#arthur thread

Getting lost was just what he got for taking a detour, he thought to himself. Arthur supposed there were worse times than a mild spring day and worse places than a riotously blooming garden to get lost, but still. Inconvenient and... kinda embarrassing, getting lost in a town as small as Tempo, especially when you'd lived there your whole damn life. Nice going, Kingsmen.

He'd been planning to take his lunch back to the shop to tinker around with some personal projects, but since it was his day off he could just as easily plunk down and eat here among the flowers. He stopped, peering around for a good spot to do just that, when he heard it.

The crunch of gravel under his feet must have covered up the sound before-- faint and delicate weeping. At least he thought so-- he strained his ears for where the sound might be coming from. It was probably someone who had retreated here specifically for some solitude, but-- On the off chance it wasn't, he ought to check anyway. He could always apologize for bothering them if he needed to.

Coming around a hydrangea bush, he found that the source of the weeping was a lady in an elegant pink and white sari and headscarf. She sat in the lap of tree roots, her face hidden against her knees, narrow shoulders trembling.

It took just about every ounce of self control that Arthur possessed not to lean into the soft stroking movements of Vivi’s hand like a cat being pet. But he did allow himself to go still and his eyes to slip shut to better focus on the soothing feeling.

God damn there’s always such a big temptationTo be good, To be goodThere’s always free cheddar in a mousetrap, babyIt’s a deal, it’s a deal

He recognized the girl from the bar, the medium who’d shown concern for him and gotten him briefly, accidentally, possessed. Perhaps if he hadn’t recognized her he would have done the sensible thing and taken a moment to call Vivi and wait for her and Mystery to arrive as backup.

As it was, he found the two figures following her -- ones that she didn’t seem to notice-- too suspicious to ignore. They were some distance behind them both and across the street, so it wasn’t unreasonable for her to have assumed that they were simply out for a stroll, but the amulets winking around their necks gave them away to Arthur.

This particular cult had yet to kill anyone, but Arthur wasn’t about to let her become the first. She was a stranger, sure, but a kind one.

((I’m gonna combine this w the “i’m scared” prompt about Vivi crawling into Arthur’s bed after a nightmare, if that’s okay :o ))

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His sleep was unusually quiet that night; dreamless and dark. He of course only realized this when it was interrupted, though. Something jostled him slightly, the mattress shifting under a new weight.

“Wh--?” Still slightly under a pall of sleep, he couldn’t quite manage to get his eyes open, but as a pile of soft, curly silk tickled against his throat he recognized the familiar smell of a particular shampoo.

“V’vi--?” he mumbled. “W’sit...?” Was that a sniffle he heard beneath his chin? He fought towards wakefulness. “Vivi? What’s wrong--?” He stroked her hair, then started to gently spiral the loose curls round and round his fingers. He hoped it would soothe her as it often did, but he couldn’t deny he enjoyed the simple action himself.