obviously care about each other a great deal who are no different to Papa Bear, and you let him live in peace just fine!” she interrupted, standing straight and staring at him solemnly. “And they were living down there quite happily before I started wandering into what was probably their bedrooms. I couldn’t just kill them when I was the one in the wrong.”

He stared at her, mouth working silently, idly registering Sam grabbing Remy’s arm as she bent over, hand firmly plastered over her mouth. He hated that what she said about Abu was actually a valid point, but, but there was a difference! 

“I, no. No. No. I am not dealing with this right now. No,” he said one last time while pointing his finger at her face, He turned to his colleagues, feeling his eye twitch again. “Sam, Remy, come on, we need to go clear them out and-”

“Don’t you dare go kill Bob!”

He froze, refusing to look down at her or acknowledge the hand wrapped around his forearm. He didn’t want to ask. He didn’t want to know. Unfortunately, Remy did.

“Bob?”

“Yeah, Bob Bobbington the fourth. He was the one in charge, who I hit with the bucket. He seemed to prefer Bob to Cecil, I think. I told him he had to stop stealing stuff as I hit him, so hopefully it’ll have stuck when he wakes up.”

Biting his lip, he breathed slowly and deeply through his nose. Trying desperately to centre himself as Ella kept talking to Remy, not seeming to pick up on his choked laughter. Or the fact that Sam had given in and fallen to the floor, clutching her stomach as she howled and kicked her feet.

He counted to ten, then twenty. Then did it again just to be sure, before he pulled his arm from her grip and laid his hand heavily on her shoulder, startling her into silence.

“Ella. As your brother I love you. I want to be really, really clear on that part. But also as your brother and more importantly as the Captain, I really, really hate you right now.”

-~-

Stopping to wait by one of the end supports, a huge slab of wood buried in the ground, he thought she met his eyes when she half turned towards him. Her eyes were flickering in the light from the lamp as she gripped the rope one handed and leaned further out over the river, stretching her other arm out as if reaching for the waterfall. But since her face was pointed almost directly at him he lifted his hand and waved. 

“Hey Ella, any idea how much--"

The shriek she let out when her head jerked slightly, her feet actually leaving the stone pillar as she jumped in shock, made him flinch. He had a split second to register that she was most definitely looking at him now before he had to watch in what felt like slow motion as she grabbed at the rope which was slipping through her fingers. Because the same reflex that had made her jump had also made her let go of the rope.

And since she'd been leaning off the pillar, that meant that her precarious footing and support became no footing and support, and he could do nothing but stare as she tipped backwards, and fell into the water with an enormous splash.

Swearing as he hurried forward to the edge of the river, he grit his teeth and jumped down into it while his head filled with memories of the last time she’d fallen in. He stared desperately at the spot she’d gone under between the upriver pillars as he waded forward, but the water was dark in the fading light, and the lamp shining from above was making the surface reflective.

“Ella?” he called, panicked and preparing himself to go even further out into the freezing water and find her, but then her head broke the surface and she gasped and spluttered. She flailed a little bit before one of her hands pushed her sopping wet hair from her face, long enough for him to catch the murderous glare she sent him before she let go and it immediately fell back down with a heavy slap.

“Lolo! You are dead when I get over there!” she yelled, kicking forward and starting to lurch towards him, swimming one handed as her other hand held her thick hair out of her eyes again. “I swear, you really are a jinx! I hadn’t dropped anything in the river the entire time I’ve been here but the second you show up I fall in?”

He let out a silent sigh of relief as she kept ranting while she swam closer. She was fine. She wasn’t four years old and unable to swim. She was fine. But then he started to actually listen to what she was saying, and choked on a laugh. He hadn’t heard words like that since he’d walked past a group of drunk Duvosian sailors while he was in Tallsky. And hearing such words in Ella’s normally sweet voice was, was not something he’d ever expected to happen.

“Ella!” he finally managed to get out, not sure if he was shocked more that she knew words and phrases like that, or that she was directing them at him, and watched as she rolled her eyes, lip pulling back in a sneer. He stepped out further into the water, wading forward till it swirled around his thighs to reach for her, grabbing her wrist when her hand slapped into him and turning to start pulling her closer to shore.

"Oh shove off Lolo, I’m almost certain you’ve heard worse in your time with the Corps.”

“Well, yes,” he admitted, tugging her forward to a shallower stretch of river bed and helping her stand next to him. She stumbled slightly as the force of the water buffeted her, and he shifted himself to stand upstream to block it. “But there’s a difference between hearing random people saying it and, well, you.”

She groaned and dropped her head, and he knew she was rolling her eyes at him even without seeing it. Letting go of her wrist to wrap his fingers around her arm above her elbow firmly, he tugged her into movement again, trying to shield her as best he could from the flow.

“We’ve been over the whole I’m an adult now thing, right?” she asked, sounding slightly more annoyed than amused. “I’m pretty sure we’ve covered it several times now that I’m a real proper grown up person, who is allowed to do things like swear.”

“We have, but you’ll always be my sweet and innocent little Beany Boo to me,” he told her cheerfully, trying to ignore her disdainful snort which was followed immediately by a sneeze as they reached the bank. Shifting his hand back down to hers, he climbed up onto solid ground in one step, then waited while she grumbled at him and his stupidly long legs before pulling her up when she nodded at him. He reached forward to grab her other hand when she yelped as her foot slipped out from under her as the mud gave way, and pulled her against his chest before moving to wrap his arm around her to hold her steady. 

“You ok?”

“Yeah. Thanks,” she muttered, sounding petulant. “I’m still mad at you though. The water's bloody freezing."

Slowly dropping his gaze to his own legs, the waterline halfway up his thighs standing out starkly in the light from the lamp even at this distance, he then lifted his eyes to meet her sparkling ones as she leaned into him, and he felt a shiver run up her back. 

"You don't say," he said dryly, keeping his expression and voice as blank as possible, which earned him the snort he’d been hoping for. “Come here pest, let’s get you warmed up.”

“Don’t you pest me,” she snarked, pausing to sneeze as he tried to lead her to Spacer. “It’s your own fault we’re both wet you bloody jinx. If anyone’s a pest, it’s you.”

She cut herself off with a string of sneezes, wobbling forward and clutching at his arm when they were done, and he frowned as he looked her over, seeing another shiver shake her body. She sniffed and wrapped her arms around herself, and immediately leaned against Spacer when they reached him.

He sighed fondly, then started unbuckling his shoulder harness and unzipping his jacket. He shrugged it off and spun it round and over her head to settle it on her shoulders, quickly sweeping her heavy mass of hair up and onto the outside of it before holding the sides up with a grin.

“Arms.”

“Damnit Arlo, what did I just say about me not being a kid anymore? You don’t need to fuss over me like this, it’s not like I was going to drown out there!” she snapped, glaring up at him and jerking herself backwards, and he felt his smile falter as he met her eyes. But he kept watching her, letting his face settle into his blank Captain’s mask as he waited. She finally huffed and did as he asked, shoving her arms into the sleeves and standing still as he tugged the front together, then reached for the zip.

It took him several tries to hook the zip in place, then he pulled it up quickly to the top of the collar by her nose, letting go as soon as he could and stepping away from her.

