Hopelessly Devoted ~ Garroth x F!Reader

Ch 49: Whatever Floats His Boat

"Sir? Do you need help?" Lord Aphmau's voice cut through the rest.

The strange man stared her in the eye. "The real question is do you need help?" Weirdo jumped up and pounced on a flower. He spun around. "This whole line of majestic creatures that you are mounted upon! Have you no common sense? I'd say you're in my way of moving along this trail."

Lord Aphmau looked to her side where there was clearly enough room for the man to get through. She kept her cool and went along with what he said. "We apologize for that. If we move on, we'll be out of your way in no time."

The intriguing character stepped up right in Lord Aphmau's face, and when he started talking, a wad of spit flew out of his mouth. "I say you should! But that's beside the point. Why ride beasts when boats make much more suitable transportation?"

Lord Aphmau wiped her face, then shook her head, about done with this guy's nonsense. Then her eyes grew wider. "Did you say . . . Boats?"

"Why yes I did, didn't you hear? Was I not speaking loudly enough for you? SHOULD I SPEAK LIKE—"

"No, no," Lord Aphmau cut the man off, "I can hear you perfectly fine."

"Then why did you repeat my words?" The man gave your lord a look that said she was the crazy one in this scenario.

"I wanted to see if you could help us out."

The man jumped around. "Then why didn't you say so?" he exclaimed.

"Do you have a boat?"

"Yes, of course. Do you not? It's only the most modern form of transportation out there." He scoffed.

Lord Aphmau looked to her side at Travis and rolled her eyes. Travis nodded in sympathy, knowing her saintly patience about ran out.

"We don't have a boat. May we borrow yours?" she asked.

The man stood very still in his tracks. ". . . I don't see why not! I'm making some amazing advances, and you guys would be perfect to test them out on!" He paced up and down the trail.

You weren't sure how you felt about being a test dummy, but you were open to it if it meant finding a new home.

"Thank you so much, Mr. . . ?"

The man stopped listening to your lord and moved on, cutting her off, but at the same time, answering her question. "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Chad G. Augustine Ah'Leopold III."

"Nice to meet you, Chad. I'm Lord Aphmau of Phoenix Drop." She extended her arm to him.

Instead of shaking it, like she intended for him to do, he used her arm to pull himself onto the back of her horse. "So, where are we going?"

Lord Aphmau blinked a few times, dumbfounded. "Um. . . We were going to go over there." She pointed to the pathway on the right.

Chad bounced on the back of Lord Aphmau's saddle. "Nonsense. Take the path on the left, that is where my boat is."

"Okay, alright." Lord Aphmau started to turn her reins, but Chad kicked his legs on the horse, making it gallop forwards. Lord Aphmau let out a a startled "woah" sound, but at least they went down the path Chad wanted.

You had it worse. Since all of the horses followed, yours would naturally do so at an excessive rate. You didn't like the way your butt hit the saddle when it bounced up and down from galloping, and Garroth seemed to understand, because he steadied you securely in his arms. You gripped the reins tighter though, which aggravated (horse name), making (him/her) fight between gaining speed and slowing down.

Once Lord Aphmau—the person in the front of the line—tugged on her reins, her horse slowed to a stop, and the others followed. Now you and Garroth were about third in line because (horse name) got some coke in their step and passed two other people. You took the victory of not dying on horseback.

"Hey, Lord Aphmau," Garroth gestured to the extra member on the back of her horse, trying not to gain Chad's attention. "Are you doing . . .Okay?"

Lord Aphmau swallowed. "Yup."

"Are you sure? If you don't want," Garroth's pupils darted to Chad, then back to his lord. "to come along with us, I'll step in. I mean, are you fine? Has he tried anything?"

"Thanks for your concern, but I think he's just. . . A work of art. He's old and most likely harmless. We'll be getting a boat out of this. And besides, he's just one person. We're a whole village, I doubt he's tricking us," Lord Aphmau responded.

Chad butted his head through. "I couldn't help but overhear you. Who is this 'he' you are referring to?" Chad looked behind at the other people. He unmistakably looked in yours and Garroth's direction. "Is it that guy? Man, he's weird. I got this vibe when I saw him." Chad said.

You turned around. "Is he talking about you, Garroth?"

"No, you!" Chad pointed at you, his body somehow completely turned backwards on the back of Aphmau's horse.

Garroth protectively clung to you and pulled you into his chest. "She's a she, or can be whatever she identifies as. But for now, she's a an amazing girl, alright?"

"Oh, well," Chad swiveled his head to the side, distracted by a bee. He reached out, starting to lose his balance, then clung on and regained his composure.

Garroth let go of your hands momentarily to grip the reins directly, pulling back until your horse retreated a few horse-lengths back. "You are very clearly a girl," he started. "The old fart just needs his eyes checked."

"Garroth!" you chastised, covering your mouth to contain the surprise and laughter.

***

Emerging from the darkness of the forest, you found your posse on a seashore. A colossal vessel floated on the water in front of, and it looked absolutely breathtaking.

Lord Aphmau let Chad off of her horse, and he bounced around in the golden sand, kicking some grains up into the air in a cloud of dust.

"Wow." Lord Aphmau's jaw dropped, then she motioned to Chad. "Your boat is amazing."

"Why yes it is! But how would you know already? You haven't seen anything yet," Chad said as he ran closer to the water.

"Wait," Lord Aphmau called. "You do mean that like 'we ain't seen nothing yet', right?"

The large ship sailed out of the way, revealing one about half its size. It was good quality, but not steel-bodied like the other one. Everyone would still fit easily, though.

Garroth leaned into you. "I figured it wasn't his, The first boat had an O'Khasis," Garroth choked out the word, "flag."

You sat up straighter to hopefully conceal his figure behind you, but his upper body was still longer than yours. "Do I need to hide you?" you asked, broadening out your shoulders to seem wider.

"It shouldn't notice me. It was just on its way back to O'khasis. They pass by a lot," Garroth replied.