It Starts Small

Prince Jin found himself to be a little... restless. Things had returned to their usual after they had returned home from the celebration. By usual, that meant Ava minded her own business and paid limited attention to her prince husband. This shouldn't have been that surprising but perhaps after having had a taste of Ava's undivided attention, having been reminded that usually, he was more adored then not, he was left discontent with this not quite cold but far from warm treatment. After all, whose attention and praise didn't he have? Ava's apparently. He couldn't really understand why either.

He'd bore with it for a few days, telling himself it wasn't anything worth paying mind to. But everytime he caught a glimpse of Ava from the corner of his eye while passing by, and the other would only give him a polite smile before turning away, if she noticed him at all that is, he was reminded and that discontent lingered, growing a bit more each time. So when he had finally had enough stewing in these thoughts, he went to wander over to the garden Ava frequented. All he was initially after was just for Ava to acknowledge and look at him, they hadn't spoken at all lately, but who would have known she wouldn't be there. He frowned slightly, staring at the empty gardens for a long moment before he turned to walk to Ava's bedroom. Except she wasn't there either. He frowned a bit further before sighing quietly in defeat, asking one of the maids who served Ava where he could find her. The maid said she wasn't entirely sure but the library would be the next best place to check. Jin wondered if it truly was the case that Ava only spent her time in the gardens or in the library. Did she do anything but read? It seemed she did as she wasn't in the library either. Then… where was she?

He wandered around for a while, checking a few places he thought she might be such as the tea room, but there wasn't any sight of her. He was just beginning to wonder if she'd left the palace grounds and he hadn't been informed when he caught sight of a familiar grey fuzzy figure. ....Would it be too much to follow a dog around to find its master? For a prince like him, probably, so he had to give up that idea too. Still, it wouldn't hurt to say hi to the friendly mutt so he walked over and crouched down. Sure enough, Rodney was all doggy smiles and tail wags as he rubbed himself across Jin's legs. Jin's brows knit slightly, unsure of how he felt about it for a moment but eventually he reached out and stroked along the dog's back. He was a bit surprised at how soft the dog's fluff was.

"Prince Jin."

Jin turned his head to look behind him in surprise. The saying that you come across what you're looking for when you stop looking for it must be true as Ava walked over with her usual smile on her face, her two companions by her side. Ava's face then lit up as Rodney wiggled his way out from under Jin's hand, bouncing his way over to her and nearly barreling himself into her legs in his excitement. "Rodney! There you are, I was looking for you." Ava greeted cheerily, leaning over to pat his side, ruffling his short fur.

"..." Jin couldn't help the subtle frown that formed on his face. A dog had just been blatantly favoured over him, he had to admit that hurt his pride a little… Still, he stood up, brushing himself off and brushing aside his crushing defeat at the same time. "Princess Avaline, I was just looking for you."

"Oh? What is it you needed, Your Highness?" She asked, glancing up at him from behind her the locks of her fringe that had fallen over her eyes due to her head being bent. But the glance was only a glance and her gaze fell back to her doggy companion all too quickly.

Jin felt that familiar discontent again but he was calm on the surface, a gentle smile on his face. "The book you mentioned the other day, I wasn't able to find it in the royal library." This was actually just an excuse to talk to her, he hadn't actually checked the library at all.

Ava frowned for a moment which was thankfully hidden by the angle her head was tilted at. She wasn't sure what she was more upset with, the fact that the royal library didn't have such a good book or the fact that she was now going to have to cover up the fact it didn't have it. She pasted her smile back on, straightening herself, her hands folded neatly in front of her. "The copy I've been reading was my own. If you'd like to read it, I can lend you mine. Or I could ask someone to buy you a copy of it."

Jin paused a moment before he nodded. "I'll borrow yours then, many thanks Princess."

...She hadn't thought he would pick her copy over his own. She did truly have her own copy, it was her favourite book after all, but it was a much older copy, one Yoseph had gifted her some years back. It had a plain, discoloured cover and worn pages from many rereadings and having accompanied her on many travels. In short, it was NOT a book fitting of royalty. And it held quite a lot of value for her, she wasn't actually willing to lend her personal copy. She kept her expression under control as best she could, maintaining her polite tone of voice. "I'll have it sent over to you then." She needed to buy some time to figure something else out…

But Jin was really too kind today, he lightly waved his hand. "No need, I'll come get it myself."

Ava was in disbelief at how short on luck she was and how unknowingly unhelpful Jin was being today. "Ah, okay. If I could trouble the prince to come by my room later to pick it up, that would be appreciated. I have something I need to attend to right now."

"Sure. What is it you need to attend to?" He was admittedly kind of curious as to what the idle princess could be so busy doing.

Ava silently cursed her growing misfortune, hurriedly trying to think of an excuse. The truth was, they had to finalize some orders to be passed down, they needed to be given out that night. The information networks in Eden were truly in a poor state, as such there was a lot of work to be done in vetting newcomers, fixing up the processes and performing background checks on the current members. She couldn't exactly say that… Her gaze fell to the dog who sat loyally by her feet. "Rodney needs a bath."

"...He does? He seems clean to me." Jin commented, the confusion visible on his face as he looked the dog up and down.

"He was clean this morning but who knows what he's been rolling in today? He managed to sneak past the kitchens to where the scraps are thrown, there's no way of telling what he managed to get himself into," Ava lied with a chipper tone.

Jin's face paled and suddenly his expression looked a bit off as he covertly pulled the handkerchief from where it was tucked away in his pocket, wiping his hands clean. Ava had to bow her head, desperately keeping in her laughter. Covin had turned his head away to hide his amusement and Mila had her hand hidden within her sleeve tightly pressed over her mouth to contain her own giggles. Poor Rodney, whose good name was being slandered, sat there, ignorantly sweeping the floor with the content wagging of his tail, looking between the humans cluelessly.

"I'll be by some time later then." Jin nodded his head in a gesture meant to be a good bye, turning to leave.

Ava waved goodbye, watching as he walked away before turning to Mila, signing quickly. 'Mila, I need you to go into town and buy another copy of Withering Winters before tonight.'

Mila frowned. 'It isn't easy to leave the palace on such short notice… There isn't much time to find it either. Not many people here know sign language and not all common people can read written notes…'

Ava pressed her hands together, giving Mila a pleading look. 'Please, please, please Mila. Just try for me. It would be even harder for Covin or I to go out. He's a guard on duty today and I'm a princess people actually pay mind to now.' Ava gave her best puppy eyes, her lips pulled into a quivering pout in her usual dramatic shenanigans.

Mila could only sigh, finally nodding her head. Ava smiled brightly, pulling her in to hug tightly. Mila was helpless to this, smiling gently as she returned the hug. But the chances of being able to find that book really were quite low…