[Honesty] Smile [Noble Born x Buttermint][FIN]

[Chrystali]

She'd seen him around, the handsome princely Phony with his polite smile and distant eyes, well-mannered and civil but just barely that. There was something almost sad about the way his smile never really reached his eyes, unfitting of his noble visage. Maybe she just wanted to see if she could make him smile, or maybe it was the small, brief denial in her at how pretty he was and how it made her stomach feel silly, but she had to try.

It wouldn't be right if Buttermint didn't at least try to make him smile in her own, small way.

And so, for the better part of a week, Mint left him a small gift, a token of her presence without making it known: small pillows beautifully knit from various fabrics and a small sampling of buttermints in a mesh bag, tied neatly with a pink bow. There was never a 'from' tag, the gift left anonymously, the filly hidden across the street to see him find the sweets.

There was no smile yet, but...maybe if she kept leaving them...

Ruriska with FIN edit

 

[Ruriska]

At first Noble Born hadn’t thought anything of the gift left at his door. He’d stared down at the perfect little pillow, with the bag of treats that had clearly been lovingly prepared. After a quick glance around, he had scooped it up and eaten the contents without a second thought. But then it happened again, the next day and the next until a week had nearly passed. An admirer perhaps. It wasn’t as if he was lacking in those but the lack of ‘from’ tag was curious. Normally you’d want your crush to at least know who you are.

Another day and just as expected another gift. Noble Born stood in the doorway, now eyeing it as if it was some sort of bomb. Poisoned buttermints, perhaps? An enemy? Or- oh, of course. Noble Born laughed, grabbed his bag of treats and took them inside. Buttermints. He’d almost entirely forgotten about his younger siblings and nearly hadn’t made the connection.

Well, it looked like he would be paying a visit to the family home tomorrow.

Chrystali

 

[Chrystali]

Another morning, another delivery to be made after breakfast. Buttermint was early, not one to waste daylight - even if it was crack of dawn-light - having made pancakes for the family to eat at their leisure, devouring her own in a very unlady-like manner. She didn't have time to just sit and enjoy herself, she had so much to do and there were only so many hours in the day!

She devoured her fresh fruit side with a soft 'nom nom -- mm!' sound, licking her lips and continuing to eat as quickly as she could manage.

Ruriska

 

[Ruriska]

This was normally the time Noble Born was getting home and thinking about a late dinner with a buttermint snack and going to bed. Instead he let himself into his parents house, followed the smell of pancakes to the kitchen and found exactly who he was here to find. It took all his years of training not to let a sharklike grin spread across his features.

Instead he held himself poised and tossed the bag of treats from yesterday onto the table.

“Buttermint,” the name rolled out deep and amused.

Ruriska

 

[Chrystali]

She'd only been expecting her immediate family, so hadn't quite looked up when someone entered her peripheral. The cheek full of pancake she'd been working on was suddenly swallowed, however, when a very familiar gift slid across the table and into her view.

Buttermint's eyes went wide at the sound of her name, head snapping to the side to look at Noble Born, the amusement in his voice not doing much to soothe her suddenly frayed nerves. She'd been caught! Red-hoofed!

It took near a full minute of working the lump of food out of her throat, gasping air and exhaling it in a nervous laugh. "Guh -- good -- good morning! Are you -- hungry? Pancakes?" She offered unhelpfully, sinking a little behind her near empty plate.

To continue the guise of being completely innocent (which she in no way pulled off), she took another big bite of her breakfast, ears tucked down against her hair.

Ruriska

 

[Ruriska]

There was a smile on his face, soft and charming but his gaze was sharp as he slid into the seat opposite hers. "Yes, please. That would be lovely." The gift sat between them on the table but he said nothing about it, just let the unspoken knowledge of what it was build.

Noble Born was patient. He was happy to wait for the right moment. Her discomfort was extremely entertaining.

Chrystali

 

[Chrystali]

Buttermint swallowed hard and slid out of her seat, trotting to the kitchen and doing well not to trip over her own hooves. Gathering a plate and a generous helping of pancakes, she returned to the table and set them down in front of Noble Born with only a slight clatter of nerves. She slid the butter, fruit and syrup across the table within his reach before clamoring back into her chair.

