(This chapter was unpublished for some reason, so reloading it) 

Hot. 

The room had gotten warmer and warmer as the night went on, though Harper couldn't figure out why. His eyes also refused to open, making him even more confused until the sun finally began to rise through the dusty window. 

"That crazy granny is going to kill us if we stay in here too much longer." 

Rule's voice...

"Okay, you can go. I'm still recovering, so I don't think she'll mind if I stay in bed a while longer." 

Arthur. 

Feeling warm fingers press against the smooth skin of his chest felt a little strange, but Harper couldn't place why. When another set of fingers began to slip beneath the waistband of the shorts he was borrowing, he knew that there was something up. 

Sitting up abruptly, he felt both hands flinch where they were... but then the one on his chest, beneath his shirt, if he actually thought about it, shoved him right back down and held him there. 

"What are you guys doing?" Harper mumbled sleepily as he finally made his eyes open. 

Both lords were staring down at him. Rule was on his right while Arthur sat on his left. 

Arthur's hand slowly slipped out from beneath Harper's shirt, but Rule's grin just grew into a smirk as he gently began rubbing Harper's thigh. 

"Hey, that's not your leg to rub," he mumbled awkwardly as he reached down, grabbing Rule's wrist to remove him from his shorts. 

The lord let him. Harper knew that he could easily keep it there if he wanted to, but thankfully Rule didn't fight him on it and let him remove his hand. 

"It could be... all you'd have to do is ask and I'd be glad to rub you anywhere you'd like." Rule purred, earning a chuckle from Arthur as he slid from the bed to begin getting dressed. 

Wait. I thought he had on at least a pair of undergarments last night... 

Turning his attention back to Rule, Harper looked down his body, then up. The blanket was hiding the important part of his lower half, but it was clear that he, too, wasn't wearing anything. 

"Why are you both naked?" He asked, nervously looking down at himself to check that he was, indeed, at least still wearing his shorts. 

At least they didn't undress me. 

"Just in case." Rule said, tossing him a wink before he, too, got up to get dressed. 

Harper felt his cheeks heat and hurried to spin around, burying his face in one of the pillows. "Is that a silent invitation, Harper?" Rule asked in a low, husky voice right next to his ear as the bed dipped in several places and his back suddenly became much warmer than it should have been. 

"I don't think you should be trying anything else with the magistrate next door." Arthur noted, making Harper hurry to nod his agreement into the pillow. 

Expecting the heat to disappear after Arthur's words, Harper slowly began to inch his way up, only to bump against a firm body looming over him. He immediately dropped back down with a quiet noise, then glared over his shoulder at a smirking Rule. 

"True, we should leave for your estate soon, Arthur." Rule said as he finally got off the bed and began looking for something to wear in the small bag he'd brought. 

Harper hurried off the bed, too, but frowned when he remembered that he had nothing to change into. "Don't worry, we're going to leave soon and we can stop at a tailor on the way to my estate." 

The door swung open the moment Arthur finished speaking, drawing everyone's attention to Lady Lelynn, standing in the doorway. "Really? That's as good as you've got? And yet you seem so cocky." The woman said, taking a good look at Rule's still very-much naked body. 

"Both of you get your lazy arses outside and help Abel with the chickens and harvest some vegetables for breakfast. Harper, our royal Pain in Abel's Poor Backside wants to speak with you before your two peafowl cart you away to do unspeakable things to your own poor self. He's waiting downstairs for you." She said before raising her eyebrows at the two lords. 

"Both of you better get a move on. I won't move from this spot until you're dressed and outside." She said, tapping the sharp tip of her heavy shovel against the hardwood floor for emphasis. 

The group of three looked at each other, then back to her before the two lords hurried into clothing and darted from the room. Arthur was a bit more lethargic in his movements, likely because of his condition, but the sound of the door shutting downstairs echoed up to the two remaining people a few moments later, drawing a smirk across Lady Lelynn's lips. 

"Quite the birds you've found for yourself, Harper." Lady Lelynn said as she walked into the room and handed Harper a clean shirt and trousers. "Take your time getting ready." 

She disappeared a moment later, leaving Harper to get himself dressed. His foot was hurting quite a bit, likely from having used to by mistake the previous night, but he managed to change without much issue by sitting on the edge of the bed. When he felt presentable, he carefully hopped downstairs. 

Kirin was easy enough to find where he sat on the couch in the main living space. Lady Lelynn was perched on a chair opposite him, but far enough away to not purposefully intrude on the conversation... unless necessary. 

Instead of taking the other chair positioned a decent ways away from Kirin, Harper took a deep, calming breath and settled himself beside the man. He couldn't bring his eyes up to meet his, but at least he wasn't being too stand-offish. 

"Good morning, Harper. I hope you've slept well?" Kirin asked as he turned his body enough to face him while speaking. 

Harper gave a nod, exaggerating the gesture a bit because of nerves. 

"Alright, Harper. Tell me your story. I know those two lords personally, and you've got them so wrapped around your fingers that they're acting like fools... and I love it. So please tell me what's got you so stressed out from your past, so that I can gladly send you, and them, on your way." 

