It's a busy day for the trio.
Zeldris is in the kitchen, cooking away because there was no way he was going to let Meliodas poison their customers again. Gelda glided around tables easily, bringing drinks to the bar to be refilled and smiling at the drunk guests as they laughed amongst themselves. And Meliodas is at the bar, refilling the drinks and chatting with a few lone customers who had wandered over to him.
Zeldris was starting to feel a little too hot in the kitchen, cursing his eldest brother under his breath for not making it any bigger or putting in at least one window. Gelda's feet were beginning to hurt after a few hours, and she was considering just ditching the shoes – or the outfit entirely, the tavern's uniform drawing some unwanted comments her way despite her brother-in-law's threats to the patrons staring. And Meliodas was itching to move out of the bar area, beginning to feel trapped behind the wooden counter he put there.
Dealing with it all was made just a little easier, just a little bit, with the help of one talking pig.
Hawk gladly ate the scraps thrown at whoever tried to hit on Gelda as she worked and helped her serve some of the tables once the tavern really started to fill up. Meliodas and Hawk exchanged the occasional friendly insult or threat, which may have been the only reason Meliodas hadn't booked it away from the bar by now. And Zeldris was just glad that he didn't have to worry too much about his wife's wellbeing as he cooked – though if Hawk purposely dropped food onto one of the customers for making certain comments, Zeldris said nothing and just passed him some extra scraps.
It was just past noon when things started to get interesting.
Or rather, it should have been interesting.
It was interesting for the customers and terrifying for Hawk.
And as for Zeldris, Gelda, and Meliodas? It was boring as hell.
The door slammed open, a young man gasping for breath with wide eyes, trembling as he stumbled into the tavern. He drew in everyone's interest immediately.
Gelda was the first to approach him, listening to his mutterings about some 'rust knight' he had seen. She put a hand on his shoulder, startling him out of his shaken daze, and guided him to a table that had some room left. She squeezed his shoulder lightly before making a gesture to Meliodas, who instantly fixed up a drink for the man.
Most drunk, other customers went back to their own conversations as the people at the table questioned the young man, reassuring him that the Rust Knight wasn't real, just a tale told to scare kids to bed.
It would've worked to calm the man, who began chuckling along and sipping his own alcohol, but then someone decided to mention the sins.
The Seven Deadly Sins.
"There's rumor that that's who the Rust Knight is, one of 'em traitors."
"I thought all the sins were dead, though? There's no way people like them could just go about living their lives after all they've done."
"Some believe that. That's probably the case, but can we really be sure?"
"W… What do you mean?"
"Well, those posters over there are updated every year!"
"Yeah, they wouldn't be redone if the kingdom knew if any of them were dead."
"They still could be dead, though!"
"If one of them is the Rust Knight, which one do you think it'd be?"
The trio began to tune out the table theorizing about the sins. It wasn't any useful information, nothing new and just ideas of people who really didn't know much of what they were talking about. Besides, they had looked into the Rust Knight theory. There weren't even confirmations it existed.
Hawk, however, was enraptured, listening despite growing more worried as the table considered all the different sins and their terrifying capabilities, debating which one would best fit the description of the Rust Knight.
When it started to die down, finally, and Hawk had a moment to relax and return to helping Gelda, there was a long and very loud creak. Gelda paused, closest to the door and her heightened hearing making the sound much louder than it probably was. The scrape of metal on metal filled the air, heavy thumps as whoever approached. The tavern had gone relatively quiet now, everyone inside watching the door carefully.
Zeldris slipped out of the kitchen for a moment, hand on his sword. Gelda glanced to her own weapon, hung on the nearby wall at the moment, and considered retrieving it. Meliodas remained relaxed, or as relaxed as he had been five minutes ago, but he was frowning as everyone just… waited.
Soon, a massive figure loomed in the doorway, the grating sound of the rusted armor halting. It was filled with the echoed groans from whoever was inside, words too muffled for even Gelda to make out anything clearly.
