Wonderkind

She frowned at him, leaning back against the wall uncertainly before offering him the chicken feed hesitantly.

"Want to feed the chickens?"

 

She watched him nervously, pursing her lips.

"My mother suspects you," she said after a moment.

 

Juniper was watching him nervously, as if he might bolt.

"She recognized you immediately, but I managed to convince her that not all demons are Zerras Algranoth."

 

"I told her to give you a chance to see how wonderful you are," she said quietly. "But... I understand if you want to go."

 

She seemed incredibly relieved, exhaling deeply as she came over to him.

"You won't leave?"

 

She reached up and kissed him gently, cupping his jaw with her hands.

"I love you," she murmured.

 

She nodded, pulling away from him.

"I'll leave you here... I need to catch up on crop gathering. Once you finish the chickens, could you open the back gates to let them all out into the fields? You can leave the gate open; they'll come back in at dusk."

 

"After that... you can come to meet me down by the corn?" she suggested. "I might need some help down there."

 

She nodded too. There was hope in her eyes, and she leaned up, kissing his cheek gently before leaving the barn.

 

The chores he assigned her would pass without incident, and he would find her in the corn. She was already hard at work, moving through the fields and activating a few machines as she walked.