Work Text:
“Sir? What…are you doing?”
Abel looked up from his parchment stack to look at his commander.
“Reading. Is that not allowed?”
The commander sighed. “I’m not an idiot, Sir. I have to vet documents before they come through, in case they’re encoded messages. But this…this is just a romantic novel involving two girls.”
Abel had the decency to look embarrassed, but didn’t have the decency to keep his mouth shut. “And? There are ladies in our kingdom who court other ladies. I am simply engaging in their lives.”
“It makes you seem like one of those men who watch ladies engage each other for his own please.”
Abel smacked the document on the table, looking at his commander. “Surely you do not think so lowly of me! The women in this tale are entirely appropriate! They sometimes discuss matters pertaining courting between themselves, but nothing so dastardly as that.”
The commander sighed. “Fine. What’s it about then?”
Abel started in a rant about it, and his commander eventually zoned out. He did ask one more question.
“What’s a food court?”