#i wasn't sure whether the prompt request was baron accidentally proposed to haru or smth else

[catsafarithewriter]

Hey, I think I sent that last prompt incorrectly. Sorry. If you’re still up for one, what about 2, with Baron and Haru?

Yesssiree, I am still up for prompts - sorry about the delay, I think tumblr ate a few posts (or I leant on a button… both are possible).

Number 2 was: “I look away for five minutes! Five! And apparently, you’ve managed to propose to someone whose name you don’t even know? This has to be a new record.”

(Also @tcrmommabear I know you asked for the same prompt, but someone else beat you to the punch.)

x

Propose was a strong word, Baron felt. Unnecessarily strong, really. After all, it wasn’t his fault that other worlds had their frustratingly casual methods of arranging romantic partnerships, and that he’d accidentally engaged in courtship. 

Again. 

“Haru, I assure you, it was nothing more than a dance–”

“It was not nothing more than a dance,” Haru retorted, her voice a low hiss as she motioned sharply to the doorway, beyond which the entire Stella Kingdom lay waiting for the royal announcement. “Not as far as they’re concerned!”

“Everything is under control–”

Haru drew back the curtain to reveal the royal balcony where the two monarchs were proclaiming the wonderful engagement of the crown prince. “Really?” she deadpanned. “Totally under control? And when are we getting you fitted for the wedding, Your Highness?”

Baron had the decency to look suitably sheepish at that point. “All I was trying to do was supply a necessary distraction while the rest of you located the stolen babylon candle–”

“Consider them distracted.”

“–talking of which,” Baron continued, “have you found it yet?”

“I don’t know - I left that to Toto and Muta while I hauled your ass out of an unwanted marriage. Tell me you have a plan to get yourself out of this mess.”

“Most certainly.”

Haru waited. “And?”

“Well, most of a plan. Part of a plan.” Baron hesitated. “It’s a work in progress.”

“What do you have so far?”

“Don’t get married.”

Haru groaned. “Have you tried explaining that it was a mistake?”

“Several times. Apparently the Stella Kingdom takes marriage proposals very seriously.”

“How seriously?”

“Till death do us part seriously.” 

Haru groaned again. “This wouldn’t happen if you weren’t such a flirt.”

Baron made an indignant sound. “I do not flirt.”

“Not intentionally! But why, in the name of sanity, did you think asking the crown prince for a dance would be the best way to distract the royal family?”

“Would you rather we had gone with Muta’s smoke bomb suggestion?”

“At this point in time, I’m seriously considering it.” 

Baron didn’t reply immediately, and Haru wondered if he was also considering it when, “Do you really think of me as a flirt?”

Okay, so not considering her point. Sulking. How very mature. Haru raised an eyebrow. “We need to distract the royal family, and your immediate response is to dress up and slow dance with the prince? Yeah, some people might call that flirting.” 

“I happen to like disguises.”

“You don’t need a disguise here, nobody even knows who you are,” Haru said. “What about the slow dancing? Where does that factor in, if not for the romance points?”

“Waltzing is one of my many talents.”

Haru rubbed her temples. “Why couldn’t magic tricks have been it instead?” she muttered. “Look, Baron, you flirt. You might not mean to, and it might not be intentional, but given your tendency for dramatically romantic responses, is it really that surprising that people misunderstand you? And I’m not judging and I’m not telling you to change, but you should at least be aware of it.” 

Baron was quiet again, and Haru could almost see the interior gears at work. “Did... Did I come across as such when I rescued you from the Cat Kingdom?” he asked eventually. 

“A little bit?” Haru hesitated. “Okay, a fair bit. A lot. Like, a lot a lot for a teenager who’s never been swept off her feet before. Yeah.”

Baron took another moment. And then the penny dropped. 

“So your admission of a crush was not a platonic statement?”

Now it was Haru’s turn for silence. “Did you...? Is that...?” Her mouth snapped shut and she rearranged her thoughts before trying again. “What did you think I meant?”

“I wasn’t sure!” Baron remembered the announcement happening on the balcony beyond, and hastily lowered his voice. “I thought it might be a friendship thing.”

