Quest of Annoyance
Just a little fun fic I wrote after reading The Caldera and The Beast From Another Time. That really inspired me in regards to short story ideas again after a long period where all my ideas have been for longer stories, which I just don't have the time or energy for committing to. I hope you will enjoy this little short. :)
Will was a Ranger and as Maddie's mentor he not only considered it his duty to teach her all the skills of a Ranger, but also to tease her periodically and test her patience.
He would do this by being deliberately sloppy at times, but only with inconsequential things, like not folding his clothes properly or leaving a mess in the kitchen for her to clean up.
With the important stuff Will took great care to do it properly and he was a hard teacher if Maddie didn't. But all those little things that only resulted in little annoyances and crumpled shirts? Will would annoy Maddie just for the sake of being annoying and seeing her reaction to it.
Of course, there was a purpose to it all; it helped teach her patience, but also to differentiate between what was important, truly important, and what was not.
Will had started small, just doing little things now and then, just like Halt had once done with him, but as time went on Will had started doing more, like haphazardly stuffing his saddlebags, letting pots and pans stand overnight with leftover food in them, (Maddie had quickly got that under control by checking everything after dinner), and generally let himself look gruff and worn. He still made sure he looked presentable enough, but he happily used the edge of his cloak as a napkin or wiped glue off his fingers on his jerkin.
And Maddie would give him a critical look and shake her head, but sometimes, he had noticed, she had started doing these little things, too, letting go of her princess upbringing and just acting as a normal person would.
Will knew Cassandra would probably have disapproved of him ruining her princess manners, but being trained as a Ranger also meant being able to relate to the common folks and acting as one on occasion.
It was unconventional, but it worked. And if the Rangers as a group were unconventional, Will was the most unconventional of them all.
As he had that thought he smirked internally and then proceeded to cram his stuff into his saddlebag in the most disorderly way he could without making it obvious that was his goal.
Maddie, watching him, made an annoyed clicking sound with her tongue. "I swear you're getting worse and worse, Will. If you continue like that you're going to rip something."
Will paused, pretending to consider it. "Maybe." Then he shrugged. "Or maybe not. Haven't done so so far."
Maddie rolled her eyes, then stepped forward. "Here; let me do it. You're acting as a child."
Will just grinned at her as he stepped back and let her undo his mess. You're making this too easy, Maddie, he thought. And Will was determined to see just how far he could take this before Maddie either caught on or just stopped caring about his little messes. She had changed a lot since she came to him as a pampered princess, but he wasn't done teaching her and being annoying held its own lessons. You'll learn, Maddie. Someday you'll learn. But until then Will was determined to continue being annoying and teasing her whenever a good opportunity for it came up.