Innocent Bystander

[robinauts]

Title: Innocent Bystander
Fandom: The Adventure Zone
Pairing: Lup/Lucretia (pre-relationship)
Rating: G
Word count: 992
Summary: The world they're in right now is seemingly covered in marshes. (Lup goes on a scavenger hunt. Lucretia joins her. A minor disaster is averted.)

Note: Originally posted to my AO3 5/5/2016. See more detailed notes at the end!

-

The world they're on right now is seemingly covered in marshes. Lup’s boots are probably permanently encrusted with algae and swamp-goo at this point, what with all the wading around she’s been doing. Ugh.

They're fairly certain the light of creation fell somewhere in this region, but they haven't found it yet - maybe it's buried under all the mud that seems to cover everything. Lup's inclined to believe that this is what caused a vast majority of the organic life here to have developed bioluminescence to varying degrees; the flora and fauna have a range of glittering and glowing that provide much of the light below the treeline.

Still. She isn't sure if some living Candlenights lights are worth the mess, or Taako's constant complaining from the mess, or Taako's constant complaining about having used all his spell slots to levitate above the mess.

Currently, their expeditionary kayaks aren't able to navigate the area until the tide comes in to raise the water level - and the tide cycle here takes days rather than hours. So they've set up camp in a sleepy, ramshackle halfling village that rings a bayou that’s full of dully shining carp; in the evening the air is thick with fireflies as the croaking of frogs and chirping of crickets accompany them to sleep.

Right now, Lup is meant to be eating brunch with the rest of the crew, but is instead doing her best to locate a hairbrush that Magnus threw out the window of the cottage they’re staying in. Well. Maybe it’d be more accurate to say that she threw it out of the window, but Magnus is the one that failed to catch it, so… it’s his fault, definitely. Yup.

Taako would have backed her up if it wasn’t his hairbrush. So Lup will do her older-by-five-minutes sister duty and retrieve her baby brother’s precious belonging.

Ugh. She’s gotten pretty used to the stench of the mud in the last few months, but having to sift through the reeds is bringing it all up in her poor sensitive nose's business. She’s pretty certain she saw it land over here -

“Lup! Watch your step!”

Lup goes stock still, one foot hanging in the air above the mud.

Lucretia is splish-sploshing her way over to her, her robe gathered up around her hips, a bandanna tied around her hair, and a journal tucked under her arm (as always).

Lup raises an eyebrow, not moving from her position. “What’s up, Creesh?”

“I would prefer if you didn’t call me that,” Lucretia reflexively says, just like every other time Lup’s tried that nickname. Boo. “And you were about to - there!”

She points down at the mud, and sitting there, almost directly where Lup would have put her foot, is a murky lavender frog, eyes glowing dimly in the midday light.

“Thanks, Lucretia,” Lup tells her, picking up the frog. Its legs kick a bit, but then it just sits limp in her hands, accepting its fate of being cuddled for a quick sec. Lup brings it up near her face to get a good look at it. It stares back at her. “Wouldn’t wanna smush an innocent bystander like this!”

Lucretia looks at her with that particular steady gaze of hers. Not for the first time, Lup feels as though Lucretia is able to read her like one of her books: flip through her pages calmly, analyze her down to the bone, and then turn in a book report for an A-plus-plus.

It would unnerve her more if Lucretia weren’t herself: stiltedly gentle and eternally well-meaning. She’s brilliant, yeah, but you can trust that she'll always try to do the most good that she can with that noggin of hers.

Finally, Lucretia gives her that smile of hers, the one that tugs up the left corner of her mouth. Lucretia doesn’t smile that often (despite Lup's best efforts - she's a serious sort), but when she does... wow, y’know?

“Absolutely.” Lucretia reaches out a hand and gently pats the frog on the head with two fingers. “Poor innocent bystander the frog.”

Then the frog lets out this deafening croak, and Lup is so damn startled that she drops the little dude into the mud with a splash. It seems to be okay, since it hops away real fast.

“Innocent bystander the frog owes you a life debt, and he repays you like that!” Lup jokes, crossing her arms, watching the frog disappear into the reeds. “Ungrateful bastard.”

“He doesn’t owe me anything,” Lucretia says, chuckling a bit. “I just didn’t want to see you step on a frog accidentally. It wasn't his fault he was there.”

Lup pauses for a moment, considering Lucretia: her carefully held journal, her few flyaway hairs, her strong nose and piercing eyes. How she’s out here in a swamp because she gave a shit about a frog, and knew Lup would give a shit too.

Lucretia shifts under Lup’s gaze. “… is there something you want to say?”

Honestly?

There’s a lot Lup wants to say.

But - “Nah,” she shrugs. “Just… thanks.”

And then Lucretia smiles, and it’s the most bashful little smile, and despite how she tries to conceal it her shoulders rise a little. “You’re, ah. You’re welcome, then.”

“You’re cute,” Lup blurts out, because she can’t not.

Lucretia looks like she would cover her face with her hands if they weren’t occupied with holding her robe and journals. Instead, she clears her throat and turns to the left, eyes darting around. “I think - I’m fairly sure that I saw Taako’s hairbrush land over - there? Over that way.”

Lup grins, and pats Lucretia on the shoulder. Lucretia makes something of a face at the smear of swamp muck left by her hand, and Lup can’t help but giggle. “You wanna help me look, Lucy?”

“Lucy is somehow worse than 'Creesh.' And certainly, if only to make sure you don’t step on any other innocent bystanders.”

-

Additional notes:

written for honeykiwi for an ask meme, but i ended up being pretty fond of it. here's the original post!

prompt: 100 ways to say ‘i love you.' 17. “Watch your step.”