Ignis was preparing egg soup, rice balls, and juice when Molly entered the house.
"Mmm…smells delicious!" Molly exclaimed, wiping her brow with a stained sleeve.
"And you smell bad. Go take a shower first," Ignis ordered. Molly stuck out a tongue at him and marched into the bathroom with an armful of clothes.
Molly came out of the bathroom dressed in a t-shirt and shorts. She helped Ignis set the table and they both sat down to eat. Ignis was a surprisingly good cook when it came to rice but Molly found the egg soup a bit crunchy.
"What are we doing after lunch?" Ignis inquired.
"We're going to town! Introduce you to everyone!"
Ignis stiffened. Molly noticed.
"Don't you want to meet other people?" Molly asked.
"I'm afraid…that I'm not very good at conversing with humans," Ignis replied, avoiding her gaze.
"Huh…You can say that again…" Molly rolled her eyes behind a rice ball.
Two years ago…
"You gotta be careful, Molly!" Finn, the ever-so-cheerful Harvest Sprite said. He and Molly just reached the top of Mount Garmon to have a picnic with the Harvest King…or at least attempt to.
"Huh…yeah…I know," Molly panted with her hands on her knees.
"Is that you, human?" A deep, distant-sounding voice echoed from the higher reaches of the mountain's peak. The Harvest King.
Molly stood up and tried to hide her breathlessness. "It's me! And I do have a name you know! It's Molly! I thought gods were supposed to know everything!" she yelled.
Silence followed.
"Don't get him mad, Molly!" Finn whispered frantically. "He's really powerful!" Molly just shrugged off his warning and went to climb up the stairs to the throne of the Harvest King.
"Mollyyyy! Noooo…"
At first, the seemingly free-dangling, banister-free, frozen, high staircase seemed nigh impossible to climb for Molly but as she got used to it, she learned to climb it with confidence as if it was a normal staircase.
With her picnic basket in hand, Molly tiredly climbed up to the throne. She stopped in front of the Harvest King, again with her hands on her knees and panting.
"If you are tired, you must go home," the Harvest King suggested with his powerful arms akimbo.
"S-so cold! And here I came to bring you a warm snack…" Molly said. "I got…" she rummaged in her basket. "…Hard-boiled eggs, oranges, strawberries, and apple cocktail in a thermos. I brought cups. Do you drink? I have juice…"
The Harvest God rolled his eyes in slight annoyance. Apple cocktails were his favorite, after all.
Molly was already setting up a picnic spot on the cold, hard mountain rock when he stopped glaring at her.
"Come! Sit here with me!" Molly beckoned. She brought out the snacks.
The Harvest King sighed. "You should really go home, huma – I mean…Molly. It is cold up here and there is no grass. Not a very suitable place for a picnic.
"I told you!" Finn said.
Molly just held her chin up defiantly.
"I'm fine! And I came all this way to have a picnic with you! I'm not about to go down already!" she confidently said while peeling an orange.
A brief draft blew by, which made Molly and Finn shiver. Finn shielded himself behind Molly's short hair. However, the Harvest King did not flinch. His reddish-orange aura kept his body warm.
"Do you see? It is cold up here. Go home now," he said with a hand gesture pointing to the exit of the Garmon upper mines.
Back to married Molly and Ignis…
"I feel like a plebeian…" Ignis commented as he looked at himself in the mirror. Molly had given him a modest pair of jeans, a crisp, white dress shirt, and black boots that just barely fit. He kept his jewelry on (Molly found them sexy) and his hair was still in the bun Molly created that morning.
"A what? You look fine! When I told Candace I needed men's clothes, she seemed pretty confused until I reminded her I was married. I'll introduce you to her! She's really sweet, you know. And her boyfriend Julius is so pretty!"
"And you," Ignis said, trying to avoid her from rambling too far. "Why are you wearing jeans as well? Shouldn't you be wearing a skirt?
Molly was wearing a blue plaid blouse with French cuffs folded up to the elbow and jeans. She also had a barrette holding back part of her bangs.
