Written by: BWinner
Disclaimer: I do not own Seven Deadly Sins; it belongs to Suzuki Nakaba. I do not profit from this work of fiction.
In the Garden
Ch. 2
Harlequin gathered up his plate and cutlery, and hurriedly made his way into the kitchen. Once safe behind the door he slumped against the wall, with a furious blush. That was the woman Meliodas was training? She had been described to him somewhat before, but he never expected that kind of beauty. This was going to be a few rough days for him; he wasn't good with people at the best of times, but with a woman as lovely as that it was going to be torment.
The young cook came in shortly after and scowled at the smaller man. "What in the hell King? You totally offended her!"
"I… I – I'm sorry!" he stammered back. "I really didn't mean to, I just – "
"Yeah, yeah, you're awkward around people! I've heard the excuse before," Ban cut him off. "At some point you're going to have to learn how to get over that, and she at least tried to make an effort to be nice."
"She's gorgeous!" Harlequin blurt out without thinking. "How in the world do you expect me to carry on any kind of conversation with her?"
A teasing smile came over the other's chiseled features. "Ah, I see, so there's another piece to the puzzle this time around…"
"Damn it Ban, shut up!"
"What in the world is going on in here, Ban?" Elaine's soft voice asked as she stepped into the kitchen.
"Ah nothing, seems your brother here has the hots for our dear boss's protégé though," Ban replied without missing a beat.
The brother in question flushed an even deeper shade of red (if that were possible), and gave the taller man a withering glare. This was not proceeding in his favour, his sister was always lamenting on how lonely he seemed to be, this kind of news was probably music to her ears. What in the world was he going to do in this moment… that oaf of a boyfriend of hers just liked to stir up shit where ever he could! And if they let Elizabeth get involved in the mix, well he was sure she'd be playing matchmaker with Elaine in a heartbeat.
"What I think or feel doesn't matter anyway. She's here to relax, and I'm pretty sure Meliodas would be pissed if we didn't give her an opportunity to do just that!" Harlequin retaliated.
Ban and Elaine remained silent; his sister looked anywhere but at her frustrated older brother, while the former just rolled his eyes. Satisfied enough with that silence Harlequin took his dishes to the sink and deposited them there before leaving the kitchen and heading up to his room. The young man quickly stripped down to his boxers and collapsed on his bed, grateful for the end of the day. Tomorrow was going to be busy as he was to be setting up a new garden; part of the idea was to have a small selection of vegetables and fruits for the kitchen to work with. It was going to be a fair task. Regardless, he was grateful for an excuse to be able to keep to himself and avoid embarrassment.
Day broke far sooner than Harlequin was ready for. Sitting up with a bleary blink he trudged his way to the bathroom for a quick wash before heading back to his room and pulling on an old dirt-stained pair of jeans and a long-sleeved navy thermal shirt. Not bothering to fix his hair the young man headed downstairs and turned on a pot of coffee before grabbing a muffin from a basket on the pantry shelf. Ban created the set up knowing 'King' was up at the crack of dawn and didn't get to eat breakfast with everyone often; it was nice he at least managed to do this kindness.
As Harlequin waited on the coffee pot to finish brewing, the sounds of feet on hardwood floors and a door opening and closing upstairs caught his attention. He shook it off as Ban probably ready to come down and cook breakfast, and turned back to butter his blackberry bran muffin then pour his now brewed coffee. When he turned around to sit at the island in the kitchen he nearly jumped out of his skin; there standing in the doorway was the lovely young boxer.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," she apologized. "I was just hoping to fill my water bottle before going to find that trail around the lake."
Harlequin nodded somewhat dumbly at the statement and did his best to sit down without spilling what was in his hands. He watched the brunette cross the kitchen floor admiring the way her bright orange jogging pants and matching zipper hoodie hugged her curves. When he caught himself staring, he blushed furiously and focused hard instead on the deep brown liquid in the cup between his hands. When she didn't make an attempt to start another conversation with him, Harlequin decided she either had caught him watching her just then, or that he truly had offended her as much as Ban claimed last night. He somehow hated the thought of her being angry at him so he mustered all of his courage to get his mouth to work before she left the room.
"I-if you're heading down towards the lake, be careful not to stray too far from the path… There – there's a lot of poison oak in the area, it can get pretty nasty," he said.
"Thank you so much," Diane replied, and Harlequin was treated to a radiant smile.
The auburn-haired young man felt his face burning as she bounced out of the kitchen. Without wasting any time, he scarfed the food in front of him and downed his coffee, eager to get to his work for the day and any kind of distraction from how mortified he felt. Swiftly he washed his dishes and headed out of the main building to the garden shed in the yard. Gathering the tools that he needed, Harlequin made his way to the North side of the inn and wasted no time putting his tiller to the ground that had previously been surveyed there.
Beads of sweat began to roll down Harlequin's brow and into his eyes. The sun was higher in the sky now and the heat of the day was beginning to settle in. Stopping the tiller, he wiped his face with the back of his sleeve and looked over his work with a small frown. Only about half of the ground had been dug up where it needed to be, the space was larger than he anticipated. As he went to reach for a drink of water, he realized he hadn't brought any out, and cursed silently to himself. Aiming to do the next best thing he walked around the building to the garden hose, and was about bring it to his lips when he caught a glimpse of bright orange moving towards him. Diane was back.
"Hey there, you look like you could use this," she said, holding a bottle of water towards him. "I was talking to Ban in the kitchen, and I asked if there was anything I could do to help; he told me I should come out here and see if you needed anything. He said you can be on the forgetful side when you have a goal in mind, and judging from the way you were about to bring that garden hose to your lips, he just might be right," she giggled.
