I am not happy with Hotmail.
Please read and review?*puppy eyes*
***
October 22, Gondor
A young man leaned on a pillar, looking down on the city of Minas Tirith,
where far below on the fourth level, a group of females could be seen
walking, their multicolored skirts waving in the slight breeze. The man-not
much more than a boy, really-took a step forward, craning his neck after
the disappearing figures, leaning out over the white stone wall that was
the only thing preventing him from plummeting five levels to the ground
floor of this fortress.
"Duo."
He jumped at the noise, dropping the apple he was eating, and turned
around, the wind that before had had it's fun playing with shining
material, now blew his chocolate brown hair into a banner behind him.
"Solo, what're you doing here?" Duo sighed and bent down to pick up his
now-dirty apple.
"Don't answer that. Same reason as me, huh?" He grinned cheekily at his
older brother and wiped off the apple on his light brown tunic.
Solo walked over to where Duo had been leaning on the wall.
"If by that you mean guard duty, then yes."
"Right," Duo went back to his position overlooking the town below.
"You do know that guard duty takes place on the third and fourth floors,
Solo? This is the fifth," He glanced at the taller man's face. "Unless you
are planning on making sure that none of the enemy are residing next to
the girl's breasts..." He trailed off, staring at the new batch of women
walking and talking below.
Solo noticed and said with a touch of laughter in his voice, "Don't think I
need to stay here, then. Everything seems to be carefully watched and
under your control."
Duo turned his attention back to his brother. "I suppose that's a
complement from the guy who told me yesterday that I my attention span
was so short that I wouldn't last thirty seconds in battle without losing
my ass."
"Hey, just doing my job as your commanding officer," Solo said, ruffling
the shorter boy's hair, then laughing and smoothing down his black vest
with the emblem of Gondor embroidered on in white and silver.
"Seriously, though, Duo. Some of the girls are starting to complain."
"About me?" He asked, putting on a wide-eyed angelic face. "I haven't
been doing anything! Nothing at all!"
Solo glared at him. "Duo."
"All right!" Duo laughed, "So what if I've been looking? It's not like I'm
declaring my undying love and affection to every one I see," He said,
looking pointedly at the darker haired soldier.
It was Solo's turn to laugh. "I do not! What are you talking about?"
"Oh, I don't know, maybe your little flirtations with every person of the
opposite gender?"
"You know that's not true, Duo," He said, struggling to regain a straight
face.
Duo stuck his tongue out at the older boy. "And you tell me not to lie!
Hah!"
"Duo, don't say that."
"What? You gonna tell me off?"
Solo opened his mouth to say something, but thought better of it, and bit
his tongue.
"Just...never mind."
"What? Never mind what?" Duo sat up straight. "What? Tell me!"
Solo looked at him for a second. "Forget it."
"Huh? Why?"
"You're too young."
"What the...I am not!" Duo crossed his arms, uncrossed them, took a bite
of his apple and crossed them again.
"Tell me!" He demanded. "I wanna know!"
"Later," Solo stretched and cracked his back.
"Where you going? And why won't you tell me!?"
"I'm off," Solo said, obviously ignoring his brother's question.
"It's noon, I'm supposed to meet my fellow captains for lunch."
"You mean you're off for a smoke," Duo let his questioning drop, and
scrambled ahead of Solo and crossed his arms stubbornly. "And I won't
let you."
Solo rolled his eyes. "What now, Duo?" He watched as the younger boy
dug in his pants pockets for a moment, before bringing out a deep brown
pipe, shiny with varnish. Duo's eyes glinted, as he waved it in front of the
black haired boy.
"Duo! My best pipe!" He made a snatch for it, but Duo pulled it away,
then quickly ran and held it over the edge of the wall, an evil grin on his
face.
"I'm gonna drop it."
"You wouldn't."
"Watch me," He waved it in the air with one hand, the other on the hips
of his dark brown pants.
Solo sighed. "Ok. I give. What do you want?"
