Gwyndolin's crush
chapter 3
The crowded streets were thinning now. The sun was already setting. Gwyndolin knew his father would kill him when he got home. "A god's responsibility" and all that bollocks. Not like he was ever needed anyways.
He was so deep in thought he didn't realise Arias stop and walked right into him.
"Jeez be careful wouldya?" He said while turning around.
"Oh, sorry! I was thinking on some things and didn't notice thee stop." Gwyndolin explained nervously, his face already red in embarrassment.
"Well whatever. We're here." Arias motioned to the building he'd stopped in front of.
"..."
"..."
"What?"
"I'm sorry it's just.. Burgers of the curse was not what I was expecting."
"What were you expecting?"
"I'm not sure. Just, not that."
"Well I happen to be good friends with the guy who runs the place, so I get a sizeable discount."
"Dost thou really need to worry about discounts on a knight's salary?" Gwyndolin asked. He knew damn well how much the knights were paid, why any of them would worry about souls was beyond him.
"Yes I do. We get paid a lot but every shop owner in Anor Londo hates the 'cursed undead' that I happen to be, so they enjoy charging me way more than they should. And no one can stop 'em." Arias sighed.
"Truly?"
"Truly."
"That's rediculous!"
"Yeah you're tellin' me. I've had to live with this bullshit for over 30 years."
"I'm so sorry..."
"Ah whatever. As much as they hate me I'll outlive every single one of 'em. Then who'll be the real winner?"
"Well... I suppose there is no fault in.. seeing the positives."
"hehe, if you wanna word it that way." Arias chuckled.
"Right, do you wanna go in now or just stand out here awkwardly a bit longer?" Arias asked sarcastically.
"Well..." Gwyndolin looked into the place, it looked a bit old and dirty, and the patrons weren't exactly what one could call elegant. But, he'd gotten this far, and who knew when or even if he'd get this close to Arias again.
"I suppose so."
"Okay, let's go then." Arias started walking but stopped when he felt something clinging to his arm.
"Sorry I just- I can't help but feel a bit n-nervous. I tend to stay away from... Places such as this." Gwyndolin was holding onto his arm and shaking slightly.
'Posh birds' Arias thought to himself, but he didn't do anything to stop him, despite knowing he'd be mocked for it later.
The two walked through into the burger joint and Arias ordered. When it came to Gwyndolin, he got nervous and stuttered out a "M-M-M-Mirrah speciall p-please!" And proceeded to stand still like a statue, not realising the cashier was waiting for him to pay up.
He began to get red in the face as time passed and wondered if he'd done something wrong or if a snake had peeked it's way through his illusion. It was only when someone behind him poked him on the shoulder and told him.
"What's takin so bloody long? You forget yer wallet or somethin?" Then he realised he was supposed to pay. But only when he reached to his pocket did he remember that not only did he not bring souls with him, he didn't even have pockets.
Starting to panic, he looked around desperately for Arias, who'd found them a seat by the window already.
"Uhm, A-Arias!" He nervously called out to him. Arias looked over and immediately noticed his face practically glowing red. Sighing, he got up to go see what was going on now.
"What's up?" He asked.
"Well I.. uhm. I-I may have uhmm.. haha well thou sees I... D-Don't have any souls." Gwyndolin stuttered, a worried smile on his face. He was hoping that Arias would maybe hand over some souls to pay if he was feeling generous but considering his previous speech about getting scammed left right and center that wasn't likely.
No deep down he knew he'd just have to see himself out and then go home and cry because of how much of a klutz he'd been. Memories come to mind of his older brother calling him a doddypole when accidentally spilled milk on him when he was young.
"That so? You could've said before, and I'd've paid for you already. So how much is it?" Arias was surprisingly cool about the whole thing.
"1335 souls" The cashier butted in, clearly as impatient as everyone in the line.
"Damn, why'd you have have to go and order the expensive one? Whatever, here ya go." Arias forked over the souls and they went over to the seat Arias had found.
Gwyndolin was surprised how smoothly that went. Well maybe smooth wasn't the right word, something like 'Slightly disasterous' was better. Either way they were now sitting at their table waiting for their food.
"Soooo... From where dost thou hail?" Gwyndolin asked.
"Fivefinger Delta." Arias answered very matter-of-factly
"F-Five- what?" Gwyndolin stammered, confusingly he'd never heard of the place, even after all his years of learning. No way there was an entire province he'd never even heard of.
"Fivefinger Delta. It's a small province a bit south of Astora. It was largely made up of farmers, no high and mighty lords like there are here in Lordran. My parents were farmers. They told me they came from Thuroland but couldn't stomach the hipocrisy of the place. I used to be a farmer there too. Though I left eventaully, and wound up a knight here." Arias explained.
Gwyndolin was honestly very surprised. He didn't really have any expectations but still, he wasn't expecting him to come from a farming province he'd never even heard of.
"Interesting, I'st never heard of such a place. What was it like?" He asked.
"It was alright. I remember there were rolling wheat fields that looked like gold in the sunlight. Though it was easy to get lost in them at night. The sea was close, I used to go down there with friends and skip rocks in the water. Once I pushed a priest off a pier into the sea because he said my parents were dirty buffoons. That didn't go well." Arias told him, making Gwyndolin giggle at that last bit about the priest.
"ohahaha wow, so thou was a little rebelious I take it?"
"Eh something like that. When I was really young anyways. When I got older I grew out of it and just tended to the farm. Kinda shut myself off from people after that..." Arias trailed off, clearly remembering some things he'd long since forgotten about. Gwyndolin stayed silent, he wasn't exactly sure what to say after that.
"Ahem, anyway, what about yourself? Where are you from?" He asked, changing the subject to 'Judith'.
