Chapter Text
Mouthface Dikrats had never come to this part of the kingdom before. It was the capital city, the center of everything, but she’d never been. Her family mostly stayed on the little farm in their village, but the Royal Market, the biggest market in this kingdom or the neighboring ones, was taking place this week, and her family couldn’t afford to miss it this year. They needed all the money they could get, and this would give them a lot of it. They’d packed up their wagon and set off for the capital city. It was a three-day journey, and a day longer if you stopped to look at the forts, which they did, so by the time they got there, Mouthface was sick of even looking at her wagon. So, when her mother and father were distracted by setting up their stand, she set off exploring. The kingdom was beautiful in general, but the capital was so much more vibrant than their little village.
For once in her life, Mouthface was alone, without even her little brother with her. Usually, he shadowed her, mostly because their parents told her to watch him, but also because he looked up to her and wanted to imitate her. She liked being alone like this. It was a bustling city, much more busy than the village. People were walking around, ducking into shops and such. She marvelled at just how beautiful the city really was. She’d been told stories since she was a little kid, but here she was at 17, seeing it all for the first time.
The only oddity was that all the buildings were black and white. There was no real color and Mouthface’s blue dress stood out against the stark, monochrome backgrounds. Her village at home was full of colors, like the blue she wore, the red on her own mother’s dress, the yellow in the bundles of hay they brought to sell. Technicolor was such a pretty place to live that being here was a totally different experience. It wasn’t that the black and white buildings were ugly, they just looked bland. Her grandfather always said they’d been like that forever, that they just were, and Mouthface had always had little dreams where she got to bring color there.
When she returned to the stand and her mother finally stopped chiding her for running off, she sat down on a haybale and waited for people to come by. Craphole was still too young to actually help, so he sat behind her, playing with the small knitted chicken their mother had made him. The smell of hay and fruit had been driving her insane for days, and sitting in it made her want to run away again.
“Mouthie,” Craphole said, tugging on her arm. “Do you think we’re gonna see the prince and princesses?”
“I don’t know, maybe,” She shrugged. The king tended to bring the prince and older princess out more, according to the papers Mouthface had read. Maybe she’d get to see them. In the pictures she’d seen in the papers, neither looked overjoyed to be out and about. She had never seen the queen in her 17 years of life on a single paper. She did want to see them, though. They were her age, and she vaguely remembered the younger princess was still a little kid.
“I hope so.” Craphole said softly, “I wanna see them.”
They wouldn’t pay attention to a family like the Dikrats anyway, but Mouthface wasn’t about to crush her brother’s dreams. The market had finally begun and her parents were busy with trying to figure out everything still. Craphole continued to play with his little chicken, keeping quiet.
“Hello,” A woman said as she walked up with two girls. Mouthface looked over and got up in case she had to grab anything. She couldn’t see what the older girl looked like, but the smaller one was adorable. She had red curls and big brown eyes that immediately had Slippery When Wet cooing over her.
“Hello, ma’am,” Jack Bauer smiled at her, “What can we get you?” He asked as the small girl pointed at some of the peaches next to Mouthface.
“Good choice,” Mouthface said, smiling down at the girl. “C’mere, and tell me exactly which ones. You can have the best ones.”
“Can I?” The little girl looked at the woman she’d come with, who just nodded and let her come around to see Mouthface and the peaches. The little girl stood on her tiptoes to look into the crate.
“How much?” The woman asked, “For however many she gets.”
“It’s three silver coins for one, ma’am.” Slippery When Wet replied as the older girl watched Mouthface with the little girl.
“Can I get three?” The little girl asked quietly.
“Sure!” Mouthface said. “Which ones?”
The girl indicated three of the juiciest, ripest peaches and smiled when Mouthface handed two of them to her and one to the older girl. The older girl looked up at Mouthface and blushed when their fingers touched as she took the peach. Mouthface wished she could see the girl’s face more clearly. It was obscured beneath the hood of her cloak.
“Thank you,” the woman said softly. “Come along, girls. We should be getting back.”
“Coming.” The girl said, scooping up the smaller girl. “Thank you, ma’am.” She said to Slippery When Wet before following the older woman. Mouthface could swear she saw the girl glance back at her as they walked away.
“They were nice, she gave us 9 silver and some gold.” Slippery When Wet slid the money into the pouch on her waist. “I hope they come back later on in the market season.”
Mouthface hoped the girl came back, too, if only so she could see her face.
A couple of days later, the temperature had gone up and it was a little too hot out. Mouthface had been given the task of watching the stand while her mother and father went to get more water and supplies for themselves. She sighed, fanning herself as she watched people walk by. Some bought things, but some just didn’t give their stand a second look. Her grandfather was sitting with Craphole, keeping him busy.
“Hi.” A voice said and she looked up. The cloaked girl had come back, the cloak still hiding most of her face.
“Hello,” Mouthface said, tilting her head and standing up. “Can I help you?”
“Do you still have some of those peaches? My little sister has been begging to come back and get some, and I thought I’d surprise her.” The girl gave her a smile that she could see and Mouthface’s heart sped up.
