Chapter Text
He was humming when he crossed the sunny town square, a vaguely familiar tune he couldn’t quite place. It was upbeat, as was his mood, because that was the day Nancy finally cleared Frey for regular activity.
Over the past week and a half (her recovery time had been shorter than expected and he was taking full credit due to his healing magic), Selphia’s residents had been so devoted to helping their princess that he was literally elbowed out of the way. Although he had never doubted their appreciation for her, despite their tendencies to take her for granted, he was still taken aback by how enthusiastically everyone came to her aid. Witnessing them combine their efforts to support her actually warmed his heart, and it was obvious it warmed hers, as well.
It probably felt good to be taken care of by everyone, for once, instead of the other way around--although he knew she still felt guilty and uncomfortable about taking an extended break. He thought it was important for her to realize that she didn’t have to run herself ragged every single day; it wasn’t as if someone’s life was on the line--not anymore. The sense of urgency was gone, but he didn’t think Frey had grown accustomed to it yet. Sometimes he wondered if she felt empty without it.
He often did. He felt like he lived in a perpetual state of restlessness that only abated when she was close enough to touch--which, lately, wasn't nearly as often as he'd like. They hadn’t even managed to have a private conversation for more than a few minutes without interruption. Nighttime hadn’t been an option, either; one of the women had stayed with her every single night to make sure she didn’t ignore Nancy’s orders and run off. She had even hosted a couple of sleepovers that he’d been painfully tempted to eavesdrop on.
Frey thrived in the midst of her strict schedule, though, and her recent lack of ability to adhere to it was driving her crazy. She'd sucked up her pride on more than one occasion and sheepishly requested that he help her across the farm so she could witness it's wellbeing for herself--apparently his reassurance wasn't enough, but that didn't surprise him. She squirmed so restlessly that it made him laugh; she was fiercely passionate about her work, so much that he noticed her eyes glisten with tears a couple of times. He brought her out of it by subtly tickling the underside of her wrist or brushing his lips against her ear, transforming her pout into a blush.
He had helped her with her daily tasks dozens of times over the past couple of years, chores like tending to her prized monsters and maintaining the fields. His diligence was mainly an excuse to spend more time with her, of course. That kind of work wasn't really his thing; it was too routine and predictable for his taste, but somehow everything was exciting when he was standing alongside her.
Several times during the past week, he’d wondered if he could have handled everything on his own without assistance. Frey accomplished it without complaint every day, and while he had no doubt it was taxing work, she made it look simple and straightforward. She was an Earthmate, of course, so she was naturally imbued with ability--but he felt she was successful first and foremost because her drive and determination were unmatched.
The only thing he’d miss about the past week or so was having an excuse to carry her around at every opportunity--not that he needed an excuse. But she’d fight him on it now; she’d barely allowed him to carry her when her alternatives were crutches or hopping around on one leg.
Stubborn, stubborn, stubborn . And he loved her for it.
As he approached the castle, Frey happened to be steadily exiting her front door at the same time. She was smiling from ear-to-ear with an enthusiastic elf in tow, and when she saw him, her face grew impossibly brighter. He felt lucky every single time that look was directed at him.
“Hey, hey! I thought you’d let me do the honors, Frey,” he gasped, taking care to sound sufficiently wounded as he stood in front of the two women. He flicked his tail and his fan simultaneously, feigning irritation.
“Do the honors?” Meg asked curiously as her bright eyes switched between them.
“Of taking her on a date after her recovery, of course.” He crossed his arms over his chest, tilting his head to one side as an easy grin crept across his face. “Isn’t that what you’re doing?”
“Actually, yeah!” the blonde chirped, instantly causing his expression to dull. When had she become so accustomed to his teasing that it just rolled off her back? “I’m taking her to--”
“Porco’s? How predictable.” He clicked his tongue as he turned to Frey, adding, “Is that really what you want to do? You’re not tempted by something more… exciting?”
Frey, at least, was as flustered by him as ever--she instantly blushed and fidgeted with the toggles on her tool belt, which she hadn’t worn since her injury. He felt his eyes soften at the welcoming sight--she looked like a farm-owning, town-saving princess again--before catching himself. He wasn’t sure how he resisted the urge to grab her sweet face and pepper it with kisses.
“I like Porco’s,” Frey responded with mock defensiveness, cheerfully throwing an arm around Meg’s shoulders, and he raised a skeptical eyebrow. “And I like Meg, so it seems like the perfect celebration date to me.”
“Well, well, well,” he chuckled, noticing that Frey’s smile was now lackluster. She was playing along, but she definitely wanted to spend some much-needed time with him. “Meg, you’re the last person I expected to be my rival.”
“Hey!” Meg’s eyebrows shot up into her hairline before slanting over her lively eyes--so he could still get a rise out of her, after all. “Why am I the last person?”
“Ah, sorry,” he drawled, then smirked when her eyebrows scrunched closer together. “I actually meant second to last, so it’s not all that bad.”
“That doesn’t make me feel any better!” the elf groaned, looking betrayed and frowning petulantly as Frey giggled.