Harlequin took the bottle of water from her with a furious blush. Inside he was fuming though, and cursing Ban with every last fiber of himself. That giant oaf of a man would do this to him! Regardless of that silent anger the young man thanked her and stood up straighter to take a drink. It was then that he noticed just how tall she actually was, he probably only came to just above her chest or so. Though the fact did nothing to take away her beauty to him, it did make him rather self conscious.
"I finally got to really walk around the grounds after my jog early thing morning; it's amazing what you've done here," Diane said. "This area is tranquil and serene as it is, but you've added such a warmth to it with all of the colours and delicacy of the flora.
Harlequin could only rub the back of his neck bashfully. "Thank you," he murmured. "I tried my best."
"Give yourself some credit then, your best is pretty amazing! Although taking all this in makes me even more amazed my Captain owns this place," Diane laughed boisterously.
"Why in the world would that be?" A new voice chimed in.
The two of them turned around and this time it was Diane's turn to look bashful. Walking from the driveway towards them was Meliodas, hands tucked casually behind his head of unruly blond hair and an impish grin on his face. Harlequin gave a quick flick of his hand for a wave hello then turned his attention back to the taller woman. She was decidedly silent right now, and awkwardly twirling a piece of deep brown hair from one of her pig tails in front of her face. He found the action most endearing.
"Well, c'mon Diane, why shouldn't I have a place like this? Can a fighter not also have an appreciation for natural beauty and charm?" he asked. The tone he used was teasing though and his grin only grew at her embarrassed fidgeting.
"That's not – I mean… damn it, Captain! There's no need to be a jerk!" she finally erupted.
This only caused the smaller man to break into a fit of laughter. "You've really got to stop making it to easy to get you worked up!"
"Shut up! Also, what in the world are you even doing here? I thought I was supposed to be relaxing." The brunette crossed her arms over her chest and turned her head from him like a petulant child.
"And you are. I just thought I would come up and make sure you actually made it okay; the woods can be a little tricky. That and I wanted to see my darling Elizabeth." The entire time Meliodas spoke the shit eating grin never left his face.
"Go see her then!" she insisted. "I can't believe you had me take the bus like that when you could have just driven me yourself."
"Don't mind if I do; I'll call you when Ban has lunch ready," the blond agreed. "One thing before I go though King, If I see any evidence that a gardening tool has touched her hands, you'll be going a round with me, got it?"
The auburn-haired man found himself giving his second dumb nod of the day, unable to respond. Not having much more to say Meliodas turned on his heel and jogged around to the front of the building. Diane gave an aggressive kick to the ground and slumped against the structure. A rather awkward silence fell between them; with nothing else to do the young man finished his water and gave a few uneasy glances to the side before turning on the tiller once more. He worked quietly for a time, but eventually his insides began to feel as churned up as the dirt his gardening tool was currently going through. How long was she going to be there watching?
His nerve-wracking thought process was halted when the machine suddenly sputtered and jammed. Harlequin cursed softly. The area was not only bigger than he had anticipated, it was turning out to be rockier too. The young gardener looked around for his pick axe, but scratched his head when he didn't see it. He was sure he had brought it out…
"You look like you could use some help," Diane said, smiling down at him with said tool in her now gloved hands.
"N-no!" he shouted. "That is, it's not that I wouldn't appreciate the help it's just - you heard Meliodas, and you don't want to injure yourself before you have to go back to training, I'm fine, really…" he rambled on.
The tall brunette giggled, and her violet eyes lit up a little. "You're kinda funny, you know that. Now come on, move that machine so I can get at the earth there."
Not wanting to upset her, Harlequin pulled the tiller back with him and watched as she took a good crack at the earth. He knew this wasn't a good idea, but what else could he do? There was no doubt in his mind he couldn't fight her off (not that he would even want to), and if Melioas caught them… well he just hoped to whatever deity was out there that the blond man would take pity on him. Diane took a couple more decent swings before she stopped and pulled her orange hoodie off, and the auburn-haired man flushed at the sight of her black tank top clinging to her sweat sheened form as she continued to work. When he could at last see her getting winded, he finally gained the will power to speak up.
"That should be okay for now!" he called. "Please, don't over work yourself."
It seemed as if she had no reason to protest and so the brunette put the pickaxe down and stepped back from her work. In a similar manner to Harlequin earlier she wiped the sweat off her brow with the back of her forearm then smiled at the smaller gardener. Then the taller woman stepped out of the way and allowed him to finish off his task. He found it so strange that she didn't move to leave, and rather stayed at the side of the inn and watched him until all of the soil there had been properly tilled.
"Can I ask you something?" she began once the noise of the machine died down. "Ban and Meliodas both call you 'King' what's up with that?"
"I-it's a dumb nickname they derived from my last name. I guess they thought they were being cleverer shortening Kingsleigh to King… rather than Harlequin to Harley and making me sound like a Batman villain," he replied with an awkward chuckle.
Diane laughed softly as well. "Yeah, Harley would be a little weird to me. King suits you though, do you mind if I take after them and call you the same?"
For what seemed like the hundredth time that day he felt his face flush as he shook his head. He would have given a verbal reply if it weren't for the return of Meliodas around the corner, this time with Elizabeth securely attached to him, arm tight around her waist. When the blond waived them both over King couldn't help but hear the dejected sigh come from the woman next to him. As the auburn-haired man watched Diane go on ahead, he also couldn't help but notice her slightly sagged posture and subtle loss of vibrancy.
At that moment King longed to be able to reach out and comfort her, but knew that would be idiodic. He also knew that the rest of this week was in fact likely to result in one awkward exchange after another, and his stomach dropped at the notion.
To be continued…