“Not this time, no. But you almost did. When you were four. Right here, on the old Amber Island bridge. So I’m sorry, but you’ll have to forgive me for wanting to reassure myself that you’re ok this time.”

Turning around before she could say anything else, he walked swiftly to the bridge frame and up onto the pipe. He ignored the way his shoes squelched as he made his way to her lamp, trying to not actually think about anything. Quickly leaning down to grab the handle, he paused when he saw how badly his hands were shaking.

She had to have no idea. That was the only reason she’d have said what she did. She wouldn’t, there was no way she’d have gone there if she actually remembered. She wasn’t like that.

The memory hit him again and he pressed his palms against his eyes. 

Gust and Ella bickering on the bridge, one of them having done something to the other yet again. Then Ella's high pitched yell. Gust screaming her name. 

Looking up from cleaning Sonia's scraped knee in time to watch Gust hit the water, and both him and Paulie scrambling into the river to try to grab him. Only for Gust to pop up, spluttering and holding Ella. 

Ella who was coughing and gasping and clinging to Gust’s neck, who was trying his best to keep them afloat as Arlo and Paulie swam over. Ella who had almost gone under again when she tried to wriggle out of Gust’s hold before Arlo was close enough to catch her.

Ella who had stayed in bed for a week with a sniffly fever and cried whenever he left her sight.

Pressing harder against his eyes, he dropped into a crouch to rest his elbows on his knees. She'd been fine. She'd been completely fine afterwards and never acted any different or like she'd even realised anything had happened, aside from her sudden dislike of sea urchins.

He groaned, rubbing his hands over his face and into his hair, anchoring himself with the faint pain as he clenched his fingers.

Because while he was pretty sure he was allowed to be slightly over protective right now, given the circumstances, she, she did have a point about the him treating her like a kid thing.

He had been getting better about catching himself before he could fall into old habits, most of the time. He wasn’t reaching out to clean the grease or food off her face, or brush dirt out of her hair. And he’d been letting her pay for her own things after she made a huge point about him putting everything on his tabs around town. He’d tried to bite his tongue and wait for her to come to him to ask what it was she’d done to upset people, before he helped her fix things, like he had the first time she met Merlin. And he was fine with standing back and letting her lift and carry things, since he’d seen first hand she was just as capable as he was, possibly even able to carry things for longer.

But seeing her soaking wet and shivering, here at the Amber Island bridge…

It had been way too close to that memory.

He pulled his hands down over his cheeks, counting to twenty before dropping them completely to grab the lamp and push himself up. He rolled his shoulders and breathed deeply one last time, then turned and started back. He kept his eyes on his feet, concentrating on staying on the flattest part of the edge so he wouldn’t slip. His waterproof boots really were amazing, in that they hadn’t let any of the water out of them yet, which was throwing off his sense of balance slightly.

Stumbling slightly when he jumped the last few steps to the dirt he looked over to Spacer, expecting to find Ella already mounted and waiting for him. But she wasn’t. She was exactly where he’d left her, staring at the floor and hugging herself tightly, the sleeves of his jacket dangling down off her hands.

She looked utterly ridiculous. Adorable, but ridiculous. And he mentally scolded himself for thinking so after everything she’d said today, but she really did. 

The sleeves ended a good hands length past her fingertips, and the bottom hem which normally sat nicely on his hips reached down to her thighs. The zip was poking at her nose, completely hiding her mouth given how high the collar was on her, and she seemed to be doing her best to shrink down and hide behind it as he crossed the space between them to stop in front of her.

It was just like when she’d been a kid, stealing his jumpers whenever he wasn’t looking to bury herself in, and while he’d normally find the thought amusing and possibly heart warming, right now it was making him feel… empty.

He tipped his head back to stare at the clouds, frowning when he saw how dark and fast they were moving. He sniffed, the smell of rain thick in the air, and looked back down at the top of Ella’s head.

“It’s about to rain. C’mon, I’ll give you a ride home.”

Shaking her head and bending it further forward, he had to lean in to hear her when she started to mumble, muffled as she was by his collar.

“I’m still damp, and I don’t want want to get your saddle wet. I’ll sit behind you.”

He sighed heavily, running his hand through his hair and considered arguing, before deciding he simply didn’t have the energy right now. He walked past her and untied Spacer, grabbing her work belt as he did and throwing it over his shoulder. He hooked the lamp on one of the saddle hooks then pulled himself up, taking his foot from the stirrup and holding his hand down to help her mount. He waited till she’d settled behind him, her hands resting lightly on his hips, and he bit down the sigh that wanted to escape. Instead, he simply grabbed her hands and pulled them forward, wrapping them around his waist until he felt her snug against his back, gripping her hand when he felt her try to pull away.

“Hold on tight please, I’m going to cut across the llama field and I don’t want you falling off,” he said, keeping his voice professionally bland. He let go of her, waiting for a second to see if her hands would stay where he’d put them, and then grabbed the reins and kicked Spacer into motion.

They crossed the road in silence, and he settled a hand on top of hers again when Spacer jumped up the small ledge only to immediately let go as soon as they were on flat ground. He could hear the wind picking up, and the smell of rain was getting stronger. Hopefully he’d be able to get back to the Corps before it really started, since he was going to be leaving his jacket with her. Which he should talk to her about.

He tried different things in his head as they trotted across the field, the only sounds the wind rustling the branches of the trees as it picked up speed, and then her sneezes as the wind whipped around them and made her shiver against his back. He nudged Spacer around her fence, then pulled him to a stop at her gate.

Well, it was now or never he guessed. 

“I’m sorry for startling you and making you fall,” he started, deciding his Captain voice was probably best for what he needed to say. “I thought you were already looking at me or I’d have got your attention some other way. And I’m sorry for how I’ve been treating you.”

Her hands tensed against his stomach, pulling against him, and he tried to ignore it as he went on.

“You’re right. I sometimes treat you as the little girl I knew before, as my darling little sister who needs watching over, and you aren’t her. You’re an independent young woman now who knows all sorts of things, and who is more than capable of looking after herself. You’re an adult, and a member of our community, and you don’t need me coddling or protecting you. As the Captain of the Corps, I should have done better and treated you more fairly. I promise, I’ll stop treating you differently, and--”

“No,” she shouted, sounding choked as her hands pulled tightly against him, squeezing at his sides. He heard her growl a string of muttered profanity as she let go of him, then she shifted against his back. She pulled away from him completely, and he whipped his head around to look back at her only to collide with her cheek as she draped herself over his shoulder, wrapping her arms around him and pulling him back against her chest. She turned her head into his, her wet fringe pressed into his cheek and she made a soft, choked noise.

“No, it’s, it’s ok. I know I complain, but I, I don’t mind. I, I really like when you look after me. It’s nice to be reminded that you care, ya know? I’m sorry Lolo, I’m really, really sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you.” She trailed off with an actual sob, her body shaking against his back, and shit!

“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!” she went on, voice thick around her tears. He reached up to wrap his fingers around her arms, trying to pull her away so he could turn, but she held onto him tighter. 

