It was a lovely afternoon. Gwenn had been eating lunch with his partner, Burl MacIverson, at a stall in the quarter of the city where they were assigned to patrol that day. It was nice having patrol duty, even though it meant they got into fights more often than when he worked castle-duty. All the vendors allowed them to eat for free--he learned early on that not only would they refuse the coin, but they would be insulted and send a message to the lieutenant if he insisted on trying to pay.
It was Burl who first noticed why everyone seemed to be turning their heads toward the direction of the spaceport. "Hey, Gwenn, it's that girl, the Terranan, the one with the owl, what's her name?"
Gwenn, thinking that for some reason, Kay had finally decided to stop playing Nevarsin Hermit and was taking a stroll into the city, hopefully replied, "Kay?" He half-stood and turned in an attempt to spy her.
"An- uh, Anwyn, yeah!" Burl said, standing up. He was a handsome, tall man, twenty, with brown hair and goatee. He was a newer addition to the guardsmen than Gwenn--he'd joined the guards just as Gwenn had gotten out of training, and so hadn't been out of training for a full year yet--and he had been paired with Gwenn that day. "Hey, Anwyn, over here!" he yelled before Gwenn could stop him.
"No!" Gwenn told Burl, automatically crouching as if that would keep her from finding him. "Don't do that, we'll never get rid of her!" he frantically said in a low voice.
"Ah, why'd'ya wanna be like that?" Burl complained, and waved so Anwyn could easily see them. "She's not a bad maiden." Burl raised his voice again, "Anwyn, at the Lazy Boar stall!"
Out of the corner of her eye, Anwyn spotted a couple of familiar faces -- just before one of them dropped out of sight. It looked as though he had dropped something and was leaning over to pick it up.
Gwenn groaned and stood up, turning resignedly, stuffing the last of the roll in his mouth to keep from saying something he knew he'd later regret. After all, Kay had practically adopted the lass. What his breda saw in her, he'd never know....
"Ummm ... hi ... what're you two doing ?", she said to MacIverson, trying NOT to giggle-or-stare at Gwenn's overly-full mouth. Had THAT been what he had needed to pick up off the ground?? EWWWWWWWWWWW ! Yuck ! Boys could be SO totally disgusting sometimes. And did they somehow think it make them look more manly when they stuffed WAY more food in their mouths than they could politely chew ?
Burl puffed his chest out and proudly said, "We are patrolling this section of the city. This stand is very quiet at the moment." Gwenn chewed furiously and swallowed with a loud gulp.
She grinned mischievously, then added "I could use a mid-afternoon snack too; though I don't think I'm quite as ravenously-hungry as MacConal looks. What's the nicest thing on the menu here ? And do they serve unfermented cider here ?"
"We were jes' leavin'," Gwenn said hastily.
"Ah, MacConal, don't be that way. We can stay and guard the lass for a bit. After all, we escort the damisela'in all the time, now." Burl gave a small bow and pulled out a chair for Anwyn. "But why would you be wantin' unfermented cider?" he asked Anwyn.
"Because she's nae supposed to have any fermented drinks," Gwenn supplied grumpily, sitting back down.
"Why not? She looks like a full-grown lass," Burl said.
"Thanks, MacIverson", Awnyn all but purred, pleased at the compliment. "At least SOMEBODY on this planet doesn't treat me as if I was just a CHILD !", she added. It was SO totally unfair that the ONLY way that she could get a glass of wine (or even some hard cider) was to go have dinner with Kay -- and even then, she only got ONE glass. It was just as bad as being at home. And it was doubly-unfair that OTHER Terran 16-year-olds could get what they wanted in town -- but not HER. she couldn't help that she was short for her age (only 5' tall).
Gwenn frowned, but didn't say anything in front of Burl.
"Well, then, we'll just have to find out." Burl called to the owner of the stand, "Bartan, have you any spiced apple juice or shallan?"
"Nae fermented anythin'!" Gwenn growled.
Anwyn frowned and resisted the urge to tell Gwenn to SHUT UP. She wasn't THAT much shorter than HE was. And anyways, SHE thought that HE looked just as young as SHE did.
"But shallan's not...very well," Burl conceded as he recognized the stubborn look that he knew meant Gwenn wouldn't budge on whatever- issue-was-at-hand and called out, "Just juice, Bartan, and a small pie." Burl gave Anwyn another bow. "I will return in two hops of a rabbithorn," he told her.
As soon as he was far enough away not to be able to overhear her easily, Anwyn frowned at Gwenn. "Stop treating me like a child", she told him indignantly, "I'm probably just as old as YOU are, even though I'm shorter"..
"Weel, then, why don' ye act like it?" Gwenn replied. "An' if 'twas up ta me, I'd nae care, but Kay acts like yer her sister, and that obligates me, too."
Anwyn frowned, and looked about to protest further. But then abruptly changed her mind. She didn't want to try explaining to Gwenn that Kay just ACTED like a bossy big sister and that her parents had temporarily made Kay her guardian while she's was on this planet. Arguing with Gwenn would NOT likely get her what she wanted. And anyways, they could always argue LATER -- like usual.
Anwyn frowned, "Kay is STILL being NO fun. I keep trying to get her to do something FUN for a change -- like we used to do". She sighed, "Even after all this time, she stays indoors too much. If it wasn't for that hawk of hers throwing what looks like temper tantrums, she'd probably NEVER go outside at all.".