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Delta had never had time for relationships, she'd always been busy, other responsibilities had always come first. Dickory had been the same she'd found after a night at the saloon, the two of them able to have a good laugh together over something that had happened during the last crop season. Her laugh stopped as suddenly as it started when she felt soft hair tickling her upper lip before something even softer pressed to her lips. She blinked in shock, taking a moment to realise it was Dickory, kissing her sweetly, eyes closed and brows furrowed like he was expecting her to push him away.
Something melted though, and her eyelids fell shut and she began to kiss back, just as gently, just as timidly and something in her chest went warm and full of softness when she felt him melt against her in relief.
The next morning, after trading a few more kisses and then parting ways, Delta was thinking.
She had never really been interested in romance before. That was part of why it was so easy to let her responsibilities take over her life. Her most important relationships had always been family.
So... what was different about Dickory?
At some level, it sort of felt like nothing was different. She cared about him, yes, quite a bit apparently... but she didn't feel any differently than she normally did.
She blushed. The kiss had been nice, though. If a bit... fuzzy.
Delta was so deep in thought that she didn't even realize when Dickory was running up to her.
"H-hallo!" he stammered, rocking from toe to heel when he stopped in front of her, hands clasped behind his back just like when he had kissed her the first time. "Gut-- good morning, Miss Delta."
She blurted, "Can we talk?" and winced. She knew she was blunt, but she didn't mean to be that blunt.
He seemed to take it well, though, and nodded. They walked over to where Hickory was building a fence, and settled down to make more rope to help hold together the posts. It was quieter than the hammering and sawing Hickory was doing.
He glanced over at them, and nodded hello, but otherwise seemed focused on his work. Perfect.
"Dickory, I..." Delta hesitated. Where was her bluntness now? "I... about that kiss-- those kisses, last night."
The yodeler seemed to sag a bit. "Ah, I... I understand," he said, "You said you are always too busy for... that, so..."
"No, no, that's not what I wanted to say at all," Delta interrupted. "I... just wanted to ask about.... what we've got now? What are we?" She groaned at the cliché, but she had said it, and owned it.
He looked a bit baffled, but relieved. "I... partners? If you want to, that is..."
She smirked at him, amused by how polite he was being. "Dickory, I kissed you back. That's usually a yes, in my book."
He beamed for a moment, smiling right back. "I, ah... what are you meaning then?"
Delta thought to herself for a moment. She had hoped he would have some answers for her, but this was just more confusing. "I... I've never been interested in having more than friends. And even then I sort of thought if I did settle, it would be with a nice gal..." Dickory choked at the word settle, coughing for a moment until she smacked him on the back absentmindedly, knocking him face-first into the dirt. "I just mean... I don't know if I like you, romantic-wise, but I still like you, and care about you, and we get along real well. What is that?"
Dickory had been looking annoyed, for a moment; the red in his face made her worry that he might explode, like he sometimes did. But as she spoke, he seemed to relax.
"Oh thank goodness," he sighed, hand over his chest like it had been going a bit too fast until that moment. "I... I have never been interested in that before, either. Most of trolls I kiss do not understand, so..." He paused for a moment, and then set down his length of rope to tuck his hands behind his back again, looking up at her.
She blinked. "You feel... the same way?" There was something about that, that made her heart melt, and... she felt seen, for the first time in a long while. She was sure her eyes were shiny with unshed tears.
Dickory smiled at her. "Maybe we can try... being partners but... not romantic? Just us?" He had a sweet, hopeful look, like Delta had only seen once, last night.
She grinned, and leaned in and kissed him again.
"What in Sam Hill?!"
They both broke apart to see Hickory standing there in shock, hammer dropped on the ground beside him. He looked... well, like he had just caught his parents kissing. Except in this case, it was his brother who had half raised him, and a woman who had suddenly brought them into her family in the new era.
Delta laughed, hard, those tears finally falling as she did. Dickory joined her, and while Hickory made confused noises, Delta felt... happy, with her new little family.