Hi! Could I please request a scenario where Wheedle agrees to help the farmer make Balor jealous? Thanks!
Requested | Own Game: Fields of Mistria Pair: Balor x reader (farmer) ft Wheedle Synopsis: Morning was supposed to be peaceful and fruitful until you stumbled upon a fallen carriage of spilled items. The expensive kind owned by a luxury man. Someone perfect for your mischievous schemes involving a rather mysterious vendor. Genre: Rom-com
The wind filtered through the pasture in the early morning where dew drops fell of little leaves. The birds chirping in their nests were rather peaceful as the cows grazed the hay. There were several varieties of crops finally sprouting from the ground and others showing telltale signs of harvesting. The sun in particular wasn't as blazing as yesterday, it illuminated without drying the ground and shone through cracks in wooden walls. A speck of sunlight skittered over your closed eyes disturbing your sleeping figure. You woke up in two conditions: tired and mischievous.
Whatever brought out this inner child, you blamed it on the tranquil morning that had somehow transformed this day to an idea that made you rub your hands and cackle into your cereal bowl.
It was a Saturday, which meant that the town was busy with the usual weekend bazaar. Colorful stalls lining the streets with aromatics diffusing in the air. The smell of garlic, onion, beef, and gravy or the roasted scent of coffee beans paired with the sweet tangy smell of blueberry. Just the imagery was enough to make your mouth water.
"Oh, Mari." You sighed, scratching the fowl's chin, "You don't know how entertaining today will be."
The horse tilted their head, and it looked almost like they were raising their brow in intrigue. Mari lifted their nose, bumping it against your palm and letting out a tiny huff. They knew that the farmer was stubborn, so they could only offer their own tiny support to their beloved owner. Without another sound, Mari galloped towards the pasture to feed on with the other animals.
You grinned into the sky as you packed up your tools and left the farm for the Saturday market. Your steps light and jubilant as you hopped over the stone path. While you were on your way to the market, you heard a cluck behind you. As you twisted your head, you caught sight of Henrietta bouncing to the rhythm of your steps. The hen looked almost as if she were smiling up at you, happy to see her other favorite farmer.
"Were you following me this whole time?" You clocked your head to the right as you picked her up to eye level, "Did you lose Hayden? Why are you outside?"
The hen could only chirp delightedly at the attention. You raised both brows before putting her down, "That doesn't really answer my question, Henrietta."
You then looked around, bringing the chicken with you as you searched for Hayden along the woods. You continued talking to her, "You know if you got lost that's your problem, right? Not mine. It would be a different case if Hayden left the door open, which in hindsight seems pretty plausible."
The both of you continued wandering until you came across a cart filled with chests, essential oils, and luxurious jewelry and accessories. Beside the cart were several items muddied, wet, spilled, and some damaged. You turned. There was Wheedle rubbing his temple and sighing loudly. Well, loud enough to make Henrietta sigh as well.
"Seriously?" You looked at the hen who only blinked at you.
You averted your gaze back to Wheedle who was now pacing around frantically. It made sense. Almost more than half of the items he was supposed to sell are now either damaged or gone. The poor man was crouching on the ground, mumbling to himself about market values and negative profit.
"Wheedle." You gently called out before crouching beside him. "Mind telling me what happened?"
He snapped his head to her direction. The panic and anxiety bubbling to the surface, but he tried to remain calm in front of his one of his loyal customer.
"Perhaps, I can help with your situation." You offered. Hearing your words was enough to calm the vendor down, his shoulders laxing and the wrinkles on his temple finally fading. Henrietta, however, didn't get the clue and flew into your lap.
The sudden action and sight in front of Wheedle made him chuckle quietly. Perhaps, it was the absurdity of the situation or he was losing his mind over the fact that more than half of his total sales has just been reduced by a large margin. He'd probably get home with an intense scolding from his family, or worst he'd wallow in the large difference between sale and expense. He didn't know which fate was worst at this point.
He uttered weakly, "That's very kind of you, but it would be dishonorable to seek help from my own loyal customer."
You immediately stopped him by putting your hand up, "No. That's the reason why I'm a loyal customer, because I trust you. I'm sure there is something I can help with. It's only five in the morning, there's still enough time to look for or make things to sell at the bazaar. And I know the ins and outs of this town. I'll get you back on your feet. I promise."