Duo pretended to think for a second, finger on lips, before breaking into a
smile.
"Ale."
"Duo, you aren't allowed ale."
The braided boy tossed the wooden object into the air, catching it just
before it fell out of reach.
"Duo!"
"Since my attention is so bad, I might just forget what I'm doing..."
"Hey! Watch it!" Solo cried as the pipe was almost lost for the second
time.
Duo tossed and caught the pipe, holding it firmly in his fist. "Do we have a
deal?"
Solo sighed, running his hands through his shoulder-length dark hair.
"Fine. Where do you want me to meet you?"
"Here. Right after sundown. Bring two bottles."
Solo raised an eyebrow. "Two?"
"You'll probably drink one on the way," Duo shrugged. "So bring two, just
in case." He handed back the pipe. "Here."
"Thanks," Solo grinned at him. "The way you weren't letting me go, I
thought you were going to rant about smoking being bad for your health
for a second, there."
This earned him an odd look from Duo. "Smoking...being bad for you?
Where'd you get that, Solo? From one of your books?"
"Never mind," He started walking away, down the steps and towards the
stables where he was scheduled to meet his peers.
"See you here, then?" Duo called after him, "Don't forget!"
Solo raised a hand in reply, disappearing from sight.
Duo looked after him for a beat, then turned back to his current task.
Leaning over the white stone wall, apple in hand, he took a bite of it and
watched as a petite brunet and her friend, a taller girl with lighter brown
hair strolled by.
"Damnit. What is it with the pretty ones and wearing high necked
dresses?" He complained loudly to himself, taking another bite of the
apple and wiping the juice from his chin.
"Makes it impossible to see down their tops."
Leaning further out, he watched the two girls walk and talk, when one of
them reached up and played with the collar of her dress.
***
"Don't look, Hilde, he's at it again," A tall girl with light brown hair
cascading down her shoulders sarcastically whispered to her companion
walking alongside her.
"Again?" Hilde shook her head. "I thought Solo said he was going to talk
to him about that." She grimaced and unconsciously reached up and
adjusted the neck of her gown. "It's so uncomfortable wearing these high
collars during October!"
Catherine nudged her friend. "Speak of the Devil. Solo, I thought we sent
you to talk to him."
Solo stepped out from beneath the archway above the stairs. "I did,
ladies. Trust me."
Hilde looked at Catherine. "Shall we trust him?"
"I don't see any reason why we should," Catherine said, shifting in her
light rose colored skirts, the golden embroidery on them shimmering in
the sunlight. Stepping forward, she stopped in front of him, hands on
hips.
"Well?" She asked, looking him straight in the eyes. "Why should we
trust you?" She tossed her wavy brown hair over one shoulder.
"Hmm?"
The clear blue sky above reflected her eyes, calm and poised as the dark
haired boy fell to his knees in front of her, and proceeded to proclaim his
innocence and reliability.
"All right, already. Stop making a fool of yourself. Get up," She
commanded, somehow sounding superior and haughty, while her cheeks
were turning the same color as her dress. She crossed her arms and
turned away.
He obeyed the order with a cheery smile, standing up and bowing deeply.
"Besides, Cathy, trying to stop him looking at girls is the same as trying to
stop a...a rock slide!" He proclaimed, gesturing, attempting to get his
point across.
Seeing that the two young women still wore flatly disbeliving looks on
their faces, he turned away, giving up.
"Well, look, you try it. I'm late for a meeting," This said, he walked away
from both of them, heading towards the stables.
"So," Hilde turned to look at her friend, as Solo dissapeared from their
sight and thoughts. "Any news?"
"Wait, let me think," Cathy paused in her walking, before snapping her
fingers as she rememebered.
"Right. The other day after dinner. Were you there? Remember, it was
when Lord Denethor's son, Boromir, my brother, and another were
preparing to leave."
"I remember."
"Right. So, I heard Leia talking to her daughter, Mariemaia."
