A Quick Rest from a Quest

585 words (excluding headlines)

"It was only supposed to be brief..."

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The sound of powerful wings practically busted the door open. After a swift run to the store down the street, this bearded pouflon spent half an hour in the air circling the house for what would've been a five minute walk back. Naturally he was quite pained by hunger, so upon entering the place he asked, "Menu, what's for dinner? I'm starving."

Minuet looked up from a local robbery report he was studying to see the big pouflon finally made his way back. A lack of greeting was no surprise, so Minuet replied, "Hm? Why we're in your living quarters, are we not? Surely you would be the one to determine what food will be available to us."

"Huh? Oh no, this place ain't mine."

"... Ah, is this your family's home then?"

"Nope."

"Friend's?"

"Na-ah. Just got the keys to this place from some guy that was fleeing from some guards the other day."

Minuet stumbled up to his feet. "F-fleeing from?!" he cried. "Jake! What have you led me to?"

"Eh? Menu, you should go and see if there's something to cook in the kitchen, man, I'm starving!"

"... And yet you have given me so much grief!"

---

"This place is neither yours or mine, it would be outright theft if we bashed our way into someone else's kitchen and raided their cupboards. It's worse that we broke in--" Minuet had stopped himself almost as if a thought had hit him. "Hold on a second, how did this fleeing individual have time to tell you where this house was?"

"Ah he didn't, just kinda found my way here with the name tag attached to the keys and all. Guy has a unique name that folks were nice enough to recognize and showed me the way to his house he was giving me. Imma call him Linguine though."

"Jake, please do tell me this fellow's actual name."

"Pasta Mills was the guy's name off that tag."

"Pasta? Jake, I do not believe that was a name, but a place of establishment! We have now made our way into someone's business, do you not see the wrong you have done here?"

"Psssh, the only wrong here is how much my stomach won't shut up."

Minuet let out the longest sigh Jake had ever heard out of someone. Minuet lifted his head up from a long session of staring at the floor to ask, "Did he give you the keys or did he drop them?"

"Eh, same thing."

"Jake." Minuet's tail flicked, but not an ounce of anger could be read from his face or ears. He then said, "While I appreciate your offer of hospitality, I do have these letters I need to return to delivering. I find it very disturbing you would lead an unsuspecting individual into a place not only do you lack ownership of, but quite possibly have found it to enter into it without their permission. I will not be mistaken for an accomplice, Jake, farewell." It was then Minuet swiftly left out the back door to return to doing his favors for Quincey.

"HEY! You doing a crime right now by leaving me hungry over here! Pft, break in my hoof..." Jake then held up paper with a set of instructions on how to clean the place Pasta had given him. "Man, you gotta do everything on your own, can't depend on NOBODY these days," he grumbled to himself. Jake didn't know what sort of knight Minuet was shaping out to be considering he was choosing favorites to do favors for!