The Manor had been quiet over the weekend. With negotiations being attempted between El Nido and Porre, General Viper and his platoon of Devas set forth on a weekend long journey away from the estate. The soldiers continued their training separate of household interferences, and the staff was all that remained of any daily activity. Riddel sat in her bedroom, tending to various chores her father left in her stead, before a quiet knock came to her door.

"Come in," she called, not bothering to look up; she suspected it was either Clive with the tea or Tilda to inquire for more cleaning. It was quiet for several minutes, but Riddel hadn't noticed as she was so engrossed with the stationary laid before her.

"Riddel?" To her surprise, it was Glenn, standing lanky and bone-legged with eyes still too big for his round face.

"Oh, Glenn. I wasn't expecting you." She set her feathered quill on the desk. "What's going on?" She noted that Glenn was not himself. Though the changes in his body and the years that were refining his maturity level were ever growing, he was still always a forthcoming young boy who was at ease with his brother and his friends, especially Riddel. However, Glenn was quieter than usual and timid almost, with his head lowered and his eyes downcast. "What's the matter?" Riddel probed with a soft voice. "Did something happen?"

Glenn shook his head yes remorsefully and Riddel leaned forward to get a better look at him.

"Well, what is it? You can tell me, Glenn." Glenn looked up at her, unsure and frightened looking.

"I… I lost something."

"You lost something?" she asked confused.

"Well, I mean… not really. It's not really lost." His voice faltered and she could hear his vocals catch between the familiar baritone of Dario's voice and the squeak of his pre-pubescent voice, fighting for authority. He sighed, as though trying hard to muster up courage he felt he should have by now. It was funny, Riddel thought, to see the changes actively take shape in someone. "I went into Zoah's room."

Riddel's eyes seemed to understand the fear that was so palpably emanating off of Glenn now, and why it was the hormonal shifts in his body probably wreaked such havoc on him; he was caught between wanting to be a man and feeling the fear common to a little boy; Zoah often had that effect on people, even on the bravest of soldiers.

"Zoah is not so big and scary, you know. Why don't you tell me what happened." Glenn liked how she talked to him. Instead of patronizing his fears she spoke to him like a grown-up, she spoke to him the way she would speak to Dario or Karsh if they came to her with a problem. It was easy to rely on her gentle, nurturing nature, and he very much liked it.

"I know I wasn't supposed to," he started, sitting on the edge of her bed, "but I went into his room. You know it's always locked, and I always want to look inside, and," Riddel smiled inwardly at his ever present curiosity; he was like a cat.

"And you wanted to check it out, while he was away, because… who would ever know, right?" she finished his sentence for him. Glenn smiled sheepishly; she was right.

"Yeah," he admitted, feeling more comfortable the more he told her.

"Is that all?"

"… No." Riddel smiled at him, her eyes half reprimanding and half amused by him. He didn't feel judged, though, not with her face so warm and gentle. "I went inside, and he had these cool figurine things on his desk. One was a cat." Oh Zoah, Riddel thought. Zoah, who was big and burly and the third Deva, known for his merciless strength and muscle in battle, would of course, have something as inconspicuous and unexpected as a cat figurine. It was no wonder he was so fiercely protective of who went in and out of his room. The only person he ever really let inside was Karsh, and Riddel thought it was a small miracle in and of itself that he hadn't announced it to the entire Manor yet.

"So did you take one or something? I'm sure he won't be mad if you just put it back when you're done, but next time, you can just ask, he won't-"

"I dropped it. I dropped it in the hallway, and when I went to pick it up, I accidentally hit it and it fell through the grate, and now I can't get it." Riddel understood now, Glenn was frightened he would never be able to retrieve the small figurine.

"Can you still see it, if you stand over the grate?" she asked, running ideas through her head now as to how they could reach it. He shook his head yes.

"I think… I think we can get it with a pencil. There's this weird hole in the side of the cat, I think we can hook a pencil through it and lift it up." Riddel nodded and stood up.

"Alright, then we'll find a pencil. I guess this marks the start of Operation Kitty Rescue." Glenn laughed, his voice faltering between a newly burgeoning low pitch and the soprano he was most familiar with.

