(Y/n) needn't worry about the use of a horse-drawn carriage. She had wings after all, and as long as she was careful, it was sure to get her to town and back safely and efficiently. The Young Master made sure that all of the other servants were occupied before Sebastian saw his daughter off with a list of food she'd need to bring back and a basket to put the items in. So, with feathered wings sprout, she set off on her little mission with only one motive on her mind. Bring food back successfully. Although, she was in for more than she expected.
She landed in forest beside the town which was generously peppered in trees, one which would hide her so she could pull her wings back and enter the town as an ordinary person. She managed doing so with no problems, and was now on her way to the local food markets where they sold fresh produce to support small agricultural businesses. That was where the Young Master insisted she shopped anyways, instead of the grocery store where produce wasn't as fresh, especially the fruits and powder ingredients used to make his sweets. And that being said, he never liked to buy from the bakery either, he preferred that his treats were freshly made in his own household, that way he knew how fresh the things he would eat were.
It only took (Y/n) about a minutes walk before she found herself in the lively environment of the markets, people having idle chatter, children running about and playing, the local band made up of a cello, violin and flute played to entertain their ever-passing audience while some gathered around to watch and cheer and clap at their talents. This was perhaps her favorite place in the world, surrounded by such joy amongst the more common folk. And as simple as it all was, she really felt like she fit in in the stretch of chipper street.
(Y/n) found herself at a stall that sold a variety of vegetables, seeing as vegetables were at the top of the list she was provided with. Carrots, potatoes, french onion and mushrooms. The man at the stall was very polite, as all stall owners usually were. After a delightful exchange of small talk while she collected the vegetables she needed, (Y/n) handed the man the money she owed him and bid him farewell before she went searching for the next stall she'd need to tend to. However, arriving at her destination wouldn't be as easy as it was for her the first time around, considering that the man that was looking for her wasn't too far from finding her. In fact, he'd ended up finding her on account of his absent-mindedness and the fact that she was too busy making sure that everything would fit in her basket properly. Ronald had had his back turned in the middle of the street, turning slightly with every step as he searched his surroundings for that familiar (h/c) hair. He'd turned around to face her just in time for her to run into him, startling her as she mumbled an apology and looked up to see who she had bumped into. Unfortunately, it was someone she was hoping to avoid on account of the description she'd been given of him.
"Hello stranger. We almost had another accident there," Ronald joked, noticing the way his hands seemingly latched to her arms to steady her when she'd bumped into him.
"it's...nice to see you again," (Y/n) faltered looking down at his gloves hands which were still gripping her arms with reasonable strength.
When she did, Ronald brought his hands back, much too fast as his face flushed red and he simply covered it up with a goofy smile. She began walking once again, so he followed, still trying to engage in conversation.
"How's your head?" he asked, matching the lady's pace as they walked together along the street in a speed-walk.
"Better," she responded simply, stopping at the fruit stall an looking down at her list to see what she needed.
"Yeah? What brings you into town?" he asked, trying to find absolutely anything to engage her.
"I'm running errands for My Young Master, the Lord Phantomhive," she explained, placing whatever fruits she was required to bring home into her basket.
"That's right, you're a Phantomhive servant, aren't you?" He pretended to remember, entirely to keep the conversation going.
"The gardener," she replied, handing the money to the woman at the stall before she went on her way to find the next stall.
Ronald nearly found himself panting from exhaustion, since chasing the woman was beginning to wear him out. Nevertheless, he continued, catching the woman once again with an attempt to hold any sort of conversation.
"Is that why your hands are all cut up like that?" He asked, having noticed the state of her hands when he watched her hand the last stall-owner money.
"The Young Master had a rather large shipment of flowers for myself and the second gardener to plant. That happened to be the day I forgot to hang out my washed gloves, and I had to do the work with bare hands," she babbled, cursing herself mentally for engaging with the man since she didn't want anything to do with him.
"A little absent-minded, are we?" Ronald teased, the woman blushing a little in embarrassment as she avoided looking over at him.
"No, just a tad neglectful. Nothing to fuss over," she huffed, stopping at the next stall which sold the powdered ingredients, such as flower and sugar.
"Right, right," he chuckled, all falling silent as she gathered the items she needed.
Ronald stood to the side awkwardly, heart thumping, cheeks burning, he didn't know what to say, nor did he know why his body was treating him like this over a mere girl. He'd had plenty of experiences with women, both intimate and otherwise, how did he seem so bad at this now? I mean, he'd never tried to flirt with a demon girl before, but he didn't expect it to be so difficult with his level of romantic experience. He wanted to call it quits, admit to Grell that he was right about (Y/n) not being his type. But he was just...so drawn to her for some strange reason. She was very much unlike the women in general affairs, she was composed, calm, and seemed to always know what she wanted to do before she did it. She didn't blurt out awful pick up lines or deafening laughs, she didn't try to touch him in any place possible while they talked, she didn't even seem to want to look at him. And that was all it took to hook him. He'd find out what was really underneath this girl's harsh layer if it was the last thing he'd ever do.
In all of his thoughts, Ronald hadn't noticed that she'd finished with the stall, the entire market in fact, and had started walking off without him. He was quick to catch back up to her, jogging up beside her and then to in front of her, stopping her in her path. (Y/n) was annoyed, but stuck around to hear what he had to say.
"So um, I was uh...I was wondering if you wanted to maybe...go out sometime. Just the two of us, you know? Like on a date," he huffed and puffed, regaining his energized composure.
(Y/n) made a sour face. This was what she was afraid of. Being ticked off the list of Ronald's lovers that she could only imagine the length of.