"Oh uhm, I am from Astora. Though I hast not been there in so long it's likely changed a great deal. Most of my life I'st spent here in Anor Londo."
Just as he finished that sentence, Ornstein, Artorias and Ciaran walked into the shop, and Gough sat outside, probably waiting for them to order for him. Gwyndolin froze. They'd definitely recognise his voice even behind the illusion.
Arias quickly noticed his discomfort and asked.
"Hey is something wrong?" Though Gwyndolin didn't hear him as he was focusing on the very familiar group of knights now walking past.
"Yo, Arias!" Artorias waved to Arias.
"Oh hey, how's it goin?" He asked, turning his attention to the knight of Gwyn now walking over.
"Ah y'know, boring as ever, never thought I'd say this but I think I'm starting to miss those dragons. How're you goin' with practice? Might you be up for another fight sometime soon?"
"Nah, no way, I barely have the time to get any meaningful practice in. Because guarding an empty hall is so much more important."
"Yeah, it can be like that sometimes. Still though, better than the days of grey." Only at the end of that sentence did Artorias notice 'Judith' seated opposite Arias, still as a statue.
"Ooh am I interrupting something? Sorry mate, talk to ya again soon." He said before turning to leave, only to turn back around again to directly face Gwyndolin.
"Hey, you seem familiar, do I know you?" He asked, leaning in slightly.
"a-ah-h n-n-n-n-n-no-ooh" Gwyndolin stuttered so quietly he was practically inaudible.
"Artorias..." Arias said, leaning over and putting his hand on his shoulder.
"Artorias leave the poor girl alone, can't you see you're scaring her?" Ciaran yelled, rushing over.
"Oh, sorry. I'll just be taking my leave now." He said before awkwardly shuffling away.
"Apologies, he can be odd sometimes." Ciaran sighed, directly addressing Judith. Gwyndolin just nervously nodded and kept his mouth shut.
"Right, well I best be off, have a good time you two. Sorry again." Ciaran said before going back to Ornstein who'd found them a table and was wondering where they'd gone.
"Sorry about that. I know how frightnening they can be at first. But they are good people when you get to know em." Arias sighed, sitting back down and facing Gwyndolin, their food finally arriving as he did.
"Mhmm." Gwyndolin hummed rigidly.
"So.. you were telling me about where you were from?" Arias tried to change the subject.
"Oh, there was really nothing else to add. I hail from Astora but lived most of my life here in Anor Londo."
"Oh, right..." They both fell silent again, though the shop itself was noticeably the opposite as the three knights were making something of a racket, lord only knows what they were talking about, but it was loud.
"Do you wanna leave?" Arias suddenly asked out of nowhere.
"What?"
"I can see you're uncomfortable being around those knights. Do you wanna take the food and go somewhere else?"
"Oh.. alright, that would be nice." Gwyndolin spoke quietly, nodding his head. Arias grabbed his burger and so did Gwyndolin. The two promptly left the building, hearing a "Sorry" from Artorias as they left the building.
They walked out only to bump into Gough who was sitting outside waiting for his food. Gwyndolin very quietly apologised before rushing away with Arias.
They took a stroll about for a bit before coming to a garden, both agreeing that it'd be a pretty nice place to sit and eat.
"So, why're you so afraid of those knights?" Arias asked as he sat down on the grass.
"They uhh.. Remind me of someone." Gwyndolin replied as he sat himself opposite the knight.
"Just one person?" Arias asked perplexed. All the knights were pretty different, you couldn't even say they were all the same height.
"Yes. I don't know why but they all seem similar."
"...Right." Arias was skeptical but oh well, not like it really mattered.
They finally started eating their food when Arias asked.
"Hey so, I've been wondering. How come you know who I am? I've never even seen you before."
"Uh-" Well that's a good question. How on earth did 'Judith' know about him.
"Well, thou see'st I.. am a maid of the court. I'st seen thee about at royal meetings and the like, whilst I tended to mine duties." Gwyndolin explained. Luckily he was able to come up with an excuse in a timely manner. If he hadn't that could've gone downhill pretty quickly.
'This is why we plan things' Gwyndolin reminded himself mentally.
"That doesn't explain how I've never even seen you before though."
Oh shit.
"Um- Well that's uh.. probably because I'm easy to miss in a large croud. I am just humble maid after all hehe..." He tried to brush it off.
"..."
"If you say so. Those meetings are pretty boring." Arias shrugged and continued eating his burger.
Relieved, Gwyndolin also went back to eating, though he refrained from sighing just in case he roused suspicion again. Next time he went out in disguise he'd definitely take more time to plan or at least, think about it at all. This was so close to being a disaster so many times.
"So... where do we go now?" Gwyndolina asked some time after finishing his Mirrah special, which was pretty good.
"Hm?" Arias mumbled still biting into the last bits of his burger, clearly not paying that much attention.
"Well, I mean- Now that we've finished eating are we just going to leave? I'd rather not since.. it's been really nice spending time with thee, maybe we could..." He trailed off.
"Uhm, well thatsh shomething I've wanted to talk about acshually." Arias spoke while finishing his last bite. 'Quite rude' as Gwyndolin would have said.
"Sorry. So, now... It's pretty clear that you have feelings for me but uh... You see, I uh... well I kind of... already have someone else that I'm uh... interested in." Arias tried his best to be careful but it's not his strongest attribute.
"Wh-what? Who?" Gwyndolin asked, completely ignoring the fact that he'd taken him out on a date when the whole time he was going for someone else.
"So uhm... You know lord Gwyndolin?"
A/N So, it's been a while. Lots of stuff came up that stopped me from working on this chapter, noticeably, exams, they were pretty painful. But that's over with now and I was finally able to finish off this chapter. See you in hopefully not that long.