Wheedle considered this for a moment before eyeing you, "And what do I give you in exchange? The one thing I have that could be of value to you is a snake oil-"
"No, I had a different idea in mind." You interjected, although rather solemnly.
"Oh." His brows shot up, it was the first his snake oil was ever rejected.
"Initially, I was going to meet up with Olric or Ryis to do a little scheming." Your lips curved into a small smile. "Of course, I decided to prioritize a special friend for today, but killing two birds with one stone sounds extremely tempting."
Both Henrietta and Wheedle looked at each other for a brief second before turning their gazes back to you.
"Not you, Henrietta." You assured her to which the hen visibly loosened and leaned back into you. Then, you started slowly, each word becoming difficult to speak and convey until your cheeks burned red, "What I want to say is, I had a perfect plan to get Balor's attention."
"Balor?" Wheedle shot up, his voice raising at surprise. If Elsie lived off gossip, Wheedle was always one second from a heart attack hearing it. "Oh my."
The man immediately fixed his suit and hair as if he were the one the person had a crush on. Wheedle nodded about and rummaged around his chests to see if he had what he believed could help that situation until you interjected, "Wheedle. I thought you could help me by being yourself. No potions or whatever. We just pretend."
"Pretend." Wheedle mumbled the word like he was speaking French. "I see."
"Well, let's focus on that later and just work on helping you craft new items for the bazaar." You smiled and patted him on the back, "Let's get to work."
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The both of you worked at the farm. You helped with chopping and refining wood, sculpting some, assembling them to the final product before moving to craft new items in the kitchen. The whole place was alive in a messy way, but you learned a lot from Wheedle too. It didn't take long for 2 hours to pass and it was already 7 am. The sun was brighter now and the cows were musing louder. Henrietta, herself, was already chirping to the sounds of the farmland.
"Seems like the town's awake." You said, pouring in the last batch of essential oil into a bottle. Wheedle finally capped it off and stored it in one of his chests.
He bowed his head before offering some of his high value items to you, "As my thanks. I'll still do your request of pretending so you can make Balor jealous, but please have these as well."
"Jealous?" You stood straighter, stammering, and looking away. You didn't like that word, you preferred attentive or irked. Jealous was too real.
"Yes, you want to make him jealous, right?"
"Well, that sounds extremely suspicious." You sighed. This made Wheedle laugh, "You seem to deny your feelings."
"You make it sound like I'm in love with him." Your expression twisted, your fingers twisting and turning. This time, Wheedle didn't laugh. It was obvious to anyone. So, as a friend, Wheedle straightened his posture and offered his arm to you. "Let's go. He's the first to roam the market. He's probably wondering where I am."
When you rode into town with Wheedle, the people looked over with widened eyes. You weren't sure if it was due to the absurd pairing or if it was due to Henrietta sitting on the horse's back. Elsie was jumping in her heels, overjoyed as her eyes sparkled and ears perked. Balor, especially, stared with a neutral expression. His fingers, however, twitched beside him. He abandoned whatever Eiland was discussing, and focused entirely on the important matter.
You helped Wheedle with putting the items on the shelf and case displays, laughing at something he said, before bumping shoulders as you moved around. At the sight of this, Balor's brow snapped up. His breathing uneven.
"You two seem cozy." Balor said as he made his way to Wheedle's stall. "Didn't know the two of you were that close."
"What?" You turned your head to the source before acting, you waved it off and brushed a strand of hair away from your face. The piece of hair always disturbing you, but you let it be for now. "We've always been close. You just never bothered to notice."
"Is that so?" His expression shifted to that of neutral interest. He stood behind the stall with his hands behind his back, just watching the two of you like a predator waiting for his prey to make a mistake.
You could feel his eyes burning holes into your back. Then, you pulled out a plastic container from the bag. An Apple honey curry. Still warm as evidently seen from the fog and moisture building up in the container.
Balor usually received one from you almost every week and your typical excuse was that you had made too much for one person to eat. Same lousy excuse every week. So, he expected you to had another one over to him.
Except you didn't.
You handed Balor's favorite most prized meal to Wheedle. Balor's expression faltered, his eyes narrowed.
"For the gift you gave me earlier, Wheedle." You acted sweetly, hugging Wheedle as practiced. Wheedle gave you a soft adoring smile before eating the meal with grand gestures.
"This is amazing!" Wheedle gasped.
