“So after sharing some of the meat they got from last night’s hunt, they actually ended up becoming friends with the ogres, believe it or not!” I laugh as I tell Apple one of the tales that my parents had told me when I was younger. She listens intently with a big smile.

“Really? That’s amazing!” She beams, “I always heard that they were just big, evil, and violent. I never dreamed anyone would be able to sit down and have dinner with them!” She coyly covers her mouth just a bit as she snickers, but her body language betrays her bashful persona and it makes my heart happy to see how relaxed and at ease she seems to have become.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought too! But it’s like I said earlier — every kind of creature with the copacity to think is a person. They may have different lifestyles or social norms, but they’re still just people trying to make a living day by day, just like us,” Apple’s wheels turn in her head as she considers the subject deeply, and after giving her a moment to think, I continue.

“Whether or not most ogres live in a society where it’s morally acceptable to kill and pillage, I can’t say. But what I can say is that if you can think and talk, you have the ability to make your own choices. I mean think about it — if an ogre was raised by humans or kobolds with our social norms, would it still turn out evil? I can’t say for sure, but I don’t think so,” she blushes a bit as she hears me mention kobolds in my little hypothetical. It’s a little thing, but I’m hoping that including her species alongside my own helps to make her feel just a little bit more accepted.

“Wow, I guess I never really thought about it like, but you’re probably right,” her eyes move around a bit as she strokes her chin, “Ir makes me wonder, are most ogres we encounter so brutish and violent because that actually is their nature, or is it really just because that’s the culture they’ve been surrounded by their whole lives?” I can a sparkle in her eyes as she avidly digs deeper into the topic, “Even if there did happen to be some sort of genetic predisposition for a certain species of creature to behave a certain way, wouldn’t it be possible for them to just monitor their instincts and control their actions to do what they know is right? I mean, we have plenty of dark or violent instincts left over from our evolutionary ancestry, but even if those tendencies are there, we’re able to keep a handle on them because we know they’re not right.”

I listen attentively as she speculates, thinking to myself, “She’s cute and beautiful and really smart!?”My heart swells and my mind goes wild imagining all the late-night conversations we could have about everything under the moon. I feel myself begin to melt in my seat just a little bit as the scenes play out in my head.

All of a sudden, we both jump up as the back door flies open. Runella makes her way back out as she stretches her arms and yawns lazily, “Sorry I took so long, tried forever to find my pitcher before remembering that I left it out by the sink this morning,” she takes a seat as she kicks her legs up on the counter and grabs a book, “But it sounds like you two are doing okay.”

“Oh, definitely! Mister Percy was telling me stories of his parents’ adventures, and then we started talking about all kinds of deep things!” Apple looks over at Runella excitedly, and I feel a tinge of nervous anticipation as I find myself grinning like a fool.

“Yeah, I was having a lot of fun! It’s really nice having someone to have deeper, more complex conversations with — most people don’t really care,” I shift around in my seat as I fidget with my toes, tapping my feet together as the butterflies in my stomach only grow more and more fluttery, “But Apple is really smart and seems just as interested in this stuff as I am!”

I see Apple bat her eyelashes as she looks down with a little smile when I compliment her intelligence. Although I can’t deny that her body sets my heart on fire with every twitch and movement, hearing her talk about these things only makes my affinity for her grow even rawer and more intense. She’s everything I could ever want in a girl all wrapped up into one, and all I can do now is hope and pray upon a lucky star that she might start to feel the same way.

“It— it’s fun!” Apple chimes in, “There’s so many fascinating things in life to talk about, and having someone to bounce off of makes me think of so many things that I’ve never even considered before,” her eyes flicker over to me as she gives a slight, coy smile.

“Awe,” I can’t help but grin in response as I turn away, my cheeks turning a twinge of red, “You’re gonna make me blush!” I feel my heart flutter as looks into my eyes and I look back into hers. Like shimmering, iridescent sapphires, they bands of her irises reflect the light and make them sparkle like an ocean horizon at the first morning sunrise, and I feel my whole body give out on me as I melt into my seat. No matter how hard I try, I can’t seem to move my gaze away from her — her eyes twinkle like a kaleidoscope, and I’ve become completely lost in its mesmerizing display of lights and colors.

“Well I’m glad you two seem to be having fun,” my trance is broken as Runella speaks, glancing up from her book and turning to us with a friendly, relaxed look, “Although,” her gaze moves away from us as she eyes the clock on the wall, “I was supposed to lock up over an hour ago, so I’d probably try to be wrapping it up,” she sits the book down as she stands up and stretches.