"Isn't she your aunt? Leia?" Hilde asked.
"Yes, that's her."
"She's so pretty." Hilde sighed. "I envy her."
"Me too. Anyway, she found out about Mariemaia telling some of the more
stupid stable boys that she was a princess."
Hilde laughed. "What did she do?"
"Well, you see, it wouldn't have been so bad. But then she found out
about her missing hair clip."
"Which one?"
"The silvery one."
"With the blue stone?"
"Yes, that one."
"All right. So what happened?" Hilde pushed her low hanging bangs out
of her eyes. "How did she find out?"
"She says she went down to the stables on some errand or other, but I
think it was because she likes that older man who works there."
"She does? Which one? Isn't she married?"
"No, her husband died. And I don't know his name. He's tall, pepper hair,
quite handsome, for a man over thirty." Catherine shook her head. "But
I'm getting off topic. So she went down, and guess what she found?"
Hilde ventured a guess. "Her clip?"
"Yes! Hidden beneath a saddle, along with some money that she was
missing and some of her perfume. She was going to blame Duo, of
course, but then her daughter came in, and Leia saw her before she
could get away." Cathy took a breath, and led the way down a small side
street. "Not that I can blame her for thinking that it was Duo at first. I
remember when he was little, when he first became friends with Trowa.
He was so cute!" Both girls stopped to buy a loaf of bread from a nearby
street vendor.
"But now he's always in trouble."
"It's not always his fault." Hilde said, standing up for Duo. "He doesn't do
everything he gets in trouble for."
"But there is a lot more that he gets away with." Catherine pointed out,
then changed the subject. "Anyway, so at first, when Leia found out
about the princess thing, she-"
She was cut short, as a cry of "Shit! Duo!" shattered the air.
A black and silver blur shot past them, and up the stone stairs, brown
leather boots pounding out a tempo in allegro on them, then
disappearing around a bend in the staircase.
Hilde blinked and stared. "What in the world was that about?"
***
"Shit! Duo!"
Duo laughed, braid twisting in the wind. "Wait for it...three...two...one...-"
"Duo!"
"Right on cue."
The boy in mention turned around, a feigned look of innocence plastered
on his face, his most popular mask.
"What is it?"
"Don't give me that crap," Solo snarled. "Where is it?"
"Hmm? What? Where is what?" Duo asked, seemingly enjoying seeing his
brother riled up. "I don't know what you are talking about."
"Look here, Duo Maxwell. We both know that you know very well what I
am talking about!" Solo pushed the smaller boy up against a pillar.
"What did you do with my money?"
"What money?"
"Duo!"
"All right, already. Don't need to get all upset," Duo wriggled out of the
older boy's grip and reached inside his pocket, pulling out a worn brown
leather bag.
"Here you go. Don't shit yourself."
Solo snatched the bag back from his brother. "Don't do that!"
"What?"
"All of that!" He gestured with his free hand. "You stealing my things and
then lying about it. How are you going to maintain an honorable place in
Gondor if you do that? Not to mention how it reflects poorly on me."
Solo put the bag safely in his shirt pocket, looking sidelong at the other
boy. "It's not that I mind the stealing. Well, not that much, at least. Or I
wouldn't, if you only stole from me."
Duo glanced nervously at him. "What do you mean?"
"Oh, Duo. Do you have to pretend that you don't know what I'm talking
about?"
"What if I don't?"
Solo ran his hands through his hair. "You've been taking food from the
stores again."
"I'm a growing boy!"
"You did take my pipe."
"So?"
" And the Steward's ink brush and quill was missing last week. And the
reigns from the stable. And what about Cathy's silver necklace? Or-"
"So now everything that happens around here gets blamed on me?" Duo
stood up angrily. "I don't even like the stupid necklace!"
"But if you did, you would have taken it."
"What?! That's not the point!" Duo said, stalking over to the wall and
sitting on it.
"You know it's not!"
