Part 1: Sir Leon
The amount of times he would sneak around the laundry rooms was getting ridiculous. He was quickly running out of clothes to needlessly wash and he had no other excuses to explain his presence.
Bundling his spare red cloak (which he purposely spilled wine on the night before) under his arm, he descended the stone steps to the warm rooms beneath the castle full of steam and pleasant powdery smells.
The servants curtsied and bowed, giving him mumbled greetings before scurrying away to do other tasks. If they had thought his appearance was suspicious, he never heard any of them voice it.
Except Poppy, an older woman with a warm smile who ran the laundry rooms with an iron fist. While she never actually said anything, Leon could not ignore the knowing looks she would give him whenever he appeared in this section of the castle. As of the moment, she was looking over a younger woman, watching with hawk like vision as she struggled to scrub a stain out of a pale shirt. Her long black hair was sloppily braided, sections falling out the harder she scrubbed. She had an intense frown on her rounded face, her black brows drawing together in evident frustration. With one exaggerated hand movement, she managed to slosh water all over her lap as well as Poppy's apron.
"Gemma! You've really got to be more careful!" huffed Poppy though she didn't look particularly angry.
Gemma looked meek and apologetic, as the warm soapy water permeated her faded dress "Sorry about that"
Poppy gave her a half hearted glare while blotting at her front with a rag "Clean yourself up and have some lunch while you're at it. Be back within half an hour!"
She stormed off, leaving Gemma to clean the mess she created. Mopping up the soapy water, she started humming to herself, not realising that Leon was watching.
Feeling awkward, Leon cleared his throat pointedly and smiled in what he hoped was a friendly fashion. Gemma whirled around, most of her hair coming loose from the braid. She only looked mildly startled, before her expression turned warm and welcoming.
"Hello Sir Leon, what can I do for you today?" she asked pleasantly, getting up from her knees and wiping her wet hands on the part of her pale blue dress that was still dry.
Leon felt the uncharacteristic sensations of nervousness flutter in his stomach when he looked into her sparkling black eyes "I-I decided to bring my clothes down myself"
She held her hand out and for one bizarre moment, Leon almost took it. Feeling the tips of his ears glow red at that completely unfounded idea, he handed the cloak to her which she unravelled and inspected with a thoughtful expression.
"You've really got to stop spilling wine on your clothes Sir Leon," remarked Gemma wryly
Leon felt a flash of embarrassment, knowing that it was terribly impolite for him to make more work for her and the others. Rubbing his sweaty palms unhelpfully against his chain mail, he took a deep breath before addressing her again.
"Gemma?"
She still had the cloak in front of her, pulling a small bar of soap from the wooden bench and giving the fabric a few swipes before mixing it with a few drops of warm water to see if they stain would come out.
"Hmm?" she responded distractedly.
Leon rocked on his heels while he steadied his tone "Well, there's a celebration in the marketplace next week and I'm not on duty that night. I was wondering…. I was wondering whether you would like to go?"
She stopped her scrubbing, bringing down the cloak to look at Leon properly. She wasn't laughing, which was a good sign according to Leon, but she did have a look of supreme amusement on her face which unsettled him.
"Whether I would like to go?" she repeated, a secretive little smirk on her face.
He nodded before amending "With me, I mean. Would you like to go with me?"
He wished he didn't sound quite so hopeful but at least it was over and done with. If she said no, then that was fine. He would be fine. He'll just never show up here again out of embarrassment at her rejection. But what if he bumped into her when she dropped the laundry off in his room? He couldn't escape the awkward encounters forever-
"I would love to"
"That's fine-" started Leon, anticipating the refusal before he registered what she had said "Wait. What?"
She smiled "I said I would love to. I'll meet you at the front of the castle when the sun sets?"
"I'll meet you there milady" he agreed, grinning widely. She stood up her on toes and kissed his cheek before waving him away. Still stunned at the events that had transpired, Leon mechanically made his way back to the throne room where the scheduled meeting with the high council was held. Sitting down in his seat, he resisted the urge to grin like an idiot when discussing battle plans all the while steadfastly ignoring Gwaine's incessant pestering about what made him look so happy.
A/N: I've got a million things to do but I've always been terrible at prioritizing so...let me know what you think? ;)
- DecoyDream x