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“All right! So let's start again from the beginning and we'll go slow ok?”
Alkar sighed, grumbling as he began to speak. “'The cat went through the door. He tho-awt som..something was wrong'.”
The sounds of Alkar reading out loud continued to fill the room as Ezra labeled bottles at the table across from them. Rose had come into his shop with a request to fill and herbs he had been trying to get his hands on for months. He offered her a trade of what she wanted for more of the herbs since she was heading back to the same area she got them from.
Alkar had also been in the shop, poking through the shelves of books as he tended to do. Rose noticed this and offered to sit down with him and read with him until Ezra was done.
'You have a really nice voice and it'll be fun! Ezra won't have to work in silence and you get to see the book. Win win for everyone!'
'And what do YOU get out of this, Hunter?'
'I get to enjoy the company of my friends!'
Ezra smiled at the memory, glancing up at them beneath his lashes as Alkar continued to read out loud. It was always a sensitive topic for Alkar and Rose had approached it like it was the most natural thing in the world. He was always in awe of how she could walk into a situation and defuse it. You never would've known anything was wrong in the first place.
Now that Ezra thought about it? Every time he had run into Rose, she was always helping someone. It could've been Finn and his art supplies. Omen and teaching him more about the food from this realm. Alkar and all the things he ever needed assistance with. Or himself and the various items he wouldn't have been able to get his hands on otherwise. He never made lists nor asked for them but Rose somehow always knew.
He was glad she decided to follow Rhapsody to Lunaris. The two balanced each other out and even got August interacting with them more. Ezra knew that Rose fancied them. It was obvious to anyone with a pair of eyes how she'd light up whenever August was near. They always tried to frown her away, their tone curt and unyielding. But she smiled and responded as if it didn't phase her, forever showing how much she cared for the Enforcer.
Ezra grinned when Alkar finished the page and Rose cheered like it was the best thing in the world. He could tell Alkar was fighting not to smile as he asked about the next page and Rose agreed to help him.
Reaching for another label, Ezra decided that if anyone could help August learn to trust their heart again it would be Rose.