Garten wasn't sure what to think of Perkinson, One-Eye Perkin's son.
Perk had come into Cloud Mountain a little over a year ago, arriving from Halfwind. He quickly built a reputation to be a charismatic, easy-going buck who could charm anyone into having a conversation with him.
That being said, Garten didn't trust him. At all.
Garten had learned a long time ago that people were never too friendly without having some type of ulterior motive. Even Perk couldn't hide the subtle hardness in his eyes when he passed Rake in the hallway, or the glowers directed at Garten, Wilfred, or even Smalls.
Which is exactly why Garten was trying to catch Perk's eye during lunch.
His impromptu investigations of anyone he found suspicious (which Rake definitely frowned upon but didn't move to stop) often led into dead ends and frustrating nights, but it distracted him from the many other problems he faced. Sometimes it even led to Garten uncovering a few strange deals between soldiers or even would-have-been spies.
The Savory Den was busy, people talking louder and louder to hear each other over the noise, which ended up in even more noise and headaches all around. Perk was amicably chatting with one of his friends, extravagantly gesturing around the Savory Den. Unfortunately for Garten, he couldn't hear a thing because of the loud noises. And with Perk already making his distaste of Garten clear, Garten couldn't get closer without being suspicious.
Just as Garten was trying to figure out a plan, he spotted Picket entering the den (strangely without Emma and Heather). He took his food from Gort, offered a strained, wobbly smile to the chef, and sat rather close to Perk.
Perfect.
Garten now had the excuse to go eavesdrop on Perk. He didn't know what he was expecting to hear, but any information was good information.
As he stood up, Perk noticed him and suddenly began approaching him.
"Hello, Ambassador," Perk said, looking up at Garten with an off putting smile. "How're you?"
"I'm good,' Garten said, shifting. "How are you?"
"I could be doing better, if you weren't staring at me from halfway across the room," Perk said, eyes hardening. "I'd watch where you step, Ambassador," he added as he started walking away. "You never know who's going to put a knife into your back."
Garten stared at Perk as the buck walked out of the Savory Den. That was one of the few ominous messages Perk had said to Garten in their short interactions. Even that wasn't enough to convince Lord Rake that Perk was a spy, something that annoyed Garten to no end. Of course, Perk could be trying to warn Garten about another someone in his strange way, but Garten doubted it.
After standing in the middle of Savory Den awkwardly for a few seconds, Garten finally decided to go to Picket like he originally intended.
"Hello," Picket said without looking up, jabbing his fork into his vegetable pie. "Why are you here?"
"Noticed you," Garten said, sitting next to him. "Are you feeling better?"
"I'm not a child," Picket said, glowering sullenly at Garten. "I don't need your pity."
"I wasn't offering it," Garten said. "It only sounds like pity because you want it to."
Picket blinked, confused. "What?"
"No offence to you, but you're so deep in self-misery that you're going to take any chance at feeling even sorrier for yourself," Garten explained, wincing at Picket's slightly hurt expression. "It's just how the mind works. You feel the need to be even more justified in your misery."
Picket glanced at his pie, back at Garten, and back at his pie. "Why are you talking to me?"
"No particular reason," Garten said lightly, almost wanting to drop the news on him. But he needed Heather to be present as well. Also, it would be preferable to be in a more private setting.
"Yeah, ok," Picket said sullenly, standing up and balancing on his crutches. "I'm leaving. Don't follow me."
Garten raised an eyebrow at him, amused. "I would never dream of it."
Picket ignored his comment, put his dishes away, and walked out. Garten waited a few minutes so Picket was assured he wasn't followed, before standing up and walking out of the Savory Den. Immediately, the silence was deafening and his headache was almost soothed.
The village green was calm, a few people walking about the gardens, enjoying the colorful flowers that were in full bloom. The sky was a light shade of blue, a few scattered clouds thrown across, almost carelessly.
Garten scanned the area, unsure of what he was searching for.
His eyes landed on Helmer's maple tree, where Picket was strangely close to, followed by Heyward the Hedge Clipper. They stopped a few feet away from Helmer's tree, Heyward saying something to Picket quickly and walking away.
This wasn't good.
Garten hesitated briefly. He would wait a few minutes to see if Helmer did anything. As much as he admired Helmer, the Lord Captain was unpredictable and who knows what he would do to Picket if the buck managed to push the right buttons.
A few minutes passed where Picket and Helmer seemed to hold a civil conversation, before Helmer stood up and walked threateningly towards Picket. Garten tensed, ready to intervene should the need arise. Helmer threw his knife towards Picket, an angry scowl on his face. Garten jerked forward, panic arising, as the knife sped past Picket and cut the rope that was attached to one of Helmer's makeshift hawks. Picket lunged, unfortunately on his bad foot, causing him to buckle, just barely avoiding the flying hawk. Helmer kicked the hawk away and threw another knife, making the hawk skitter to a stop a few feet away from the tree.
Helmer began a calm walk back to the tree, only stopped by another lunge from Picket, this time starting off on his good leg. Helmer unfortunately saw it coming and knocked Picket back.
That was the last straw for Garten. The Longtreader quickly walked towards the tree, jaw locked.
"I told you to stop following me," Picket said sourly, dragging himself upright, when Garten finally approached them
"I'm not following you," Garten said flatly. "I'm making sure no one dies. What were you thinking, Helmer? He could've died."
"He was asking for it," Helmer said gruffly.
"Yes, he was asking for it," Garten said with a barley concealed eyeroll. "What'd he actually do?"
"I don't need your help-" Picket began.
Garten threw him an annoyed glance. As much as he sympathized with Picket's situation, there was a limit to how much he could deal with.
"Was spewing some nonsense about me training him," Helmer said at the same time Picket gritted out, "I want him to train me."
"Ok," Garten said, blinking. "I'm assuming you're opposed to that idea, Helmer."
Helmer glowered at Garten.
There was a short silence as Picket finally balanced on his crutch again, wincing in pain as he shifted on his feet.
"Why don't you ask him, if you're so desperate to become a soldier?" Helmer rasped to Picket, jerking his head towards Garten. "He is, after all, your uncle."
CLIFFHANGER :D
Helmer, Helmer, Helmer, you can't go about revealing this type of stuff :(( you just caused Garten's stress levels to rocket
Perk is very sus hehe
This chapter's shorter bc I forgot to save my drafts and FFnet deleted an entire scene and I don't remember any of it lol
