AN~ HEAVILY edited crack-ish pairing.
The war was over, and Buzzflower and Mallowbarb were rebuilding. They'd stayed in Ferryport Landing to be near Briar's grave, and they were fairly happy about things. The town was looking like a town now, not like wreckage. They were cleaning up towards the end of a workday, getting ready to shut Sacred Grounds down for the night, when two angry and ugly men stormed through the door.
Buzzflover sighed. "We're closing. Come back tomorrow," she said.
"Lady, we're looking for someone," the taller of the two men said. Neither of them left.
"Well, there's no one in here but us," Buzzflower said.
"Look, lady, if you could just give us some food, I'd be much obliged," the shorter one said.
"Of course," Mallowbarb butted in, smiling at the shorter man.
"I don't think-" Buzzflower started.
"Nonsense, Buzzflower, these two gentlemen are perfectly welcome to a bit of food." Mallowbarb said, still smiling at the shorter man. She even batted her eyelashes a little bit.
"Thank you, ma'am," the shorter one said, doffing his cap and smiling back at Mallowbarb.
"Of course." Mallowbarb blushed.
"Mallowbarb!" Buzzflower said sharply. This was not the time. Even if these two were obviously Everafters (and probably fairy godfathers, because who chose to be that old?), she wanted to close up and get home, not flirt!
"I don't believe you told us your names," Mallowbarb said, ignoring Buzzflower and going to get the two men a snack.
"Oh, I'm sorry," the shorter one said. "I'm Bobby Screwball, and this is Tony Fats."
"Nice to meet you." Mallowbarb giggled.
Buzzflower sighed and sat back to watch Mallowbarb flirt shamelessly with Tony Fats. It was positively disgusting. She gave up on getting home in time for her TV show.
Tony Fats sat down next to her, looking just as uncomfortable as she felt, and asked, "You haven't happened to see a man by the name of Hamstead around here, have you?"
So they were Everafters. Buzzflower shook her head. "Not since before the war," she said.
"I heard you guys were having trouble," he said. "The queen was worried about her kid- he was hangin' around with some people here."
Buzzflower nodded. "Puck's fine," she said. "He left, too, though. Now that the barrier's down, lots of people have been leaving."
"I'll tell the queen when I see her," he said. There was an uncomfortable silence as the two watched Mallowbarb run her fingers up Bobby Screwball's arm. Tony Fats cleared his throat and said, "You... uh, you didn't leave?"
Buzzflower shook her head. "Nothing I wanted to see out there that I couldn't see here. Besides, someone needed to rebuild." She didn't mention Briar. If she'd done her job right, Briar wouldn't be dead. He didn't get to know about Briar.
More silence. Bobby Screwball was leaning up to whisper in Mallowbarb's ear, now.
Tony Fats cleared his throat again. "You know anywhere we could spend the night?"
Buzzflower leaped at the chance to get away from her sister and her new beau. "There's a lovely hotel a few streets over. I'll show you."
"Please," Tony Fats said, the relief evident in his voice.
Buzzflower called out her destination to her sister, who nodded absently. Then she and Tony Fats headed out the door, letting it swing shut behind them without looking back. She was so glad to get out of there before it got really awkward.