“I know I shouldn’t have snapped at you like that, I’m just all aggy today and I took it out on you when you didn’t deserve it. I, I. It’s no excuse, but I didn’t have anyone in Barnarock to help me. There was no one there who understood me. Kendra was alright, but, but she weren’t Ma, and she weren’t you. There was no one who understood me or who helped me with people, no one who explained things like you did, and I couldn’t rely on anyone so I ended up doing everything myself. And then coming back here and having you looking after me again is so, it’s all--”

She stopped, letting off a soft whine as she pressed her face into his, and he felt her tears start to slide down his cheek. He started shushing her, leaning his head into hers with as much pressure as he could and holding her arms while he made comforting noises.

“Please, please don't stop looking after me and being my Lolo. Please don’t leave me. I don't want to stop being your Ella, or your Beany. I, please?”

She stopped completely then, her sobs loud in his ear and her arms like iron bands around him. He stroked her arm, and tried to shift his hand to stroke her hair too but he couldn’t from the angle they were in. He opened his mouth to try talking to her, to tell her it was all ok, but there was a lump in his throat. A lump of all the feelings from the evening he wasn’t sure he could identify, that was making words impossible and his own eyes itch.

He simply pressed his cheek into her again, rubbing against her as best he could as he started to hum. An old tune that his Ma used to use when he was little, and he’d used on her when she was a baby. Probably not the best thing he could do given everything, but it was all he could think of right now.

It seemed to work though, since her crying slowed to the occasional wet hiccup. She slid down his back, her arms moving from around his shoulders to settle loosely around his own, and he could finally wriggle his way free to spin round, throwing his leg over Spacer’s head and sliding off.

He held his hands up to her, wriggling his fingers when she simply sat and stared at him, sniffling loudly. She hiccuped, then sneezed before she leaned forward to swing her leg backwards, and he caught her around the waist as she fell towards him. He set her on her feet then wrapped his arms tightly around her, copying the position she’d had him in and pulling her as close as he could, not caring about her sopping hair trapped between them.

“I’m sorry Ella. I’m sorry. But it’s ok. It’s ok. I’m not going anywhere, I promise. I’ll, I’ll be here as long as you want me to be, ok? We just, we just need to work out some boundaries I think. But we can do that later. Come on, let’s get you inside. It’s going to start raining any minute and you’re already soaked.”

He let go of her when she nodded mutely, her hands scrubbing at her face. He moved round her to smile softly, holding her face between his palms and rubbing at the tear tracks under her eyes. 

“Go on inside now, I’ll come see you tomorrow. I should be free after two maybe, so-”

“Can’t you come in now?” she interrupted, hiccuping slightly at the end. “Can’t, can’t you come in and we can talk now? You, you can come in and warm up and I can wash and dry your clothes. I’ve got pyjamas that might be loose enough to fit you, and plenty of blankets for your stupidly long legs.”

Huffing a laugh at her attempt to lighten the mood, he pulled back and started to shake his head, and she grabbed at his arms. The ends of the sleeves flipped over to wrap around him, as if joining in her pleas for him to stay.

“Please! I finished fixing the loft, and I’ve been setting up a blanket fort up where my old bedroom was. We can go sit in it, and I’ll make tea and cocoa, and you can, you can tell me more about what you got up to while I wasn’t here. I want. I mean, I. Just. Please?”

Staring at him, eyes wide and hopeful, it took effort to look away and glance up at the clouds, then close his eyes to listen. He could faintly hear the rain already falling somewhere, which meant it’d be on them soon enough, and he really should go.

“Spacer can come in too! I can set a tarp down so he doesn’t make a mess, and I’ve got a bunch of apples inside he can eat, and other veg. So, please? Please stay Lolo?”

Slowly opening his eyes to look at her again, his resolve wavered further. Lips wobbling, eyes begging, he sighed. Because he never had been able to say no to her.

He reached out and pushed her gate so it swung open, then gripped her shoulder to turn her towards her house. He smiled at her when she tried to resist, her eyes welling up again as they stayed locked on his and her lip wobbling more.

“You better go find that tarp quickly, or else you’ll have a very wet horse to clean up after.”

-~-

“I delegated,” he said flatly, earning him the laugh he’d been hoping for, turning from the grinder to eye the large pile of wood waiting to be turned into planks, and then the even larger pile of neatly stacked boards. He winced slightly, remembering the half heard conversation between her and Emily about how chilly her house was, and the strange things she’d found in some of the holes in the walls and floor. He’d meant to clear out the ‘haunted house’ before the new builder arrived, but had completely forgotten.

“Sam can handle all the monster requests for the other builders today,” he told her, forcing himself to be blandly cheerful, and not let his guilt through. “And Remy has neater handwriting than me anyway for the reports. And the boys are grounded for the next two weeks after their little stunt the other day. Alice has got them watering her flowers and weeding, so I don’t need to run around making sure they aren’t in trouble.”

“Good! Because I was going to tie you to the chair and barricade the door so no one could steal you away otherwise,” she said, hardly shouting now, and he shook his head fondly.

He was glad she was making jokes about it, since he really did feel guilty over what had happened. Their lunch together the first day had been thoroughly sidetracked by Oaks, and then he’d had to leave to go investigate the monster Abu had reported. And then all his work at the Corps had left him with barely enough time to sit down, let alone get more than a quick hello as he raced past Ella each day. 

“Don’t worry. I have the entire rest of the day off, bar something big like the sky falling, something catching on fire, or pirates showing up. I’m looking forward to hearing what you got up to while you were away.”

And finding out who she was now, and what she wanted their relationship to be. While she’d seemed happy to see him that first day last week, throwing herself at him and letting him hug her, ever since she’d seemed to be keeping her distance. She’d been happy to talk to him in the few minutes they’d had as they’d passed each day, but she hadn’t been making any attempts to hug him, or hold his hand, or ruffle his hair, or even call him any of the many names she’d had for him as a child.

If he were honest with himself, he was finding it a little upsetting. It almost felt like something was missing, and it hurt. Like he had his little sister back, but he also didn’t.

“Please don’t jinx us,” she groaned, sounding like she was right behind him. “I’m almost tempted to not bother boiling water now, since you’ll probably have to leave before anything’s ready.”

He laughed as he turned towards where her voice was coming from, opening his mouth to reply, and distantly heard the basket thump to the floor as his fingers went slack. His jaw dropped open while he stared in disbelief at the sight before him. 

Ella was walking around the edge of her fence from the small group of trees just beyond it. A dark branch taller and thicker than she was was balanced on her shoulder, and then a bundle of thinner, lighter coloured branches that all looked as long and round as her arm was dragging behind her by a rope.

She was smiling brightly at him, all toothy grin and shining eyes, like what she was doing was perfectly normal.

“I picked up some tea leaves yesterday from Sophie just for you, because that church lady, Nora was it? Yeah, Nora. She mentioned you like red tea sometimes when you take her to lunch. But maybe we should stick with the apple and orange juice I got from Sonia this morning…”

She kept talking at him as she walked past, something about snacks, not that he really registered it. The branch, if he could even call it that, was more like three times her height he could see now, and looked completely solid. 

