#orlic

Balor

He handed you a bag of seeds he sourced from the Capital, the rare ones you mentioned wanting weeks ago. "Threw in a few extra varieties," he said, already turning back to his wagon. "No charge. Consider it an investment in future produce." You grabbed the front of his vest and kissed his cheek. "Thank you, Balor." His hand froze on a crate of spices. The smooth-talking merchant had absolutely nothing to say, and that alone was worth the price of every seed in the bag.

Then he turned his head, and the look on his face wasn't the easy grin or the salesman's charm, just open surprise. His hand came up and touched the spot where your lips had been. "Well," he said, voice rougher than usual. He cleared his throat. "You're, ah. You're welcome." He turned back to the wagon and started rearranging the same crate he'd already organized, putting everything in wrong. "It was just seeds, nothing much," he muttered, but he was smiling. He couldn't stop touching his cheek for a while after that.

Caldarus

He walked you to the edge of the Deep Woods, further than he usually ventured. You could tell by the tension in his shoulders that being this far from his temple made him uneasy, but he'd insisted because you'd mentioned the trail was uneven. "The path should be clear from here," he said. "I moved a fallen branch earlier that might have obstructed your route." You reached up, caught the edge of his jaw and kissed his cheek. "Thanks Caldarus, I appreciate it."

He didn't move. He stayed at the angle you'd held him at, eyes wide as his hand drifted up to press against the exact spot you kissed. "You touched your mouth to my face," he said quietly. The color that climbed his ears was unmistakable. "I have read about this gesture. It is an expression of affection, between those who care for one another." He looked at his own hand, then back at you. "Would you do it again? I was not adequately prepared the first time, and I would very much like to get more accustomed to it."

Eiland

You asked him offhandly if the museum had any records on old Mistrian farming techniques, not expecting much. The next morning he showed up at your door with an enormous binder full of notes that were bookmarked and color-coded, with a separate sheet of his own recommendations tucked inside. "Some of these are probably outdated, but I thought you'd find the crop rotation methods interesting at least." You took the binder and kissed his cheek, "Thanks Eiland, I'll be sure to put this to good use!"

The blush that covered his face was instant. "Oh! That's... you're welcome. It was nothing. Just some light research." He fiddled with his hair, glanced at the ground, then back at you and the smiled. "I could look into irrigation methods too, if you wanted. I think I saw a section on historical well systems. Could have something pulled together by tomorrow. Maybe tonight, if you'd like?"

Hayden

He spent the better part of an hour helping you fix a busted fence post on your farm, even though it was his day off and he had his own chores waiting. When you tried to apologize for taking up his time, he just waved you off. "Neighbor helping a neighbor, that's all it is. Besides, Henrietta needed the walk." Henrietta, who had done nothing useful the entire time, clucked from the top of a hay bale. You looked at Hayden who grinned at you like fixing your fence was the highlight of his week, and you kissed his cheek. "Thanks, Hayden. Really."

The grin dropped clean off his face as every ounce of his considerable energy rerouted into turning the deepest shade of red you'd ever seen on the man. He took ruffled his hair and brought a hand to his chest. "I... well, shoot!" His voice cracked, and he laughed at himself.. "That was... you just... Gya ha..." The laugh died halfway, "Had I known you were gonna do that, I would have washed up first."

March

You left your pickaxe on the counter at the blacksmith shop with a note about the loose head, expecting to pick it up in a few days. Instead, March tracked you down at the inn that evening and shoved it into your hands, good as new. "Whoever made that originally should be embarrassed." You turned it over, felt the balance, and realized he hadn't just fixed it. He'd reforged the whole head. "March, this is way more than a repair." He cut you off, "--Don't make it weird. It was just... bugging me." You kissed his cheek. "Well thank you."

The flush hit him so hard it was visible even under the dim lighting of the inn. He looked at the far wall. Then the floor. Then the ceiling. Anywhere that wasn't you. "Don't--" he said, but stopped himself. He crossed his arms, uncrossed them, then shoved his hands in his pockets. "It was just a pickaxe." He still wasn't looking at you. "...If your axe needs work too, you can drop it off whenever. No rush." He turned and left before you could respond, the back of his neck blazing red just like his hair.

Olric

He overheard you mention to Ryis that you needed materials for a new wall and carried four bags of stones to your farm later that day. "It's no big deal! I was doing my morning run and figured, hey, why not carry some rocks while I'm at it? Combines cardio and strength training!" He was barely winded. You looked at the pile of stone that would have taken you six trips, then looked back at him beaming at you like this was just a fun detour for him. "Thanks Orlic, that was really sweet of you," you said as you kissed his cheek.

His entire face went red, like someone had poured warm water over him. "H-Huh?" He touched his cheek with dusty fingers and stood there blinking at you. After a few seconds he snapped himself out of his daze he bounced on his heels once, then again, like he was amping himself. "Okay! Cool! Awesome!--Do you need anything else? I can carry more things for you. I can carry so many things.--I'll check if Ryis has any extra lumber. Be right back!!" He took off at a jog towards town and you could hear him whooping himself, thinking he was out of earshot.

Ryis

He built you a new set of shelves for the farmhouse, fitted to the odd angles of your walls, with a carved detail along the edges that he must have done by hand. "I noticed the old ones were bowing a little," he said, rubbing sawdust off his forearm. "Figured I'd swap them out before they gave you trouble. The carvings are just... I had some extra time." He didn't, you knew his project list was a mile long. You stepped forward and kissed his cheek. "Thank you, Ryis."

He whole body went still like he spotted a bird he'd been waiting for, as he felt his face become warmer and warmer by the second. "Yeah," he said softly. "No problem." A small smile settled on his face as he picked up his toolbox, paused at the door, and looked back at you. "I could add some matching trim around the window frame too... you know, to tie the room together. Just let me know." He said it like it was nothing. But he was still smiling when he left, and you could hear him whistling all the way down the path.