"And I also know that if you go around lying and stealing, that will be
exactly the point." Solo said firmly. He sighed and stood up, walking over
to sit next to him.
"Duo, like I said, I don't even really mind the stealing. It makes this
town..." He groped for a word, "Interesting."
Duo looked up at him suspiciously, as though he suspected a trap.
"Interesting...?"
"Yes. Otherwise all that would be reported would be about danger. This
way, with you around, we can complain about something besides Orc
attacks and fighting in the east."
He looked down at Duo. "See? Interesting." He paused, then continued.
"So I don't mind the stealing. Actually, don't tell people this, but I kind of
enjoy it. It's a skill that you should probably put to a better use, but at
the moment, that's all right. It's fine. For now, anyway. But Duo, the part
that I don't like is when you lie about taking things."
"Course I'm gonna lie." Duo looked at his brother. "If I don't, I'm gonna
get in trouble. And who wants that?"
"No one. But it's an occupational hazard, Duo. And even if you don't like it,
tell the truth. Find some way to get around lying."
"What, like telling parts of the truth?"
"It's better than none of it," Solo sighed. "So, just try it? Ok?"
Seeing Duo's hesitation, he continued.
"For me? Please, Duo?"
Duo let out an exasperated sigh. "All right."
He took a bite of his apple. "But I wanna know why you want me to."
Solo smiled. "I've got an idea. You go for," He did a quick count, "A month
without once telling a lie, and I'll tell you why."
"What the...That's a long time!"
"It's a long story." Solo smiled. "Now, I'll see you later. Any and all news
gets passed around during meal times with the soldiers, so if you do
anything, I'll know about it."
He stopped and started talking to himself "Let me see, the meeting starts
exactly at noon, and now it is..." He looked at the sky.
"Oh for the love of...I'm late!" He turned and sprinted back towards the
stables, almost loosing his money purse, then catching it before it hit the
floor.
He avoided running into a vendor's wagon, then catapulted over a young
child, knocking her over, and down a pathway, out of sight.
***
Please read and review?*puppy eyes*
***
October 22, Gondor
A young man leaned on a pillar, looking down on the city of Minas Tirith,
where far below on the fourth level, a group of females could be seen
walking, their multicolored skirts waving in the slight breeze. The man-not
much more than a boy, really-took a step forward, craning his neck after
the disappearing figures, leaning out over the white stone wall that was
the only thing preventing him from plummeting five levels to the ground
floor of this fortress.
"Duo."
He jumped at the noise, dropping the apple he was eating, and turned
around, the wind that before had had it's fun playing with shining
material, now blew his chocolate brown hair into a banner behind him.
"Solo, what're you doing here?" Duo sighed and bent down to pick up his
now-dirty apple.
"Don't answer that. Same reason as me, huh?" He grinned cheekily at his
older brother and wiped off the apple on his light brown tunic.
Solo walked over to where Duo had been leaning on the wall.
"If by that you mean guard duty, then yes."
"Right," Duo went back to his position overlooking the town below.
"You do know that guard duty takes place on the third and fourth floors,
Solo? This is the fifth," He glanced at the taller man's face. "Unless you
are planning on making sure that none of the enemy are residing next to
the girl's breasts..." He trailed off, staring at the new batch of women
walking and talking below.
Solo noticed and said with a touch of laughter in his voice, "Don't think I
need to stay here, then. Everything seems to be carefully watched and
under your control."
Duo turned his attention back to his brother. "I suppose that's a
complement from the guy who told me yesterday that I my attention span
was so short that I wouldn't last thirty seconds in battle without losing
my ass."
"Hey, just doing my job as your commanding officer," Solo said, ruffling
the shorter boy's hair, then laughing and smoothing down his black vest
with the emblem of Gondor embroidered on in white and silver.
"Seriously, though, Duo. Some of the girls are starting to complain."
"About me?" He asked, putting on a wide-eyed angelic face. "I haven't
been doing anything! Nothing at all!"