His mouth moved, trying to find words to ask the important questions. Like what, why, and how? But his brain wouldn’t engage, and he only managed to make a spluttering sound as his hand rose up to point at her, then the log. She laughed lightly, walking down to the gate and turning so she could walk through it, and he watched as the branch swung wide, wobbling slightly on her shoulder.

“Hmm? Oh, this? It’s for the bridge. I’ve finally got an axe good enough to cut through the bigger trees.” She lifted the hand wrapped in rope to pat the shiny looking bronze axe stuck through her belt, then gave the rope a good yank to bump the bundle of branches in through the gate. 

“Don’t worry,” she continued, sounding incredibly amused as she walked towards him. “I bent my knees and everything when I picked it up. Kendra taught me a whole bunch about making sure I could carry things safely over the years.”

He nodded dumbly as she got closer, eyes glued to the log. It was balanced perfectly on her shoulder, though he could see now that it was taking more effort than she was letting on to keep it there. And now she was next to him, muttering something about where to put it, he could see the impressive muscles in her arms straining against the short sleeve of her t-shirt–

He yelped as the branch swung round and the end of it caught his shoulder, sending him stumbling sideways from the weight of it and tripping over the basket of food. His side hit the edge of the assembly station, driving the air from his lungs and making him gasp, but he ignored it as he scrambled back to his feet when he saw her wobble dangerously, swearing under her breath.

He hobbled forward, prepared to help as she tried to steady herself, but she grunted and simply dropped the wood next to her before he could, letting it land on her cut boards. Wincing as he heard cracking as the neatly stacked pile collapsed, he made himself meet her concerned eyes when they snapped to his face.

“Shit, I’m so sorry, I thought I had more space. Are you ok? Where’d I get you?”

“My arm but I’m fine,” he quickly tried to reassure her, wincing at how raspy he sounded as he coughed a few times, meeting her halfway as she walked over to him. “How about you? How’s your shoulder?”

“Don’t worry about me,” she told him tersely. “It was my fault. Here, how bad is it?”

Fingers wrapped around his elbow and gently lifted it, and he grit his teeth to try and stop the wince from showing, but he guessed he failed from the way her brows scrunched closer together.

“I’m sorry about those boards,” he said, hoping to distract her, but she just looked at him flatly, conveying her immense disapproval with a single raised brow.

“Forget about the boards, I can always make more. I can’t make another you. So jacket off, I’m getting you some bruise cream and an ice pack. And a herbal juice. Do you want a plain one, or one I stuck some mint leaves in?”

She let go of him and turned to leave, and he sighed as he grabbed her arm, pulling her back round. Reaching up with his fingers and ignoring the slight twinge in his ribs from moving his arm, he tilted her face to the side. He hissed in sympathy when he saw the grazes on her neck and cheek, and several small bleeding scratches on her shoulder.

“Depends on which one you prefer, since you’re having one too,” he told her bluntly, smirking at her when she glared. “Nope, no arguing, or I won’t let you have the shiny plasters I found for you.”

“I’m not a kid anymore Arlo,” she growled, frown turning into a glare. But her eyes followed his hand as it moved down to his hip anyway, looking puzzled as he patted the belt pouch he’d found at the back of his wardrobe, before she burst into bright laughter.

It was the sickly yellow “Ella’s booboo” pouch they’d made together when she was four, with pink yarn stitching and mis-sized wooden buttons holding the flap down. She reached out and ran her fingers over it, smiling fondly as she giggled. 

“Oh wow,” she drew out, shifting to his side and leaning down to see it better. “I can’t believe you still have this. Or that it’s still in one piece.”

“The yarn isn’t actually holding it together, I sewed the seams with thread on the insides after you were done,” he told her fondly, watching as she flipped the cover and started to look through the supplies he’d filled it with that morning.

“Yeah, and that’s why I’m surprised,” she snarked back, poking her tongue out and winking, and he let himself laugh as he grabbed her elbow.

“Come on, I’ll show you the shiny plasters once I’ve cleaned up your neck. I got a brand new bottle of antiseptic from the clinic as soon as I knew you were here, though I honestly wasn’t expecting to need it so soon.”

“Oh piffle to you Lolo! I was just fine until you stood in the way,” she told him with a laugh, pulling free of him to bend down and grab the basket he’d forgotten about. “And don’t think I haven’t noticed you being careful with your right side. You’re going to stop being all annoyingly protective and big brotherly when we get inside and let me check you out, you hear me?”

He felt his grin grow wider, despite the pain he was in as she stepped forward to reach up and ruffle his hair, squeezing his cheeks together with her other hand. He wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her close and bumping his nose into her forehead.

“I hear you I hear you. And you can check, but I’m not ever going to stop being your annoying big brother,” he told her around the warm, happy feeling bubbling up in his chest. They still needed to talk, but he finally felt like had his little sister back, and he loved it.

-~-

When Gale had called out to them as they were crossing the plaza, and given Ella a list of shop owners in town to talk to, to help her settle in, he’d half expected her to hide behind him and go quiet, same as she had every time Gale had approached her as a child. But she wasn’t a shy seven year old anymore, and so had smiled and thanked him politely, actually making small talk with him before he’d hurried off to see Ginger. And when Arlo had led her into the Round Table for the lunch he’d offered her, she’d been happy to shake Django’s hand and join in with his jokes and laughter.

Until Sonia had seen her that was.

Sonia's happy shriek as she ran over to grab Ella and spin her round in a circle had drawn the attention of everyone in the restaurant, and Antoine and Emily had rushed over to join in too. And while Ella had seemed startled at first, she quickly relaxed into the happy bubbly person who’d jumped at him in the guild, and was chatting away to them like she’d just seen them yesterday.

He honestly didn't remember the four of them being that close before, he mused, swirling his drink. Ella had preferred to follow him around pretending to fight monsters rather than join in whatever safe game the other three were playing. But then, they had all been in the same learning group at school, being closer to her age than he was.

Django leaned on the counter next to him, and a quick glance showed him smiling indulgently at the group standing in the middle of the room.

"It sure is nice to see the young folk being so lively, don't you think? Makes me almost feel young again myself."

Arlo hummed happily as he watched them, content to stay sitting down. While he wasn’t that much older than any of them, the stress of being Captain certainly felt like he’d aged an extra ten years sometimes, so he’d take every chance to relax he could get.

"They certainly have energy," he agreed, draining the rest of his drink then setting the glass down on the counter. He noticed the paper boxes next to Django’s elbow and made a questioning noise as he pointed at them, picking them up at his answering hum, then pushing himself to his feet. 

“Thanks Django, I’ll be back later to settle the tab.”

“No rush my boy, take your time and make sure young Gaby there knows her way around town, and meets everyone she’s meant to. And be sure to bring her back for a proper meal sometime soon. I’d love to hear whatever stories she has from Barnarock.”

He nodded, then turned towards the group still standing in the middle of the floor. He caught Emily’s eye, who nudged the others to all turn to him, then lifted up the boxes and gave Ella a pointed look. She pouted but nodded, giving the others one last hug before joining him as he walked to the door.