“At least I didn’t forget about you, like I forgot about the person who is actually last.” He glanced around like that person might walk by and spark his memory, but there were only a few tourists wandering the square.
“Who is it?” Meg demanded with all the covertness of a chattery Chipsqueek.
“Don’t know.” He shrugged nonchalantly. “I told you I forgot.”
“Leon,” both women sighed in unison, and he huffed out a laugh. He was only joking, but apparently he hadn’t made it obvious enough.
“Anyway, make sure you keep an eye on her, Meg.” He shot her a stern look before winking at Frey. “And you --don’t break yourself again, please. These were the most boring almost-two-weeks of my life.”
“Oh no, we can’t have Leon being bored,” Meg joked with a good-natured roll of her eyes.
“It benefits everyone if I’m occupied. I get up to no good when I’m idle for too long.”
“It’s true,” Frey interjected, snickering. “You don’t want to see him when he’s bored.”
“I have, come to think of it.” Meg laughed uneasily, then perked up and flashed a knowing smile. She practically sang, “Hey, Frey… why don’t you go with Leon instead? It’s obvious that he misses you.”
Her words extinguished the fire on his tongue and lodged any potential reply in his throat. He felt more exposed than he thought he would, as the news rapidly spread that he and Frey were dating. He wasn’t accustomed to the type of attention that being the princess’s boyfriend--he still wasn’t fond of that title, although he enjoyed its perks--brought.
While he usually deflected unwanted comments with jokes, any mention of his feelings for Frey tended to muddle his thoughts and render him speechless. It wasn’t that he disliked attention; he drew it to himself on purpose more often than not, but in ways that were shallow and didn’t disturb the protective layer he’d built around himself. He wanted to watch others’ reactions to his teasing comments, not the other way around, and he didn’t particularly appreciate the tables being turned on him.
Even so, he took it in stride, merely staring flatly at Meg. She was beaming, visibly happy to have caught him off guard, while Frey shifted her weight uncomfortably.
“Um, I guess I haven’t spent much time with him lately, so…” The princess glanced down at the cobblestone beneath their feet before she looked at him, and then his entire world revolved around the green in her eyes.
“Wow,” Meg giggled merrily. “You two are completely twitterpated.”
“Twitter- what ?” The word was strange enough that he managed to tear his gaze away from Frey and ignore the sensation of his face burning.
“Twitter… pated?” Frey repeated, sounding as baffled as he did.
“You’ve never heard of it?” Meg asked with genuine surprise, and then she was clearly enthusiastic about enlightening them. “I thought Leon knew all the words. It basically means you’re acting strangely because you’re so in love.”
“I do know ‘all’ the words--all the real ones,” he chuckled, shaking his head.
“It is real!”
“Oh?” he challenged, lifting an eyebrow. “Where’d you hear it?”
“Maybe it’s an elven word?” Frey suggested, trying to assist Meg. It wasn’t.
“Um, well…” Meg glanced away and he could instantly tell her source wasn’t reliable. “Porco says it sometimes.”
“That should’ve been your clue right there,” he laughed, slapping his thigh. “Half the words that leave his mouth consist of his own personal language.”
“Eh-heh… you may be right, actually,” Frey chimed in, attempting to stifle her laughter with both hands. She only peeked out from behind them for long enough to add, “He does use a lot of, um… flowery language.”
“He’s just… creative!” Meg countered, but he could tell she was withholding her own amusement by the way her lips were twitching.
“I will agree to that,” Leon acquiesced, then chuckled at Frey who was still giggling in a painfully cute manner. He was glad to see her in such a great mood.
“I should write a song about being twitterpated!” Meg exclaimed suddenly, clapping her hands together and attracting their attention once again. “Oh, hey! Do you think--when I perform it--that I could mention you two are my inspiration? It’ll have even more impact if people know it’s about the princess and her--”
“No,” he and Frey replied in flawless unison. They met eyes and sternly nodded at one other in solidarity, squaring off against Meg.
“Aw, come on. It’ll be so romantic.” Meg had both perfectly-manicured hands clasped just below her chin, glancing back and forth between them. It had no effect on him, but if it caused Frey to cave, he wouldn’t be surprised in the slightest.
“Meg…” Frey said weakly, and sure enough, he could already see her reconsidering.
“Please?” Meg wasn’t even bothering to look at him anymore; she had Frey right where she wanted her.
“No,” he repeated, but this time he was protesting alone. Frey didn’t even react when he prodded her in the cheek with his finger. “Hey, you, I thought we were together in this.”
“Maybe we can listen to the song before we decide,” Frey told Meg, still ignoring him--except to blindly grab at his hand, which was incessantly poking her--and he scoffed.
“Deal! I’ll perform it for you as soon as it’s finished!” The elf was practically vibrating with excitement and creative energy. “You won’t be disappointed!”
“What’d you just agree to?” he groaned, scowling down at Frey, and she grinned sheepishly.
“Just that we’d listen to it, that’s all,” she chirped. “No harm done.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure. It might hurt my ears.”
“Hurt your ears?” Meg gasped, staring at him with her mouth agape, and Frey shot him a warning glare.