Solo glared at him. "Duo."
"All right!" Duo laughed, "So what if I've been looking? It's not like I'm
declaring my undying love and affection to every one I see," He said,
looking pointedly at the darker haired soldier.
It was Solo's turn to laugh. "I do not! What are you talking about?"
"Oh, I don't know, maybe your little flirtations with every person of the
opposite gender?"
"You know that's not true, Duo," He said, struggling to regain a straight
face.
Duo stuck his tongue out at the older boy. "And you tell me not to lie!
Hah!"
"Duo, don't say that."
"What? You gonna tell me off?"
Solo opened his mouth to say something, but thought better of it, and bit
his tongue.
"Just...never mind."
"What? Never mind what?" Duo sat up straight. "What? Tell me!"
Solo looked at him for a second. "Forget it."
"Huh? Why?"
"You're too young."
"What the...I am not!" Duo crossed his arms, uncrossed them, took a bite
of his apple and crossed them again.
"Tell me!" He demanded. "I wanna know!"
"Later," Solo stretched and cracked his back.
"Where you going? And why won't you tell me!?"
"I'm off," Solo said, obviously ignoring his brother's question.
"It's noon, I'm supposed to meet my fellow captains for lunch."
"You mean you're off for a smoke," Duo let his questioning drop, and
scrambled ahead of Solo and crossed his arms stubbornly. "And I won't
let you."
Solo rolled his eyes. "What now, Duo?" He watched as the younger boy
dug in his pants pockets for a moment, before bringing out a deep brown
pipe, shiny with varnish. Duo's eyes glinted, as he waved it in front of the
black haired boy.
"Duo! My best pipe!" He made a snatch for it, but Duo pulled it away,
then quickly ran and held it over the edge of the wall, an evil grin on his
face.
"I'm gonna drop it."
"You wouldn't."
"Watch me," He waved it in the air with one hand, the other on the hips
of his dark brown pants.
Solo sighed. "Ok. I give. What do you want?"
Duo pretended to think for a second, finger on lips, before breaking into a
smile.
"Ale."
"Duo, you aren't allowed ale."
The braided boy tossed the wooden object into the air, catching it just
before it fell out of reach.
"Duo!"
"Since my attention is so bad, I might just forget what I'm doing..."
"Hey! Watch it!" Solo cried as the pipe was almost lost for the second
time.
Duo tossed and caught the pipe, holding it firmly in his fist. "Do we have a
deal?"
Solo sighed, running his hands through his shoulder-length dark hair.
"Fine. Where do you want me to meet you?"
"Here. Right after sundown. Bring two bottles."
Solo raised an eyebrow. "Two?"
"You'll probably drink one on the way," Duo shrugged. "So bring two, just
in case." He handed back the pipe. "Here."
"Thanks," Solo grinned at him. "The way you weren't letting me go, I
thought you were going to rant about smoking being bad for your health
for a second, there."
This earned him an odd look from Duo. "Smoking...being bad for you?
Where'd you get that, Solo? From one of your books?"
"Never mind," He started walking away, down the steps and towards the
stables where he was scheduled to meet his peers.
"See you here, then?" Duo called after him, "Don't forget!"
Solo raised a hand in reply, disappearing from sight.
Duo looked after him for a beat, then turned back to his current task.
Leaning over the white stone wall, apple in hand, he took a bite of it and
watched as a petite brunet and her friend, a taller girl with lighter brown
hair strolled by.
"Damnit. What is it with the pretty ones and wearing high necked
dresses?" He complained loudly to himself, taking another bite of the
apple and wiping the juice from his chin.
"Makes it impossible to see down their tops."
Leaning further out, he watched the two girls walk and talk, when one of
them reached up and played with the collar of her dress.
***
"Don't look, Hilde, he's at it again," A tall girl with light brown hair
cascading down her shoulders sarcastically whispered to her companion
walking alongside her.
