Retrace bxbxb

Disagreement

(All her baby teeth on one side fell out almost at once. Now she looks funny, even laughs at herself) 

Harper was getting used to waking up not feeling well. His head hurt and his nose was running a little, likely because of stress and having not dried his hair properly before falling asleep. Glancing around the dark room, he noted two candles burning on the nightstand, the only illumination present besides the moon shining in from the window. 

I slept too long.  

Slipping from the bed, he felt a cold draft between his legs and blushed, uncomfortable in just the large shirt he'd been given. He dug through the dresser drawers in the room hoping to find something useful, but only found a few articles, all of which being far too big. 

He searched the room for a short while longer before a soft knock sounded on the door. "Little Hari..." 

Looking down at himself, Harper sighed, figuring that he was stuck with what he was wearing until he got something else from Rule. Might as well answer the door. He was just reaching for the handle when the knob turned and the door opened. He expected to see lord Rule, but when Arthur stood staring at him in surprise, Harper quickly ducked behind the door. 

"I-I apologize my lord, my clothes..." Harper stuttered. 

Arthur seemed frozen for a moment, then stumbled over his own words in response. "It's, I can. I'll get them, one moment." 

He disappeared, returning a few moments later with Harper's freshly cleaned maid's uniform. Harper eyed it for a second longer than he likely should have before reaching for the outfit, because Arthur seemed to notice something was off, and retracted his hand. 

"Would you prefer something else...?" He asked, raising an eyebrow as Kite wandered over and began to try and sniff up the shirt Harper was wearing, making him awkwardly nudge at the giant dog to try and get it to stop. "Perhaps the outfit Rule was to have you wear?" Arthur continued, stepping into the room and forcing Harper to push himself closer against the hardwood door. 

Kite grumbled and pushed his nose right up the shirt, making Harper jump back, then crouch down. He didn't want to be closer to the giant beast, but he couldn't just let it give him away by lifting his shirt too high, either. 

Ducking his head, Harper waited for the beast to try something again, but when nothing happened, he peaked up at it. Why is he just sitting in front of me? Looking up at Arthur, he noticed the man's left hand formed into a simple signal. Turning his attention back to the dog, Harper realized what was going on. He gave him a signal command. That's why he stopped. 

"I know that you are a boy, Harper." 

Wait... my real name. But how? 

"Rule let it slip while he was talking to you earlier." Arthur said as he knelt down beside him, making Harper duck his face into his folded arms. 

"I thought, at first, that he was just giving you a cute nickname. But then I realized that Hari would likely be considered more of a nickname for Harper, than the opposite." Arthur mused as a hand settled on top of Harper's hair, though it did nothing to settle his nerves. 

"Also, If you weren't trying to hide something, you wouldn't have changed your name, yet you clearly switched it to Hari from Harper." Arthur's warm hand slipped between his chin and his arm, forcing Harper to lift his head and look at him. "Are my words not correct, Harper?"  

Panic settled in Harper's stomach as he tried to figure out a way to discredit the facts Arthur was stating. Normally he could figure something out quickly, but his head still hurt and his mind just wasn't processing as fast as he needed it to.