A Job for Leon
Hello, VampireMassacrexx here. Hmm…for this fan fiction, I decided to write a 'one shot' about Leon and Frey. The concept for it was long enough to write a story about but not long enough to be split into multiple chapters and that explains why it is a one-shot. It was inspired by some dialogue you get shortly after Leon joins the town after he's released from his Guardian form. He needs to get some work and obviously due to him being from a different time period, it makes sense that translation work for the language used in his time would be a good place to start, right? It does seem like the obvious choice…but doesn't it seem a little too obvious for it to have occurred to Leon without a prompt? This is my attempt at explaining how Leon's job translating scripts came to be and takes place after the end of the 1st Arc but before the start of the 2nd (yes…I'm aware the 2nd Arc can be triggered one week after the 1st but let's just say in this story, that isn't what happens).
*I own nothing to do with 'Rune Factory 4', its locations, characters etc.*
Rating: T
"…I need work, not 'help'. After all, I'm being allowed to stay at the Inn, I want to earn money for myself, and I don't just want to feel like I'm being given a free pass or anything like that…"
Frey had mulled over Leon's words a trillion times in the past week or so. It wasn't that they were necessarily of interest to her after all, the other Guardians found work in practically no time at all. Amber was allowed to work at the Flower shop, Dylas managed to get work as a waiter for Porco and Dolce was able to help Jones and Nancy out at the 'Tiny Bandage Clinic' whenever they needed assistance. It was just…she felt like she could do something about Leon's lack of work.
"…I shouldn't have any problems making my living here though,"-Leon said with a sigh.-"After all, everyone here is so kind, I can tell that already even though I've only been here a day so someone should have something they need me to do."
"Yes, someone should have something for you to do-" I said aloud, filling my bedroom with the sound of my own voice, giving the words a form even though no one was around to hear them but myself. "But…who and what? Geez! Why is this bothering me so much?! I have my own problems to worry about. I have farm work to be doing, requests from Eliza and the town's folk to be completing, not to mention Venti is consistently pestering me for pancakes to eat." I bit the end of my thumb nail as I pondered some more. It was almost sunset; I'd spent practically the whole day worrying about the former Dragon Priest and his lack of a present occupation.
Since his arrival here last week, I hadn't been able to get thoughts about him out of my mind. To begin with, the thoughts I'd had were similar to those I'd had about the other Guardians: was he settling in all right? Was he okay adjusting to life here? Will he be able to get along with everyone? But since then…other more persistent thoughts had entered my brain and lodged themselves in there. As well as the ones about how to help him with his lack of a job, I'd had thoughts about his ability to tease anyone about anything and everything, the fact that he never wears a shirt even though it's nearing the end of autumn and the claws of winter are beginning to grab a hold of the town and its residents, the fact that he always needs to have some form of entertainment around like a child who hasn't learnt how to keep themselves amused…the list was (and is) endless!
But the job one was particularly insistent on being allowed access to the forefront of my tired brain. It just felt like I had a solution that was just out of reach.
I sighed and stood up from my sitting position on top of my bed, my clothes were crumpled and I had pins and needles from spending so much time with my legs crossed in the same way for what felt like an eternity. "Well…I should do something productive with the rest of my day today. I need some supplies for forging new weapons for Forte and Margaret. Let's see, I need some bronze, some iron and some rubies. Oh! I also need some aquamarines as well. Now where can I get those?" I started to make a grab for my weapons and my bag pack. I pulled my leaf green hair into their usual pig tails and strapped my shield to my wrist. "Oh! The Water Ruins! Yes, I remember now, I can get aquamarine from there. Perfe-"
Suddenly, a burst of inspiration hit me like a tonne of bricks. Excitement lit alight every cell in my body as I quickly grabbed a huge bag of Gold before exiting my room using the exit to my farm rather than the front door. To the Inn I go! - I thought. - Let's hope Leon appreciates this.
Leon sighed, throwing his head back against the pillow. He stared at the ceiling, a frown etched upon his face.
He was so bored!
Since his arrival in Selphia, life had pretty much been serene and peaceful. In fact, all of the town disturbances in the past week had been caused by him constantly teasing the town's folk and a certain stoic-faced-Knight constantly telling him off for it.
Yeah…the town's folk would have to get used to that.
"Ugh! I need work already! I'm going nuts around here. There's only so much resting one can take before they start a slow and miserable descent into madness." It's not like I hadn't tried to get work but thanks to the other Guardian's taking up jobs at the Flower Shop, the Restaurant and even at the Clinic, I was left with limited options to work with. "Why doesn't Venti need a Dragon Priest anymore, again? After all, if I had that at least I'd be of some use to people."
I decided to reach for the one thing that was a consistent provider of entertainment: the fiery Earthmate who came to my rescue. Frey was always up and about, running around town leaving nothing but a flash of green pig tails and an air of cheerfulness in her wake. She was also surprisingly clumsy to say that she'd freed all of the Guardians including myself and saved Venti when it looked like all hope was lost. In the last few days, I'd seen her trip and stumble so many times she gave Xiao Pai a run for her money. But…she was fun to tease and rather intriguing. Or I assumed her to be, since I couldn't get her out of my mind since I'd first laid eyes on her in the Tower. I'd put that down to the fact that she was the first person I'd seen in…well, I'd seen in too long. But at the same time, it felt like something more. Something I couldn't put my finger on.
