Road to Ruisea

❆ ❆ XXVIII. JAE ❆ ❆

"You doin' okay?" Jae asks, as he knocks on Kumari's door.

"I should be asking you that!" She squeaks, voice muffled as the door is closed. "You can come in, by the way."

"I'm fiiine," Jae reassures once he enters. "Just a little sore."

"Whatever you say, Jae," she looks up from whatever she's doing — there seems to be a lot of pink fabric involved — to give him an bemused look. "But when we get to Axeria, you're getting a doctor."

"I don't think that's such a good idea—"

"And then, I'm going to see everything there is to see there."

"Definitely not a good idea."

"I'm not afraid of Sho."

"Kumari, that's a lie!"

"Well. You're right! But I just don't care, either."

"You should... I didn't bring you out here to die. If I knew they'd set a bounty hunter on you in advance, I never would've taken you all this way to begin with."

"How dare!"

"It's true...!"

"I would've come anyways."

"And I admire that, but I don't want blood on my hands."

"I don't want blood on my dress," she sighs. "But here we are."

"You bled?"

"Nah... But it's ripped. So I'm sewing the sleeve back together."

"Ohhh, is that what you're doing?"

"That's right! Pass me one of those pearls, will you?"

"Sure," he picks up a small peach-colored pearl from a small tin (that Goldy's sitting next to, protectively) and drops it in Kumari's palm. "What's it for?"

"I'm making it prettier," she replies. "If it's torn, might as well use that as an excuse to make it even better than it was!"

"I guess you're right," he sits next to her on the bed, and watches her carefully. "Do you like pearls, Kumari?"

"They're my favorite kind of gem," Kumari says.

"Technically they're not gems, though..."

"Exactly! Most shiny pretty things you wear are like, rocks. From the ground. I like pearls because they come from the water. People would give me pearls a lot, and they're about as close to the ocean as I've ever gotten — until I met you, of course."

"You're welcome, by the way."

"Haha! Thank you. Even if there is the potential that I'll die on the way."

He tentatively puts his arm around her shoulder, and Kumari doesn't seem to mind, shifting to make herself more comfortable, leaning against him and continuing to sew.

"I like the ocean," she says. "And I like snow. I could see both from my balcony, but only one wasn't an illusion."

"I took you to see the ocean," Jae says. "And I'll take you to see snow, too."

"I'm really happy about that," Kumari smiles to herself. "And really grateful. Thank you again, Jae."

"It's all good. I don't really need thanks."

But I like it.

"You're no prince," Kumari tuts. "But I'm glad you rescued me out of my tower."

"I wouldn't want to be a prince," Jae rolls his eyes. "How boring would that be. I'd end up a tyrant, or worse... Stuffy. Can you imagine, being locked up in a castle all day?"