Harper didn't understand what he meant about the lords being wrapped around his fingers, at all, but he knew that he had to tell the man his story. It started off very scattered as he pieced together some of the worst memories of his life as a child. He hesitated when talking about his sisters, but when Kirin simply sat beside him with an understanding smile on his face, he allowed the information to leave his lips. 

By the time he got to the point where he actually met the two lords, Lady Lelynn had found her way to the cushion to his right, the shovel settled in her lap like a cat and Kirin had scooted a bit closer, seemingly enthralled by the odd tail of Harper's life. 

He twisted one of his braids around his finger as he continued about his awkward encounter with Rule, Arthur, and lord Marksworth. Mentioning the older lord made Harper's heart hurt with worry. He hoped that the man was doing alright. 

Tugging at the braid, he spoke about growing up with lord Marksworth, and how the other two lords had visited on several occasions to torment him. Lady Lelynn didn't seem happy about that part, but Kirin chuckled more than a couple times. Harper wasn't sure what was funny, but he pressed on until he came to the fire at Rule's, figuring that the story had gone on long enough for Kirin to understand the rest considering he already knew about the most current events. 

"That was quite the story, young man." Lady Lelynn finally said, right before Kirin tugged Harper into his arms for a too-tight hug. "No wonder you're so worried about everything." He said as he reached up with one hand and mussed up Harper's hair. 

"And if those picky lords ever try to cut your braids, you can tell them that I'll castrate them." He said, earning an applause from Lady Lelynn. "You may use my walking shovel for the task. It is so  nice to find something we agree upon, too." She said cheerfully, drawing an awkward laugh from Harper as the front door opened. 

The sound of two pairs of boots thumped toward the living room area, then stopped abruptly nearby, drawing everyone's attention up to lord Rule and Arthur's shocked expressions. Harper couldn't understand why they looked surprised, then upset, until Rule stomped over and promptly grabbed him from Kirin's lap and hauled him up into his arms. Arthur stepped in front of him, arms crossed with a scowl on his face. 

"What exactly did we just interrupt?" He asked, glaring at Kirin. He looked a bit funny, though, since he had his arms crossed with handfulls of zucchini, but Harper bit his lip on a laugh. 

Kirin leaned back and shrugged with a taunting smile. "I just felt like he deserved a hug, so I gave him one. As far as his crime goes, I believe that the information he has told me about it makes sense, and thus, I have decided to make my judgement based on what he's said." 

The room went silent and Harper felt Rule's arms tighten around him a fraction. Offering the man a hesitant smile, Harper wrapped his arms around his neck and snuggled in. He wasn't worried anymore. If Kirin was going to punish him, he would have told him so before the two lords had walked in. He believed that he was just playing with the two now. He made sure to keep an eye on the situation, however, just in case. 

"And?" Arthur said, his voice sounding anything but like its normal patient tone. 

Chuckling, Kirin stood from the couch and walked over to Rule. He began to reach up toward Harper's hair, possibly to tug on a braid, but Rule took a large step back, putting him out of reach. Kirin laughed again, then sobered as he stared from one lord to the other. 

"He is free to go. There will be no charges pressed so long as he remains as a lad and does not pretend to be a lass any longer. There will, however, be charges pressed against both of you if you ever think of cutting his hair without his approval." 

Both Rule and Arthur looked dumbfounded, but Harper was silently thankful. The two had come close to doing so in the past, though only in jest. Still, he would have been heartbroken to lose the tokens of his sister's memories like that. 

"We won't...?" Arthur said as Rule nodded awkwardly. 

Clapping his hands together once, Kirin turned his attention to the door as Abel stumbled in with an armful of eggs. "And now, breakfast." He said, licking his lips as he hurried toward Abel, only to be tripped by a certain walking shovel. 

"Down, dog. I don't want all those eggs going to waste because you feel the need to fornicate like a rabbit. Now let the boy help me with breakfast so that we can feed our guests, because I believe that they'll be leaving as soon as possible to do unfavorable deeds of their own soon." Lady Lelynn said as she easily bent over and picked up the shovel, then gestured for Abel to follow her into the kitchen. 

Harper still wasn't exactly sure what she was getting at with her inappropriate jabs, but he decided to just ignore them for now and relaxed against Rule as the lord dropped down onto the sofa with a loud sigh. Arthur joined them a moment later, his hand settling on top of Harper's hair. 

"So glad everything worked out." Rule mumbled as he leaned down and pressed a kiss to Harper's cheek, earning an embarrassed grin. 

Arthur leaned over a moment later and stole a kiss from Harper's lips for a brief moments before getting up. "I'll go help them with breakfast. The sooner we eat, the sooner they'll let us be on our way." 

"So... I'm invited?" Rule asked with a knowing tone. 

Arthur glared over his shoulder with a scowl, making Rule grin before he stalked off into the kitchen with his zucchini. "I'll take that as a yes." Rule yelled with a cocky grin.

"Alright, little Hari. We just need to survive breakfast and then you're all ours." Rule cooed with a slightly scary grin. 

Is that a good thing? 

He wasn't exactly sure.