*Knock. Knock. Knock.*
My ears twitched as I turned my head in the direction of the door. I stood up and straightened out my appearance. "Who is it?"
A girlish lilt sounded through the door. "It's me, Frey. Can I come in?" she sounded so unsure but she'd already been in my room in order to inquire about how I was adjusting to life here.
"Sure."
She entered the room without saying a room and placed a bag on my desk that 'clinked' with the impact. "What's that?" I nodded in the direction of the bag.
She smiled. "Payment!"
I raised an eyebrow. "Payment? What for?"
"It's payment for the task that I have for you. I know it's getting late but if you'd do me the honour of accompanying me to the Water Ruins, then I'll be able to provide you with your first job in this era."
How amusing I thought. "Okay, I'll play along. How much is in there?"
She waved a hand at me. "Oh, not much. Come on let's go."
We didn't have to fight many monsters on the way to that Ruins which was a good thing since I was rusty after my long slumber. Frey seemed to have no problem with the monsters that she was facing.
When we were just outside of the Ruins, I decided to tease Frey a little. "You know, I'm surprised considering how much of a klutz you are, I'd thought that poor little face of yours would be covered in bruises and scratches but the only ones I've seen so far have graced the faces of the monsters, not you."
"Ha-ha! Very funny, Leon! Do you want this job or not?" Annoyance seeped into her tone.
I held up my hands in resignation. "Lead the way."
She didn't go far into the Ruins. In fact, she stopped practically the second she stepped inside.
"You see-" She murmured, not turning to face me as I followed behind her. "When I first came here, there was this stone tablet here. I tried to read it but…I got attacked and Doug had to save me."- Her cheeks turned an adorable shade of red due to her embarrassment. - "On closer inspection, though I realized that the front was written in an Ancient Language."
Aah. So that's the connection.
"I couldn't make heads or tails of it, obviously but it occurred to me that you could and so here we are."
My eyes pierced into hers. Sure I could make heads or tails of the text but for some reason, I couldn't make heads or tails of this girl! What is with her? Why does she feel the need to help everyone out? Could it have something to do with those lost memories of hers?
"Leon?" Her green eyes sparked with worry.
"Oh, it's nothing. Here, move out of the way and I'll take a look." I inspected it for a few minutes in silence. "Hmm…it seems to be from my time. There isn't much here anymore, I'm afraid but…I think I can make some sense out of it." My eyes narrowed in concentration. I looked at Frey only for my eyes to widen in surprise when I saw she had a note pad and pencil at the ready to write down whatever it was I managed to translate for her. Geez…she's so amusing.
I translated what was left remaining to the best of my ability. To be honest, I appreciated the challenge. Once the task was done and dusted, we travelled back to my room at the inn.
"Thank you for helping me." Frey said.
"Thank you for the work." My eyes fell to the bag on the table. "Let's see how much is in here. Wha-?!"
"Is something wrong?"
"Frey! This is far too much for so little work! I can't accept this."
She pouted. "Yes you can! You had loads of work. You had to travel with me, fight monsters, translate the writing as many times as it took for me to write all of it down and then fight monsters on the way back as well. It was a lot of work for someone who has spent the last few centuries sleeping in a Tower. So take it…think of it as a warming present from me."
I stared at her. I used my fan to hide the bottom half of my face from her view.
"Well…bye Leon."
"Wait!" I reached out to grab her arm. The contact, although brief, sent a spark through me. Odd, that doesn't happen with other people nor did happen with people in the past either…
She seemed to sense something as well as she rubbed her arm and looked startled by something although, that could have been just a normal reaction to being grabbed, I suppose. "What is it?" She asked.
"I'll accept this amount if you promise that you'll never give me this much for a job again. No amount of labour is worth this much."
She beamed at me. Damn, what is with that smile?! "What if the job is worth that much, hypothetically speaking?"
"I still won't accept it! You've done enough for me without all of this as well."
She giggled. "I'm glad that I was of some use to you. I'll see you tomorrow, Leon. Thanks for your help."
She ran out of the Inn like an excited child, desperate to see what presents they'd received for Christmas. I couldn't help but smile a little at the bubbly personality she possessed. "Looks like I have a purpose here after all." My eyes fell to the bag of money on the table again. "Time to find Arthur; I need to see if there are any more translation jobs to be found."
I hope this story was all right. There wasn't really a song that inspired this one (unfortunately) but, since 'Sleeps With Butterflies' by Tori Amos is the one I dedicate to the Leon/Frey pairing normally, I'd go with that one. I'm aware that there is a mixing of first and third person within the story, that was a deliberate choice I made in order to provide some explanation for Frey's and Leon's situations before it switched to the first person. I tried to keep the third person parts to a minimum. Feedback would be much appreciated. Until next time. xXx