OOOOOOOOOO

Several long, arduous minutes had gone by, perhaps even fifteen or so, and Riddel and Glenn lay sprawled out on the hallway floor trying desperately to hook and sink the wooden cat below them. With her arm shoved as far as the grating spaces would allow and her head smack against the cold stone floor, Riddel struggled to swing the pencil into place. Glenn sat beside her, his face plastered onto the grate, trying to dictate to her how and when to swing.

"Almost… you almost got it, Riddel, just… a little to the… not that way,' he concluded disappointedly after she swung and missed. Riddel huffed in exasperation, her arm getting tired.

"Next time, we're buying him a new figurine and calling it a day," she joked. Glenn continued giving her directions until a soldier appeared, evidently heading downstairs for dinner in the mess hall.

He stopped, alarmed by the image of the Lady of the Manor. Riddel had been completely lain out on the floor, her silk dress dirty from rolling around the stone and her hair mussed as she grew hot and agitated. On her knees her body was bent, and she looked halfway short of crazy, crawling around the floor with her boyfriend's little brother. Glenn looked up at him and smiled politely before nudging Riddel.

Turning, Riddel stood up quickly, smiling a more forced, conspicuous smile as she laughed nervously.

"Umm… good… evening, soldier," she stammered, not sure what else to say to explain her compromising and embarrassing position. The soldier quirked his eyebrow.

"Getting bored, huh?" he assumed.

"Uhhh, yep… just… playing around with Glenn. Nothing, really… out of the ordinary, I guess…" Her cheeks burned up as she felt uncontrollable giggles begin to bubble in her chest. She exchanged glances with Glenn and the two of them stifled their impending laughter. The soldier continued to appear perplexed. Out of all his years, he had never seen such odd behavior, especially from the Lady.

"A weekend away will do that to you, I guess." He nodded, finding it hard to salute his leader's daughter in a moment of delirium. "Good day… my Lady." She nodded, her smile widening as her eyes burned holes through his back, before erupting in an explosion of wild, pretty laughter with Glenn by her side. She hadn't felt so uninhibited in a while, with the political storm her father swept in nearly every day, but playing mischief with Glenn had been just the remedy the two of them needed.

"Did you see the look on his face?" she asked Glenn, her hand covering her mouth so her voice wouldn't echo.

Glenn sprawled out on his back, clutching his stomach.

"I think you scared him."

"I think I did, too."

"You did look ridiculous, in his defense." Her eyes went wide, incredulously.

"I did it for you," she snapped, laughing as she hit his shoulder with the back of her hand.

"A lot of good that did me, huh," Glenn joked, referencing the cat at the bottom of the grate. Riddel sighed and sat on her knees.

"You're taking after your brother too much, stop hanging around him." Glenn smiled a proud smile, always flattered by the compliment.

"Dario would at least be able to get it for us though. I can't even do that." Riddel's eyes went soft and she leaned forward on her hands, her hair dangling on the floor.

"You know… we don't always need a Dragoon around to help us damsels and little brothers out, right?" she asked, looking up at him with a pretty determination in her eyes. "I think we make a pretty good team, maybe we're just doing it wrong. Here," she said, taking the string and pencil. "You have smaller arms. If we make the string longer, you can stick your whole arm through and get a better handle on it. I'll give the directions."

Glenn smiled at her confidence in his abilities, and liked feeling like her trust in him was not misplaced. Today, he would be her Knight, and prove his capabilities were just as strong as Karsh and Dario's. He would prove her right, too, as several minutes later and one longer string, the two of them had successfully pulled the figurine up and out of the grate.

"We did it!" Riddel exclaimed, hugging Glenn from the side where she sat on the floor.

The rest of the weekend had past eventfully, with Riddel and Glenn entertaining themselves without the aid of the legendary Devas. Together, they helped each other forget some of their responsibilities and learn how to have fun; she was a Lady, and he was her Knight, rewriting all the old scripts of knighthood and service.


A/N: Mmmm, I like it and I don't like it. I think it started strong, but I didn't know how to end it. I hope it was still a fun read!