The silence was weighing heavily on her small body. Clearing her throat, she stared at her plate, trying to smile brightly - which just looked like she was smiling at her food. "Mom and dad wont be up for a while," she ventured to say, tail tucking around her side. "Or is there -- something else I can -- um, get for you?"

She carefully did not look at the mesh bag of sweets, even as their scent reached her.

Ruriska

 

[Ruriska]

"Thank you, Buttermint. You’re very generous." Noble Born said as the pancakes were placed before him. He added some butter and poured syrup generously over the top. The fruit he ignored, just as he continued to ignore the bag of sweets.

"No, this is more than enough," he responded smoothly, lips curling into a warm smile designed to charm. "Please, finish your own pancakes. I’d hate for them to get cold."

Chrystali

 

[Chrystali]

"Anything for family!" Her voice was almost too high, and to stop herself, she took the last heaping bite of her breakfast. Bright eyes flit only briefly to Noble Born, picking up that smile, hearing his polite tone, both reminders of why the bag of treats was there at all. She flushed, nearly the color of magenta in her hair, stark against her minty pelt.

Another hard swallow and all she could do was look between him and her empty plate. "'m done," she volunteered carefully, "so, um, is there -- anything -- ?" Buttermint dared a glance at her namesake, but only just, sliding out of her chair and taking her dishes with her towards the kitchen.

Ruriska

 

[Ruriska]

Noble Born was eating slowly. A bite here, a bite there, slowly savouring the taste of making his little sister uncomfortable.

It was time.

"Actually," he called before she could reach the kitchen with her dishes, "I do have something I wanted to talk to you about."

Chrystali

 

[Chrystali]

She wanted to do the dishes - oh, would that be rude? - hesitating in the kitchen and instead just running water over them so they'd be easier to clean after. Buttermint hadn't finished by the time Noble Born spoke, the dishes clattering a bit against the sink. "O--oh?" She nearly squeaked, but turned the water off and carefully made her way back to the table - on the opposite side of her brother, of course.

Peeking over the edge of the table, she spoke uncertainly. "What -- what can I d-do?"

Ruriska

 

[Ruriska]

He gave a soft, throaty laugh. "You seem nervous, dear sister. Relax." Every little stutter was music to his ears.

Noble Born reached out to the buttermint package and pushed it closer to her side of the table. "It’s this curious matter. You see, someone very kind has been leaving me little gifts. Every day this week, in fact. Even more curious, they are your namesake treat."

With another laugh, he sat back, eyelids drooping almost lazily.

"Which means I’ve eaten far too much candy this week and I thought you might like some."

Chrystali

 

[Chrystali]

"K -- k -- kind? I -- hah -- how -- how about that." Buttermint couldn't look him in the eye - nor her namesake in the mesh. It was like some sort of glaring proof of her attempts, which, just then, seemed foolish indeed.

"Oh I -- I c -- I couldn't," she stammered again, slinking down beneath the line of the table until scarcely her horn and her ears were visible above it, the latter tucked back against her mane. "Igavethemtoyou."

Ruriska

 

[Ruriska]

Noble Born had her exactly where he wanted and it was a beautiful thing.

"What was that?" He asked, leaning forward with a pleasant smile. "I didn’t quite catch it." Oh yes, he had.

Chrystali

sorry he's a jerk lmao

 

[Chrystali]

She had a feeling he might have been toying with her - but she was just a babben and he was a beautiful adult who was actually being kind, but for the life of her, she couldn't shake off the feeling of guilt or wrong-doing. Like her little secret attempt of good-will had become some sort of...tragedy.

"It..." Her ears completely flattened, and putting her chin on the table, the babben very nearly deflated on the spot. "It -- it was me. I did it. I put the candies there." Buttermint stared at the mints then, like they were some sort of betrayal. "But!" Her ears went upright, her head abruptly lifting from the table, looking at Noble Born with her jaw set. "I only wanted to make you happy! You always seems so -- so -- like -- " Her hooves lifted off the ground to wave around, trying to conjure the words. "Like your smile doesn't fit, like -- like your eyes are sad!"

She pursed her mouth, brows knit over eyes that were beseeching for understanding. "I just wanted to make you really smile."

Ruriska

HE'S PERFECT AND WONDERFUL and is an excellent lesson for Buttermint XD