#of why Sarahi thinks that Barnaby shouldn't be talking to her

[dat-silvers-girl]

You're my friend now

Summary: Okay but seriously, Sarahi works on her own at the palace, barely speaking to anyone. The animals are a welcome respite. Thank goodness, the animals won't be her only friends going forward. Barnaby exists.

A/N: I wrote this and other fics while I was bored out of my mind waiting for paperwork to get done. So it isn't proofread, probably nonsense, and mostly written for funsies. If I make art I'll just post it seperately. If I make any.

HPHM Cardverse AU by @ariparri

XXX

Sarahi had only been working in the palace for a week when one day she was assigned the stables to clean. And while most maids would groan at that, Sarahi was excited, because it would mean finally being able to see the horses. Ignoring everyone's confused looks, she made sure to sneak some sugar cubes from the kitchen to feed them.

Creatures are friends, and friends are meant to be spoiled with affection after all. The only other time she'd seen the horses was when she was watching them graze, and this one white horse with black hair came very close to the fence and let Sarahi pat him. Sarahi had been wanting to go to the stables since, hoping to make a friend.

She'd come out with two.

The stables… they smelled bad. But that is to be expected when animals are involved, so Sarahi wasn't too bothered. The horses let out some curious whinnys at the new person in their stables.

As happy as she was to be surrounded by horses, Sarahi was well-aware that she would have to finish cleaning up first. There was hay all over the floor, hoof marks from when the horses were brought inside, and the unfortunate consequences of the horses that went number two a little too late.

Sarahi let out a sigh and began cleaning up.

XXX

The cleanup took nearly three whole hours. But every time Sarahi would get tired or annoyed, a random horse would nose at her for a sugar cube, or give her an encouraging whinny, which instantly brightened her mood. That white horse she met earlier got most of the sugar cubes, given that it was the one who poked Sarahi the most.

"I'm going to run out of sugar cubes if you keep eating them bud." Sarahi giggled, as the horse ate it's third sugar cube in a row. The horse huffed, and still nosed at her face for more.

"Stars above, bud! Let the others have some too!" Sarahi laughed. She pulled away to feed the other horses before this white one could eat them all.

XXX

Most of the horses seemed content with the amount of sugar cubes they had eaten, and had long since gone back to their own food. Except, of course, the white horse, that still stubbornly nosed at Sarahi's back for more sugar cubes.

Sarahi let out an amused sigh. "Oh alright. Don't tell the others, but I saved this last one for you, okay?"

Saying so, Sarahi held out her palm with one more sugar cube, which was instantly eaten by the white horse. It let out a pleased sound, as if it was satisfied about getting the last cube.

Sarahi chuckled. She was never more comfortable than she was around animals. For some reason, every time she was with a group of creatures, one or two members of that group would take to her. Like the one black puppy in that litter near her house, that gray horse named Moor in the University stables that kept trying to chew on her hair, the light brown rabbit in the gardens, and now this white horse in this herd.

As if trying to express his thanks for being treated as special, the white horse nosed at Sarahi's face politely. Sarahi took this as being allowed to let him, which he seemed very happy about, as he let out a soft huff.

"Awww… aren't you just a lovely, absolutely spoiled boy? But you're a good boy! Yes you are!"

Sarahi was so into babying this horse that she didn't notice the stable door open.

"Hey, Dash!" Came a cheerful voice. "Did you make a new friend?"

The white horse, named Dash, looked over to the newcomer and winnied loudly in reply.

Sarahi, however, had all color drained from her face as she instantly realized that the horse she was patting away belonged to Barnaby Lee, the Ace of Hearts. She immediately backed away from the horse and neatly clasped her hands in front of her to appear as small as possible.

"I am sorry. I was just finishing up cleaning in here. I'll leave."

Dash was clearly having none of it, because it prodded Sarahi again to demand more pets. The Ace laughed.

"Aw, but Dash seems to love you already! How many sugar cubes did you give him?"

"Too many… Wait! How did you know I gave him sugar cubes!? Was I not supposed to!? Well… I know I wasn't actually supposed to but he was such a friendly boy and I thought-"

"Hey hey hey, slow down." Barnaby said, as he approached to pat his horse too. "Dash will just take to anyone that gives him sugar cubes. Though this isn't the first time he's let you pet him."