"You saying that girls have to wear skirts all the time?" she said with a slight glare and a frown. If there was one thing that irritated her most, it was inequality, even if Ignis was the Harvest King.
"That is not the reason," Ignis said as he brought his face down to Molly's level. A large hand lightly traced the side of her thigh, making her shiver ever so slightly.
"I can't feel your legs this way…"
Molly slightly shivered in delight as Ignis's strong but careful hand teased the side of her thigh and his warm, gentle lips lightly touched Molly's. His tendril of red-orange hair softly tickled her nose.
"I'm wearing jeans because…" she started. "…I wanted to ride the horse."
And with that, Molly brushed off Ignis's wandering hand and went out to get the horse.
Ignis watched Molly expertly climbed up her horse, Sherry. She noticed his unsure gaze on the saddle (or was it her butt?).
"It's easy. Just put your left foot in the stirrup and hoist yourself up here." Molly instructed as she patted the saddle behind her.
Ignis had trouble trying to fit his boot into the stirrup but he then gracefully mounted himself on the horse's saddle.
"Good! Alright, let's go, Sherry! Hyah!" Molly snapped the reins and the horse galloped out of the barn and into the farm. Ignis was tightly holding onto Molly's waist for balance.
They rode along the scenery of Castanet, admiring the view and enjoying the breeze. The sounds of Sherry's hooves on the soil echoed in their heads like a steady rhythm.
"Woah, girl!" Molly cried when they reached the front of the tailor shop. Ignis hopped down first and offered his hand to Molly. Molly smiled and took his hand.
"Hi Molly!" Candace waved from the door. "Is that your…?"
"Yup! This is my husband, Ig-" Molly was stopped by an almost inaudible 'stop' from Ignis. She covered her mouth in realization.
"This is my husband!" Molly repeated. Candace went out to greet them.
"N-nice to meet you! I'm Candace. I work at Sonata Tailoring." she shyly bowed to Ignis.
"Nice to meet your acquaintance, Candace," Ignis politely bowed in reply.
"Forgive me asking…but you look strangely familiar. H-h-have we met before?" Candace inquired, trying to avoid his piercing eyes.
"I believe you visit the church often, where there are some stained-glass pictures of me and the Goddess."
"Ah! You're-!"
"I am the Harvest King."
Candace looked at Ignis in shock. She looked at Molly. Molly merely shrugged.
"I-I-I…I'm terribly sorry I didn't recognize you immediately!" Candace promptly bowed in apology.
"Hey, no it's fine, Candy," Molly assured. "He isn't as popular as the Harvest Goddess anyway."
"I like to remain private," Ignis added, looking distantly at the lighthouse.
"WOAH HEY! I heard that!" Luna suddenly burst out of the shop's door and ran to them. "You married the Harvest KING?"
"Yeah so?" Molly shrugged.
Luna stared at up Ignis, who was at least a full foot and a half taller than all three of them and feeling insecure with her staring.
"Wooowwww…I've never seen the Harvest King before, just the Harvest Goddess. I thought you wore robes or something. I know that shirt. My sister sewed it!"
"Heehee doesn't he look good in it?" Molly dusted off Ignis's sleeve.
"Heeeeyyyy… you didn't invite us to your wedding! How cruel!" Luna punched Molly on the shoulder, which made Molly flinch.
As if by reflex, Ignis shielded Molly and put himself between her and Luna.
"Woah, woah, woah, defensive much, Mr. Harvest King?" Luna backed away. Candace backed away even further.
"Ig - uh…dear, it's fine. Didn't hurt at all," Molly said. "Sorry, Luna, Candy. We gotta go introduce him to everyone else!" she said as she pulled Ignis by the hand.
Luna and Candace waved goodbye and gave Sherry some treats while Molly and Ignis walked away.
"What was that for, Ignis? Luna was just joking!" Molly said in harsh whispers as they walked.
"She punched you and you reacted. It must have hurt," he replied.
"It didn't! Don't I do it to you all the time? Oh well, c'mon. We gotta visit Kathy then Jin then Maya then Wizard!"