Careen
Asbel should have learned to be at least slightly wary of Pascal's "scheming ways," as Hubert called them. As often as his brother tried to warn him, he never altogether believed him, as Pascal was always consistently helpful back when they were still traveling together. Eccentric, yes, but that didn't do anything to change her helpfulness.
"Did she ask why she wanted to see us both?" Richard asked, adjusting the hood of his cloak.
"Nope…" Asbel said. "She's a bit late though."
"Perhaps she's not actually coming."
Richard reached for his pocket and snapped a pocket watch open. They stood side by side, but Asbel took a step nearer to peer over at the time. She was indeed a few minutes late, but it was still few enough for it not to be too odd.
"She probably would've sent something over one of the communicators if she couldn't make it at all," Asbel said, never one to give up on people too quickly.
"You are probably correct."
Asbel looked toward the street before glancing back at the café they stood outside. Though Pascal had picked the location, it seemed like an odd choice, since most of the people he saw coming and going were couples. There were a few larger groups, but the bigger percentage of the patrons were together.
"Did your brother come along with Pascal this time?"
"I don't think so," Asbel said. "He usually can't make the time when she's only making quick trips."
"I'm sure that makes him quite crestfallen," Richard said with a knowing smile.
"Yeah, he sends me all of these sad messages over the communicator," Asbel laughed. "It's just about the only time he finds the time to send me messages often."
"How coincidental," he remarked sarcastically.
Asbel noticed when Richard glanced over his shoulder briefly, but since he didn't say anything, Asbel didn't suspect anything. He did, however, hear very light footsteps approaching from behind him. He guessed that the Amarcian would try to sneak up behind him and scare him. Asbel's thought process was largely simple and innocent, which led to the plight that he assumed the same values of others.
"Hey!" Pascal exclaimed.
Richard turned his head at the same moment Asbel felt both of Pascal's hands come down on his shoulders. With surprising force, she shoved him forward, causing him to lose his balance and careen forward into Richard. Caught completely off guard, he reached out to stop himself from colliding with the king too suddenly, but it wasn't in time to prevent their lips from brushing together in the briefest of moments.
Despite how quickly it happened and how Asbel found himself with one hand on Richard's shoulder and another on the side of the building, the reality of what happened sank in very quickly. Asbel felt his face reddening as he very quickly let go and straightened. They both seemed to make the wordless, unanimous decision to react as minimally as possible, as Pascal pretended that nothing happened.
"I haven't seen you in forever, your kingliness!" Pascal said happily.
"It's been quite a while," Richard said, recovering much faster than Asbel did and smiling with his best politician's politeness.
"Well, what are ya waiting for?" Pascal said, spinning around on her heel as she pointed toward the doors. "Let's get a table, I've been dying for a banana split!"
"Aren't those quite common in Strahta though?" Richard asked, seeming to pick up on the little holes in her story with almost concerning ease.
"Ehhh, the ice cream in Barona is better!" she said with a curt nod as she pushed the doors open.
Asbel followed them inside, hoping to find an opportunity to chime into the conversation to avoid seeming like he'd fallen into an awkward silence, but failed. Before he could say anything fittingly casual, Pascal was already chatting up one of the servers, who seemed very eager to have her on her way and seated.
Richard sat down first and Pascal quickly took the seat beside him, causing Asbel to sit directly across from him. Their eyes met for only a moment before Asbel glanced away. Once they were given menus, Pascal's communicator suddenly started to beet several times in a row. There was something off about her expression of surprise when she heard it,
"Oh, that's my sister!" she exclaimed. "Looks like I've got to run."
Asbel blinked. "But you just got here."
"Sorry, important heaty weaty business!" she said as she jumped up from her seat. "See you next time!"
Richard's polite smile seemed a bit perturbed. "Have a good afternoon, Pascal."
"See you later," Asbel said, albeit uncomfortably.
As she dashed toward the door, hopping her way down the short staircase onto the street, the ensuing awkwardness of being left alone together set in. There would be no way to avoid the topic, though the way Richard's smile shifted from one of stiff politeness to a softer one when he looked at Asbel made it not seem like such a bad thing to bring up.
~oOo~
Hubert stood with his arms crossed, drumming his fingers against the side of the communicator as he waited for Pascal to return. She had told him in no uncertain terms to stay within a block's radius, but safely out of sight. She sent him into a bookstore since there was 'not a chance in ten Fodran moons' that Asbel would want to stop in a bookstore of all places on the way to meet up with Richard. As much as he wanted to defend his brother's questionable literacy, he couldn't logically make that argument.
"Hellooooo!" Pascal greeted merrily, a skip in her step as she rounded the corner of a bookshelf.
"Are you done?" he asked shortly.
"Done and successful! Project Osculation was a brilliant triumph!" she said, clapping her hands together. "Do you want to hear the juicy details?"
"As much as you want to hear the 'juicy details' of how furious my mother will be if she finds out I visited Windor without visiting her," he said, quoting her words with distaste. "Let's get to the sea haven before we miss our ship."
Pascal puffed out her cheek. "If you say so. But you are going to hear about my resounding success."
Hubert tried not to sigh as she grabbed his arm and started dragging him out of the bookstore. He had been hesitant to take part in one of her plots, but she was very adamant. On top of that, Pascal had a way of getting him to do what she wanted him to with concerning efficiency.
~oOo~
Author's Note
Sorry, Ni…I had to make it derpy. Haha. I can't seem to write anything about His Majesty and Sir Derpy without making it either humor or angst.
This was from one of the fic ask memes over on Tumblr, the prompt was first kiss.