Maria knew spying was wrong, but this wasn't spying, not really. It was a public square after all, so she couldn't help but observe… well, she could turn away, but she just couldn't. There were plenty of other people watching anyway, which wasn't surprising because the whole of Moonacre valley was as fascinated, and fed up with, this tragic little saga.

"Yes, that's it-" She breathed, as Richard, a couple of hundred feet in front on her, took a step towards the very pretty girl smiling encouraging at him, "Go on, just a bit further-"

"Princess?" Robin's voice came from behind her, as he emerged from the nearby smithy and found her loitering near the flower shop window, but very definitely not looking at the flowers, "What are you-"

"Shh!" Maria exclaimed, flapping her hands urgently in his direction without taking her eyes from the scene before her. But it had fallen apart. "No!" She cried, "Oh Richard, not again!"

Following Maria's gaze, Robin rolled his eyes. Richard and Helena. "For God's sake," He muttered under his breath, entirely uninterested in the affair.

"He was so closa and he strode over with such purpose as well," Maria lamented with a sigh, shaking her head, "It's tragic really; she won't kiss him because she knows he wants to kiss her, and that he'll feel like he's failed if he doesn't…"

"You mean he's bottled it. Again," Robin said flatly, with far less sympathy and patience for his friend than Maria, who finally turned to look around at him.

"He's just overthinking it," She disagreed, "So much so that I think he's created a bit of a block around it. It's only a kiss after all,"

"Oh?" Robin raised his eyebrow at her, "And what do you know about kissing? I thought ladies weren't supposed to know about that sort of thing,"

Maria cast him an impatient look. "I live with my uncle and Loveday. It's kind of hard avoid,"

She turned back to the square, gazing thoughtfully at the stricken looking Richard, now alone as Helena returned to her errands. "He's head over heels," Maria mused, "He knows it, she knows it, the whole of Moonacre valley knows it! And yet he just can't get over the final hurdle and kiss her…"

She turned and looked back at Robin, "Can't you talk to him? Give him a bit of encouragement?"

"No," Robin said shortly. "It's his problem and he's just being an idiot,"

"Robin!" Maria chastised, "Heavens, you really are a terrible friend!"

Not remotely bothered by this admonishment, Robin only shrugged as Richard, perhaps hearing the exclamation of Robin's name, caught sight of them both.

"What?" He demanded roughly as he stormed over, glaring at the pair of them, "Here to laugh at me?"

"Of course not!" Maria exclaimed, shooting a look at Robin with an expression that said now's your chance- say something! When he didn't though, and merely continued to look so indifferent that it made Maria wanted to thump him, she hurriedly went on oh his behalf: "-Not at all, in fact we just want to help -"

"I don't need any help," Richard acerbically interrupted, "And it's nothing to do with you, Merryweather, so just keep your-"

"Don't you take your ineptitude out on her," Robin growled, eyes flashing as he angled angrily towards his friend, "It not her fault you're so spineless you can't just kiss a girl! Helena's been waiting on you for long enough so why don't you just grow a pair of-"

"What Robin means," Maria interrupted, this approach not at all what she had meant when she suggested Robin be more supportive of his friend, "Is Helena is all in. There's no way you'll disappoint her in anyway, it's just a kiss-"

"It's not just a kiss!" Richard burst out rather dramatically, "It's more than- after so long- it needs to be- she deserves-"

He broke off, looking angry and desperate and terrified all at once, and Maria couldn't help herself.

"Oh Richard," She sighed with a sympathetic smile, "You're so sweet…"

The panic immediately dropped from his face. " What did you just call me?" He demanded, outraged. "I am not- I am not sweet!"

Instantly realising her mistake, Maria repressed the urge to roll her eyes at the delicacy of the male ego. "No, of course not," She corrected herself, "I meant rugged. Ferocious. Virile…"

Robin failed to contain a snigger at this, but at least managed to disguise it into a cough as Richard sent a glare at him.

"Look, Richard, the point is you're just over thinking it," Maria carried on in a brisker tone, "And it's really very simple,"

"Oh, is it?" Richard asked sarcastically, turning his glare on her before waving a hand at her. "Well go on then. Prove it,"

"I beg your pardon?" Maria replied, her eyes going wide, " I'm not kissing you!"

"No, not me!" Richard answered impatiently and jabbing his thumb in Robin's direction. " Him!"

"What have I got to do with it?" Robin demanded.

"That's not the same," Maria frowned, "We're only friends,"

Richard only snorted. "Well, that should just make it even simpler, shouldn't it? Just don't over think it and kiss each other,"

"Sod off Richard," Robin retorted, "Just because you're too much of a coward to-"

"I mean it," Richard interrupted, ignoring Robin and folding his arms to stare challengingly straight at Maria, "If it's so simple kissing someone, go ahead and show me how it's done," He narrowed his eyes, "And properly, not just some pathetically little peck, a real kiss,"

"Fine, we will," Maria retorted, as ever, completely baited by a challenge, "And then you'll see that it is so simple,"

With her hand on her hips, she turned to Robin, whose expression at seeing hers flashed from don't let him manipulate you, to, for God's sake, fine, if we must.