“Aaaah, that was fun! I’m going to have to catch up with them properly at some point, but it was so amazing to see them! Say, who else is still here in town? Is Barb still here? And what about Ty? He always said he wanted to head to Walnut Groove and hit the stage. And what about-”

She cut herself off with a squeak when the door swung open as she reached for it, and he only just managed to shoot his hand forward and catch it before it hit her in the face. She slowly opened her eyes from her flinch to stare at the edge of the wood, less than a hand’s breadth in front of her, before yelping and stumbling back a few steps. He looked her over carefully, checking if she was actually hurt, before straightening to his full height and pulling the door the rest of the way open. Albert was standing on the step and looking up at him, startled.

“Albert,” he gritted out, acknowledging the other man, who winced and took half a step back as his shoulders hunched up.

“I’m sorry mate, I didn’t expect anyone to be right behind it. Are you ok Miss? I didn’t hurt you, did I?”

Arlo stared at him blankly, because no, fine, that was fair. He couldn’t really hold it against him, and Ella was already laughing anyway, and holding his arm as she leaned around him.

“No, I’m fine thanks." She glanced up at Arlo quickly, looking expectant, and he blinked at her before realising she wanted an introduction.

“This is Albert, he co-owns A and G Construction along with Gust. Don’t,” he warned her as she pulled a face, suddenly remembering how much they hadn’t gotten on before. Oooh, that was going to be fun.

She shot him a quick glare, looking like she’d bit a lemon, then closed her eyes to take a slow breath, before smiling at Albert and sticking out her hand. "Hi! I’m Gaby, the new builder, I just moved into the old workshop by the west gate. It’s nice to meet you.”

“So you’re the new builder are you?” Albert asked, reaching out to take the hand she’d offered him, and Arlo felt his shoulders tense at the distinct change in his tone. “Hello there. My company handles all the building and workshop upgrades in Portia, so I’m sure we’ll be getting to know each other pretty well soon enough.”

“Huh, I can upgrade stuff?” Ella asked, sounding interested, and he growled low in his throat when he saw the sparkle in Albert’s eye because Peach help him, no. No, he had to find some way to keep Albert from being alone with her, because there was no way, no way at all that he was going to stand back and allow that giant flirt to try and put the moves on his little Ella!

“I’ll come by with her later so you can explain Albert, but we were just leaving?” Arlo said, a hint of steel in his voice he was very grateful to see Albert picked up on, from the way his eyes darted to his face and he then swallowed.

“Ah, right. I’ll be seeing you around then.”

“Yeah, see you!” she chirped, seemingly oblivious to the tension between him and Albert, and walked ahead of him outside into the sunlight. He tried to breathe slowly and relax his muscles as he passed her one of the lunches Django had made for them, before wrapping his arm around her shoulders to start them moving. 

He chewed his lip as he thought over that interaction, trying to decide if he was being paranoid, or if it was even his place to decide who could or couldn’t flirt with her. But no, no he knew what Albert was like, and he'd seen the way his attitude changed when he realised she wasn't a tourist. And she was practically his sister, so he could at least warn her, right?

“Be careful of him,” he told her as levelly as he could as they headed down the main street. “He’s got something of a reputation in town.”

“Well, yeah, I can imagine,” she agreed, letting him steer her through the gate under the sky bridge into the park and moving to sit down in the middle of the grass facing Alice’s flower shop. “Co-owning a construction company must mean he’s pretty smart, and probably rich. He’s gotta be super nice too I imagine, to put up with grumpy old windy-pop.”

He sighed as he settled down next to her, watching fondly as she flipped open her box and started to dig in to her food, slurping up noodles loudly. 

“You shouldn’t call him that,” he chided gently as he pulled a napkin from his pocket and dropped it on her knee, before copying her less messily. “Gust had a lot going on back then, and he’s a lot better nowadays. Sort of. And you’re probably going to end up working with him quite a lot so you’ve got to at least try.” 

He didn't want to deal with a reemergence of their old, whatever it had been. Because while Gust was nowhere near as antagonistic as he’d been when they were young, he still seemed to struggle with ‘civil’ sometimes. And while things had improved a little right before Ella had left, with Gust actually helping her with the loss of her Ma and all, he could see her sparking up his old petty streak very easily. She looked at him flatly, clearly not believing him, and he decided he’d have to work on convincing her.

“And I meant a different kind of reputation,” he went on, raising his eyebrows at her and hoping she'd catch his meaning, but apparently she didn’t. She simply stared at him, eyes wide and curious and not even a hint of comprehension in them.

"Well what kind did you mean then?"

He hesitated, then sighed as he shook his head. He was starting to remember more about her, and how she’d been kind of oblivious about some things, and had had no interest at all in the ‘sappy stuff’ that the others sometimes played at. He watched her blink a few times, before shrugging and going back to her meal. It was fine, he decided. He'd just make sure to chat with Albert before he could try anything, make sure he knew how important Ella was to him, and how unhappy he’d be if Albert were to try and mess with her, or ignored his hints like he ignored Gust’s to stay away from Ginger. And then he’d try to have this talk with Ella again, after he’d worked out how to say... whatever it was he needed to say?

"Oooh, who's that? He’s so fluffy!"

Ella was staring towards the main street, and he looked over to see Oaks waiting by the metal bars, looking straight at him. He lowered his box of food and dropped his fork in it, and Oaks took the invitation to walk over.

“Hello,” Oaks said, giving a little wave at Ella, who waggled her fork back at him. Arlo cleared his throat, brows raised, and Oaks stood up a little straighter.

“Sorry to bother you Arlo, but Papa said there’ve been some strange monsters by the falls all morning, and he thought you should know.”

“What sort of strange?” he asked, starting to frown. While he trusted Abu’s judgement, his definition of strange covered a wide range of things.

“He wasn’t sure, but he said whatever it is is leaving big tracks, and smells mean. And it looks like the group of Mudcrabs on the other bank is smaller than yesterday.”

“Right,” Arlo said with a sigh, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “Thanks for telling me, we’ll make sure to check it out. Tell him to stay away from the falls for a while, I don’t want him to get hurt.”

Oaks nodded at him, though his attention was clearly on Ella, who had scooted forward and was ghosting her fingers just above the fur at the bottom of his cloak.

“Erm, hi?”

“Oh,” Ella squeaked, snatching her hand back as her head snapped up to face Oaks. “Erm, sorry. It just looks so soft. What sort of fur is it?”

“It’s ok, you can go ahead and touch it. It really is nice and soft.” Oaks grinned, squatting down next to her and sticking his arm out, fur side up. “It’s a bear skin, so I can match my Papa.”

“Your Papa wears a bear cloak too then?” she asked, her hand brushing along the fur, before her fingers sunk a little ways into it. Arlo started eating again, watching carefully. While he was pleased she was actually talking to Oaks without prompting, he wasn’t sure if he should be concerned by the slight blush on her cheeks, or the way she was looking up through her fringe at him.

“No. Papa is a bear.”

He quickly shoved a large forkful of spaghetti in his mouth to stop the laughter bubbling out at the completely blank expression that crossed Ella’s face. Oaks tilted his head to the side, also watching Ella as her mouth silently worked, her brows drawing together and her nose scrunching up. She stayed like that for a breath, before shaking her head and smiling again. She had apparently decided for now to ignore the entire issue that, based on what she’d been like as a child, he was certain was now bothering her immensely, and he’d be getting a million questions over later.

