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The rolling hills and waves of the rocky mountain terrain was a frightening sight for most who had the privilege of viewing the providence of Talrega, but a welcome sight for wyverns and other fliers. The high altitude atmosphere was ideal for those who could soar and didn’t have to fear for many aerial obstacles as the bright azure skies were some of the most appropriate and desired. Unfortunately, sometimes such perfect weather was a rare sight, given the unpredictable weather and climate changes of the area. One minute there might be blue skies and sunshine while the next the clouds will storm over, pouring rainfall and resulting in dangerous landslides which nobody dared to stick around to see.
Despite the challenges, the Fizzart family, at least what was left of it, maintained a proud and reputable courier service domestically and across continents as they became recognized for their services. Jill, in particular, was the head of the business, or at least better than her partner who could be seen lazing around or napping, resulting in packages being brought to their respective owners late if they even reached them at all. In his defense, he’d often blame the weather but after years of the same excuse, his partner was less than concerned.
One particular evening, the red-haired wyvern flier returned to their small cottage, modest in its exterior on the outskirts of her childhood village only a few minutes away from the cemetery where her father was buried. Jill had agreed with her father’s friend, Haar, to protect his grave while maintaining their own delivery service, and things had been working better than either had expected. Due to meeting new people and traveling to new places, her eyes had been opened up to different perspectives and as a result, she became more open-minded, as opposed to her narrow, sheltered life as a child where her own opinions were rooted in others’ ideas. Haar, on the other hand, was not so quick to change his ways.
Jill, her deliveries done for the week, had visited her father’s grave before the foul weather of the afternoon had set in. She approached her shared home with Haar and didn’t see his wyvern curled under the tree where it, like its master, loved to nap. ‘He must be working, for once, or his wyvern is doing something. I don’t know which is less likely,’ she thought to herself. The red haired woman unlocked the house and slipped inside, allowing her eyes to adjust to the dimmer interior.
The living room was barren, only having an unlit fireplace as there was no need for it in hot summers, a rug, and a couch. Jill rested her hands on the back of the couch, they weren’t rich by any stretch of the word, but they weren't poor either. They just had no need for anything else in their living room considering couriers didn’t spend too much time at home. She peered over to look at the seats, fully expecting to see her sleeping partner. But to her…relief, perhaps, he wasn’t there, making it slightly more likely that he was out doing deliveries. There were still areas to check before the woman deemed herself correct and Jill knew he wouldn’t answer if she called out to him, so why bother.
She made her way over to the dining room which was connected to the kitchen, neither were cooks but could prepare simple meals. He wasn’t eating and the wood-fire stove was cold signaling that it hadn’t been used since they made dinner the night before. The red head didn’t know quite what the two of them were. Sure they were partners and lived together and more than once the women of the village had asked her when their wedding would be, or worse, assume they were already married and ask if they were going to have children. Though the latter mostly came from Jill’s mother, teasingly asking for grandchildren to dote on. It was those times Jill was glad that she only saw the woman once a week.
But not seeing him there raised the odds of him taking her instructions, or nagging as he’d call it, to heart and getting his job done before the week was over so he could relax then. Then they wouldn’t have to get into the same scuffle they do each week when his deliveries run late from his laziness. She walked to the back of the house where there were the two bedrooms, and she opened the door to the one on the left side of the hall. Despite it being called a bedroom, and having formally been one, it now only housed packages, all neatly lined up and in stacks of who would deliver them, where and when. Before their courier service had, taken flight one could say, it had been her room. But with the growing amount of clients, she was forced to start sharing a room with Haar. At first, she told herself that it was just for the business, they needed the space for the packages, but she knew that wasn’t entirely true. She harbored feelings for the man, and she was glad for what they had, despite the fact that he never formally asked her on dates, and by definition, they weren't a couple. Even so, they still had something between them. Long nights in each other's arms told her as much.
She walked over to the sole table in the room that held their delivery ledger and looked at the open page. It held the records of all their operations and needed details; who sent it, who was getting it, where it was from and going, size, weight, needed dates and the signature of who delivered it. Her eyes skimmed across the lines and was thankful that all of Haar’s seemed to be done. That is, until she saw one that was pinned in what looked like wyvern scratch, also known as Haar’s handwriting, scrawled in crookedly at the bottom with no signature next to it. She sighed heavily, she wasn’t able to make heads or tails of his atrocious writing so she couldn’t tell anything about the package. That was why she was always the one to write in this book and only made him sign.
Jill rolled her eyes and left the package room, knowing that he had pinned one thing in the book and the fact that he didn’t sign for it left her somewhat confident in the fact that he was delivering whatever it was. Perhaps, for once, she’d be the one to have an afternoon nap rather than him. She crossed the hall to the true bedroom in the house, immediately spotting Haar asleep on their bed as she rubbed the bridge of her nose, not surprised in the least bit yet annoyed all the same.
