#muta is in another room obvs

[catsafarithewriter]

A/N: part 13!

x

"So you have a niece now, do you?" Toto asked. "Funny, I don't remember you ever mentioning any siblings."

"Wait, you know each other?" Haru demanded. She glared up at Muta. "And you never told me?"

"Relax, Chicky. I knew a Toto once, just didn't know he was part of your new fancy-shmancy family."

"You never asked," Toto said.

"How do you know each other?" Baron interrupted, before the burgeoning argument could get a foothold on the conversation. "Exactly?"

Muta and Toto exchanged glances like they were waiting for the other to answer. Eventually, Toto ventured with, "We used to go... fishing, together."

"Years ago," Muta added.

"We stopped when it became clear that Renny–"

"It's Muta now, birdbrain."

"That's the name you went with? I thought you were joking. Fine. We stopped when it became clear that Muta was fishing in ponds he shouldn't be."

Muta snorted.

"And you haven't spoken since?" Haru asked.

"It was a pond we both knew was off-limits."

There was such an undercurrent of something big being sidestepped, that Haru doubted she was the only one wondering just how literal the conversation was.

There was a dubious pause.

"I think," Elora said, "that's quite enough introductions for one afternoon. You must all be quite exhausted after all that travelling."

"My sister—"

"Your sister is out with her wife, showing her around the estate. You will have plenty of time to get reacquainted with her later. For now, though, I think you'll appreciate establishing yourselves in your rooms." There was a hesitation in which she seemed to assess the safest nephew to send. "Hunter, would you do the honours?"

The house wasn't the largest Haru had ever seen (she'd lived in the shadow of the palace, after all) but what it lacked in square foot, it made up for in labyrinthine passages. She was quite glad she had Baron on hand, otherwise she had no clue how she'd find her way to the bathroom, let alone the exit.

She was so focused on attempting to map their twisting route, that she'd quite forgotten the oldest trope in the fake dating handbook until she entered her and Baron's quarters.

She stared at the room before her.

"There's only one bed."