Sarahi hesitantly continued petting Dash. After all, her own fear of talking to other people (especially important people) was no fault of the horse.

"Uh…"

"Hey, you're new to the palace, right? Dash let you pet him earlier too! When he was grazing? Yeah, I think he was grazing."

The Ace looked thoughtful, but quickly beamed at the maid. Sarahi didn't notice, as she didn't look at his face, and kept her attention on the horse.

"Say, do you like creatures?" He asked.

Sarahi was startled. "Huh?"

"Do you like creatures?" He asked again. Unlike most people, the Ace showed no annoyance in having to repeat his question.

"Why… uh… why do you ask?"

"Oh! I know I love creatures! Just wondering if you liked them too!" He replied.

Sarahi blinked. Wasn't the Ace of Hearts said to be a tough, ferocious guy? This man seemed so innocent, and sweet. He was still smiling, and patiently waiting for her to give an answer.

Sarahi took a deep breath. "Yes, uh… I do love animals and creatures and all. They're all really lovely. Dash is very polite."

"Right!?" Barnaby squealed. "Dash is my best buddy! He's the dashiest of horses! Aren't you buddy?"

Dash answered with a loud whinny.

Sarahi had forgotten to hold back her chuckle. The Ace of Hearts was absolutely radiating with joy.

"Have you ridden a horse before?" He asked.

Sarahi smiled. "I have! I used to ride a horse from the University stables sometimes, back when I was still there."

"Oh, were you the one riding Moor?"

"How did you- yes, I did ride Moor. He… uh. He wasn't the fastest so a lot of students just ignored him. I felt bad for the buddy, so I wanted to make sure he felt good too. I hope he did…"

"Great, I've been out of University for a week and I already miss him." Sarahi added under her breath.

"I'm sure you riding Moor cheered him up, really!" Barnaby said. "He was always happy to get out of the stables. Have you been riding horses long?"

"Huh? No. The only other horse I rode was when my grandmother took me to a farm once and I got to ride a big brown horse. I remember his name was Blue."

Barnaby raised an eyebrow. "Why would one name a brown horse Blue?"

Sarahi shrugged. "The world may never know."

XXX

If anyone told Sarahi earlier that day that she would be discussing her favorite creatures with the Ace of Hearts that afternoon, she would have called them delusional. And yet, this man had somehow pulled out from Sarahi, her bucket list of every creature she wanted to meet, while he told her of his own.

"Unicorns." Sarahi had added. "They're extremely skittish. My father tells me tales of how a unicorn used to eat out of my grandmother's hands when he was a boy. I have never seen any, alas, but someday…"

Barnaby nodded. "Did you know that unicorn foals are golden?"

"I do! And they're horns are just little nubs. I'm sure they look absolutely precious!!"

"Oh you'd love the Abraxan Derby! It's an event in the Land of Clubs!"

"I've heard of it. I've always wanted to see an Abraxan up close. I really want to see how big one is compared to me. And do you need a huge saddle to ride on one?"

"I don't know but I'd love to participate in the Abraxan Derby! I like to think I'm pretty good at riding."

"I'm sure you are, I mean… Dash wouldn't love you so much if you didn't ride him well. I'd probably fall off the saddle. Moor just didn't seem to mind my fidgeting, I think.."

"Well, given how much Dash likes you, maybe he would let you try?"

"Pfff… He only likes me because I gave him one too many sugar cubes. More sugar can't be good for his health."

"Are you sure? Because he hasn't stopped whining for your attention since we started talking."

Dash huffed in response to his rider and prodded at Sarahi's face again. That was all it took to remind Sarahi where she actually was and who she was rambling about Unicorns and Abraxans with.

The maid sighed. "I have to leave now, buddy. Maybe I'll be assigned here again next week."

Barnaby nervously chuckled. "Oh. Right… we were talking for too long, huh?"

Sarahi gave a polite nod. "I must get to my other chores before I get yelled at. I do apologize for taking up your time, sir."

The confusion on the Ace's face was almost amusing.

