Rain sat on the rug by the fireplace, sewing neatly-cut pieces of blue fabric together in shapes that Fidget couldn’t quite make sense of. Yet, Fidget sat nearby, staring at her work.

“Little stitches,” said Fidget, “And little needles, and little threads...”

“It’s so you won’t see them on the outside,” Rain replied, turning over her piece to show the hidden seam she was working on, “It looks cleaner this way. It’s also harder for the stitches to become snagged and tear.”

“It’s a lot of work,” Fidget said.

Rain smiled, and resumed her line of stitches, saying, “It is, but I like it. Back home, I often did needlework in my spare time. Sewing, embroidery... I’ve even tatted lace.”

“Back home?” Fidget asked, tilting her head.

“I live in a large house in Fairvale, the seat of the Nathulan Province,” Rain explained, “There are houses and shops all around, and on the outskirts of the town there are farms. We also host the barracks of the guards and the Nathulan Knights, who patrol and protect the region.”

Fidget visibly bristled at the mention of ‘guards’ and ‘knights’.

“I know that you have a very different perspective,” Rain said quietly, “but for humans, knights are noble protectors of our homes.”

“Knights destroy goblin dens,” Fidget said, a fingernail running along the crevice in the floorboards anxiously, “Knights kill goblins that didn’t hurt anyone.”

Though Rain wanted to reply that goblins frequently attacked humans, she bit back her argument. The little goblin sitting in front of her wasn’t an experienced raider or ferocious killer. She hadn’t even managed to scuff up the chicken coop that much. But it was clear that in her mind, she had many reasons to be afraid of human knights. Instead, Rain opted to change the subject.

“What do you think?” Rain asked, lifting the blue fabric and shaking it gently to show off the gathered blue ruffles; “It’s going to be a new dress.”

“For you to wear back home?” Fidget asked, solemnly.

Rain slowly lowered the garment to rest on her lap again. The two of them sat in silence for a few moments, before Fidget scooted her backside across the floor to sit closer at Rain’s side, watching as she resumed her row of tight stitches.

That evening, Lunette bore the duty of cooking. Since her arrival, she stepped up and took over chores without asking, but Arvel could hardly complain; unlike Rain and Fidget, she did every job at least as well as he would have, if not better. Lunette had pulled a jar of sourdough from the back of a cabinet and mixed some of it with flour, and herbs she found in the garden, and was frying a flatbread in the cast iron skillet on the stone hearth.

“I was expecting you to fall over, beat, after all the work you put in today,” Arvel said as he watched her from the nearby table, “But here you are, not even going easy on dinner.”

“I learned to be diligent in all things,” Lunette said, “Once we return home, I will take my rest for a few days. But until then, I cannot easily take leisure, as long as I feel like I am on duty.”

“How long is the trip back?” he asked.

“If we leave at first light,” she said, “and keep a quick pace, with as few stops as possible, we should be back in Fairvale before nightfall the day after.”

The door of the bedroom creaked open, and a pair of footsteps came out.

“Well, what do you think?” Rain asked.

Beside her, Fidget had her head down, hiding her red face. Her leathers and rags had been traded out for a blue dress, tailored to fit her small but curvaceous frame. It tucked tight around her waist, and flared fully over her hips, swooshing around her as she hesitantly did a little twirl. But more noticeable than that was the bodice. Though Rain tried to save whatever embroidery and tailoring she could from her original garment, it fit Fidget quite deeply, with a low scooped neck that put the goblin’s large green breasts on prominent display.

“Wow,” Arvel murmured, staring at Fidget.

“She looks quite refined,” Lunette said, “Like a little porcelain doll... but green.”

“There wasn’t enough fabric to make myself anything appropriate,” Rain said, “but I thought that Fidget could use a piece of decent clothing.”

“You look real good,” said Arvel.

Fidget fussed with her hair in one hand, the other hand tightly clutching her skirt, as she hid a shy grin. She then ran over and jumped up into the chair to sit opposite Arvel.

“Smells good!” Fidget said, “Strange... but good!”

“It’s skillet bread,” Lunette said, “We’re having it with roasted root vegetables and eggs.”

“And meat?” Fidget asked hopefully.

“Not today,” Arvel replied.

Fidget whined and leaned down to gnaw on the edge of the table in frustration.

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Arvel stood from his chair as Rain approached, offering it to her, and she gave a gracious nod as she sat. He even surprised her a little by pushing her chair toward the table.

“I know farm life don’t suit you real good,” he said, “But by this time the day after tomorrow, you’ll be back to being Marchioness Deleraine, in a big fancy house with people to do the choring for you.”

Rain swallowed the lump in her throat, and said quietly, “I didn’t expect that I would miss this, but the closer I get to leaving, the more I dread it.”

Arvel squeezed Rain’s shoulder and said, “Don’t talk like that. By the time you get back to Fairvale, you won’t even remember me.”

The touch was all too brief. When Arvel’s hand left Rain’s shoulder, she felt a small shiver from the loss of his warmth. She touched her shoulder and looked down at the table before a plate slid into her field of view.

“Eat up,” Lunette said, “You’ll need your strength for the journey ahead.”

The next morning, Lunette and Arvel both rose with the sun, though Fidget had not yet emerged from her cabinet, nor Rain from her room. Ser Lunette donned her armor before retrieving her horse and packed her saddlebags with some dried goods that Arvel could spare for the journey home.

