Author's Notes: Ah hey, look! More Mariel/Dandin! There isn't enough of it out there. Seriously. You should write some. Yes, you! Write some! Anyways, this is based off the song 'Something To Talk About' by Bonnie Raitt. Yep. Also... I should warn that I'm new to Hare speech, so Rosie's conversation will seem very off.

Something To Talk About

The welcoming feast wore on into the night, the Abbey beasts mingling among the returned warriors, swapping stories and toasting the memory of fallen comrades. Nothing was lacking – there was food enough to meet even Tarquin and his family's appetites. Durry Quill had excused himself three times to run down to the cellars and drag up barrels of his finest brews, sharing them with Rufe and the Gousim shrews as they talked nonstop of their journey. A fine mood stretched the entire length of the Hall, manifesting itself now and then in song and dance.

However, there were still heavy hearts, sitting up at the head of the main table. Saxtus looked over the top of his glasses at his friend, who sat sipping cordial pensively with his gaze roaming over every face. He couldn't help but worry. Dandin had been absent for so long... what if he was keeping something back? Something that could be saddening him on this joyous night? He reached a paw forward. " Is something troubling you?"

Dandin seemed to smile slightly. " No, nothing." He swirled the brew in his cup, blinking quickly. " Well, I suppose... I suppose I'm just upset about Mellus."

" Ah..." Saxtus had given Dandin and Mariel a short explanation of what had happened to their friend as the feast had started. But Dandin had been laughing and chatting not long after that, with the words 'Mellus wouldn't want me to be sad. She'd want me to enjoy the food and toast to her memory.' Somehow, Saxtus had the feeling there was more to his mood than the tragedy that had occurred. But did he really want to pry?

Before he could think of a way to address the problem properly, Dandin shrugged, turning to him with a wide smile. " Or maybe I've been away from Redwall too long. I've really missed this place... it's my home, after all. If a wanderer can have a home."

" Of course they can. Anybeast is welcome here, especially you and Mariel."

" Yeah, Mariel and I." He gave a short chuckle. " I can't wait until tomorrow. We'll tell the whole story then... But I'm anxious to tell you everything that happened with us. It was... an adventure, to tell you the truth."

Saxtus blinked hard. Was Dandin saying...? No, he wouldn't be saying that. Then again, Saxtus had always had a feeling in the core of him. Ever since Mariel came to the Abbey as a ragged Storm Gullwhacker, he had noticed something in Dandin's smile that was new and much more mature. As a young mouse he had envied the relationship between his friend and that maiden. He himself had thought Mariel was beautiful, but it wasn't proper for a mouse of the Abbey Order to run off chasing such a free spirited female.

" You've told her, then?"

Dandin choked on his cordial, while Saxtus felt his eyes widen. Had he really just said that?

Coughing and rubbing his throat, Dandin peered over at the Abbot. " Wh-what? I mean, told her? Told her what?!"

Hiding his smile behind his cup, Saxtus tried to hide his laughter. " You know... come now, Dandin, everybeast can tell." Maybe it was his high spirits, his joy from seeing his companions again, or the good drink... whatever it was, he felt brave enough to push the question, and took Dandin's red face as proof that he was right.

But the warrior was now staring blankly at him, recovered completely with a frown. " Tell what...?"

" Please don't lie to an Abbot, Dan. It's a sin."

The frown deepened and he turned back to his food, poking at the salad on his plate. " I can't lie if I don't know the truth."

His tone seemed sincere, but even through his short years as being Abbot, Saxtus had learned to tell when creatures were being dishonest. He tapped his friend's paw. " You really don't know? Alright, let me tell you, Sir Warrior. You and Mariel, you obviously care for each other deeply."

" She's my best friend."

" That may be true, but everybeast noticed, even seasons ago before you left journeying."

" Noticed what?"

Saxtus felt his smile widen. " How when you stand near one another, you tend to move closer. I don't know if you mean it, but I've seen how you two do it. And how you laugh together. I've never seen you happier than when you're around her – you two laugh loud enough to rival Rosie, even. And when you glance at each other, your gaze lingers for a short moment."

" Does not." Dandin whispered his reply, his blush deepening by the second. " We don't laugh too loud!"

" Haha, Dan, why are you whispering?" He was certain now that he had been drinking too much ale – this was fun to him. He felt like a young mouse again. " If you don't think I'm right, then prove it to me."

"...How?"

" Look at her. Just glance."