“Mr. Haar! Wake up!” She crossed the room in a few strides so that she was standing over him, arms crossed and glaring down at him. She knew he was awake even without him opening his eye.
“Zzzzzz….”
She groaned in annoyance and pinched his nose shut. It wasn’t the first time that she had woken him like that, not after him ignoring her calling his name for the last few years.
After a few moments, the man gasped under her grip, his one visible eye darting across the room before settling on her countenance, eyelid dimming his vision. His hands clung to her arm, tearing her off while he took a hefty inhale before rubbing his eye and sitting up slightly.
“It isn’t polite to wake someone up so rudely, you know.”
“And it isn’t polite to ignore me when I know you’re awake!” She shook her head, this would be the same old bickering that they would always have, “Why are you sleeping? You have a job to do.” She gestured towards the package room.
Haar sighed, shifting his head from left to right as he was about to fall back into his napping position until a sharper edge of his “pillow” caught him off guard. Rubbing his back, he actually perked up and had a hint of a smile when picking up the small gift.
“Please, I wouldn’t ignore you. Besides…” the package went from resting behind his back before being displayed in front for Jill to take from him, “I can’t do my job when my client isn’t here to pick it up. But...now she is.”
Jill stepped back in shock, no one sent her packages unless she was to deliver them, “Really Mr. Haar? You just push your job off on me?” She huffed in annoyance, saying goodbye to her weekend of relaxation before the deliveries would start again. She snatched the package from him, “Can you at least tell me who it’s for and to where? I looked in the ledger and your handwriting is illegible.”
Suddenly he began to chuckle, an eerily unusual sight for the middle-aged rider, as he tilted his head at his partner. Scratching his five o’clock shadow he was too lazy to shave otherwise, his eyes bounced between her and her package. “Why don’t you look at the information on the package before judging me, lass?”
She rolled her eyes and looked down at the small package in her hands, it was much lighter than it looked, and her name was carefully written on the top along with the village’s. It was for her. Jill shook the box, curiosity now running over her, as she pushed Haar’s legs out of the way so she could sit on the edge of the bed. A soft scuffing noise came from inside the box, whatever was in it was much smaller than its container. She pulled at the sting and neatly set it to the side as she started to undo the box.
“Who is it from?” She couldn’t stop the tiny amount of giddiness from creeping into her voice.
“A secret admirer~.” His snarkiness was slightly more subtle but now she was only twice as curious as to what could possibly be inside. It would turn out there was a small blue box with a velvety texture tied with a red ribbon and a letter neatly folded inside an envelope. Knowing the trinket was clearly fancier and the letter was meant to be read before, she decided to open said note first.
From the top the opposite of Haar’s illegible writing was used, a formal and beautiful cursive making the writer clearly known if the literal reveal at the bottom wasn’t enough. Jill cleared her throat and quoted,
“Dear Jill,
I’ve missed you so much over these past few years. It’s been so boring not having you around and worse that we live so far apart. Not to mention how long it takes to send letters from Crimea to Daein. Anyway, I saw this and just knew I had to give it to you. I hope we can see each other real soon.
Love, Mist”
Jill blushed as red as her hair, she already had an inkling of an idea of what was in the smaller box from its looks alone but she didn’t want to confirm her guess. She cared about Mist like a younger sister, not in the way the younger woman must have if that was indeed a ring box. She glanced over to see Haar’s reaction if he also thought that it was a ring box as well, not to mention who her ‘secret admirer’ was.
“W-well...I didn’t expect that, that’s for sure.” He was slightly red as well, not because of the implications of the note but anxious to see her reaction to what was inside the smaller container. “Open the box, Jill.” He was usually not one to order anyone around, let alone her, but he was quite adamant about seeing his job through...for once.
Her fingers curled around the small box, lifting it into her palm and undoing the ribbon. She bit her lip as she opened the box and breathed a small sigh of relief that it was empty, soft silken insides bare. Whilst there was an indent for a ring, none sat there. She placed a hand on her chest, feeling her heartbeat slow back to normal.
“I’m relieved that there isn’t a ring from Mist in here, but why would she send me an empty box?”
Haar, scratching the backside of his head in bewilderment, rolled off the bed and started searching on the ground. He was crawling on all fours like a dog, peeking underneath the bed and leaning forward underneath the gap between the bottom of the mattress and the floor. Finally, he pulled his head out, making his way to where her feet were and kneeled while holding a glimmering article in one hand, extended to her as the package had been moments ago.
“I believe this is yours~.”
She blinked in shock, the blush once again rose to her cheeks. Pinched between his fingers was a silver ring with a small, square diamond at the top. The ring was carved to look like a wyvern was clutching the stone in its four feet, wings folded back to form the band. The long neck and tail were curled in a circle under the gem, giving it a smoother look. The hand on her chest rose to cover her mouth slightly, fingers just gracing her lips. The ring was beautiful, but she knew it hadn’t fallen out of the box. She glanced up at him, a hopeful suspicion rising in her chest.
