'With any giving of reason, Just to get to see you pleased. There are some strict restrictions, I must uphold to leave. No knight am I, To wear any armor.' No Knight am I, Lawrence S. Pertillar 

Shura had been in the throne room alone with Requiem for almost an hour. Pacing back and forth Minnow was dying to know what they were talking about. Furthermore, King Requiem said that Shura was King Haddock reborn! If Minnow knew his history well enough. (Which he did.) That implied a certain relationship between Shura and Requiem that Minnow had feelings about he wasn't ready to address! 

Goby and Pistol watched as he paced in front of the door. Eventually, Minnow got fed up and made an attempt to head back inside but was stopped by Pistol. "No." Pistol snarled pointing their spear at him. "Come on!" Minnow whined only to be picked up by Goby and placed on a nearby bench "Minnow you can't go back in unless the king says." Goby chided him as if he were a child. Goby even went as far to wag his finger at him like a disapproving mother. 

To be honest, though, Minnow was acting a bit like one. So Goby's reaction was not unwarranted. Pouting for just a few minutes Minnow then heard a distant bell chime. He had to fight the victorious smile off his face. He knew that bell all too well, it was the guard change bell. Which meant, he’d have just enough time to get back in there.

Pistol let out a groan as they cracked their back, “Well that’s time.” Pistol announced, “Time to switch now Pistol?” Goby asked looking at Pistol with a smile, for once the sullen knight shot one back at their tall partner. “You bet buddy.” They said, Goby grinned brightly and grabbed Pistol’s free hand. “I’m hungry what are we going to have for lunch Pistol?” Goby asked as Pistol and he made their way out of the hall appearing to have forgotten all about Minnow.

Sitting there for just a few moments on the bench, he leaned in his seat to look around the corner just to be sure. Once he saw that Pistol and Goby were not there anymore he got up. Grinning victoriously despite his racing heart he headed for the door. Just when he was about to open it up, he heard crying. Pausing for a moment in confusion he then leaned against the door to see if he heard right.

Only barely did Minnow manage to catch a bit of their conversation, "You probably have so many questions and here I am crying because my lover didn't come back..." He heard Requiem’s deep voice say, pulling back a little bit he stared at the door in confusion. What would Shura have questions about? Why was Requiem expecting his lover to come back? Faintly hearing Shura’s voice Minnow quickly pressed his ear back up against the door.

He only managed to catch part of what Shura said, “It's not like I'm going anywhere any time soon." What in the world did she mean by that? Clearly, he was missing context because Shura had said something else that he missed.

Trying his best, he managed to push the exceptionally heavy door open just a crack. It was only then he realized why Goby and Pistol were stationed here, they were the only two that could manage to open this door aside from Requiem.

Peering through the crack Minnow spotted a glimpse of Shura and Requiem hugging. He heard her grunt out “There-There big guy.” While patting his back. He had no idea what sort of relationship was going on between the two of them. It was becoming clearer to him that Shura was no ordinary foreigner. He just didn’t know what made her different.

Only just managing to catch the sight of Requiem’s red eyes when he sat Shura down did Minnow feel a little bad for eavesdropping like this. But he couldn’t help it, he was curious and concerned. Mostly curious but that’s something he’d never admit to.

As he mulled over the ethics of listening in on them like this, Minnow had let the door shut back. He felt that watching them was just a bridge too far, no matter how curious—concerned he was. Just as he was about to sit back down he heard their voices again. Unable to stop himself he leaned against the door. Pressing harder to hear them better this time. 

"Thank you again..." he heard Requiem's voice say, he smiled pleased that this time he could hear them better. "You don't know what having a chance to talk about this means to me." Requiem's voice sounded off once more, it was ridiculous how clear they were. Who knew the simple act of pressing harder on the door would make them sound so clear?

"I think I can hazard a guess." Shura's voice had a joking tone to it, Minnow couldn't help but feel a little left out due to lack of context. "I'll be sure to tell you everything I know about all this," Requiem promised Shura. This caught Minnow's interest, what was Requiem going to tell Shura about? He pressed even harder to make sure he didn't miss a single word!

He heard Shura thank him and Requiem respond with, "It's the least I can do." Minnow wanted to scream at this, was that it?! Pausing for a moment he thought he heard one of them say something else and pressed his ear against the door.

