Lindent let me cry my heart out until my whimpers died down and I had no more tears left in me. He stayed with his back resolutely facing me, not stepping closer but not leaving me, either. 

Once I was pretty sure I was done, I sighed. You'd think after I sobbed earlier with Rosa today, I would be out of tears already; but noo, either my nap had restocked my chamber of tears or I had a never-ending supply or something, stored away in my chest.

Great, now I felt wrung out, exhausted, and hungry. I did have to say, though, I felt a bit more refreshed, a lot lighter than before, and... honestly? A little guilty.

No wonder I'd been feeling extra snippy these days, being extra sarcastic and snide. The poor kiddos! They probably hadn't deserved half of my yells these past few days. I'd been out of patience because I'd had a lot of stuff going on in me that even I hadn't known of.

I blew on my bangs. Of course I did.

Without really thinking about it, I turned my head towards Lindent, who was now sort of peeking at me from where he was standing. He still had his back towards me, but now his face was tilted to the side, like he was tentatively checking on me from the distance.

I smiled wryly, then stood up with a stretch, "I guess I'm done," I announced. I checked the sky-- it was probably around seven thirty by now. The sky would be starting to darken real soon. My throat was so dry my voice cracked a little, but I ignored the rasp and took a deep breath. "And now I'm hungry."

While I was talking, Lindent had turned fully towards me, his entire self stiff. I couldn't help but laugh at how he reminded me of Ryan's little wooden soldier that he'd foraged out of who-knew-where, missing an arm and its foot but still as rigid as your most regal soldier.

"Relax," I told him, still chuckling. I scratched my head a bit sheepishly, my eyes dropping to the ground. Lowering my voice, I added, "And thanks."

He shook his head but stayed exactly as he was, stiff as a board, looking so serious and cautious that I laughed again.

"You up for some dinner? It's getting pretty late," I said, a rueful smile on my lips. Lindent hesitated for a beat, then nodded and sort of shrugged at the same time. "Great," I chirped, rubbing at my chest-- crying your heart out hurt, apparently-- and took a step forward.

Then stopped, and turned, and stared at the giant, bulky, chipped pot behind me.

"Uh," I said, still staring at the pot, "do I, um, bring the pot?"

Lindent made some kind of sharp inhale and rushed over, clutching the pot in his arms.

"...I'll take that as a yes."

We walked through the empty lot in comfortable silence... or so it was for me, at least. Lindent still seemed pretty cautious, his hands firmly holding onto the bulky pot. I spent the time mulling over what I'd spilled to said pot, sorting through the haze of emotions that... didn't seem to bother me as much. Huh, Pot of Secrecy worked.

Once we reached the market area, we stopped at the first food stall we came by. Since Lindent had been nice enough to buy me the pot (but was it mine? He was clutching that thing so preciously), I insisted on buying for both of us. Our sandwiches slapped into our hands, we settled down to eat nearby, heaving ourselves up a low stone wall for our seats. 

I took a bite of my veggie sandwich and chewed thoughtfully. "By the way," I swallowed, "how much of my rant did you hear?"

Lindent, who'd been in the middle of wolfing down his sandwich, froze, then shook his head and shrugged at the same time.

I eyed him as I swallowed another bite. "Enough to feel guilty about it?"

"No," he said quickly.

I raised an eyebrow. A most definite yes, then. "Do you even remember who Rosa is?"

"No."

Well, yeah, he'd seen her during the Pink-Eyed Devil incident. Of course he would remember Rosa. Shuddering, I waved thoughts of that incident away.

I bit into the sandwich once more and let the silence fall on us again. Lindent slowly went back to his sandwich as well, warily, and we ate in silence.

Turning back to the girl in question, Rosa... was Rosa. There wasn't much I could do about her-- she was my best friend, practically my sister, and that didn't change-- but it was just that right now, I was probably not in my best... state. 

After a while, I sighed. "For the record, I don't actually hate Rosa."

He glanced up at me.

"Really." I stared back at him with my eyes wide open, trying to convey the truthfulness of my sentence. It was true! I would still give my life for her, and she was a wonderful friend, though very weird and frustrating sometimes. That was something that would probably never change.

I had to smile to myself at that thought, and Lindent blinked at me as he brought his last bite up to his lips.

I shook my head. "Sorry, I just remembered how weird she can be. But as I was saying, I really don't hate her." Shifting my gaze to the last few bites of the sandwich I had left, another smile pulled at the corner of my lips. "Okay, maybe I do sometimes. But it's more like, you know, that family kind of love-hate thing. She's the closest thing I have to a sister, but you can't bring myself to love all of her, can I?"

