Ke'ri skipped to the door happily. It was finally Saturday the twelfth, and she had a very good guess as to who had just knocked on the front door. Not that she had been waiting there for him, of course. She had just coincidentally passed by the front door at the same time he had knocked.
Her prediction had been correct. "Hey Lon'qu!" she grinned widely.
He returned her smile, though it was much more muted. She had never seen him show much enthusiasm, she realized. She tried imagining him grinning goofily and a small giggle escaped her lips, though she tried to suppress it. It was simply too uncharacteristic for him to do something like that at this point.
"What's so funny?" he asked.
"Oh, nothing. Don't worry about it," she replied sunnily.
He glanced at her skeptically, but acquiesced. "Whatever you say. Anyways, are you ready to go?" he asked.
"I've been ready!" Ke'ri replied. "Let's go! And on our way there, I want you to tell me all about how your life has been in Linan."
"Only if you tell me about what's been going on in Wufen in my absence," he replied cheekily. "Ladies first."
She huffed in mock exasperation. "Oh, fine. There hasn't been too much happening, honestly. The consulate is organizing a delegation to go to Ylisse for the new exalt's crowning. What else…I'm trying to figure out how to implement a program to reduce the sheer amount of poverty here in Wufen. It's really hard though. All the other upper class residents are so reluctant to help out the needy…"
Lon'qu nodded soberly. "It's true. In Wu'fen, people only look after their own. I've found that the inhabitants of Linan are much more neighborly and welcoming. Maybe…"
"Maybe what?" Ke'ri asked curiously.
"Maybe if you befriended the townspeople, other nobles would follow your example. Kind of what you're doing to me right now…" he trailed off speculatively.
"That's too long term," Ke'ri frowned. "I wish I could figure out something that could be implemented immediately. Got any ideas?"
"Well, either way, implementing a program that will bring food or employment to the needy will require more tax dollars from the wealthy," Lon'qu pointed out. "And I'm pretty sure that they will do anything they can in order to resist that."
She chewed on her lip, lost in thought. "It's not like they even need the money! They'll probably just spend it on something frivolous and unnecessary, like jewelry or fine food."
"Well, you've just got to figure out a way to make them want to spend the money on something else," Lon'qu said.
"Yeah," she replied absentmindedly, lost in thought. "I'll think of something. …I hope. Anyways! It's your turn now. How's life in Linan?"
"Everything's going pretty good," he replied. "Though I haven't been able to find an apprenticeship, I found a job working in the armory. Hopefully I'll be able to pick up a few tricks of the trade, and either way, it's a stable source of income. And my mother's found a place to work too."
"That's great!" Ke'ri smiled widely. Though a small portion of her had guiltily wished for Linan to turn out badly so that Lon'qu would return to Wufen, she was truly glad that he was doing so well.
Even though things had been initially awkward, Lon'qu realized that somehow, somewhere, in that small half an hour that they had spent talking to one another while walking to the town center of Wufen, they had slipped into a comfortable conversation – almost as though they had known each other for years instead of months.
"So, where are you taking me today?" Ke'ri asked him, smiling brightly.
"It's a surprise," he grinned back at her. "Don't question it, just go with the flow."
She huffed at him. "Lucky for you I'm so trusting. For all I know you could be leading me down a back alley to mug me and take all my money."
"Do I really look like that sort of person?" Lon'qu asked, giving her a mockingly affronted glare.
"Well, looks can be deceiving!" she replied, sticking her tongue out at him. Her eyes widened as she caught a look of the street ahead of them.
"It's the town square!" she shouted excitedly. "There are so many people!"
"Ever one to state the obvious, I see," he remarked, letting a small smile show through his rough exterior.
"That's not what I meant," she said. "Are there usually this many people? Is there something happening?" Forgetting about Lon'qu for a moment, she ran forward, excited to see what was there.
"Hey, hey! Slow down and wait for me!" Lon'qu exclaimed. "I won't be able to find you again if we get separated." He thought of holding her hand as a preventative measure, then decided against it. What if she took it the wrong way?
"Well, hurry up then!" she laughed giddily. Turning around, Ke'ri grabbed his hand and pulled him forward, into the throng of people. His heartbeat pounded loudly in his ears, in time with their footsteps, and soon the two of them joined the waiting crowd.
A/N: Erm...hello. I'll try to update on a non-monthly basis, I promise! After all, it's summer vacation! I should have time! (Aside from internships and GRE studying...right?)