“A... friendship... thing...” Haru echoed hollowly. 

“Or,” Baron continued, and he definitely looked sheepish now, “some modern expression for being... in awe?”

“In...” Haru couldn’t even finish that sentence. She leant her mouth against her hands as she fought for something, anything, to say back to that. “"Really?” she whispered. 

“I had just saved you from the Cat Kingdom,” Baron reminded her. “I thought it could be the contemporary way to express... gratitude, or...”

“Or hero worship?” Haru supplied. “You thought I was admitting to being your fan?”

“I’m not quite sure what that term means--”

“Fanatic,” Haru said. “Groupie. Admirer. Follower.”

“I don’t understand what half those words mean. Do you see how I could have mistaken your admission for something... else, now?”

“Oh my god, it all makes so much sense. Your behaviour since my return, your obliviousness to all the hints I’ve been dropping, you thought I was just looking up to you...”

“So if it wasn’t... admiration, then what exactly does a crush--”

“It means I like you, okay?” 

“As do I, Haru. You are a good friend--”

“Romantically.” 

Baron’s mouth snapped shut with an audible clack. “Oh,” he managed eventually. He tried to add something else, and ended up with “oh” again, his eyes gradually growing larger as he rapidly reevaluated the last few years they’d spent together. When he spoke again, there was a noticeable crack in his voice. “How... How long have you...?”

“Okay, so the highschool crush wore off pretty quickly, but since returning to the Bureau to help with cases...?” Haru pursed her lips as she counted back the months. “It probably seriously started after the Shadow Kingdom case. And building up the few weeks before.” She met his gaze quickly, and then looked away, her cheeks rapidly reddening. “I thought you knew, but you were just being too polite to...” 

“To...?” Baron prompted. 

“You know. Actually turn me down. Which was... I mean, I didn’t know exactly what to do with that, but I like being part of the Bureau, and I like solving cases and helping you and Toto and Muta, so I was happy to stick around for that and not let my... feelings get in the way. And even though you don’t like me in that way, I still want your friendship, so--”

“When did I say I didn’t return the feelings?”

Haru stared. She ran the conversation over in her head to see if she had radically misunderstood any of their exchange thus far. No. No, this still didn’t make sense. She tried a smile. It came out wan. “If this is a joke, it’s in really poor taste, Baron.”

“I would never joke about something like this.”

“But I’ve been dropping hints and you never even noticed! You can’t... This doesn’t...” She exhaled sharply and sat heavily down. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Why didn’t you?”

“I did! I was - I was hinting!”

“Hinting. But never said outright. I assumed, because you never spoke forthright, that your feelings towards me were strictly platonic and I didn’t want to risk our friendship,” Baron said. He took a seat across the table from her, looking far less ruffled than Haru felt. “As you have recently made abundantly clear, I am not the most... observant when it comes to recognising romantic cues. Given or taken. But that doesn’t change the fact that I hold a great deal of affection for you.”

Haru’s lips twitched into a smile. “Why do you have to put it so fancily? A great deal of affection? No wonder our wires got crossed.”

“Haru, I’m being sincere.”

“As am I.” She leant across and planted a quick kiss on his cheek. “Clear enough for you? Because, just for the record, I also hold a great deal of affection for you, Baron Humbert von Gikkingen.” She watched Baron’s expression, her own heart beating at a million miles an hour. “Okay, and this is the point where you say something back.”

Baron gently brushed his kissed cheek.

“Baron?”

He smiled. “Miss Haru, just for the record, I think I may have a little crush on you.”

Haru snorted. “That’ll do.” Her heart was still racing, but it no longer felt like it was about to expire from mortification. Just shock. She exhaled slowly and tried to get her mind back onto their current predicament. “Typical. We’re having this conversation just as you’re about to get married.” 

Baron smiled. “Don’t be so sure.”

“Do you finally have a plan?”

“Did you ever doubt me?”

“Do you want an honest answer to that?”

Baron rose to his feet, bringing his top hat to his head with his typical flair. “Miss Haru, plans are my forte. Improvised ones, doubly so. Now, do you still have those smoke bombs on you?”