"Again?" Hilde shook her head. "I thought Solo said he was going to talk
to him about that." She grimaced and unconsciously reached up and
adjusted the neck of her gown. "It's so uncomfortable wearing these high
collars during October!"
Catherine nudged her friend. "Speak of the Devil. Solo, I thought we sent
you to talk to him."
Solo stepped out from beneath the archway above the stairs. "I did,
ladies. Trust me."
Hilde looked at Catherine. "Shall we trust him?"
"I don't see any reason why we should," Catherine said, shifting in her
light rose colored skirts, the golden embroidery on them shimmering in
the sunlight. Stepping forward, she stopped in front of him, hands on
hips.
"Well?" She asked, looking him straight in the eyes. "Why should we
trust you?" She tossed her wavy brown hair over one shoulder.
"Hmm?"
The clear blue sky above reflected her eyes, calm and poised as the dark
haired boy fell to his knees in front of her, and proceeded to proclaim his
innocence and reliability.
"All right, already. Stop making a fool of yourself. Get up," She
commanded, somehow sounding superior and haughty, while her cheeks
were turning the same color as her dress. She crossed her arms and
turned away.
He obeyed the order with a cheery smile, standing up and bowing deeply.
"Besides, Cathy, trying to stop him looking at girls is the same as trying to
stop a...a rock slide!" He proclaimed, gesturing, attempting to get his
point across.
Seeing that the two young women still wore flatly disbeliving looks on
their faces, he turned away, giving up.
"Well, look, you try it. I'm late for a meeting," This said, he walked away
from both of them, heading towards the stables.
"So," Hilde turned to look at her friend, as Solo dissapeared from their
sight and thoughts. "Any news?"
"Wait, let me think," Cathy paused in her walking, before snapping her
fingers as she rememebered.
"Right. The other day after dinner. Were you there? Remember, it was
when Lord Denethor's son, Boromir, my brother, and another were
preparing to leave."
"I remember."
"Right. So, I heard Leia talking to her daughter, Mariemaia."
"Isn't she your aunt? Leia?" Hilde asked.
"Yes, that's her."
"She's so pretty." Hilde sighed. "I envy her."
"Me too. Anyway, she found out about Mariemaia telling some of the more
stupid stable boys that she was a princess."
Hilde laughed. "What did she do?"
"Well, you see, it wouldn't have been so bad. But then she found out
about her missing hair clip."
"Which one?"
"The silvery one."
"With the blue stone?"
"Yes, that one."
"All right. So what happened?" Hilde pushed her low hanging bangs out
of her eyes. "How did she find out?"
"She says she went down to the stables on some errand or other, but I
think it was because she likes that older man who works there."
"She does? Which one? Isn't she married?"
"No, her husband died. And I don't know his name. He's tall, pepper hair,
quite handsome, for a man over thirty." Catherine shook her head. "But
I'm getting off topic. So she went down, and guess what she found?"
Hilde ventured a guess. "Her clip?"
"Yes! Hidden beneath a saddle, along with some money that she was
missing and some of her perfume. She was going to blame Duo, of
course, but then her daughter came in, and Leia saw her before she
could get away." Cathy took a breath, and led the way down a small side
street. "Not that I can blame her for thinking that it was Duo at first. I
remember when he was little, when he first became friends with Trowa.
He was so cute!" Both girls stopped to buy a loaf of bread from a nearby
street vendor.
"But now he's always in trouble."
"It's not always his fault." Hilde said, standing up for Duo. "He doesn't do
everything he gets in trouble for."
"But there is a lot more that he gets away with." Catherine pointed out,
then changed the subject. "Anyway, so at first, when Leia found out
about the princess thing, she-"
She was cut short, as a cry of "Shit! Duo!" shattered the air.
A black and silver blur shot past them, and up the stone stairs, brown
leather boots pounding out a tempo in allegro on them, then
disappearing around a bend in the staircase.
Hilde blinked and stared. "What in the world was that about?"
***
"Shit! Duo!"