“Ok. That’s cool,” she said quickly, in what was definitely her ‘not dealing with this right now’ voice. “This really is nice and warm. Don’t you get hot wearing it?”

Oaks didn’t even blink at the abrupt change in topic. “Oh, no, see, it’s only really held on by this strap and at my fingers, so the rest isn’t actually close to my skin. Here, do you want to try it on?”

He froze, only half listening as Ella waved him off, laughing and leaning back and saying something else.

That had sounded an awful lot like flirting to him. And that was making him feel, something. 

Because while he would happily admit that Oaks was a fine, strong, dependable young man, who had grown up a lot in recent years, his opinion of him would always be clouded by his initial impression. That of a scruffy young boy covered in mud and not much else, barely speaking anything other than animal noises, who had scared Emily by jumping out of a bush holding a baby llama.

The thought of Oaks flirting with Ella, his little Beany Boo, was, well.

It was giving him a different feeling to when he’d thought Albert was going to flirt with her, that was for sure, but it still wasn’t a good thing.

But then, they didn’t look like they were flirting? he questioned to himself as he watched them, both wide eyed and listening intently as the other talked, but sitting back and giving each other plenty of space. And again, was it even his place?

He sighed silently as he listened to Ella laugh loudly at something Oaks was saying. It seemed he had a lot more to chew on than just his lunch.

-~-

He zeroed in on Presley and a young woman standing next to the main desk. Presley was perking up, going from disappointed to considering, and the women…

She wasn't anyone from Portia, and she wasn't dressed like a tourist. Thick mousy brown hair was escaping the ponytail that hung down her back and swung round her hips from where she'd spun around, and a fringe that she was lifting off her face to reveal surprised bright green eyes over a stubby nose that was peeling from a sunburn. A thin white scar along her cheekbone and going back into her hair that stood out against her lightly tanned skin. She wore a long floaty cardigan, the sleeves pushed up to her elbows over a tie dye t-shirt and loose jeans, which were rolled at the bottom to reveal mud splattered boots. And were hitched up with an oversized builders belt.

His eyes went back to the scar on her cheek, focusing on it. It was strangely familiar for some reason.

“Or not,” Presley muttered to the woman. “Gaby, this is the leader of Portia’s Civil Corps, Arlo. Arlo, this is--”

“Alolo!” she suddenly screamed, throwing herself forward at him, her arms lifting up to wrap around his neck. He let out a soft ouph as her face collided with his shoulder, and his hands landed on her waist to hold her steady as she giggled and jumped, her feet leaving the floor as she hung off him. 

“Alolo?” he spluttered, his hands on her sides firming to both support her, and push her away, before he froze, gears in his head turning. Alolo, that scar, Gaby… Gabriella? 

“Wait, Ella?!”

She pulled back, her hands linking behind his head as she let herself back down, beaming up at him with a now familiar toothy smile, her eyes crinkling up as she made a happy sound.

“Hi there Burny Boy,” she said with a wink, and he started to laugh before his arms wrapped around her tight and he lifted her back off the floor, spinning her round in a circle and making her shriek with surprise.

“Ella!” he shouted in her ear, unable to stop himself. “Oh wow, it’s been forever! What are you doing here, when did you get here and how long are you staying?”

She clutched at the back of his shoulders as he spun her around again, kicking her feet up behind her as she giggled happily.

“Oooh, down now, before I hurl,” she told him when he'd spun them again, and he immediately dropped her to her feet, keeping his arms around her as she wobbled. “Oooooh,” she groaned, lifting one hand to her head and gripping his arm with the other. He tightened his hold on her, helping hold her still as he looked her over again now he knew who she was.

His head filled with memories of her. Playing with her as a baby on his living room carpet while their Ma’s chatted over tea and coffee. Her being sniffly and curling up in his lap with her blanket and a book, wanting him to read her a nap time story. Her arms around his neck as she climbed up his back, demanding he play horsey through giggles. Her sparkling eyes looking up at him from under a messily self cut fringe, covered in dirt as she desperately tried to follow him everywhere, despite the eight years and massive height difference between them.

He lifted his thumb to her cheek, running it over the scar. He remembered the day she got it like it was yesterday.  Her stubby three year old legs trying to keep up with him as they walked to the apple trees by the tree farm. He'd let go of her hand for only a second to retie his laces, but it'd been long enough for her to trip over nothing and fall face first into a pile of rocks. 

He’d been more upset than she was as he carried her home, trying to soothe her as she demanded they go get her the apples he’d promised. Her Ma had just sighed, and bundled them both up in a blanket while she cleaned Ella's head.

“I got here yesterday, and I guess I’m going to be here a while,” she chirped happily, drawing him from his memories and tilting her head back towards Presley. “Pa left me his workshop, and Presley already gave me my builder tests, and I just got my workshop registered with Mayor Gale like, half an hour ago. So I am officially Portia’s newest builder.”

Her grin stretched even wider as Arlo looked down at her, and a feeling like warm pride filled his chest. His little Ella was all grown up now, and making her way in the world. But he was knocked out of the moment by a chuckle from behind her.

“Aaaah, I remember now, you two were close before she left, weren’t you?”

Arlo looked over her head towards Presley, feeling what he knew was a sheepish grin spread across his face. 

“Just a bit," he acknowledged before looking back down at her. "But you never wrote to tell me where you were. I always wondered what happened to you.”

“I’m sorry,” she said, sliding her hands forward to squish his cheeks between them. He let his lips pout out, like she'd always found amusing, and was rewarded with a snort of laughter. “Pa dragged me here there and everywhere for a few months, then left me with Aunty Kendra in Barnarock. And then I was so busy being signed up for stuff to make up for all the learning I’d missed, that I never had time to write. And then it felt like it’d been too long, and you wouldn’t even remember or have time for me.”

She trailed off with a sigh, then ducked her head and bit her lip when he looked at her.

“You were stuck to my side practically every day for seven years, and you thought I’d forget you after a few months?"

She shrugged, blowing a questioning raspberry at him, then giggled as he pulled her close again and held her tight. She moved her hands back around his neck and hummed happily into his shoulder as he threw familiar insults at her.

“Numpty. Snaillob slimed and Panbat brained numpty.”

“Yeah yeah Lolo, I missed you too,” she said sweetly as she pulled back, sliding her hands down to his elbows and gently pushing him away.  

“You were saying something about a job when you kicked the doors in like a hooligan?” she prompted him, and he made a small noise as he let go of her in turn, looking around and spotting the commission sheet on the floor, dropping down to grab it. He handed it to Presley before eyeing her speculatively.

“The Mayor wants to rebuild the bridge to Amber Island. Thinks it’ll be good for the tourists, with the Haunted Cave and all.”

“I remember your Pa built a few bridges during his time here Gaby, so the diagrams should be in his old Workshop Handbook. The job’s a little bigger than the one I had saved for you, but what do you say, want to give this a shot?”

“I surely do Presley. Sounds like it'll be fun.”