Then, it moved forward once more, pushing past the door and into the tavern.
Shrieks overrode the noise coming from the giant, armor-clad figure. People screaming at the top of their lungs about the Rust Knight, about the Seven Deadly Sins, about how it was going to kill them all as they scrambled for the exit.
It would have been silent, if Hawk wasn't whimpering behind the counter with Meliodas and Zeldris and if the armor wasn't trembling with each heavy step.
Meliodas hopped over the counter, crossing his arms and a light glare on his face. It was more of a pout, actually, at having pretty much all his customers ditch without paying.
He opened his mouth to say something, but he never got the chance to.
The armor swayed, stumbled slightly as though dizzy, and collapsed.
The helmet rolled off, and the three people froze at the sight.
Hawk bounded out from behind the counter in confusion, staring at the person in the armor. He didn't seem to notice the looks exchanged between the other three, tilting his head. "It's a girl!"
Meliodas took a deep breath, leaning against the wall and refusing to look away from the floor. Eventually Zeldris took up the spot beside him, not daring to touch his brother just yet. Zeldris wasn't sure if Meliodas would want to be touched, what with who was now lying in the bed of the tavern's spare room upstairs. Instead, he merely watched as Gelda looked after the girl, making sure she wasn't suffering from anything life threatening.
Hawk was watching as well, confused as to why Meliodas wasn't getting involved and why they were all silent as Gelda worked. Well, he was used to Gelda's silence. But silence from the other two was rare, so rare in fact that Hawk couldn't remember a time it had ever actually been silent with the two around.
Gelda finally stepped away from the girl, nodding to the brothers as she left, probably to go clean up downstairs. She motioned for Hawk to follow her, let the other two be for now. Hawk followed with just a little hesitation.
Zeldris waited until he could barely hear Gelda and Hawk, then he turned to his brother, concerned frown adoring his face.
"Meliodas?"
There was silence for a moment, and Zeldris moved so he was in front of Meliodas instead of beside him. He stood between Meliodas and the girl, shielding her from view if Meliodas decided to look up.
"Meliodas."
Meliodas took a deep, shaky breath. "Maybe… Maybe it's just a coincidence."
Zeldris' frown deepened. "… What?"
"Maybe- Maybe it's just- maybe it isn't her. Just looks like her. There are plenty of people with long, straight, silver hair. Plenty of girls with that kind of hair. And pale skin. And. And looking just like that. A coincidence."
Zeldris finally noticed Meliodas trembling, and he reached out slowly, as to not startle his brother. Meliodas instantly grabbed his hands, squeezing tight before letting go when Zeldris drew him into a hug.
"We both know it has never been a coincidence."
Meliodas whimpered, burying his face in Zeldris' shoulder. He didn't cry, not right now. But he shook in Zeldris' arms, clinging to the brother who was stuck with him for who knows how long like Zeldris was a lifeline. Zeldris squeezed him tight, only letting go when he felt Meliodas start to withdraw.
Meliodas took another deep breath, and another, and another. He didn't stop until he had his breathing under control and his hands were steady.
He moved around Zeldris, and sat on the edge of the bed, looking down at the girl with a frown of his own.
"She's a long way from the castle…" he mumbled.
"And with no guards," Zeldris pointed out. "Maybe she snuck away?"
Meliodas hummed. "Maybe. But why would she do that? And in that kind of armor, too, I haven't seen something like it in ages."
"Well, we can ask once she wakes up." Zeldris approached him and squeezed Meliodas' shoulder, offering the best reassuring smile he could. It was more pained than anything, though, as his eyes flickered back to the girl. "And…"
"And hope that she's not here because it started."
Zeldris nodded. "Yeah." He inhaled slowly. "I'm going to check on Gelda and Hawk. Just call if you need anything."
He closed the door quietly after leaving, slumping against it for a moment. He could hear Meliodas moving around in the room, the sound of a chair dragging against wood filling the silence. Zeldris sighed and pushed himself away from the door, travelling downstairs to find his wife and the trio's talking animal companion.