However, he was mistaken and the door swung open sending him tumbling onto the floor face first. "Minnow?" Shura asked Minnow looked up sheepishly at the king and Shura. "Done already?" He asked earning a glare from both Shura and Requiem.

Shura looked to Requiem who looked to Shura. Shura let out a sigh and helped Minnow up, "Alright Dragoon, spit it out what did you hear?" Minnow took Shura's hand and dusted himself off with his free one. He was sure he was going to get an earful from both Shura and Requiem. 

Though between the two, Shura looked like the more angry one. Requiem seemed vaguely amused for some reason. Shura jabbed Minnow in the side, "Did that fall make you deaf? I said talk Dragoon!" She yelled irritated that Minnow had the gall to spy on her! Though she shouldn't be surprised, he was turning out to be quite the sneaky type. 

Minnow let go of Shura's hand to rub his side and pouted at being yelled at. "Not much," he said refusing to make eye contact with Shura. He was kind of upset that he hardly heard anything at all. Had Pistol and Goby not been in his way he might have heard more. Shura glowered at him, "Not much huh?" She asked pushing up her sleeves. "Maybe a bop in the head would jog your memory!" Shura shouted at him threateningly. 

Minnow took this time to get sassy with her, there was no need for threats of violence! "I am a trained knight! No amount of force would make me speak even if I had information to give!" Minnow sassily retorted with his nose upturned to Shura. Only when he looked back at Shura did he regret those words. Shura's face was red from anger and her eye was twitching, "I'll show you a trained knight-!" She shouted going to lunge at Minnow only to be grabbed by Requiem.

"Alright that's enough," Requiem said sounding more like a scolding father than anything else. He scooped both Shura and Minnow into his arms and sat them down on the bench that Minnow had been minutes before.

"Why am I back here!?" Minnow exclaimed infuriated that he was put back on the bench as if he was a toddler in time out. Shura, on the other hand, was sitting with her legs crossed pouting looking away from Minnow.

Requiem chuckled and shook his head, "Shura, Minnow, you two are way too old to act like a couple of toddlers." He said not sounding the least bit bothered by the two of them acting up. Shura then blew a raspberry at Requiem in response. Requiem rolled his eyes, "You two can sit here until you talk this out. You're not allowed to leave until then. King's decree." Requiem said with a smug smile.

"WHAT!" Shura shouted, "He was spying on us talking!" Shura said motioning to Requiem. "And you tried to beat him up like a schoolyard bully." Requiem said firmly. "he shouldn't have sassed me!" Shura exclaimed in her defense only to earn a disapproving look from Requiem. "Fine!" Shura yelled after a moment before leaning back onto the wall pouting.

"Good," Requiem said before looking over at Minnow. "Any problems with that?" He asked Minnow who kicked his feet with his cheeks puffed out. "No." Requiem chuckled before turning away and heading back into the throne room, just before he left he looked back at them. "Remember, no moving until you two talk this out!" He demanded just before letting the door shut.

The heavy oak door shut with a clatter leaving the two in silence. "I guess I'll just die then!" Shura shouted at the door. But she doubted Requiem heard her, if he did, he probably didn't care. 

After just a few more minutes of silence, Minnow spoke up. "I wouldn't have to eavesdrop if you had let me stay in the room." He said haughtily, he knew deep down he was wrong for doing so. But he refused to admit it at this juncture. 

Shura looked over at him and glared from her slumped position. Sighing as she sat up she turned to him. "We just fucking met Minnow. You don't need to know everything about me all at once." Her voice was much calmer than Minnow's, though if Shura was being honest she wanted to punch him in his face at that moment. 

Minnow's haughty look faded and he frowned deeply, "Well I can't help it if I want to get to know you." He mumbled turning away, his arms folded close to him. Frankly, he didn't want Shura to know about his interest in her so soon. It was a little embarrassing to be so interested in someone just after meeting them.

Shura huffed, "And that's supposed to mean?" She asked not quite understanding what in the world that Minnow was getting at. His prim and properness was hard to understand sometimes. She knew there was probably six layers of meaning under the phrase 'I want to get to know you.' But she wasn't able to figure it out.

Minnow peered over his shoulder, "it means what you think!" he exclaimed flustered. Shura looked flabbergasted, "I don't know what you mean!" She shouted throwing her hands in the air. Turning away she returned to a slumped position. "You're impossible." She grumbled, "You're the one that's impossible." Minnow retorted. 