“Percy, I know you’ve got a place to go. But…” she makes her way over to us and kneels down to meet Apple’s level, “I know you said you didn’t have a home. I can’t put you up here for long because if the guards happened to show up for one of their impromptu shakedowns that they love so much, it would mean big trouble for you and me,” she speaks with a tone that is gentle but still stern and serious. Apple looks a little tense but still listens attentively, nodding her head in understanding as Runella continues, “So that being said… I’ll let you stay here for tonight if you need a place, but after that I’m gonna have to send you back on your own. I don’t want to and I feel like shit doing it, but I just can’t risk what might happen to both of us if someone found out.”

Apple twiddles her fingers around as she thinks, her eyes darting around before looking back up at Runella, “R-really? You’ll let me stay here?” She smiles gratefully as she leaps up out of her seat and wraps her arms around Runella’s waist, “Oh— thank you Miss Runella, thank you!”

“Whoa!” Runella stumbles back as Apple jumps on her, chuckling faintly, “Only one night though. I’ll give you some things to help out, but you have to be gone before I open tomorrow — if anyone came in and saw you here there’d be hell to pay. Do you understand?”

Apple blushes as she squeezes Runella tighter. A few shimmering tears escape her eyes as she smiles brightly, “Of course! You won’t even know I’m here! I’ll be gone by morning before you even wake up, I promise!”

I watch the tension in Runella’s body begin to ease before relaxing into a gentle hug, “I trust you. Just be sure to keep quiet and lay low while tonight — it’s not that I mind you being here, but you don’t want anyone who happens to be passing by to hear you and come looking.”

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

“T-thank you…” she sniffles as she squeezes Runella tightly. Runella glances over to me with an awkward smile, to which I grin back and simply shrug my shoulders with a chuckle. She softly rubs Apple’s head before stepping back and making her way over to the front door.

“Alright Percy, time’s up. Gotta throw ya out now,” the door scratches the floor with a wooden creak as she pulls it open and smirks at me. With a cheeky sigh, I rise from my seat and begrudgingly make my way over to the door.

As I step out, I look over to Apple one last time with a smile, “Well it was nice to properly meet you, Apple. I hope we get to chat again soon,” and with a gentle click, the door falls closed behind me.

🍎

“Thank you again Miss Runella,” Apple clasps her hands and looks up at Runella gratefully, “I promise I won’t be any trouble for you — just tell me where to go and I’ll settle in right now! I won’t make a sound!”

Runella grins with a chuckle as she slowly shakes her head, “You don’t have to go lay down right now,” she traces a pattern over the door with her finger and with a soft green glow, a sigil appears, warding the entrance before fading away again, “You just have to talk low. The walls are thick but you never know when someone’s gonna be walking by,”

She pulls the leafy, green curtains over the windows and taps her finger on a small ball of light hovering just a few inches above the countertop. As if commanded by Runella’s touch, the glow ceases and the ball drops into a a little bowl padded with grass and leaves.

“Oh wow— that’s cool! What is it?” Apple inquired curiously as she leans over the counter to get a better look, “Is it some sort of magic lamp?”

“Something like that,” Runella scoops up several bottles and papers off the desk as she kicks open the door to the back room, “Hey Apple, would you mind grabbing that ledger from under the desk? I’ve gotta mark down a few sales before I forget.”

“Oh— yeah, of course!” Apple kneels down and searches for the book, her tail flitting and swaying behind her, “Um… is this it?” She grabs a large, leather-bound tome strung with hempen twine tattered and frayed from months of constant use, “Jeez— it’s heavy!” She lifts the book up with a grunt and she follows behind Runella.

Runella shuts the door behind them as she sets down the armful of things she had taken from the counter. Bottles clink and clang as she sorts them into containers and files several papers away in different drawers.

With a heavy thud, Apple drops the ledger on a small table in the corner of the room, slumping over with exhaustion as she pants, “Okay… is… is that good?” Her words are sparse as she puts a hand on her chest and tries to catch her breath.

Runella bursts out into laughter as she turns to see Apple so worn out from carrying the ledger, “Yeah, that’ll work just fine!” She gives Apple a lighthearted tousle on the head, the girl giggling in response as Runella moves her out of the way and takes a seat. Flipping the book open with yet another thud, she grabs a quill from off the table and begins to write something down.

“So, um—“ Apple takes a seat on one of the potion crates as she twiddles around with her fingers and looks to the ground, “Miss Runella, could I ask you something?”

Without looking up from her book, Runella replies, “Shoot.”

“Well, it’s just…” she fidgets with her feet as she brings her tail around into her lap, nervously tapping it with her hands as it flits up and down like an anxious cat, “Um… so… you said you know Mister Percy, right?”

The sound of ink on paper suddenly stops as Runella raises her brows with curiosity and glances to Apple, “Yeah. How come?”