Balor winced at their awkward play, he wanted so badly to believe it, but none of you could ever appear natural. Still, he hated how physical you got with Wheedle. The hug, the long eye contact, the bumping, the easy air. You and Balor never really had that, the air was always tense and heavy, words were careful, there was a ton of avoidance, and to simply put exhausting.
Before you could do another tragic act of feeding Wheedle the curry, Balor pulled you away which alarmed Henrietta ang caused her to fly towards you in haste. The hen somehow followed you through this whole fiasco and Hayden was still nowhere to be found. Balor ignored Henrietta, he had other matters to attend to. You.
"You're a horrible actor and liar." Balor accused, which made you gasp. Your face contorting, brow furrowing and lips frowning, "That was uncalled for. Plus, who's acting and lying?"
"You." Balor pinched his temple.
"Now, how did you arrive to that conclusion?"
At this point, Balor was already annoyed. Not to mention, lost his cool after dragging you away with Elsie loudly gasping, screaming, and making rumors with the other elderly women of the town.
"Apple honey curry." He answered like that was enough to justify his accusation. You snickered, "It's just a dish-"
"It is not just a dish." Balor argued. Then, you saw it, that flicker of slight envy. This wasn't about food or Wheedle. "You know what I'm talking about."
"You got to be direct-"
"You're doing this on purpose." He finally said. "You avoided me for a week or maybe two, talked to everyone else, schemed ideas with the other boys when I was lingering at the back, sending me gifts, then disappearing again. You're a difficult person."
You stopped in your tracks, because you didn't expect him to be this observant let alone affected by it. He always seemed so aloof and composed, that it bothered you. You could never get some sort of reaction out of him. When things were rocky between you, he'd though of something, a suggestion or some sort of deal to keep things steady. It bled into the relationship as well. When you were stuck in a room with him, he'd always find a way to escape being alone with you.
Hypocritical, you thought.
"Fine, I did it on purpose." You admitted. This shifted something in him. Perhaps things finally made sense for both of them. Maybe, it finally allowed him to show sides of himself to her.
"All that just because you wanted to get my attention?" Balor leaned his head to the right as he stared at you with that look in his eyes. The dangerous kind that made it difficult to admit feelings. His lips had churned slowly into a faint smirk, which was almost invisible to other people if they rarely observed the way his expressions morphed or how his body reacted to certain people.
Your lips jutted as you focused on Henrietta in your arms instead, "What are you talking about? You think so highly of yourself sometime."
Balor snorted. He took a step towards you, which made you take one back. His eyes seem to light up at this, "You're an open book, you know. I've always seen past your act."
"And so? What of it?" You snapped, meeting his gaze head on. A mistake on its own. His lips were molded into a softer smile and eyes becoming gentler as they stared at you. He then muttered, "I just didn't think you'd go to Wheedle for help. Well, I thought I was your favorite Salesman."
That earned him a huff. You brought Henrietta up to your face, her feather shielding your reddened cheeks. The hen didn't know how important this event was but did her job by spreading her wings as to hide more of your face.
"Speaking of, why is Henrietta with you?" He cocked his head to an angle where he can meet your eyes. Annoying, you thought.
"It doesn't concern you." You mumbled under your breath to which Balor took as a challenge. He uttered, "It does."
You finally lowered Henrietta as your mind worked. "Fine. Hayden and I are working together to teach Henrietta proper manners, so she doesn't lose her awards. I volunteered to teach her how to help others."
You added, emphasizing, "I'm doing this for Hayden."
"Right." Balor rolled his eyes, a faint grin as soft as the meadows bloomed on his face. "All right. I'm actually free right now, I think I can help with your situation. Right, Henrietta?"
The hen nodded and clucked, immediately betraying you for a piece of corn fed to her by Balor. The way Balor's gaze met yours was enough to tell you that he didn't like it when you pushed his buttons, he didn't find it at all amusing. Yet, he pushed a stray strand of hair away from your face, "Told you. If you wanted my attention, you should just tell me."
He caught the way your ears blushed before you turned away with Henrietta still in your arms, "You're not helping Henrietta at all, Balor."
He chuckled, following you as you trudged towards the Sweetwater farm. What Balor did find amusing was your inability to hide your feelings, and he knew it was all for him to experience. So, he played your little games, as futile as they are, just to have your attention.
