Wanna Cause a Scandal? - no_more_llama_drama (2024)

Reth paused and raised a finger. “Actually, I could use some fresh carrots. Sifuu’s been asking for creamy carrot soup a lot lately, and—wait! My flirting line!”

“I can bring you some carrots later. Maybe right before your shift ends?”

“Sounds good, fancy pants.”

“And Reth?”

He looked up from rummaging around a cupboard. “Yeah?”

“I’ll hold your hand and walk through the town center with you.” Lucy grinned. “Alright, see you later!”

Reth’s head shot up. “Wait, do you mean that?”

“Yup, and I’m totally not running away now that I’ve said it!”

“I actually don’t know how to respond to that. Are you sure you mean it? Oh, you’re actually leaving. See you in a bit! I totally won’t be thinking about what you said for the rest of my shift.” Reth’s nervous laughter followed Lucy out the door.

Okay, maybe it was a little mean to run out on him like that. But Lucy had basically just confessed to being ready to take their relationship public, so she was allowed a bit of shyness. Lucy took a deep breath, standing on the inn steps, and hugged herself. Carrots, right. She could do that. They were ready to harvest anyway. She also wanted to cook Reth something. He was always feeding her, so it only felt fair that she fed him for once.

Lucy headed back to her plot, waving to Auni and pausing to decide whether to duck into the library and see if they had any cookbooks she hadn’t already read. She had time, and it’d be fun to surprise Reth with a new recipe, so she went inside.

“What are you looking for?” Caleri asked.

Lucy glanced around at all the tomes surrounding her. “Have you got any new cookbooks in recently?”

Caleri peered at Lucy over her glasses. “If Reth sent you over to check one out for him, the answer is no. I am done with finding soup stains on every other page.”

“It’s for me, I swear.”

Caleri narrowed her eyes and evaluated Lucy. Apparently, Lucy passed whatever internal test Caleri had going on, because she gestured to the back of the library. “I got a cookbook with recipes from the capital in the other day. You might find something interesting in there.”

“Thanks, Caleri. You’re the best.”

“Yes, well, be careful with the book and return it on time.”

Lucy nodded. “I will, I promise.”

Caleri’s careful eyes followed Lucy as she made her way to the back of the library. Lucy ran her fingers along the spines of the books until she found Cooking from the Capital. Whoever named the book either wasn’t very creative, or really wanted to get straight to the point. Or possibly both.

Book in hand, Lucy made her way home. She flipped through the pages, discarding all the recipes that had ingredients she didn’t have on hand. She’d used up the last of her heat roots during a disastrous attempt at making Oysters Akwinduu, and she was all out of crabs after making crab gumbo for Badruu in exchange for some blueberry seeds. Eventually, Lucy settled on cream of mushroom soup, crossing her fingers that Reth would enjoy it. It was soup, so she was pretty sure he would.

At 4:30 PM, Lucy left her house, cream of mushroom soup in hand, along with a bag of carrots. She’d managed not to burn anything, and she was convinced it was edible at minimum. When she got to the inn, the tavern counter was empty. Lucy frowned. Maybe it’d been a slow day, and Ashura had let Reth go early? She’d expect Reth to wait around for her, but there was no use pouting over failed expectations.

Lucy popped into Jel’s shop. Tish was next to the counter, chatting with him, but Reth was nowhere to be seen. “Have either of you seen Reth?” Lucy asked.

“I thought he was with you,” Tish said. She exchanged a worried look with Lucy.

Jel, oblivious to their concern, said, “Perhaps he went to see Einar? Reth mentioned that Ashura had been asking for fried catfish quite a bit lately.”

“Maybe,” Lucy said, forcing a smile. “Thanks, I’ll check that out.” If Reth needed catfish, he would have asked Lucy. Fishing, unlike cooking, was something she was actually good at.

With a sinking feeling in her stomach, Lucy headed to the storeroom, suddenly grateful that Ashura probably assumed she was going down there for a clandestine make out session with Reth. If only.

Lucy unlocked the door and stepped inside. No Reth. Her stomach started to churn, but she forced herself to calm down. Usually Reth wasn’t needed at the Underground this early, but what Zeki wanted with Reth, he got, so it wasn’t impossible that he’d gotten dragged there ahead of schedule.

The Underground was far from Lucy’s favorite place, though she had admittedly bought a nice bathtub there. She made her way past all the people playing hotpot and peeked at the bar counter.

It was empty.

