#darsus

She looked around the kitchen, taking in the paper and plastic bags strewn about the counters and dining table. Fruits of various shapes and sizes could be seen from where they were stored. A few of the rounder varieties had even fallen to the floor. Darsus, having the guiltiest expression that she’d ever seen on him, was crouched in front of the fridge. He was frozen in place from his desperate attempt to stuff some of the more perishable berries into the already full appliance. All around his hooves were the splattered remains of the fruit that hadn’t made it. 

When her eyes settled on him, he attempted to smile. It made him look like he was in the process of swallowing nails. “H-hey...Lara…” Darsus cleared his throat and tried to close the door of the fridge. Juice started to drip onto the floor, joining the pulp that was already there. “I was just…um. Doing...things...” His voice trailed off as his singular red eye avoided her gaze. 

Lara closed her eyes,  took a breath, then held it for a few seconds before slowly letting it out. She repeated this process a few times while she thought. Oh she was definitely upset. Even a little angry. The kitchen was shared by the both of them, but it was primarily her space and Darsus had created an absolute disaster inside of it. However. She also knew that there must be some sort of explanation for it. Some reason why her boyfriend felt it was necessary to bring home a huge supply of fruit.

At the very least she hoped there was one, otherwise Lara might actually have to give him the cold shoulder for a little while.

“I just…want to know why.” Her eyes opened to watch Darsus’ reaction. “Just...why.”

“W-well…” He carefully stood up from his crouch. The refrigerator door still hadn’t been closed all the way, so he kept a three-fingered hand against it. Probably to keep it from swinging open. Dar gestured with his other one, pointing at a half-made pyramid of oranges. “I went to get stuff from the market that we needed, but I was hungry so I picked those up.” His finger moved to several large watermelons that had made their home on the floor. “Then a merchant shouted about a two-for-one sale on those and so I got those too, plus some apples and those round tan things that are orange inside.” 

It took Lara a moment to realize what he meant. “Cantaloupe?” She guessed.

“Yeah, that. But then another one asked if I’d tried honeydew before and I hadn’t so he gave me a deal on those.” He indicated the other set of round fruits that had green rinds this time. 

She could see where this was going, but she still nodded and responded. “Right…”

Darsus hesitated, then gestured at the fridge. “And while I was carrying the stuff back, there was this one lady who hadn’t sold anything all day and I felt bad so I bought up some of all of her berries. And uh.” He tried a smile again and this time managed to land a sheepish expression instead of looking sick to his stomach. “F-forgot. To uh. See if we had room for any of them.” He waited for a beat before he continued, “I’m sorry. I’ll help clean up.”

She took another couple of measured breaths. Dar looked about ready to fully retreat into his hood. Making sure her tone was even and stern, she said, “I think we’ve talked about how you really shouldn’t go to the market hungry, Dar.”

The gulp he made was very audible. “Y-yeah. We did. I uh, forgot. I’m sorry.”

With a deep sigh through her nose, Lara turned away from him. She sensed more than saw him flinch, and she spoke up before he could worry too much. “I’m just going to put on something I won’t mind getting juice stains all over.”

“Really?” His voice nearly squeaked with his palpable relief.

“Yes, really.” She turned her head to cast a squinty-eyed frown at him. “I’m not happy that you made a huge mess of my kitchen,” Dar’s shoulders, which had relaxed a little, shot back up to where his ears would be if he were human. “BUT...you promised to help me clean up and I know you meant it so I’m less mad than I could be. I accept your apology.” 

The tension in his body left all at once. “Okay...okay. I get that. Yeah.” This time, Darsus’ smile was genuine. “Thank you.”

Lara felt a flutter of affection stir in her chest before she turned away to head to the bedroom. “You don’t need to thank me every time I accept your apology! It’s implied!”

She just barely caught the words he mumbled to himself as she went to change. “But I do, though. You forgive me for my faults so easily.”

With no way to know how to react to that statement, Lara acted like she hadn’t heard him as she walked away. Still, warm affection mixed with concern while she rummaged through her clothes. How can I prove that I love him for the whole package and not just for his good side? She thought as she examined a paint-stained t-shirt. Sure it can get annoying to try to deal with how distracted he can get, but he always means well. There must be something I can do…

The answer came to her as she pulled out a bakery themed skirt from the bottom of one of her drawers. It had seen better days, with the hem being worn out and the body having a couple of holes, but the pattern was still very clear. It was a pattern of static images of a shop front with baked goods followed by various other dishes that looked yummy despite the pattern clearly having come from a drawing. Lara stared at the fruit tarts in particular as a smile spread across her face.