The Courtship of a Queen & Her Knight

He's Got Blisters on His Fingers!

She should've been there a half hour ago. Had she forgotten? Had she not meant it? Maybe he should go find her... no, he saw her this morning, she had brought it up again, so she remembered, but she looked so tired. Like, really tired. Like she'd been on a week-long-drinking-bender-like-she-did-when-she-was-seventeen tired. That had been a fun week: Bean threw up on Derek's head, which in hindsight was funny, until the gulls attacked the poor boy... then it was even more funny.

Even Zøg laughed, before he choked on a chicken bone, which he coughed up onto Derek who was tackled by a dog.

But Bean hadn't been drinking that heavily. Pendergast knew that Bean had actually been cutting back on the drinking (by which he meant that she wasn't boozing all day long like she used to).

"Where is she?" Pendergast mused to himself.

The knight had started pacing in front of the Records Room, weighing his options. Maybe he should just-

The man looked up when the sound of approaching footsteps echoed across the stone walls of the inner castle, along with a slight slip, and a curse: definitely Bean.

"Bean?"

"Yeah, yeah... I'm here. Sorry I'm-" Bean paused, coming around the corner and revealing her tired self stifling a yawn "-late. I, uh... I..."

Bean narrowed her eyes as if she was trying to remember exactly what she was doing before she just shook her head and came up to stand beside him. She was wearing her white-hair in a low ponytail and she wasn't wearing a dress like she had been lately, but was wearing her typical blue tunic and leggings: classic Bean. Pendergast was wearing his typical uniform of a Dreamland Knight.

"Whatever, doesn't matter. I'm here now."

"Yyyyes...?" Pendergast said hesitantly, looking over her again and noting the dark bags under her eyes. "So, Bean. Umm, now I'm not saying that you don't look great or anything, buuuuuuut... when was the last time you slept?"

"I dunno... when was the last time you saw with your right eye?"

Pendergast raised his brow at the dry humour attempt from Bean, not because he was insulted or anything like that, but due to the fact that his concern for her rose about ten points.

Bean, looking very tired indeed, blearily looked at the "Records" sign over the door before noticing that Pendergast was still looking at her.

"What?"

"Look Bean, this really isn't that important. You should go get some rest. I can just-"

"I can't," Bean replied weakly, yet firmly at the same time, before she rolled her eyes and opened the door. "Just... come on. Let's solve your life's mystery already," she said before escaping inside.

Pendergast took a moment longer to stand outside the door, once again weighing his options, before he allowed the tiny smile to show on his face. She wanted to be there with him! Okay, maybe her true motives weren't that cut and dry, but hey! He'll take it, if it means being able to spend more time with her. She was there, right? And... he was being selfish by silently celebrating her exhaustion.

Frowning at himself and his selfishness, Pendergast also entered the room, although room probably wasn't the best way to describe the space. It was more like a long dungeon filled with floor-to-ceiling shelves that were heavily laden upon shelves of books, scrolls, and other documents. Papers were spilling out onto the floor, others were sticking out of books, and many looked to have been haphazardly stuffed into crevices and spaces. Bean had already lit a lantern hanging off the wall and had begun to clear away the lone table that was located near the room's door. Pendergast moved to help her and Bean sighed and leaned back, hands on her hips, and puffed out her cheeks.