“Yes, we do!” Mouthface said, trying not to let her disappointment show. Some strange part of Mouthface was hoping the girl was here to see her.
“Oh, amazing, thank you so much. She has not stopped talking about them since we went home the other day.” She fished in her pouch for the coins, “3 silver each, yes?”
“Oh, for that sweetheart, they’re on the house,” Mouthface said, smiling at the girl.
“You can have some, for you.” She smiled, holding out a couple silver and bronze coins. “Since you were extremely nice to my little sister. Thank you for that.”
“Oh, it’s not a problem,” Mouthface reassured her as she slipped them into her pocket, sensing they were for her. “Your sister’s adorable.”
“When she isn’t whining, yes.” The girl laughed to herself. “Do you want to go do something other than this? It’s too hot to be sitting in a stand all day, and you’re the only person that’s generally my age.” Mouthface’s train of thought stopped.
“Oh, um, sure,” Mouthface stammered. She scampered out from behind the stand, then remembered herself and turned to her grandfather. “Grandpa, I’m stepping out for a few minutes!”
“Okay,” Titty Mitty replied. “Have fun. Bye.” He called after them as the two girls began to walk. The cloaked girl smiled to herself as she led Mouthface down the path and towards the forest. They walked through the woods, the shade providing some relief from the sun. Finally, they came out to a little clearing that led down to a lake.
“It’s too hot, I was thinking about swimming.” The cloaked girl said.
“I’d love to swim,” Mouthface said. “The heat is killing me.”
“That’s good,” said the cloaked girl as she took her cloak off, not facing Mouthface out of common decency. Mouthface peeled off her dress, leaving her only in her slip and underclothes. In other circumstances, she would have been embarrassed, but strangely, here, she didn’t care. The cloaked girl did the same but had a few more layers to get through. She turned and Mouthface sucked in a breath. The girl was pretty, the prettiest girl Mouthface had ever seen. She had big brown eyes like her little sister’s and short brown curly hair.
“Um, what’s your name?” Mouthface stammered. “Sorry. I just realized I never asked you.”
“Elle.” Elle replied, “And what’s yours?”
“Mouthface,” Mouthface replied.
“Am I allowed to call you M?” She smiled softly.
“Sure you can,” Mouthface said. No one ever really called her that, but it was kind of nice. She liked it. She’d let Elle call her anything. Her voice was just as pretty as the rest of her.
“Cool.” Elle smiled, wading into the water. “Oh, it feels nice.” She sighed with some sort of relief. Mouthface eagerly followed after her, giving a similar sigh as the water cooled her skin. The water was cold, but it was so hot that day that Mouthface almost didn’t notice. It was just refreshing. Elle stood a few feet away, a look of pure bliss on her face as she dipped her hair back into the water.
“I will regret this later,” She laughed, “But it’s so nice…” Mouthface copied her, letting her braids go under the water. It did feel great, and her wet hair would cool the back of her neck.
Elle looked over and smiled mischievously at Mouthface. She waded over and cupped some water in her hands, and threw it directly at Mouthface. It hit her in the face, and she spluttered and laughed. Mouthface copied her, splashing her back. Elle squealed and did it again. Eventually, they were engaged in a splashing contest until they heard the belltower go off.
“Shit.” Elle said, slipping out of the water and wringing her slip out.
“Do you have to go?” Mouthface asked, chiding herself for sounding like a whiny brat.
“I do, I’m sorry,” Elle said as she dressed herself.
“Will you come visit again?” Mouthface asked. “Or, will you give me some place I can find you?”
“I’ll come and visit, hopefully.” Elle smiled softly at her, haphazardly tying her corset up. “Hopefully tomorrow or the day after that.” She finished getting her dress on, wringing out her hair.
“Okay,” Mouthface said, smiling at her. She probably should be getting back, too. Her mother was not going to be happy. “I’ll look forward to it.”
“Me too. My sister will be very happy with the peaches.” Elle bent down and kissed her hand gently in a “thanks” fashion before going a different way than they’d come.
“I’m glad,” Mouthface said after she was gone. “I’m really glad.” She meant that in more ways than one. She walked back down the forest path and came back to the shop.
“Where were you?” Slippery When Wet asked, “It’s nearly dinnertime, Mouthface.”
“I went on a walk,” Mouthface replied casually. “Found a really nice lake.”
“Oh, that’s bullshit. You were with a girl.” Titty Mitty remarked, “Don’t lie to your mother.”
“She’s my friend. We went on a walk. To a lake and went swimming.”
“I sure hope you two were decent.” Slippery When Wet replied. Her mother was all about decency and modesty. It made Mouthface want to claw her eyes out, sometimes. She was almost grown and she just wanted to have fun for once.
“We were,” she grumbled at her mother. “All we did was go swimming. It’s hot out.”
“Did she buy anything when she was here?”
“She bought more peaches for her sister,” Mouthface replied. She didn’t mention that she’d tried to give them away for free. Her mother just sighed and went back to counting money and supplies. Mouthface let her mind wander as she sat down next to Craphole, thinking of Elle and why she’d had to run away so hurriedly when the belltower chimed.