The two of them sat there in silence, slowly the minutes ticked away. Minnow and Shura stole glances at one another during this time. But they both refused to speak up first. 

The afternoon turned into evening and the two of them were sitting there. Shura groaned as her stomach growled. She realized then she hadn't eaten anything since she came to this world. Sitting up from her slumped position she looked over at Minnow who glanced at her out of the corner of his eye before looking away. 

"Are we going to be here all night?" Shura asked Minnow was silent before mumbling out a quiet "Maybe." Shura shot a glare at Minnow, "Awful high and mighty for someone who was spying on me." She chided, she saw Minnow's ears turn red. He turned to her and snarled, "Well I hope the view from that glass house is great Miss Violence!" 

Shura and he sat there for a minute before Shura snorted. "That... Was the best you could come up with?" She asked Minnow's lips quivered. He was obviously trying to fight away a smile from appearing on his face. "That's like if I would've called you blondie!" Shura exclaimed exasperated. Minnow, in turn, look offended. "My hair is not blonde! It's amber!" He haughtily corrected her. 

Shura deadpanned at this, "Trust me, it's blonde honey." Minnow let out an offended 'humph' before quickly dropping the act. He turned to her with a meek half-smile, "Look I'm sorry." he admitted, "I shouldn't have spied on you." he continued, "But I felt really left out." 

Hearing the apology Shura relaxed, "Look, you could've just asked me Minnow." She said motioning to herself. Minnow paused before sheepishly saying, "I... Kinda didn't trust you to tell the truth."

This caused Shura to frown, "Kinda... Like I didn't trust you." That realization dawned on her. She supposed it wasn't much of a surprise, mistrust only bred mistrust among the two of them. "I suppose..." Minnow was staring at the floor when he said this. 

"Sorry I threatened you with violence," Shura added realizing it was her turn to apologize. Minnow looked at her a grinned a little smugly, "It's alright, I doubt you would've done much damage." Shura's eye twitched despite the smile on her face.

"I would've kicked your ass pretty boy." She said lowly, "Oh really?" Minnow said moving closer to Shura. "I've killed and I'll kill again!" Shura exclaimed jumping up to her feet for dramatics. Minnow let out a laugh. "You weren't supposed to get up!" he exclaimed remembering why they were sitting there for so long.

"Well, I'm up now. What good will sitting down do me?" Shura said with a shrug. Minnow looked at her both amused and astonished for Shura's lack of respect for authority. "Minnow..." Shura said lowly hanging over him. Minnow, of course, was still sitting down. He wasn't much of a rule breaker or risk-taker and spying on Shura and the king had been enough rebelling for one day. 

"Rebel with me!" Shura sang grabbing Minnow's hand and trying to pull him up from his seat. Minnow struggled to stay glued to his seat but managed it. "No!" Minnow whined pulling back. "Come on Minnow!" Shura whined grabbing his other arm. The two of them pulled back and forth until they were a mess of laughter from how ridiculous they must have looked. 

After a few minutes of fighting, Minnow got tired of being pulled and got up. The two fo them stumbled together because Shura hadn't expected Minnow to get up and was still pulling. The two of them stumbled back and Shura ended up with her back against the wall. 

"Alright, you win." Minnow said with a smile, Shura smiled back not yet noticing how things looked with Minnow being so close to her and her back against the wall. After taking a moment to realize it, Shura's eyes widened. She looked to Minnow, who was silhouetted by the rising moon in the window. Faintly wandering if he realized what it looked like with them like this.

Suddenly, she noticed Minnow getting closer. Panic rose in her and she quickly slipped out of Minnow's grasp refusing to let that moment go any further. Every functioning cell in her body screamed with terror at what almost happened.

Minnow, on the other hand, was clueless as to why Shura pulled away from him like that. "I'm hungry!" Shura announced wanting to fill the silence. Her ears were burning red hot, she was thankful that she was facing away from Minnow. 

He was silent for a moment, "Me too." Was a quiet reply. There was a note of disappointment in his voice. Shura felt a pang of guilt, not because she disappointed Minnow. But because apart of her had wanted it to happen herself. But it was better this way. After all, Minnow was supposed to end up with Tetra. It was better if she backed off and figured out a way to get home. 

Minnow walked beside Shura heading out of the palace. The two of them silently agreeing not to address what had almost happened. Meanwhile, back in the palace the door to the throne room slowly clicked shut.