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Lindent tilting his head just the slightest bit.

I shoved at him half-heartedly. "Come on. You can't seriously have siblings you love wholeheartedly."

He shook his head solemnly.

I paused. Wait, did that mean he had siblings he loved wholeheartedly or that he didn't? Or maybe it meant he didn't have any siblings at all? "Wait, Lindent, do you even have siblings?"

He nodded.

I furrowed my brows. "And you love them wholeheartedly?"

He shook his head.

"Oh. Okay."

Lindent gave me a look that said, well? (or not. Though I pride myself in being able to say that I could read him better now, I could never be sure with this guy.)

I gave him a wry smile and exhaled slowly, turning my eyes up to the sky. "Right. Anyways. Rosa's one of the strangest people I know, and she's always so passionate about something. I don't think she ever cares about what other people think of her-- she just is." I fingered the small bit of sandwich still left in my hands absentmindedly. "She's so different from me, and that's what makes it so frustrating sometimes. But if anything, I'd say I respect her, not actually hate her.

"And on that note," I continued, stretching my legs out, "I've been thinking about it while we were walking, but I think this time, it had more to do with me than anything to do with her."

When I glanced at Lindent, he looked thoughtful, too.

I popped the rest of the sandwich into my mouth and chewed, letting the rustling of the nearby trees take over. I searched for the right words as I finished off the bite and dusted crumbs off my hands.

After a long pause, staring at my outstretched legs, I said, quietly into the air, "I think I've just been tired for too long."

Lindent raised his head a little.

"I, um, it's probably not something you'd care about, but I, well, I've been working for a really long time." I smiled thinly. "More than usual. It was a lot of work. I only just got off the double shifts and all."

I paused for a beat again. "I mean, not to be ungrateful-- so many people helped me, you know. Cook gave me a raise, Gramps let me work at the stall for longer than he needed me to, and when nobody would take me, Sheriff let us borrow his money, and Sir Pebblestuck-- sorry, Sir Peddlestone, the apothecary, gave me discounts on medicine, both for me and for mom. And Rosa," I sighed, my head sinking lower, "Rosa's practically giving us all her allowance to help me."

"Good for them," Lindent said quietly, which surprised me.

I glanced up at him-- he was staring at his toes, slumped over. "...Yeah, so I'm super grateful." I blinked. I hadn't really expected him to listen to me this well, so a tiny pool of happiness sprang up in my chest. I smiled down at my hands again. "It's none of their faults, but I think I was so tired, I needed someone to blame. And who better than Rosa, who's been frustrating for these other reasons that are actually pretty small, now that I think about it?" I chuckled. "Hating on her because she gave me a choice to make that I didn't want to think of. How immature can I get?"

"That's not immature."

I blinked again. "Huh?"

Lindent looked at me then, his eyes serious, and repeated himself. "That's not immature. You're doing your best."

My breath caught in my throat, and the silence that abruptly fell between us again was heavier this time, thicker. I broke eye contact. "Oh," I murmured, warmth spreading in my chest, "Thanks."

His words struck a chord in me in a way that made me rethink what I'd concluded about my rant. I'd thought I'd been irritated because I'd been suppressing all negativity during these past few months, struggling to keep my calm so I didn't break down. There was probably that, too, but now I thought, maybe there was more.

Maybe all this time, I'd actually been wanting what Lindent had given me now-- recognition, for all that I'd been doing, and-- even more so-- for how hard I had been working.

I rubbed at my chest again, not because of the soreness that came from too much crying this time, but because it felt so full I needed to stop the lump in my throat from rising.

---

A/N: I prefer to keep things light for this story, since I started it with the intention of it being light. However, these few chapters have been slightly heavier, though not by my volition-- the story took me by the collar and refused to be written any way else. (Sometimes I forget I'm not in control of this story, so it likes to set me straight from time to time. ahahaha....ha.)

But I would also like to take this chance to say 'you're doing great' to everyone reading this-- y'all are surviving a pandemic, man, and that isn't easy stuff. So wherever you are, and even if you're reading this in the far-off future where the pandemic is past news (PLEASE), remember: you're doing great. Please don't berate yourselves for not doing more or being better or whatever, because whatever you're doing now is probably the best you can offer at the moment, and that's all any of us can do. ^^

...OKAY, CHEESY AUTHOR ENCOURAGEMENT OVER AND OUT. Goodbye and good luck to us all!! :DD