the morning began in the usual sort of chaos that had become perfectly ordinary in the malt’s house. sunlight spilled lazily across the wooden floors, and the curtains fluttered gently in the warm breeze.
in the kitchen, mariselle had completely forgotten that it was his turn to look after areum. he had already agreed to help the others with the baking, and by the time he remembered, his hands were already covered in flour and dough.
“oh, no.” he glanced through the window and spotted areum sitting on a bench with florence.
he quickly pulled out his phone and called hansen. “can you help me with areum for a bit? i’ll take over later. i’m kind of stuck out here.”
“…hansen?” there was a pause on the other end.
“yeah, i heard you,” hansen answered. another pause followed. “florence is with her, right?”
“yeah! i was supposed to watch areum with her today, but we’re too busy here in the kitchen.” mariselle sounded slightly out of breath as he wedged his phone between his cheek and shoulder, both hands still busy working the dough.
hansen sighed quietly. there had been a little something between him and florence lately. it had started with a snack.
the other day, malt had brought florence a little box of her favorite pastries, leaving it on the kitchen counter with a note tucked neatly underneath. florence had been saving it for later, so when she came back from helping reggie in the garden, she expected to find it exactly where she had left it.
instead, there was nothing but an empty box and hansen was sitting nearby, looking completely innocent.
florence folded her arms, trying very hard not to look as annoyed as she felt. hansen, realizing far too late that he had just eaten the snack she had been looking forward to all morning, he apologized but somehow it only made her more irritated.
and somehow, instead of laughing about the ridiculous mistake like they usually would, they both walked away convinced that the other was being unreasonable.
that was how their little cold war began and so, they had spent the days speaking only when necessary, usually through areum.
hansen glanced through the window and saw florence scratching areum behind the ears. he sighed.
“fine,” he said eventually. “i’ll help.”
when he stepped outside, florence looked up. their eyes met. then, almost simultaneously, they both looked at areum.
“mariselle asked me to help,” hansen said.
“i know,” florence answered without looking at him again.
areum, blissfully unaware of the invisible wall between them, immediately trotted over to hansen and placed one tiny paw on his foot.
florence raised an eyebrow. “traitor!”
hansen looked down at areum. “oh, look who has chosen her side.”
areum wagged her tail while florence rolled her eyes in annoyance.
for the next few hours, they existed in a strange little rhythm. florence brushed areum’s white fur while hansen prepared her water. hansen found areum’s favourite toy while florence fixed the little ribbon around her collar. when areum decided she wanted to go outside, they both reached for the leash and stopped when they realized the other had done the same.
“i’ll take her,” florence said.
“no, i think i should be the one taking her,” hansen argued back.
areum looked up at them, confused. then she sat down. apparently, even she was tired of their nonsense.
eventually, they went for the walk together, though they kept several polite steps between them as if they were two strangers who had accidentally agreed to walk the same dog.
areum, in her own nature, refused to cooperate. she wandered from one side of the path to the other, stopping every few steps to investigate leaves, flowers, pebbles, and one particularly fascinating patch of grass.
“areum,” florence called. yet, the maltese continued sniffing.
“hansen, can you—” she stopped herself.
on the other side, hansen looked over. “you can ask me, you know.”
neither of them said anything else.
meanwhile, mariselle’s phone had become increasingly unbearable. his screen filled with text messages containing tons of complaints from hansen and florence about each other.
mariselle stared at the messages before closing his eyes and massaging his temples.
“uh… can anyone help with the frosting?” milo called, snapping mariselle back to reality.
he dropped his phone into his pocket and decided to join the others, who are now laughing at each other with whipped cream on their face fyi, and continue with the baking. “i’m surrounded by children.”
by late afternoon, the house had settled into its softer, sleepy rhythm. a few guests were outside, enjoying iced tea, while others had disappeared upstairs to take a quick rest.
inside, hansen was trying to fold a blanket when areum suddenly darted past him with one of his socks in her mouth. “hey!”
she disappeared around the corner, and hansen followed. he found florence in the living room, quietly folding laundry. “areum stole my sock. can you help me?”
“you’re asking me for help?” florence looked up. a small smile almost appeared on her face.
“i’m desperate.” hansen crossed his arms.
florence put down the shirt she was folding. “fine. what would you be without me?” she said dramatically.
they found areum hiding beneath the sofa, her little white face poking out with the sock still clenched proudly between her teeth. florence crouched down and held out a treat.
areum immediately abandoned the sock at the sight of it.
hansen stared. “that’s it? she never listens to me.”
“that’s it. you just need to bribe her,” florence said proudly. then laughed at his expression, while hansen can’t help but laugh too.
it was the first time either of them had laughed together since their little argument began, but neither of them mentioned it.
the final peace treaty came that evening, courtesy of one very mischievous maltese.
areum somehow discovered an unattended roll of toilet paper in the hallway and decided, with the confidence of a creature who had never once considered consequences, that it belonged to her.
she ran, and the roll unfurled behind her in a long white trail. florence spotted her first, “areum!”
“don’t let her go upstairs!” hansen came running from the other side of the hallway.
“i’m trying!” florence yelled.
they all (minus the audience) ran in different directions for approximately three seconds before areum slipped neatly between them.
hansen tried to stop, but his foot caught on the toilet paper. florence reached for him but ended with her slipping too. they landed on the floor together in a ridiculous heap, surrounded by a mountain of crumpled white paper.
areum stopped at the end of the hallway and looked back at them. for one quiet second, nobody moved, not even areum who started the chaos.
then florence started laughing. hansen tried to hold it in, but he failed.
soon, they were both laughing so hard that neither could get up, while areum stood proudly in the middle of the mess she had created, her tail wagging as though she had just accomplished something magnificent.
“i think,” florence said breathlessly, “we’ve been ridiculous.”
“definitely.” hansen wiped the tears from the corner of his eyes.
“i’m sorry. i shouldn’t have gotten mad at you over something that happened for so long.” florence looked down, feeling bad about how childishly she had been sulking.
“and i should’ve explained instead of getting defensive.” he looked at her. “i’m sorry too.”
there was a comfortable silence. then florence glanced at the toilet paper scattered across the floor. “we need to clean this up really quickly before malt gets back.”
hansen laughed and nodded in agreement. “can you imagine his face when he sees this mess?”
the house carried on around them: the evening breeze brushing against the curtains, the faint sound of chatter and laughter drifting in from all over the house, and areum happily wagging her tail between them.
their little misunderstanding had not ended with anything grand. just an apology, a laugh, a stolen sock, and an unreasonable amount of toilet paper.
which, in their house, was probably as close to a happy ending as anyone could ask for.
