Ren’s head swiveled back around. “What’s that’s supposed to mean?” they demanded, eyes narrowing. “Did Pig teach you that? Barely a few months old and you’ve already learned to talk back? Nature preserve me…” They sighed.
At least their wait might soon be over. Someone was coming towards them, a dark, halfling-sized shape cresting over the last gently rolling hill. Actually, who were they kidding? It was definitely Pansy. Who else would be daft enough to enter the forest at this hour?
“Finally!” Ren groaned, dragging themself towards her. “You made me wait long enough.”
“R-Ren?” Pansy squeaked, jerking back slightly in surprise. She did, however, manage to remain completely upright this time, a definite improvement over her usual flailing.
They rolled their eyes. “Who else would it be? You know any other goblins willing to drop everything on your behalf?”
“My—” Pansy frowned. “I didn’t ask you to come all this way.”
“No, you asked me to sit around and do nothing while you got horribly lost – as if I could tolerate such a thing.” Crossing their arms, Ren let out what was supposed to be an especially put-upon huff, meant to prune back the vulnerability that flourished at the heart of their words. But with every last mote of accompanying heat lost to the reddening tips of Ren’s ears, the performance fell flat. So obviously manufactured that even Pansy had doubtless noticed.
Except, maybe she hadn’t. Because there was no laughter, no teasing; none of the things Ren had braced themself against. Instead, Pansy’s expression crumpled, as quick and sudden as the side of a mountain after a heavy rainfall. Her features twisted and pulled, fighting a losing battle against the emotion creeping up her throat in a blood-red flush.
“Am I really such a burden? Someone who only serves to make the lives of the people around me worse?” she asked, her voice cracking as she wiped ineffectually at the tears gatheringat the corners of her eyes. “I mean, I must be, considering a goblin and a halfling are in agreement. First Councilor Millwood; now you.”
Ren froze. This wasnothow they’d expected things to go. When it came to the matter of her ill-advised nighttime jaunts, Pansy was supposed to wave Ren off or, ideally, admit they were right. Instead, Ren had struck a nerve – and an especially sensitive one at that.
Probably because I’m not the first one to hit it today. Just their luck. Now, they were every bit the “cruel, mean goblin” that showed up in far too many halfling bedtime stories – always as the villain, of course. Normally, such a thing wouldn’t bother Ren – halflings could think what they wanted – but knowing that Pansy had been hurt to this extent – well, it just didn’t sit right with them.
Letting out a breath, Ren steeled themself for what had to come next. “I’m sorry,” they said. “That’s not what I was trying to imply.”
“Yes it was.” Pansy sniffed, a petulant edge to her scowl.
“No, it wasn’t. I just—” Ren clamped their jaw shut, exhaling forcefully through their nose as they grappled with the ongoing challenge of translating their feelings into words. “This forest is dangerous at night, and I wanted you to recognize that.”
She blinked at them, her lashes gleaming with tiny pearls of moisture. “Were you actually worried about me?”
“Why does this surprise you? Haven’t I already shown plenty of concern for your safety?”
“Well, you’re always so… gruff about it. Maybe, if you worded it more nicely…”
“Fine.”
“And delivered it better, too.”
Ren gave her a sharp look, eyebrows arching in a way that clearly said,Don’t push your luck. Still, they relented. “I’ll keep that in mind for the future. Now, who’s this Councilor Millwood you were talking about?”
“A miserable busybody who spends so much time with her nose crammed into other people’s business it’s a wonder she even manages to come up for air.” Pansy sniffled, wiping again at her eyes, this time with slightly more success. Mostly because she’d stopped crying. “If she was just another overly concerned old woman, she’d be easier to ignore. But she sits on the village council, so you can say she’s one of our leaders. Anyway”– she waved a hand, as if trying to soften the blow of what followed – “she kicked me out of town.”
Ren’s brow furrowed. “What do you mean she kicked you out?”
“Exactly what I said. Look, can we start walking? It’s a little chilly just standing here. Andplease,” Pansy begged, “don’t tell me I should’ve worn a jacket.”
“Well, you should have,” Ren said to Pansy’s audible dismay as they fell into step beside her, lantern held high to illuminate the path ahead. “I’d offer you my cloak, but I’m afraid it’s already spoken for.”
Right on cue, Mushroom poked his head out of Ren’s hood, earning a wet hiccup of a laugh from Pansy.
“I guess the rumor I heard about goblins hating cats was massively overblown,” she said, dabbing weakly at her eyes. “So much for getting you out in ten days.”
“Ten days? You could at least have given me more credit than that,” Ren groused through a smile.
Pansy only shrugged, as if to say,Maybe.
“You know,” Ren said after a long pause, filled with only thesound of dirt crunching beneath their heels, “if you want to talk about what happened – even if it’s just to complain – I’m willing to listen.”
Pansy gaped at them, her eyes near-perfect mirrors of the full moon overhead. “You want to hear mecomplain?”