“That didn’t fall out of the box… how do you have it?”
“You really need me to spell this out for you? Some things never change.” He brushed a dangling strand of hair behind his forehead and sighed, looking down to avoid meeting her gaze directly. “I wanted to surprise you with a gift so Mist and I went shopping last week to find presents for you. She found an adorable tin of cookies while I...picked out this ring I hold in front of you. She sent a package with the tin and the letter you just read, which I was going to give to you but, when I realized how beautiful the box was, I wanted to...recycle it. I removed the tin and slipped into the empty box but...forgot to remove the letter, hence your confusion.” Haar raised his chin and looked at her once more, eye gleaming with confidence as he spoke, “However, I ultimately wanted to surprise you...so I could propose to you. Will you marry an old fool like me?”
Tears rolled down Jill’s face and she slowly dropped her hand from her mouth, her expression unreadable. She slowly slid off the bed and onto her knees, and she hugged him close to her body, her voice shook as she spoke, “Haar, I… we never really dated but… you have to be blind in both your eyes to not know how I feel about you. But… you were my father’s best friend, his student...how wrong is it for us to be together? What would he think?” Her voice cracked as she spoke of he father and she held the man before her tighter, fingers tangling in his shirt, “But… I love you.” She whispered the last part.
Haar grew increasingly curious and flustered as she made his way to him, less concerned with her questions and more so with her lack of a direct answer. “So...is that a yes?”
She nodded into his shoulder and loosened her grip just a bit no she wasn’t squeezing him too tightly anymore, “It is.”
Sighing in relief at her confirmation, he tightened his grip around her, resting a kiss of sorts on her neck as his lips fell onto the pale skin. After a moment he tilted his head to look at her, his visible eye reflecting her beautiful red countenance in a midst of gray doubt. “Thank you...and I’m sorry I never formally initiated our relationship. I’ve never been one for formalities anyway, as I’m sure you already know.” A slight chuckle escaped his lips, warm breath tickling her neck as he reared his head to look at her on even footing. “As for Lord Shir-your father, I know our different relationships with him might make this current situation awkward...but at the same time, it worked out better. You could say I...received his blessing earlier.” His eyes fell down to the ring, rolling it around in his hands as he still hadn’t made a move to put it on her hand. Some part of him hesitated, waiting for her reassurance before committing to anything else.
Jill pulled her face back to look at him more clearly, red eyes curious at the statement. But her arms never left around his neck.
“What do you mean by that?”
“Well…” his empty hand reached past his shoulder, rubbing his rigid neck in slight embarrassment at admitting the unorthodox experience he had earlier. “On the way home from work I flew by your father’s grave. I...showed him the ring and asked him for his blessing, apologizing for everything I couldn’t do and my shortcomings. As I asked, there was a flower in the center of his grave that seemed to...nod in approval. There was a gust of wind so I don’t even know if there was anything to make of it. Maybe from another angle, it would’ve shaken its head as if to say no but...like meeting you, maybe it was just luck.”
She clutched him tight again, not knowing that he’d go through all or that for her. Her pink lips brushed across his cheek, her voice was breathy as she spoke his name. Cool tears ran down her face as well knowing that, from wherever her father’s spirit was, he was still looking out for both of them and gave his approval for them to be together. She pulled her lips back to press a kiss to Haar’s. They had kissed before but never too often, but holding him now in these emotional moments she wondered why it wasn’t more often.
He pushed the back of her head towards his own to keep her close. Without her, he would be alone if not for his wyvern but she would also be alone, however, they could be alone together? The old man snickered at his own logic and slowly pulled away from her lips, making composed eye contact as his other hand clung to one of hers around his neck. Pulling it down in front of them, he slowly stuck the ring on her ring finger, pushing it gently as it made its way to where the digit attached to the palm. Smiling at the glimmering treasure on his other beloved treasure, he bowed and kissed the front of her hand as if she was royalty.
A scarlet blush covered her cheek as he did so, causing her to pull her hand away to both rub the tears away and hide the blush on her face. “Mi- Haar,” she made herself call him by just his name, “Two things. One...go sign that you delivered the package, I don’t want my log being messed up. Two…if you removed the cookie tin from Mist, where is it?”
Furrowing his brow out of instinct at the sound of “Mr.” until she corrected herself, Haar relaxed his face in relief. He crossed his arms at her first demand but raised an eyebrow at the second, scratching his stubble to act as if he didn’t know or forgot the whereabouts of the gift. “If it’s your log why don’t you sign it? Oh...it doesn’t matter.” He quickly got up and went to the log to avoid further questioning of the latter.
“Haar? Get back here! Haar! Captain!” She dashed to their living room, her gaze darting to the front door slammed shut as he yelled something about finding a pen before wyvern flapping was overheard. Jill made her way over to the log, a pen clearly resting in between the two pages on display. “I can’t believe I’m going to marry this man…”