[Well, it seems the link to my sketch isn't working, so… just look for it in my deviantart account ^^;. And sorry that I haven't updated this in a while, been working on my other stories, too. Here we go, more hair, fluff, and luff!]

-.-.-

Jane spotted her fellow squire at the routine task of polishing the shields. After the castle's hundred years celebration, apparently, the knights thought it wiser and easier to at least polish a few of the shields every once in a while rather than scrape, clean, and wax all of them every once in a century. She, herself, had just returned from her morning patrol with Dragon, and was off to report the Sir Theodore.

Gunther was sitting on a stool in the corner of the yard, grumbling louder than he usually did at any mundane task. In addition to his task of polishing, he also had the task of keeping an uneven fringe out of his eyes. Sometimes he blew his bangs out of the way, occasionally flipping his head to get them all to one side, and mostly just reaching up and pushing it behind his ear, for the umpteenth time since the day started; which of course resulted in him leaving streaks of dirt on his forehead, which he did not seem to notice.

"Well now," Dragon said, as he was about to leave. "I was about to go watch some cows, but this is certainly more entertaining. What are you going to do next, Gunther, polish your hair out of your eyes?"

The squire responded by glaring up at the dragon through the uneven bangs and flipping his hair over to the side.

Jane sniggered, to irritate him further, but also to stall for time, because his appearance now left her, well, speechless.

"Of course if you want out of the deal, maybe you'd like Dragon to burn off your hair for you?" Jane said loudly, in a singsong voice.

"Not like our dear lady redhead hasn't had any problems of her own," Gunther retorted. "I hear you were late this morning, trying to cram that bushy hair into your helmet."

"I was not late, and I don't wear that helmet for patrols anyway," Jane said, quickly cutting through his half-hearted joust. "I can braid my hair just fine now. It looks like you're having more problems than me."

"All of which are your fault," he said, angrily. "Stupid bet, and these stupid-, stupid-," he said, pulling at the fringe in front of his eyes.

"Bangs," Jane answered. "Or fringe, if you'd like. Sounds more elegant-," she said, sarcastically. "Might not get your work done today; I mean, half the time you're flipping your hair over."

"Ugh, just leave me alone," Gunther, said, turning his back on them grumpily. Pushing his bangs to the side with a filthy hand, he continued polishing the shields.

Even Jane knew when to stop arguing. A slight pang in her heart, she turned to go back to her own duties.

-.-.-

Jane returned to the castle late that night; with Gunther on shield-polishing duty, the rest of the tasks assigned to the knights that day fell to her. She had helped her mother sort out the princess's wardrobe; most of her clothes were long outgrown, what with Little Lavinia approaching her teenage years now. Some elements of the garden needed moving, which she helped Rake and his trusty wheelbarrow with. And her father had requested her assistance in his monthly inventory of all the merchants' stalls in the marketplace; midday in the middle of the market, carrying the chamberlain's lists was not the most pleasant place to be.

And now she trudged back into the courtyard, with the watchful Dragon slumbering on the wall. He woke up as she came near.

"Jane, thank goodness you've returned," he said, wriggling slightly. "There's an itch here behind my left wing that I just can't reach. Dragon scales are such a bother; I was just barely able to get some sleep all day," he said, some alarm in his voice.

"Well, I'd rather have itchy scales than a day just like I've had, anytime," she said, rolling her eyes and climbing up to where her best friend lay. "Here, let's have a scratch at it," she said, giving his back a hearty scratch.

"Ah, there we go, much better," he said, lying back down again. "In the meantime, looks like your friend there is dozing off in the corner."

"Oh, that's right, I have to finish up the rest of the shields after Gunther," she said, somewhat exasperated. "I wonder how many more he hasn't done-,"

"Well, actually, you'd be surprised," Dragon said, nudging her towards him. "Go on then, have a look."

Jane raised an eyebrow at him before walking over to where Gunther sat, not on the wooden stool, but on the ground, leaning against the wall. A shield was on his lap, a rag in his hands, and a good deal of hair on his face. His ponytail was becoming untidy, and strands came over his shoulders. In general, he was a mess.

Jane gave a little groan as she knelt beside him. She started prodding his shoulder. "Hey, Gunther, wake up, Gunther, stop slacking off, Gunther," she said, over and over again. He did not respond at all; merely turned his head to rest on the other shoulder.

"Ugh, just pretending to sleep, I wager," she said, rolling her eyes. Reaching her hand up slowly to his face, she gently brushed his hair to the side, revealing his sleeping face.

There were streaks of dirt, wax, and polish across his forehead and cheeks, and the tip of his nose seemed to have decided to turn a permanent red; maybe from the dust of all those shields. But still, his expression was serene - tired, but serene.

Glancing over at the pile of shields, she assessed the work that had to be done. But, to her surprise, and jumping over Gunther's legs to examine the pile more closely, she found -.

"So, Jane, after you're done with those shields maybe we could go out for a night flight to watch some cows and-," Dragon started saying from the battlements. "Oy, Jane, where are you going all of a sudden?"

"Listen, Dragon, why don't you go on ahead, go watch some cows or, or, whatever," Jane said hurriedly, running into the castle.

"Oh, well, okay, if you insist," Dragon said, with no hesitation as he leapt off, mooing and snickering as he left.

"Pepper, do you know where I can find a basin of hot water and a towel-?" Jane shouted in the kitchen.

-.-.-

Gunther's slowly fluttered open in the darkening courtyard. He felt something flickering in his face, and his hand reached up automatically to brush it away. It kept coming back, though, so he sat up and-

"Hey, don't move around so much, or I won't be able to get that smudge of your cheek," Jane said, in a scolding tone.

"Jan- Wha-?" he mumbled in his half-asleep half-awake state.

"Now hold still for a minute," she said, holding a warm towel near his face.

And he felt a hand supporting his chin, and the warm towel against his cheek, as Jane scrubbed gently to wipe the dirt off. He stayed quiet and motionless, thinking maybe he was just dreaming. But he opened his eyes and she was still there, and her touch on his face was still there…

"What are you doing?" he finally said, after she'd scrubbing every inch of his face.

"Well, it's a 'Thank You'," she mumbled, wringing off the towel into the basin. "I see you haven't left any work for me to do here, so thank you."

"Oh, what's this sudden expression of gratitude then? Finally realized how appreciative you should be of me- Hey!" he suddenly said as the towel was thrown in his face.

"Alright, appreciation's over," she said, abruptly standing with the basin in her arms. "Almost time for supper," she said, starting to walk away.

"Jane! Wait," he suddenly called, clambering after her.

Jane stopped, then turned to face Gunther slowly. "What now, Gunther?"

"Th-th-," he muttered.

"Th?" Jane said, tilting her head.

"Thank you," he said, walking closer, holding the towel she had used. He dropped it into the basin, but didn't move from where he stood in front of her, his hair covering his eyes.

"W-," Jane stuttered. "Well, we're even, so there." She reached up to brush his hair aside, but decided against it, somewhat afraid of what his face might show. Making an awkward stalling motion with her hands, she quickly said, "You probably should do something about that hair, though, you know, so it doesn't get in the way," and quickly turned and walked straight into the castle kitchen.

-.-.-