"I'm not in the habit of going out with men who sleep around," she declined bluntly, Ronald's lips turning up in a frown as he straightened up.
"Can you not give me a chance? I'm an ever-changing man!" He claimed as he opened his arms out wide dramatically, dropping them back to his sides a moment after.
"I cannot I'm afraid. Because if I get heartbroken, then I'm the fool for not listening to myself in the first place," she insisted, walking around him and beginning on her way.
"You say that like it's certain you'll fall for me if you go out with me," he called after her, although she wasn't too far away from him just yet.
"That's because you seem like a likable person, Ronald Knox. I don't trust myself to make rational decisions in your presence," she called back with but the smallest tinge of jest to her voice.
And with that, she was off, and Ronald watched her back until he could no longer see it because she'd disappeared into the forest near the town. Oh, how strange he felt on the inside. It was like nothing he'd ever experienced in his entire life. For once he was intrigued by a woman who showed no skin but what was present on her hands and the area in between just below her knees and where her socks cut off mid-calf, a woman who showed no interest in forming any sort of relationship with him, a woman with beauty shrouded in mystery. She certainly was a change in scenery, an ironically exciting one for that matter. And in that moment, he felt determination fill his chest cavity, and his only motive with women from that point on seemed to be entirely focused on the mysterious (Y/n) Michaelis.
~
With a sigh of relief, (Y/n) sat down on her bed and brushed her hair, her night gown wrapped loosely around her body for the fact that she was about to go to bed. She was alone in the room for that moment, for the fact that Mey-rin was still in the bath, alone with her thoughts. It was a quiet night...until a certain someone jumped feet first through the window and sent the smashed glass flying everywhere, immediately startling (Y/n) as she tried as hard as she could to comprehend just what on earth was going on. That was until she notice who was intruding, and that same sour feeling she had today came over her once more as she looked between him and the scattered glass all over the ground.
"What the hell do you think you're doing???" She whisper yelled, standing up quickly and gripping her hair brush tightly in anger.
"I came to ask you on a date again, (Y/n)," Ronald said, confident as ever as he approached the woman with a cheeky smile, "I won't give up so easy, for your information."
"And you thought smashing my bedroom window would get you any closer to achieving your goal??" She asked, still in a whisper yell, "How did you even know that this was my bedroom???"
"Look, that's not important. What is however, is that you agree to at least one date with me, since, as I declared, I am an ever-changing man," he whispered, (Y/n)'s brows knitting much closer together as her frustration only grew.
"And why should I?" She asked, the man smirking a little.
"Because I just might have to make my presence known in this manor if you deny me the pleasure of a single night out, my dear," He began, her eyes widening slightly, "Oh Sebastia-"
(Y/n) clapped her hand over his mouth and rolled her eyes, clearly frustrated with the situation.
"Fine, one date. That's it," she whisper yelled, taking her hand away only to see the Ronald's cheeky smile reemerge from behind it.
"Meet me in town tomorrow night, nine o'clock. I promise I won't disappoint you," He whispered before poking the woman's forehead, "I'll be waiting, love."
And with that, he exited through the window, leaving a frustrated young gardener to stand and stare at the mess he made. However will she explain this one?
~
God, am I really doing this?
There she stood, on the reasonably busy streets that were by her home, mentally preparing herself for a date that she was hoping wouldn't go down so well so she wouldn't have to go on another. (Y/n) was clad in a dress that had belonged to her mother, she figured it would be the most appropriate of her outfits for the occasion-
(Idk how to describe this shit so here y'all go)
Along with white knee-high socks and a pair of cute little strapped leather shoes with ribbons that Lady Elizabeth had given her as a gift for one of the Christmas's she'd celebrated with her. Maybe she looked more like a little school girl than a woman who was about to go on a date, but perhaps that factor would help her in getting out of a second date.
Grell had also insisted on braiding her hair once again, because of course he knew about the date before she could even tell him about it. He even tried to do her make up, but that was where she drew the line, she wasn't looking to impress the man, she just wanted to get it over and done with.
It was just past 9 when (Y/n) saw Ronald walking toward her, on the same side of the street as herself, wearing what he usually would. His eyes seemed to light up when he spotted her, and his pace quickened and eventually he met her, his excitement more than obvious.
"Hey love, you look nice," Ronald complimented, his eyes dancing across her very simple yet very adorable outfit as (Y/n) pushed herself off of the wall she was leaning against and crossed her arms.
"You're not so bad yourself, Knox," the lady said, her eyes only spending less than half the time his did examining his outfit, "what's the plan for tonight?"
"Well, the initial plan was to take you to the pub, introduce ya to a few of my friends and have a good time. But then I remembered that you're a demon, and general affairs would kick my ass if they knew about this, so-"
"You asked me on a date with no plan?" (Y/n) interjected, having to hold back her laughter from the story he told to show how unimpressed she already was.
"Hey, I never said that. A lady's man always has a plan B," He objected, the woman rolling her eyes.
"I bet you no second date that this plan B of yours fails," she wagered, the man smirking as he pushed his glasses up properly on his nose.
"I better start planning the second date then," Ronald said, only half jokingly as he held his elbow out for her to wrap her arm around, "shall we?"
(Y/n) stared at his elbow for a moment with a sour look upon her face.
"Must I?"
"Would you like to hold my hand instead?"
She scoffed at the statement, settling for his elbow as she wrapped an arm around it and gripped his bicep, the two making their way down the street and toward the destination in which (Y/n) had no idea as to where such a place was.
~
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