“I know that money is of little use to you here,” Lunette said as she made sure her horse’s bridle was properly secured, “but I will do whatever I can to make up for the generosity that you have shown us. In a few weeks, you can expect a merchant wagon to arrive with a delivery.”

“You don’t have to do that,” Arvel said.

“Nonsense,” she replied, “Feeding three extra mouths has been a drain on your stores, I’m sure. Your flour reserves are nearly emptied, and you’ve almost no meat. At least accept the things you cannot easily make for yourself, like flour and confits.”

“Alright, alright,” Arvel said with a small grin, “Feels like there’s no arguing with you.”

“Diligent in all things,” Lunette said with a smirk, “It’s really just a kinder way of saying that I’m incurably stubborn.”

The two of them shared a laugh.

“Could you go and retrieve my lady?” Lunette asked, “She should be up by now.”

“Sure,” he answered, turning to go back inside.

The living room was quiet. Fidget had not yet emerged from her cabinet. Careful to avoid the squeakiest floorboards, Arvel made his way to the bedroom door and softly knocked.

“Come in,” Rain said from the other side.

Arvel opened the door, to find her dressed in one of his father’s shirts, and the pair of trousers he had given her the other day. The waist was cinched with a piece of rope as a belt, and the ends of the legs were cuffed up around her ankles.

“Good, your knees healed up,” Arvel said.

Rain’s cheeks reddened. Her legs had been healed enough for a few days, but she had taken to wearing only a baggy shirt for some time now. She tugged at the loose trousers and said, “I can’t exactly ride a horse as I was. I appreciate you giving me these.”

“It’s fine,” he replied, “Too big for me, and I’d just ruin ‘em dragging them through the dirt.”

The two of them stood there in an awkward silence. Arvel watched Rain, while Rain stared down at the floor. Finally, she found a reason to lift her head.

“Th-The other day,” she stammered, “in the tool shed...”

It was all it took to conjure up vivid memories. The sight of her laying back on the bale of hay. When Arvel licked his lips, he was sure he could still taste her.

“Yeah?” he asked.

Rain reddened, and looked down briefly, before meeting his eyes again with a shy smile, to say “I’m not entirely sure why I brought that up. I just... I know you said I’ll forget about you, but I won’t. Ever.”

After saying such a thing, she couldn’t stand there any longer. Tears hung at the corners of Rain’s eyes, threatening to overflow as she moved toward the doorway that Arvel stood in. But instead of moving out of the way, Arvel stepped toward her. He touched her shoulders and gently turned her, pressing her back to the wall beside the door as he leaned in and kissed her. It wasn’t the deep, messy kind of kiss that they shared in the tool shed, but it was something warm and lingering. Their heads tilted, lips nestling closely until they felt as if they were melting into one another.

When they heard the sound of the cabinet opening in the kitchen, Arvel leaned back a bit. He smiled down at her and said, “I won’t forget about you either.”

Rain emerged from the house, dressed for travel. She started for the stairs to descend from the porch, but she felt a small pair of hands grab her pants leg. When she looked back, she saw Fidget clinging to her.

“Going?” Fidget asked quietly.

Rain turned and knelt down, hugging Fidget tightly.

“I have to,” Rain said, “I have obligations to my people. There’s a lot of work to be done right now. I hope... I hope that maybe I can come back for a visit, someday. But until then, I’m counting on you to make sure Arvel isn’t lonely.”

Fidget nodded, hugging Rain tight, and said, “Okay! Fidget will take care of him.”

“Good,” Rain said with a soft laugh.

“My lady,” Ser Lunette said, “I am sorry to rush you, but the sky is darkening. We should move on before it begins to rain.”

“Of course,” replied Rain, letting go of Fidget as she stood. She looked to Arvel in the doorway, and gave him a small smile, saying, “Thank you, for everything.”

“You travel safe,” Arvel replied, giving her a nod.

Ser Lunette picked Rain up by her hips and sat her up on the horse, before climbing on behind her, wrapping her arms around the smaller lady’s waist to hold the reins. They bid their farewells as the first droplets of rain began to fall, and turned to race down the winding road.

“It’s alright,” Arvel said, squeezing Fidget’s trembling shoulder as the goblin fought to hold back her tears. He gave her a little smile and said, “She’ll be alright, and so will we. Now come on, let’s get some chores done.”

Arvel spent much of his day teaching Fidget about various chores around the farm, to keep himself distracted as much as her. By that night, he fell into his bed for the first time in a week, his face buried in the pillow.

‘Still smells like her hair,’ he thought to himself as he snuggled in, and pulled the blankets up over himself, before shucking his pants off, kicking them out from under the blanket and onto the floor.

“Ow!” a scratchy voice yelped.

“Eh?” Arvel asked as he sat up, looking at the foot of the bed.

Fidget was there, peering over the blankets at him.

“Everything alright?” Arvel asked tiredly, “Something wrong with your cabinet?”

“Not sleeping in cabinet,” she replied, “Fidget not going to let you be lonely.”

Arvel smiled a bit and said, “That’s sweet of you. You can climb up if you want, but let me get my pants back on—”

Both Arvel’s pants, and a blue dress, were flung across the room from the foot of the bed. He stared at the wadded-up garments on the floor, before looking at Fidget again. The goblin grinned sharply at him.

“No thinking about being lonely,” she said, as she lifted the blanket and began to crawl under it.

“Wh-whoa,” Arvel stammered, squirming as he felt her warm body slide under the blankets, “Well that’s... that’s certainly one way to be distracting... Just watch out for— teeth, TEETH!”