Title: pinkie swear
Rating: G
Pairings (if any): pre-Maygen/Ricken
Warnings (Non-Con/Dub-Con etc): N/A
Summary: At the Outrealms beach, Maygen mentioned being shy and awkward when she first met Ricken and the other Shepherds. She wasn't kidding.
[Set before it all. Linked to Chapter Twenty-Two, "at hello."]
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If it wouldn't have been weird to put a sign in the palace library saving a table specifically for reading with Maygen, it would've been set up in a heartbeat. So many people would come up to chat, interrupting their work without a care in the world. It was so frustrating! But that would've been weird. Really weird.
Was it bad that Ricken was still considering the idea?
Shaking these silly thoughts away, he glanced up from the tome he'd picked up, at the brunette scribbling as if her life depended on it. Her nose was scrunched slightly, tongue poking out... he hoped he didn't ever do that, but it looked cute coming from her. Not that he'd tell her that. It was worth mentioning, though. To himself.
He was still only on the prologue.
It was frustrating to be so distracted, but it didn't help that she had come in a faintly sour mood. No matter his questions, she reassured him of just how fine she was before diving into research as she always did. There were times where she would happily discuss spells and theories with him, but more often there were days like these where she was utterly lost to the world. From what he'd witnessed in the past two months of meeting her in the library, she was generally cheerful in her quietness... so this behavior worried him.
But asking hadn't gotten an answer, and so Ricken was at a loss with how to proceed. How did someone get a relatively new friend to open up to them?
When she set down the quill to skim another passage, he found himself clearing his throat to gain her attention. It worked, but now he didn't know what to say.
"Um..." Think, Ricken, think! "A-are you hungry?" Of course, because food made everything better. Way to go, dummy.
Perhaps the gods pitied him, if the growling of her stomach was any indicator of their favor. She grimaced at the noise, actually glancing down to shush it, before admitting, "U-uh, yes... I... must've forgotten to eat breakfast again."
He started. "Again?" Eyeing her now sheepish smile, he ventured, "How often do you forget to eat?"
"Er..."
Now that he had a problem he could solve, he began clearing up their things with more authority in his voice than he probably deserved. "Well, come on! Around this time, the cooks are getting ready for lunch."
As Maygen actually lived in the castle thanks to her father's knighthood, he didn't have to lead her like he had that first day. She fell into step beside him, eyes on her feet.
"...sorry."
"What?"
"I don't like when our studying gets interrupted." The echo of Ricken's earlier thoughts stunned him, causing his gait to falter. He was glad she didn't notice, too focused on avoiding his gaze. "I'll lose whatever I was thinking of, and then I have to start all over again."
"I know what you mean. But," he added seriously, "I don't think skipping lunch is a good idea. I mean, magic takes a lot of energy, you know?"
"Yeah... still."
"No, really, don't worry about it! It's what friends do!"
"Oh." Despite her assertion that they were friends now, she looked surprised by his reasoning. "Well... all right, then." Her smile was almost nervous.
What does she have to be nervous about?
The cooks let them sneak into the kitchen, with a warning to avoid anything sharp or hot. He hated being treated like a little kid, and he wasn't alone; Maygen pouted as if the man had personally offended her. Grabbing stew, cheese and bread and finding seats by the gardens, the mages had a brief silence that ended with a gusty sigh.
"I'm sorry for my bad mood," Maygen murmured, gaze on her lap, "and for the interruption."
"Really, it's fine -"
"Still, I..." She was twiddling her thumbs now. "I appreciate you putting up with me. I'm probably not the best company. I'm always... quiet. Probably pretty boring, too."
"N-no way!" Ricken set his tray aside, turning towards her. "You're not boring, I promise! I-I like reading with you. Better than being alone, right?" She didn't seem too convinced. "...would you rather be alone?"
"No!"
Her sharp cry had frightened some birds perched nearby. They winced at the squawking.
"S-sorry..."
"Erm, no, it's okay." Man, we're talking in circles here. So he decided to cut to the chase. "Why do you keep apologizing? You haven't done anything wrong."
Hunched shoulders shifted some hair to shield her face, but the anxiety was obvious in the quaver of her voice. "I... I don't know, I just... don't want to be a bother. I..." Maygen's voice lowered further, forcing him to lean closer as she admitted, "I've never had friends before."
Ricken frowned. "Never?"
"No. We... my father and I... traveled, a lot."
All at once, her behavior made sense. She had looked positively terrified when standing in front of the prince and his compatriots, and acted infinitely more comfortable when not making awkward smalltalk. It hadn't occured to him that she didn't know how to make and keep friends; she had been so adamant when they met, and talking about magic made her impassioned enough to forget about being shy. Today must have been particularly bad if even studying hadn't been able to lift her spirits. He didn't know what had thrown her off, but he did know that he didn't like seeing her on the verge of tears.
"Does that means I'm your first friend?" She nodded reluctantly, but the confirmation made him grin. "That I'm your best friend?"
"I..." Pausing, she mulled this over before offering a tentative, "Yeees...?"
"Great!"
The boy stuck out a hand, pinkie finger extended. She stared like she'd never seen one before. He wriggled it slightly.
"Then I'll be the best best friend you'll ever have! I swear on my pinkie!"
It was kind of cute, how careful she was in wrapping her pinkie around his. Okay, really cute. He didn't know it yet, but this moment was pretty symbolic of their future relationship: They were both wrapped around each others' fingers pretty tightly. And swore up and down that the other was the sweeter one.
"Okay... and I swear not to be a bother."
"What?! No, no, swear something else! Because you're never a bother!"
"Er, then what should I promise?"
"Promise to..." He tried not to blush as he suggested, "P-promise to stay my friend forever?"
Maygen's eyes widened, once again looking surprised that he still wanted to be her friend. Ducking her head, she gave a quiet "promise" that belied the conviction in her pinkie's grip. It was a little difficult to eat with only one hand, but he figured he could endure the embarrassment to keep that soft smile on her face. She was much prettier when she was happy.
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Prompt: Sweet & Sour
Word Count: 1152
-Dragon