Duo laughed, braid twisting in the wind. "Wait for it...three...two...one...-"
"Duo!"
"Right on cue."
The boy in mention turned around, a feigned look of innocence plastered
on his face, his most popular mask.
"What is it?"
"Don't give me that crap," Solo snarled. "Where is it?"
"Hmm? What? Where is what?" Duo asked, seemingly enjoying seeing his
brother riled up. "I don't know what you are talking about."
"Look here, Duo Maxwell. We both know that you know very well what I
am talking about!" Solo pushed the smaller boy up against a pillar.
"What did you do with my money?"
"What money?"
"Duo!"
"All right, already. Don't need to get all upset," Duo wriggled out of the
older boy's grip and reached inside his pocket, pulling out a worn brown
leather bag.
"Here you go. Don't shit yourself."
Solo snatched the bag back from his brother. "Don't do that!"
"What?"
"All of that!" He gestured with his free hand. "You stealing my things and
then lying about it. How are you going to maintain an honorable place in
Gondor if you do that? Not to mention how it reflects poorly on me."
Solo put the bag safely in his shirt pocket, looking sidelong at the other
boy. "It's not that I mind the stealing. Well, not that much, at least. Or I
wouldn't, if you only stole from me."
Duo glanced nervously at him. "What do you mean?"
"Oh, Duo. Do you have to pretend that you don't know what I'm talking
about?"
"What if I don't?"
Solo ran his hands through his hair. "You've been taking food from the
stores again."
"I'm a growing boy!"
"You did take my pipe."
"So?"
" And the Steward's ink brush and quill was missing last week. And the
reigns from the stable. And what about Cathy's silver necklace? Or-"
"So now everything that happens around here gets blamed on me?" Duo
stood up angrily. "I don't even like the stupid necklace!"
"But if you did, you would have taken it."
"What?! That's not the point!" Duo said, stalking over to the wall and
sitting on it.
"You know it's not!"
"And I also know that if you go around lying and stealing, that will be
exactly the point." Solo said firmly. He sighed and stood up, walking over
to sit next to him.
"Duo, like I said, I don't even really mind the stealing. It makes this
town..." He groped for a word, "Interesting."
Duo looked up at him suspiciously, as though he suspected a trap.
"Interesting...?"
"Yes. Otherwise all that would be reported would be about danger. This
way, with you around, we can complain about something besides Orc
attacks and fighting in the east."
He looked down at Duo. "See? Interesting." He paused, then continued.
"So I don't mind the stealing. Actually, don't tell people this, but I kind of
enjoy it. It's a skill that you should probably put to a better use, but at
the moment, that's all right. It's fine. For now, anyway. But Duo, the part
that I don't like is when you lie about taking things."
"Course I'm gonna lie." Duo looked at his brother. "If I don't, I'm gonna
get in trouble. And who wants that?"
"No one. But it's an occupational hazard, Duo. And even if you don't like it,
tell the truth. Find some way to get around lying."
"What, like telling parts of the truth?"
"It's better than none of it," Solo sighed. "So, just try it? Ok?"
Seeing Duo's hesitation, he continued.
"For me? Please, Duo?"
Duo let out an exasperated sigh. "All right."
He took a bite of his apple. "But I wanna know why you want me to."
Solo smiled. "I've got an idea. You go for," He did a quick count, "A month
without once telling a lie, and I'll tell you why."
"What the...That's a long time!"
"It's a long story." Solo smiled. "Now, I'll see you later. Any and all news
gets passed around during meal times with the soldiers, so if you do
anything, I'll know about it."
He stopped and started talking to himself "Let me see, the meeting starts
exactly at noon, and now it is..." He looked at the sky.
"Oh for the love of...I'm late!" He turned and sprinted back towards the
stables, almost loosing his money purse, then catching it before it hit the
floor.
He avoided running into a vendor's wagon, then catapulted over a young
child, knocking her over, and down a pathway, out of sight.
***