"What?" He asked.

Sarahi blinked. "Huh?"

"Was me rambling on about creatures getting annoying?"

"What!? No!" Sarahi yelled, shaking her head in disbelief. "If anything, this was the most fun conversation I've had in a long time!"

Barnaby clapped "I feel that way too! That's great! So… what were you apologizing for?"

"Uh… taking up your time?"

"Shouldn't I be apologizing for taking up yours?"

"No! Your time is more important than mine, isn't it?"

It was like more question marks were appearing over Barnaby's head with every passing question.

"Why would my time be more important than yours? Also… how did we go from unicorns to… time?"

"Well, to start it's because you're the Ace of Hearts, and I'm just some maid. And secondly… you're right. Um… how did we get here?"

Barnaby's face slowly broke out into a smile before he started giggling. Sarahi looked around nervously, not sure what exactly he was amused by.

"I just remembered that I forgot to ask your name. What's your name?" Barnaby asked, now that his fit of giggles stopped.

"Oh. I'm Sarahi."

Barnaby beamed. "I like you, Sarahi. You're nice!"

"Huh…?"

Barnaby tilted his head at the lack of response. "Hello?"

"May I ask you a question?"

"Sure!"

"Why are you talking to me?"

"Oh, is that all? Well, I was coming in here to see Dash, and he seemed to like you. So that made me think that you were nice and liked horses. And turns out you like creatures, just like me! And that's great! I've always loved creatures, and it's always nice to meet more creature lovers. The more love for them, the better, right?"

Sarahi turned away and frowned a bit. "I see. It's just that… didn't you hear what I said earlier? You're the Ace of Hearts, and I'm…"

"What? You're just Sarahi, right?"

"I'm just a maid."

"So, just Sarahi. Me being the Ace and you being a maid is important… why? Head's getting a bit muddled."

Sarahi turned to the man to see him so genuinely confused that she wanted to laugh. "You don't think that someone as great as you shouldn't have to interact with or be close to anyone of my level? You know… the maid that just spent 3 hours cleaning up after the poor horses whose lunch didn't sit right?"

Barnaby giggled again. "No, I don't think that. In fact, I can't think of any reason I'd possibly think that. You're nice, so why wouldn't I be nice to you?"

"Huh. Important people usually aren't."

"Then let me be the first to change that." Barnaby smiled, and extended a hand to the maid. "I'm Barnaby."

Sarahi hesitated for a bit, but then decided to take her chances. She shook his hand.

"Sarahi. Nice to meet you, sir."

"Huh? No no no! You're my friend now, why would you call me sir? Just Barnaby, okay?"

"Uh… okay? Nice to meet you then… Barnaby? Look, I'm sorry, but I really need to leave. Heaven forbade me from ever being on time since the day I was born, apparently."

Dash, who had just been an observer for most of the conversation, let out a sad little huff.

Sarahi gave the horse another reassuring pat on the snout. "Oh it's okay, bud! I'll be back next week. Just don't eat all the sugar next time."

The maid picked up her bucket and then looked back. "It was a pleasure to meet you, both of you."

"Same here. Dash and I will see you here next week then?"

"Huh? You'll be here as well?"

"I'm sure it'll be a lot more fun if you have someone other than the horses to look at. And I can introduce you to the other horses too!"

Sarahi grinned at the idea. "Really!?"

"Yes!" Barnaby answered, mirroring her excitement.

"I'd love that! I'm so excited for next week! See you then, Dash and Barnaby!"

XXX

Sarahi had already gotten scolded by the Senior maid and gotten her next list of chores when she actually thought harder about what happened at the stables.

"Mama seems to be wrong." She thought. "Maybe not everyone hates me? Maybe he won't drop me? Too early to tell, I guess. But a friend? Here, at the Palace? Eh... Who am I kidding, he won't show up. But imagine… a friend here…"

XXX

"You're… you're actually here."

Sarahi let out that thought without thinking as she entered the stables, only to see Barnaby pacing back and forth.

Barnaby noticed, and gave her a big smile and a wave. "Sarahi, hi!"

The maid beamed at him in return. "It's nice to see you again."

I think I have a friend in the palace. I have a friend.