“Wait. Do you not go by Ella anymore?” Arlo asked, starting to frown. She blinked up at him a few times, clearly confused, nose wrinkling and a furrow appearing between her brows. But it quickly smoothed away again to be replaced by her bright smile as she shook her head, moving next to him and grabbing his arm to hug.

“Eh, I didn’t like hearing it from other people. Made me miss you and your Ma too much. So since you’re here, I’m kinda looking forward to hearing it again.”

He huffed a laugh at her wide eyes and stuck out lip, and reached up to pat her on the top of her head, just like he always used to.

“Understood. C’mon, how about I buy you lunch, and we can catch up? And then I should have time to help you go through your Pa’s things and work out what you need for this bridge.”

“I’ll never say no to a free lunch,” she said, perking up and bouncing on her toes. She smiled brightly at Presley as she took the commission sheet he was holding out to her. “Thanks for everything Presley, it was nice to see you again.”

“Always a pleasure Gaby. Let me know if you need any help, anything at all.”

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and led her outside into the sunlight, lifting a hand to shield his eyes. Yes. Today was a very good day indeed.

-~-

Spending time with Sarah was nice. She had a way with words which made everything she said seem so vibrant. Every story she told sounding so exciting and incredible. With all of her adventures here in Portia with giant talking rats, collapsed tunnels, or dangerous AI’s in ruins, and then her tales from her time in Barnarock, she included details most others didn’t think worth mentioning. Details which added layers to every scene she described and made Ginger feel like she had actually been there with her.

Like today’s story, from her childhood in Barnarock. Despite the chill in the air, the overcast sky, and piles of snow around them, Ginger had closed her eyes and fallen into the world Sarah painted. A world of hot sands, and constantly shifting dunes surrounding the small town she’d lived in. Of dry heat and shimmering mirages under the sweltering midday sun. Of the oasis she used to visit with her friends. Of the colours and sounds and scents and the people she’d left behind. Of the spicy foods native to the country, that Ginger now wanted to try despite disliking them in general.

A world Ginger would never be able to visit for many reasons, but now felt the slightest part closer to.

She turned her head to rub her cheek against her sleeping friends, keeping her eyes on the lighthouse, enjoying the way the rotating light illuminated the falling snow. The muffled sounds of the people there still working so late in the day rolled across the open water between them, mingling with the sounds of Gust moving around and muttering as he worked next to them under the large tree.

She glanced over at Gust, grumbling quietly as he tried to shift the lamp so he could see his sketch-book but not blind her. Her brother was so kind to her, indulging her whims to spend time outside in the fresh air when she could.

He seemed to feel her watching him, and looked across at her, and groaned as his eyes settled on Sarah draped over her back. But she simply smiled a little as she raised her finger to her lips. His face took on a fondly irritated expression as he looked between them, before turning away and reaching for his bag.

“I’ve told you before about letting her sleep out here when it’s snowing,” he grumbled, quietly enough to not wake her before he started to put his sketch-book away. “It’s one thing in the other seasons, but you’ll both get sick if you aren’t careful.”

“You don't need to worry so much, we’re keeping each other warm,” she answered quietly, letting go of Sarah’s wrist to pull her hand out and reach back and tug the blanket wrapped around them more firmly in place. “And you don’t need to stop, I’m happy to sit here a while longer.”

“Well I’m not. I’m cold and tired, and since you aren’t going to let me wake her up,” he paused, turning again to raise his brows as she giggled softly and shook her head. “I’m the one who has to carry her home.”

Ginger let her smile grow as Gust put away the rest of his things, starting to unwrap Sarah from around her. It wasn’t easy, since Sarah was a very huggy person when like this, and she didn’t make much progress until Gust started helping her, holding Sarah’s wrists and then wrapping them tightly against her with the blanket. Ginger sighed softly when she saw Gust was wearing his bag already, leaving her only the lamp to carry.

She pulled her gloves on while he finished cocooning Sarah in the blanket and picked her up, carrying her in his arms and letting her head rest on his shoulder. For all his complaints and grumblings about looking after Sarah, he really was terribly kind to her too. He always let her sleep, instead of waking her up like he used to threaten when it first started happening over the Summer. He never complained when she talked to him, actually seeming interested in what she had to say. And recently he’d been bringing three cups with her thermos of hot chocolate, instead of only the two like he’d done all last Autumn and Winter.

She lifted the lamp to light the path as they started walking along the road next to the water. The thin layer of snow that had settled crunched under their boots, seeming overly loud when compared to how muted everything else was. She watched carefully as small flurries danced across the road, covering the bumps and dips in an almost flat layer of white. While she knew where most of the uneven parts were from her nightly walks, the long haul buses that drove along this stretch of road sometimes altered things, and she didn’t want Gust to trip and hurt himself, or drop Sarah.

She stopped as they approached the path that lead up to Portia’s gates, a faint sound she couldn’t quite identify making her lift the lamp higher and stare at the shadows moving over the edge of the small rise of the corner. While Portia was mostly safe, monsters did occasionally approach town. She glanced up at Gust, who had stopped next to her and was frowning, before he rolled his eyes and started walking again.

“It’s a horse, so one of the Corps,” he muttered only just loud enough for her to hear, resettling Sarah in his arms so she was more firmly against his chest. “I hope it’s not Arlo, I’m in no mood to deal with his posturing tonight.”

Ginger covered her mouth as she giggled, stepping quickly to catch up and walk by his side again. The sounds grew louder as whoever it was drew closer, the quiet clop of hooves and snorts of breath becoming clearer until they reached the junction at the same time as the rider.

It was Arlo, whose horse Spacer snorted and flicked his ears when he was pulled to a stop, before reaching his head forward to snuffle at Sarah.

“Has she fallen asleep out here again?” Arlo asked, sounding fondly frustrated as he gazed at her curled up in Gust’s arms, and Ginger had to bite her lip and duck her head. It was very unlike Arlo to skip pleasantries like that, especially with her brother. “She really needs to get Xu to find out what’s wrong. Thank you for getting her this far, you can pass her up here, and I'll get her hom-”

“That won’t be necessary thank you Captain,” Gust clipped out, and Ginger looked back up just in time to see Arlo sit up straight in his saddle and smooth the surprise from his face. “I am perfectly capable of carrying her the rest of the way to her home, since we are already heading that way, and you were clearly on your way somewhere else.”

She watched as Arlo spluttered, obviously taken aback by her brother’s bluntness.

“Don’t worry Arlo,” she said quietly, trying not to let her amusement show. “I have a key to her house, so we’ll be able to get her inside safely.”

His eyes finally flickered towards her, and she smiled up at him as his cheeks darkened from cold tinged pink, to bright blushing red.

“Ah, hello Ginger, I didn’t see you there.”

She gave a small wave to him as Gust scoffed loudly, rolling not only his eyes but his whole head. Arlo was shifting uncomfortably, looking between her and Sarah in Gust’s arms. He threw a brief glare at Gust, before his head dropped forward with a sigh, obviously unable to argue against the logic of what they’d said.

“I, I suppose I’d best be on my way then,” he said, resigned. He met her eye and spoke kindly to her, and she got the impression he was pretending Gust wasn’t there anymore. “Be careful on the path, there are patches of ice under some of the snow that are slippery.”