Her thoughts entirely on proving the point to Richard, Maria certainly didn't overthink it; her defiance carried her forwards and she leaned upwards to press her lips to Robin's without preamble. They felt rough and chapped against her own and this abruptly made her falter. It was even less suddenly overthinking and more not thinking at all, for despite knowing it needing to be a convincing kiss, she realised she had no idea what she was doing, for however many she'd accidentally witnessed between her uncle and Loveday, that didn't translate into personal experience.

Robin was perhaps thinking along the same lines, for he put a hand on her waist and leaned in a little closer to her, lips warm and tempting as they moved over her own. Thinking continued to evade her but reacting didn't and Maria instinctively responded by tangling a hand in his scarf. She entirely forgot in that moment where she was and why she was doing this, so caught up in a sudden rush of something swooping through her and with a little gasp, rose up on her toes towards him parting her lips on instinct and-

She abruptly pulled back, at precisely the same moment as Robin. Her awareness of her surrounding returned to her with the force of a tidal wave and all three of them stood for a moment, slightly stunned, Maria and Robin staring at one another and Richard staring at both of them.

"You see," Maria announced first, albeit in a slightly breathless voice as she forcibly recovered herself and turned to look at Richard. "Easy. If- if we could do it, you certainly can," She elbowed Robin in the ribs, "Can't he, Robin?"

Blinking, and still looking like he'd been hit over the head, Robin cleared his throat. "Yes. Um, definitely,"

"Right," Richard said, glancing between his friend and the Moon Princess as if unsure of quite what it was he'd just witnessed. "Well, yes. Point proved…"

When he only stood there for several more moments, caught in a stupor of shocked fascination, Maria raised her eyebrows at him. "Well?" She prompted him, "Go on! Time to go after Helena and do it yourself!"

Richard looked a little surprised by this, as if he'd forgotten what his challenge had been over in the first place. But also looking as if he were relieved at the excuse to get away from- well whatever it was that had just happened, and also faintly annoyed that these two friends had accomplished what he hadn't for the last year, he took a step backwards, and turning, hurried away.

"Well, that may have done the trick," Maria observed into the slightly awkward silence left between her and Robin in the wake of his retreat.

"Yes. Maybe," Robin muttered.

"He'd better," Maria remarked, unwilling to confront the swirl of unfamiliar emotions within her and focusing instead on the less bewildering subject that had started it all, "It would be awfully hypocritical if he didn't…"

Robin snorted. "Well, it wouldn't be the first time," He muttered, shaking his head, "Anyway, we should get back and -"

He broke off, both of them looking at the hand he'd unconsciously extended to her. Something he'd never done before.

"I mean… I've got to get back to the castle, and I'll be passing the Manor," Robin clarified, half withdrawing it, looking confused and slightly panicked, "-So I might as well walk you back and save Digweed the trip to come and get you…"

"Oh. I- Of course," Maria agreed in a stammer, "Well, t-that makes sense," She reached out and took it.

"Right," Robin replied, staring down at their now link hands, "Let's…let's get going then,"

They were left with no choice but to start off, an unfamiliar tension that had never been there before suddenly between them, which seemed to grow with every step they took in burgeoning silence.

"Did I tell you?" Maria threw out, seizing on a subject, determined, or perhaps desperate, to navigate back to their normal dynamic, "I'm worried about Wrolf. He doesn't seem himself at the moment…"

Robin rolled his eyes, a familiar exasperation returning to his voice. "How many times Princess, he's a giant magic lion. He's fine,"

"Precisely! How many other giant magic lions are there? I think he's lonely and we need to find him a friend,"

"And just how do to we go about finding another magically disguised lion?"

"Well I don't know. But he can't be the only one can he? Maybe there's a lady lion out there somewhere…"

"What are you suggesting? Some sort of lonely-hearts ad in the papers?"

"Don't be ridiculous!"

" I'm the one being ridiculous? You're the one suggesting an attempt to matchmake a lion…"

As they fell back into easy banter, neither noticed their fingers threading together. Nor the cheers from behind them in Silvery Dew, as perhaps finally, Helena finally got her own simple kiss.

This turned up completely randomly while I was trying to edit another chapter for Conspiracy and Convienence. I jotted down a few lines, thinking, oh, another half shot for Moments, but then ended up quite a bit over 1k. So now I'm thinking I should have started a collection like Moment for things a bit longer, ie this, Fate and Fortune, and Tattoo, rather than inflating the tag with more random oneshots...

This was fun. Not overly thought out with lots of rewrites or editing. It was refreshing to write something different, something more spontaneous without an obvious thirst element between Robin and Maria. I thought it might have worked as a follow on from Oblivious in Moments, but when I reread it I realised that Robin holds out his hand to Maria at the end of that, so doesn't really work. But maybe a prequel to Tattoo? Or just on its own as it is since theres not alot of depth. Hopefully it captures your imagination with what might come next though— if it does I'd love to hear just where it take you

Were Lonely Hearts ads around in The Victorian era?? I did a quick Google search that suggested it might have, but since I'm was at work I didn't want to dwell on that too long since it would have been hard to explain if someone looked over lol. If its not, let just pretend it is!!