That really only left one option. Lucy could ask Zeki for details, but what were the chances he’d actually tell her anything useful? Lucy hung around the Underground for a while, feeling desperately out of place. She should have brought a book to read, though she didn’t know how many people came for the book-reading ambiance of the Underground. Eventually, Lucy had to accept that Reth was not going to magically pop up behind the bar counter. She slipped back into the storeroom, locking the door behind her. The inn was busy, and she had to sneak out the back door to avoid drawing attention to herself, and more importantly, the storeroom. She wasn’t in the right mindset to craft a convincing lie about why she’d been down there.

Lucy took the long way home, wandering past the blacksmith, a field of chapaas, and the fishing dock. Once she was home, she treated herself to tomato soup for the fifth night in a row, reluctantly washing her dishes before changing into pajamas and laying down in bed. Her bedroom was coming along nicely, and on better days, the hearth would have felt quite cheery. Unfortunately, Lucy was far too deep in her worrying to be cheered up by a nice fireplace.

She must have drifted off to sleep at some point, because she jerked up in bed when she heard knocking at the door. Rubbing her eyes, she stumbled over to the door. “Coming!” Had she been more awake, she might have cried at the sight of Reth standing outside, all in one piece.

“Did I wake you up? I’m sorry,” Reth said. “And I’m really sorry for bailing on you. I didn’t want to, I just got ordered to do a last minute delivery. Did I mention I’m really sorry?”

“It’s okay. Come inside,” Lucy said, pulling the door open wider.

Reth slumped onto one of the kitchen chairs. There were dark circles under his eyes, and his smile was weak. “I really am sorry.”

“I know. Tea?” Lucy asked.

“I couldn’t bother you.”

“Too late.” Lucy was already grabbing a pot to boil water in. “I got a lot of sweet leaf last time I went to Bahari.” She glanced at Reth. “Tish was worried, too.”

Reth buried his face in his hands. “I know. I’m the worst.”

“You’re really not.” Still keeping an eye on the water, she walked over to Reth and put a hand on his shoulder. “Worrying just means we care.”

“For some reason,” Reth muttered. “You two are the only ones who do, and I don’t know why.”

“Well, you’re actively saving Tish’s life, and I happen to like you. Pretty good reasons.”

“For Tish, maybe. Though I keep thinking there must have been some other way…” Reth sighed.

Lucy went back over to the water, poured it into two mugs, and put a generous helping of sweet leaf in each. “Here you go.” She sat down next to Reth.

“Thanks.” Reth stared down at his tea. “I, um, have a question.”

“Yeah?”

“I don’t really think—well—do you still want to hold my hand? In public, I mean. Because I totally understand if you don’t. I wouldn’t want to hold my hand in public, either. Look at me, and look at you. You deserve better than this.” He waved dismissively at himself, not meeting Lucy’s gaze.

“I absolutely do still want to hold your hand in public.” The fear and disbelief in Reth’s eyes did unfortunate things to Lucy’s heart. “We’ll get you out. Somehow. And in the meantime, I’ll be here. Even if you show up very late very often.”

Reth shook his head. “I already told you that’s not possible. And if you did, I’d owe another life debt.”

“And I already told you, I’ll take my payment in kisses.” Lucy put her arm around Reth. “It’s really going to be okay.”

“I still could be Palia’s second worst kisser, after Einar.”

“Don’t you think it’s about time I found out?”

“So to recap, I bailed on our date—not for the first time—to live a life of crime, and you still want to kiss me?”

Lucy nodded. “Sounds about right.”

For a moment, Reth looked like he might argue. Then he shrugged. “Okay, no takesies-backsies.” He leaned in and kissed her, and by the Dragon, if he was Palia’s second worst kisser, Palia was full of kissing gods. It was gentle and soft, with just a hint of neediness.

When they broke apart, Lucy’s heart was still racing. “I will definitely take my payment in kisses.”

“That good, huh?” Reth’s face was flushed. “I would definitely take payment in kisses from you, too. Not that you owe me anything! At all. I just—I’m starting to ramble, aren’t I?”

“Just a little.” Lucy couldn’t keep a giddy smile off her face. “You should stay the night.”

Reth’s eyebrows shot up. “You sure about that, fancy pants? I thought I was the forward one.”

“Not like that!” Lucy waved her hands frantically. “Just that we should sleep next to each other. In bed. Without touching. Well, maybe a little touching. But not—not too much touching.”

“I’ll let you initiate all the touching in bed, or lack thereof.” Reth glanced at the bed. “As much as I would love to stay up all night kissing you, I’m a little concerned I might fall asleep mid-kiss. Then I really will be Palia’s second-worst kisser.”

“Pretty sure that’s impossible. But I, too, would not mind going back to bed, as good as this late night interruption was.” Lucy stood up and offered Reth her hand. “Shall we?”

Reth took her hand. “We shall.”

“And tomorrow, I’ll walk with you to the inn. Holding hands. Ready to cause a scandal.”