“Yes, thank you Captain, because we’ve never walked along this stretch in the snow before,” Gust drawled sarcastically. “Come along Ginger, I’d like to get Sarah tucked in her bed before she starts to freeze.”

Ginger bit the inside of her cheek as Gust strode off ahead, head held high and either not noticing or not caring how Arlo’s head whipped round to follow him, or the way his jaw dropped open in shock. She reached out to pat the top of Spacer’s nose a few times, before she followed her brother, nodding up at Arlo as she passed.

“Good evening Arlo, I hope your patrol is uneventful,” she told him mildly, and tried her best to ignore his splutters as she carefully stepped in Gust’s shoeprints in the snow. She waited until the sound of Spacer’s muffled hooves started to echo through the still air again before bringing her hand up to cover her mouth, letting her giggles escape into the fabric of her glove.

Gust had stopped a little ways ahead, waiting for her with a half scowl, half smug look on his face. He lifted a brow at her, and she shook her head and tutted to playfully admonish him.

He rolled his eyes again, a slight blush on his cheeks as he turned and continued up the path, rubbing his cheek against the top of Sarah’s head in an unconscious gesture of affection. He knew just as well as she did about Arlo’s feelings towards Sarah, and to deliberately wind the Captain up with his choice of words had been mean. Especially when Arlo hadn't realised yet that Gust saw her more as another younger sister to dote on, rather than someone to romance. And protect from the idiots who clearly weren’t good enough for her if they couldn’t even ask her on a date properly she’d heard him mutter more than once. 

She found the whole affair rather amusing to watch really. Sarah was so loved by everyone in town, and yet she seemed oblivious to it all. The way the older people fussed and doted on her, slipping her extra goods and commission fees, sending her gifts in the mail, making sure she was eating enough. And then the way some of the young people pined after her, with longing glances and flustered smiles, becoming tongue tied when she so much as smiled at them.

Arlo was better at hiding it when she was awake, acting the part of polite Captain, but anyone who saw him asking or chasing after Sarah, or bringing her home late at night, could see how truly smitten he was. But that might end up working against him she mused as they approached the edge of Sarah's fence.

Especially when compared to Oaks, who had taken to giving her bundles of flowers and carved charms, not caring who was around to see. Mint was constantly finding ways to spend time with her, despite the lack of new projects. Sarah had mentioned that Xu was calling her to the clinic more often lately, only for them to end up eating a meal together instead of running tests to discover the cause of her sleepiness. And Ginger had noticed Mei becoming less subtle and more outrageous with her flirts, and Alice asking her for help with her story more often, and for more intimate scenes.

Yes, she thought, as she opened the gate for Gust. It was all rather amusing indeed.

And she was truly looking forward to seeing what all of Sarah’s suitors would do next.

He yelped as the wood under him shook and a loud thump echoed around him. He fell forwards on the branch and wrapped his arms around it as the tree wobbled again and he groaned. Remington must be practicing his punches and kicks, though how he always managed to find the tree he was hiding in was starting to get really, really annoying.

He looked down, trying to see Remy so he could yell at him and make him go away, but there were too many other branches in the way. He grumbled and shoved his apple in his mouth to hold as he started to slide sideways, judging the distance to the next branch down and waiting for the next wobble to pass before he dropped. He grabbed onto the bark of the trunk as he landed, just in time for the next shake, and huffed as he shifted round. 

He crouched on the branch and looked at the next one. He could get across to it easily enough, then wrap his legs round it to fall down and scare him. If Remy was going to spoil his day, then he could spoil his right back! It was only fair!

He shuffled over then sat on the branch with his back facing where Remi must be, then lifted his arms over his head and let himself fall backwards as he kept his legs hooked around the branch, letting out a garbled growl around his apple. Only when he swung to a stop it wasn't Remi standing under him looking startled.

It was a bear. A bear who was standing up tall enough their eyes were level and was now leaning forward to sniff his face.

Arlo's scream was muffled by his apple, which then fell out of his mouth as he opened it to scream again. His arms flailed wildly as he tried to reach the trunk of the tree, wanting to get away from the bear as soon as possible. His legs kicked out without him thinking, only to regret it immediately as he swung towards the bear’s mouth as he started to drop. He gasped at the sensation as gravity took over and he started to fall, and he looked away from the bear towards the ground. This was gonna hurt!

He squeezed his eyes shut as he covered his head with his arms, not wanting to see the ground get closer. But something warm and fluffy hit his shoulder, and then his back. His eyes flew open, because that didn’t feel like the giant root he’d been heading towards… and it wasn’t.

The bear was holding him in its paws, looking down at him in a way he’d call concerned, if it wasn’t a giant fluffy bear who was probably hungry and planning on eating him!

He started to breath hard as he stared into its eyes, not allowing himself to look at it’s mouth and what he was sure would be sharp teeth. He didn’t want to be eaten, but he wasn’t big enough to fight off a bear by himself!

“Are you ok?”

His eyes snapped from the bears face to the side, and found a small pink face staring at him from under a fluffy brown hood over the bears shoulder. Wide pink eyes over chubby cheeks and under a scruff of red hair like his own stared at him curiously.

His mouth opened and closed by itself a few times, no words emerging but a high pitched whine he couldn’t control. The face frowned at him, and tilted sideways, before it turned towards the bear.

“Put him down Papa, I think you’re scaring him.” 

Arlo found his voice as he was lowered to his feet, and wobbled as he staggered back from them.

“Papa?!” he shrieked, his arm flying up to point at the bear. “It’s a bear!”

The face frowned at him, lips pouting out, before it disappeared from over the bears shoulder, only to reappear much lower down as the person, the boy Arlo noted, walked out from behind and reached up to grip the bears arm.

“He is my papa! He’s not an it!” the boy said crossly, planting his free fist on his hip and letting the large fur that was draped over his head hang open.

Arlo blinked a few times, thinking quickly. The boy was clearly not eaten, and had been with the bear. He was a little taller than himself, so that must mean he was a little older. He might even be eight already. Which meant he probably knew what he was talking about after all. So if he said that the bear was his papa, then… ok?

That settled, he looked him over. The large fur on his head had slid back to reveal a scruffy head of red hair, very similar to his own except for the tangles. The fur was tied at his neck in a wonky knot, showing a bare chest covered in scratches and a skirt that looked like Aunt Liza’s picnic blanket that had gone missing last week.

His eyes scanned down to the boys feet and found large leaves tied around them, and he stared in wonder. That looked so cool! He’d have to ask Unca Gale to write to his parents and see if he was allowed shoes made out of leaves.

He looked back up to meet the boys face, which wasn’t looking quite so upset. In fact, he looked a little nervous, and was leaning into the bears side. The bear who had wrapped its, his long arm around the boy to pull him closer.

He nodded, mostly to himself, then stuck his hand out between them.

“Ok! My name’s Arlo, what’s yours?”

The boys face lit up, and he smiled widely to reveal a missing front tooth. He pulled away from the bear and stuck his hand out into the space as well, slightly above his own hand.

“My name’s Oaks! It’s nice to meet you Arlo!”