Dandin straightened up, glaring. " Fine. I will." He searched through the crowd until he found Mariel. She was sitting alongside Rosie, deep in discussion. But when Dandin set his sight on her, she looked up... and he immediately looked away, turning his head back to Saxtus. " See? I didn't look at her for more than a second."

Saxtus finally broke down in a fit of laughter. " No, Dan, but she's still staring at you!"

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Rosie followed Mariel's gaze straight to Dandin. She gasped, then let out her infamous laughter. " Whoahahahahooh! Poor Dandin, he looks absolutely scarlet!"

Mariel joined in the laughter, looking back down to her food. " Haha, makes me wonder what he and Saxtus are talking about!"

Rosie's laughter had subsided, and she resumed eating alongside her husband. At Mariel's remark, she gave a quick wink. " What else could it be, my gel?"

" I dunno. What?"

Through her mouthful of trifle, she stated matter-of-factly. " You and Dandin, 'course. After such a long journey, I'm betting the Abbot is wanting to know when the bally wedding will be held!"

CLANG!

Mariel ducked underneath the table, paws searching. " Oh, my fork... ah, found it. Now, what were you saying? Something about some creatures getting married? Sounds like a rumor to me."

There was another voice from beside her. Durry had strode over from the group of shrews, Rufe trailing along. " Ah, come now, Miss Mariel. Rumors often 'ave a seed of truth somewhere!"

Rufe quickly put a restraining paw on the hedgehog's spiky shoulder. " Uh, Durry, I think you'd better stand away..."

Mariel had lifted the fork to her side in what appeared to be an attack stance. She relaxed, letting her grip on the utensil slacken. " Don't worry Rufe. I'm just a little upset that my friends would be saying such nasty things about me."

Durry and Rufe had taken their seats beside her. Rosie nodded at them from behind Mariel's back before addressing the mousemaid. " That's a tad bit harsh on old Dandin, wouldn't you say? A gel could end up with worse, I'd say."

" You shouldn't say."

Durry's body shook with suppressed laughter. " An' you know, Miss Rosie, that when I went a-questing with her and Mr. Dan, there was a terrible incident in a swamp. Dandin was almost made into swamp food, and afterwards he and Mariel went aside for quite the long time, just talkin' away..."

" You don't even know what we were talking about!"

Durry elbowed Rufe in the stomach, urging him on. He scratched his chin. " And, er... well, they were always next to each other when we were fighting."

Durry and Rosie smiled wide, as Mariel's face started burning brighter. Rufe nodded. " And what about that talk he had with Joseph?"

Suddenly, his three friends feel strangely silent. He frowned thoughtfully. " What? What did I say?"

Mariel slowly turned her head towards him, with an expression that told him clearly to elaborate... or else. He gnawed on his claws. " Er... well... I guess it wasn't anything... I mean, I didn't know you didn't know..."

" Rufe."

" It's just... before we sailed off, I overheard them... I wasn't spying, just waiting to say goodbye to Joseph. I waited outside the door and, well... you really don't know, Mariel?"

" Rufe!"

The young squirrel sighed deeply. " You're going to hit me if I don't tell, aren't you? Fine... he asked Joseph if, since he wasn't coming with us... if Joseph didn't mind if he asked you to, well... marry him."

There was another unearthly silence. Then Rosie broke it. " Whoahahabsolutelyballybeautiful! Ain't that a charm?" She smiled nervously at Mariel, patting the Warrior's shoulder gently. " Y-you see, Mariel, we were only kidding you! Hahahaha, yes, a joke! A jest! We didn't mean a flippin word we said. Right, Rufey?"

" R-right! Ahaha, y-you should've seen the l-look on your... face..."

Unfortunately, they could all see her face, and she looked murderous. But then she smiled sweetly, picked up her fork, and stood, moving down the hall towards Dandin.

Durry shook his head, casting a glare at his friend. " Well you did it now, Rufe. He's a goner."

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Dandin found himself pulled up by his collar. Saxtus watched, stunned, as Mariel marched him off through the doorway, ignoring his complaints.

Outside was faintly lit by moonlight, eerie with the silver glow. Mariel released him and paced ahead, arms crossed. He gasped out his words. " What was that about?"

She turned to him, blushing still. " Do you have any idea what I just... do you have any idea what everybeast is saying?"

He coughed feebly, fingering a button on his tunic. " Well, actually..."

