As you

You smiled at the two people standing before you. They didn't look like typical travelers but hey, important people came by every once in a while.

"Nice armor set," You add, letting your eyes trail over some more intricate bits in it. Nice, visually appealing, and practical. "Real nice." You find yourself mumbling.

"You might have to let her look that over, she has a thing for armor." Duncan smirks while leaning against the tree. Blood rushes to your face and neck as his comment sets in.

"Like you haven't admired an armor set before!"

"I prefer to pretend it's the set when it's actually the person inside it so they are less uncomfortable." Duncan wiggles his eyebrows comically at you. You huff and look away from him. "Moving on, my dear little friend Y/N and I were enjoying our usual little stroll around the forest when we heard some commotion, and you don't look to familiar."

"We're passing through here with our party to Rohan." The woman with the black hair said while stepping forward in front of the man in armor. Duncan whistled. "What?" She asked defensively.

"Rohan is a two day or more walk from here, over west. Must have gotten turned around somewhere, unless you were trying to go over to Percyvell for the night instead of camping." You answered while tucking a lock of hair behind your ear. The woman' eyes darted across the ground as she thought about something.

"Do you and your 'party' need help getting to Rohan?" Duncan asks her. She looks back up at Duncan questioningly. "My sister has a surplus of horses as far as I currently know and Rohan is one of the nearest villages to Percyvell. Depending on where you and your... group are on the road we could probably get back, talk to my sister about those horses, and either have camp set up or you all settled into one of the inns in town before either serves dinner." Duncan's eyes flicker to you and you nod.

"Lattie is known for being kind towards travelers, I doubt she'd turn you down but she would ask why you're going around to make sure she gets them back. If you aren't looping back then we accompany you to, or possibly past Rohan, depending on where you're going afterwards. In that case we would bring them back ourselves. Most of her horses are trusting and well tamed after spending so much time with other travelers Lattie has loaned them out to." You affirm. The two of you have said similar things to other groups. It helped convince you because if Duncan was getting good enough vibes from them to ask you to help out, well... he was always a good judge of character.

"We would have to check in with the others to make sure that they wouldn't want to just try hurrying through tonight and making camp on the road... but either way thank you for your offer." The man in armor said. You felt your blush begin to return at the sound of his voice. On the bright side you weren't fighting your embarrassment alone. Duncan was also sporting his own blush. Damn, you'd better hope this one didn't also like boys.

"Yes, thank you, again." The woman said nodding.

"It is always a pleasure to be in such beauties presence, but would you like us to accompany you back to your group in order to make sure you properly make it to Percyvell? Not just to continue basking in your presences but there is a bandit group that has been circling around lately and I would hate for you all to get caught up in that." Duncan adds. The man in armor looked ready to argue but the woman responded before he could reject your offer.

"If you truly insist..." She paused.

"Duncan, Duncan Evander, and this-" He said while jumping around the tree and looping an arm around your shoulders. "-right here is the lovely Y/N L/N. A great old friend of mine and someone who can beat me in a fight both physically and verbally." You bite your cheek and look down at the ground.

"Yeah, but you are the reason the bandits haven't stopped for more than half the night around Percyvell. You're good, I just know you." You smile at him and he is positively beaming. The red in his eyes almost overtaking more ground in the iris from what you can see close up to him like this. The woman smiled at your friendly behavior.

"I'm Aphmau, it's a pleasure." The woman said.

"Laurence," The man in armor stated. You and Duncan quickly shared a look at the reveal.

"I am truly sorry about not introducing ourselves sooner, just a bit taken aback is all." Duncan adds, he squeezes your shoulder quickly before letting you go.

"It's no problem, if I'm not mistaken the path we stopped on was this way." Aphmau respond while turning. She scanned the trees with her light brown eyes as if they were going to answer.

"Of course, of course, let's start heading back to your group and make sure everyone is accounted for so we can head into town and get everything settled." Duncan nods and steps forward next to her. You feel slightly surprised as you saw how he practically towered over her. Sure, Duncan was taller than the average human guy, but he would have to lean down to place his chin on your head as he often did to you. With such an imposing and respect leeching presence you probably would have never noticed how short she was unless something like this were to happen, though. The two of them begin to start walking and Aphmau looks back to Laurence who sighs before starting after them.

"So, Laurence," You say while walking next to him. "Where did you get that armor set? It looks custom, was it?" He looks up at you curiously and looks you over. You feel the urge to try fixing your hair but smother it. You cannot, however, smother the thoughts of how dirty the S/C (Second favorite color) skirt you were wearing must look. The white top and leather vest probably didn't pull together your makeshift outfit since Lattie had insisted on washing and mending your (and Duncan's) clothes. Normally skirts weren't your style but the pockets you were shoving your hands into and the bits of chain mail on your leggings did make you feel somewhat confident as his blue eyes stared into yours.

"It's complicated, but that's close. A dear friend of mine made this set for me as a gift without my knowing." He answered, you nodded.

"I thought so, the bronze and green matches you well. Is it as functional as it looks?"

"Yes, and compared to other sets I've worn it is rather light."

"Are you her guard?" You tilt your head at him.

"Yes." He answered after a moment. You nod.

"Guards tend to be the only people with armor, at least around here. I heard the ex lord of Percyvell wore her own set most of the time but I don't think I'd believe that if I hadn't met her."

"I wouldn't know, it's my first time this side of the region. Haven't been able to hear much about it."

"Well, we here at Percyvell are private compared to other villages. We get close to each other and few others. It's why Duncan comes out here. An advocate in village walls goes a long way. He's social and a good judge of character so most trust him around these parts."

"What's that make you?" He asks. You pause to think about how to phrase it.

"Part of the set. I'm not like him a lot but enough where we get each other. The differences help us work together well. He can fight offensive with a shield, I'm the one driving others off with a sword or a bow. I got the same rep but he had it first." You answer. "He's gold I'm silver, it depends on what you like. His sister Lattie... she's a diamond."

Hard, tough, decorative, but easy to take down if you know where you have to hit.

You swallowed at the memory. It was meant as an insult but it suited her more than bronze. Laurence... bronze fit him.

"Is he gold because of his hair or his shining personality?" Laurence asked, raising an eyebrow. You snort at the joke and shake your head.

"I don't know, but I can tell you his sister has almost the same hair."

"Really? What, they use outfits so you can pick them out in a crowd?"

"Nah, Lattie's hair is different enough where you can tell, it's a more orange at the roots because Duncan is outside more. Sun bleach." You smile, Laurence smiles back.

Maybe it won't matter if he also likes boys.