“Well, I— um—“ she only grows more restless as she tries to speak, “I was just wondering— well, I was just— I was gonna ask—“

“Spit it out. I won’t judge you,” Runella waits attentively for Apple to continue.

“Is he nice?” Her face goes pink as her tail flips more quickly and her body closes into a more guarded position.

“Oh,” Runella relaxes in her chair as she grabs her pen once again, “Is that all?” she looks back down at the ledger as she answers, “Yeah, he’s nice. He helped me get this shop set up and he runs errands for me all the time.”

“Well, that’s good, but—“ she hugs her tail like a security blanket as she pulls her knees in to her chest and blushes, “Like, is he… nice? Is he sweet?”

Runella chuckles and softly shakes her head as she sets down her pen and stands up. She takes a few soft steps towards Apple before kneeling down and placing a hand on her shoulder, “Yes, Apple. He’s very sweet and kind,” she smiles, “He has a lot of compassion and he hates to see people suffer. After all, isn’t that how he met you?” She tilts her head with a grin as she playfully pokes Apple in the shoulder, who giggles and squirms in response.

“Hey—!” She swats at Runella with a big grin as she flails around in her seat, “Yeah, I guess that’s true. I just… I didn’t… I didn’t know if it was…” she frowns as she taps her fingers, looking back down as she tries to find her words.

“An act?” As Runella finishes the sentence for her, Apple tilts her head back up and looks into Runella’s eyes.

“Yeah…” she smiles sheepishly as Runella stands.

“I understand completely. I’ve gone through my fair share of shitty guys, too. It makes you wary — you never know who you can trust and who you can’t. Right?”

“Y-yeah, exactly,” she gives Runella a shy smile, “How did you know where I was going with that?”

“Call it girls’ intuition, I guess,” Runella giggles, “I can see it in your eyes; you’ve been through a lot. I know it certainly wasn’t easy opening up to either of us, but I’m proud that you did.”

“T-thank you. I-I’m trying my best. You two seem really nice and I wanna show that I appreciate it, I just— it’s hard,” Apple leans over and rests her head and arms on another potion box as she thinks, “But you’ve been a… um… a great distraction… from the, um… from the things that I was thinking about…” her face drops as memories of something come flooding back to her. Runella gently places a hand on Apple’s shoulder as she watches her tremble and shudder, screwing her eyes and shaking her head to try and get rid of the thoughts, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry! I, I didn’t mean to—“

“Hey, it’s okay, Apple…” Runella softly rubs a hand on Apple’s back, “Whatever happened is in the past, and we’re here for you now.”

Still shaking, Apple tenses up as she lets or a weak, “T…thank you…” and a few tears begin to well up in her eyes, “I— I’m trying not to—“

“It’s okay, cry if you need to,” Runella pulls out a crate and sits down next to Apple, delicately wrapping an arm around her and softly rubbing her shoulder, “I won’t judge. Promise,” she extends a pinkie finger to Apple who returns a shaky smile, locking fingers with Runella and weakly shaking hands.

“I just… it’s… it was so…” she sniffles as she tries her best to maintain her composure, but her body quivers and shakes as her breathing becomes more rushed, “…it was… he was…”

“Hey, hey hey hey hey hey, deep breaths…” Runella holds Apple a little more firmly, taking slow, intentional breaths as Apple follows suit.

“He was so mean to me…” she screws her eyes and pulls into a fetal position as she begins to bawl. Runella glances around apprehensively, listening to make sure nobody can hear from outside before taking Apple in both of her arms and rubbing her back gently.

“I’m here for you, Apple. He can’t hurt you anymore,” Runella closes her eyes as she rests her head on Apple’s shoulder, pulling her close as she ponders to herself,“Who is she talking about? Is he still out there? How long ago did this happen?” but for now, she puts those questions out of her mind as she focuses her full attention on trying to keep Apple comfortable in this moment.

She holds Apple tight as she weeps into Runella’s shoulders, gently hushing and rocking her as she lets it all out. Apple’s entire body goes back and forth between tense and relaxed, open and guarded, and Runella keeps as firm and calm as she can to give Apple a rock to cry on.

The seconds turn to minutes and the minutes into hours as Runella gives her all the time that she needs, and finally Apple’s muscles begins to relax as she takes a quivering breath. She looks up at Runella with red, tear-soaked eyes, and she pulls her in for a shaky hug, trying her best to hold tight but finding herself unable to maintain a grip.

Runella holds her firmly, keeping her tight and secure so that she doesn’t have to do anything she doesn’t have the strength for. She strokes her arms tenderly as she leans in and whispers, “It’s okay, Apple, I’ve got you. You don’t have to do anything right now…”

Apple sniffles and whimpers as Runella keeps her close, feeling her nerves begin to ease as Runella offers two final words of encouragement.

“Just feel.”