" So it's true?!" She twisted her paws around the fork handle, shaking her head. " Dan, why didn't you... you could have said something!"

Holding up his paws, he slowly approached her. " I didn't say it was true."

" But Rufe..."

" They're just rumors, Mariel. Rumors. Not true."

She looked at him warily, crossing her arms again, more tightly than before. " But he said he heard you. Why would he make something like that up?"

" Like I said, it's rumors, gossip, it's – wait. He heard what?"

Her arms fell to her sides as she relaxed her body. He obviously didn't know... a smile grew on her face, and she stepped forward quickly, punching him lightly on his arm. " Oh, just a rumor that you asked my father permission to marry me."

" W-wha... oh... no..."

" Heehee, aha..." She closed her eyes as she laughed. " I know! It's funny, isn't it, what some creatures will do just to get a good joke. I don't blame them, really. Now that I know it was a joke... it's is funny."

" Um... Mariel... I -,"

" Let's get back to the feast. I'm still hungry, even after all this food..."

As she went to walk past him, she felt something hit her stomach gently, stopping her. She looked down. It was Dandin's arm. " Mariel, we need to talk."

She raised her gaze to his, expecting to intimidate him into letting her go with her glare. But then, she saw that look on his face, and something in his expression made her heart jump. He was serious, probably more serious than he had ever been around her. And on him, it didn't look bad. " About what?" She stepped back to face him. " Ah, I see. We need to talk about how to stop these rumors."

"...No."

What was it about his grim expression that made her blush? " Then... oh, I know what you mean. We need to get them back for this. But how?"

" Mariel, stop. We need to talk about us."

" What us?" She felt herself slip away from him, but couldn't really focus on what she was doing. Her face was so warm, she felt sick. Everybeast was saying it – that there was an 'us' between them. That they were attached, stricken... in love. And now, Dandin was saying it too.

Then her legs nearly gave way as he moved. It wasn't towards her, and it wasn't to back away towards the Abbey – he gently lowered to the ground on one knee, staring intently at her. " Mariel, I've been thinking."

She wanted to hit him. She wanted to curse, hiss out 'Great Seasons', or any other exclamation of dismay she could muster. Instead, she gave a flickering smile. " Yes?"

" All of the Abbey has noticed, apparently. They say we're in love. Saxtus even pointed it out, how we act – that we stand too close, stare too long, laugh too much... and, he's right. They're all right." He reached out to take her paw in his. She didn't stop him.

" Mariel. I talked to Joseph about how I feel, and he noticed too. He gave me his blessing, and he told me that I'd make a fine son in law to him. I was overjoyed, but... I had to wait. I wanted to marry you here, at Redwall. And... oh, yes. He gave me something to give to you." With his free hand, he dug a tiny bundle out of his pocket. It was something wrapped in soft brown bark cloth. He handed it to her, releasing her paw as he did. " Go on, open it."

Paws surprisingly steady, she peeled back the layers, until a gold ring lay in her paw. She turned it over and over in the moonlight, seeing the intricate carvings of rivers and mountains, clouds and stars...

" It was your mothers. He made it for her when they were wed, and he wanted you to be married with this ring." He took a deep, trembling breath. " Mariel, will you marry me?"

" Oh."

" ... That's not an answer."

" Sorry. I meant to say... oh... I guess I..." She sniffed to hold back tears, but they were already dripping from her face. " Dandin, I never wanted to tell you... ever since we left for Southsward, I struggled with it. I didn't want to love you. I didn't want to fall in love."

" And?"

" Yes! Of course I'll marry you!" She tugged at his collar. " Get up!"

Laughing along with her, he rose and embraced her tightly, swinging her around in circles as the night sky watched.

And from the slightly open doorway, four others watched, smiling. Rosie couldn't help it. " Whoaha-,"

" Miss Rosie!" Rufe whispered urgently as he clasped a paw over her mouth. " Please, she'll kill us all!"

Saxtus drew away, turning back to the table... only to see that the entire Great Hall had quieted down, waiting anxiously. He frowned severely, shaking a warning paw at them. " Now, it's not nice to pry!"

From a far corner, a Dibbun called out, " But you be pry'n, Father Abbot!"

And with that, the assembly broke down into hushed laughter.

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Author's Notes: Tsk tsk, Saxtus. Anyways, I've really been wanting to write Saxtus, Rosie's and Rufe's characters, so I hope I did okay. And I hope that ya'll liked it.