“What? I’m sensitive to loud music,” he explained, gesturing to the top of his head, but neither of them seemed very amused. “All right, fine. I’ll listen to it. However, Frey and I both have to approve; otherwise, it gets locked away forever.”
After both women agreed, albeit reluctantly, Meg bid them farewell. He found himself standing next to Frey alone for the first time in days, and he grinned down at her happy, flushed expression. The urge to tease her was overwhelmingly irresistible.
“Here, take my arm and hold on tight,” he ordered, extending it toward her. He was unsurprised to see her hesitate, given her newly-regained independence.
“Leo, I’m fine now,” she argued, screwing her face up at him. When he didn’t lower his arm, she stared at it for several more seconds before accepting it with a sigh.
“Watch your step,” he told her with mock urgency, biting back a laugh. “There’s a loose stone right here.”
“Nancy said I don’t have any restrictions,” she growled, furrowing her brows together and trying to twist her arm free.
He ignored her protests, tucking her against his side. “Now, now, my love. Stay close to me so I can catch you if you fall.”
“Leo!”
Then she was glowering at him, heatedly. He laughed and drew her close enough to plant a kiss on her forehead, then uncoiled their arms and linked their fingers instead. “So what do you want to do now that you’re free, princess?”
She squeezed his hand and answered cheerfully without a hint of irritation lingering on her face. “Anything, as long as it’s with you.”
“Anything, huh?” The atmosphere between them was thicker, suddenly, and he smoothed her bangs with his free hand before resting it on the curve of her neck. Lowering both his head and his voice, he continued, “Are you sure you wanna give me that much power? Because I already have several activities in mind…”
“L-like what?” Her eyes widened as her pulse quickened beneath his fingertips, and he only smirked in response.
He took his time nuzzling the side of her face, ghosting his lips over the shell of her ear, and she shivered as she clung tightly to his arm. His voice was scarcely above a whisper when he finally answered, “I can’t stop thinking about this, and it’s been so hard to wait... I found a really great new fishing spot and--”
After the split second it took her to process his words, she reeled back and smacked him on the arm, and he doubled over with laughter. Her expression was somehow better than he expected, beautifully flushed and flustered, and he admired her even as she threateningly brandished her fist. Soon she was laughing with him, though, and ended up clinging to him as she composed herself.
Once she’d fully recovered--he hadn’t seen her laugh so much or so hard in a while--she glanced off to the side, clearly weighing her options. When she met his eyes again, her mouth was curved into a perfectly content little smile. “Honestly, I just want to… walk.”
“Then we’ll walk.” He held his hand out again and she shot him an exasperated look, but it quickly vanished when he smiled sincerely and admitted, “I simply want to hold your hand, that’s all.”
“Well, in that case…” She blushed prettily and linked her fingers with his, glancing over his shoulder before standing on her tiptoes and kissing him.
They weren’t keeping their relationship a secret anymore, but they both greatly preferred privacy during intimate moments--although they never resisted spontaneity regardless of where they were, really. That meant they’d only narrowly avoided prying eyes so far, but because Frey was so busy, kissing her practically required taking advantage of random opportunities. He cringed at the thought of developing a reputation for overt public displays of affection, though, like a certain doctor and nurse, so they really needed to be more careful.
What started out as a peck quickly multiplied into several minutes’ worth of kisses, like they were trying to make up for lost time, and he promised himself they’d be more careful the next time. They huddled against the castle wall so they were out of plain sight, at least, and she squeaked as her back came into contact with the cold marble. She either quickly got used to it or she was too distracted to care anymore, because she grabbed his vest and tugged him closer--until he was more or less pinning her, inviting all sorts of impure thoughts to occupy his mind.
“Stop it or we’re going to go on a date to my room,” he purred, pressing a lingering kiss to the curve of her jaw, and she leaned back just enough to meet his eyes.
He smirked at her, amused by the pensive look on her face as she joined their hands and started swinging them from side-to-side. That always meant she was feeling a bit nervous about what she was preparing to tell him, so his ears perked up expectantly when she mumbled, “I wouldn’t say no to that.”
“Pfft,” he sputtered, unsure if he’d heard correctly, “wh-what?”
“I said I wouldn’t--” she began to clarify, substantially more confident this time, and he freed one of his hands to clamp it over her mouth.
“No, no, I heard you just fine. Don’t repeat yourself.” He shook his head incredulously and forced out a breath, certain that he must be an even darker shade of red than she was. “Geez.”
She giggled then, always happy to fluster him instead of the other way around, but he knew she was telling the truth. He was tempted to take her to his bed every day, eager to show her how much he loved her because words seemed less and less sufficient… but guilt still gnawed at him for several reasons.
First and foremost, he knew it would serve to intensify their feelings for one another, and he still worried he’d disappoint her one day--that she’d eventually want more than he was capable of giving. Damn if it wasn’t painful to continue on like this, though.
“To the lake?” he suggested, awkwardly changing the subject, but she didn’t seem bothered.
“To the lake!” she chirped, and he basked in the glow of her smile for the rest of the afternoon.