Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“So,” Reth said, leaning over the counter. “I’ve got two tickets to the Bahari Boyz concert this weekend.”

The one person who hadn’t bailed on him (yet) just blinked and tilted her head. “Okay…?”

Reth flashed a stiff smile at her, feeling it crack with each passing second of the confused stare he received.

“Umm… oh. Oh. OH!”

She beamed. “Sure, I’d love to go with you.” 

“That’s…” Reth was speechless.

“I need to go buy some flour from Zeki for a cake party tomorrow, but I’ll look forward to seeing you this weekend!” Bouncing off her barstool, she gave him one last smile before walking out.

He stared after her, not sure what to feel. Was this according to plan? Reth would have to check with Tish later that night.

—

“What do you mean? This is amazing!” Tish beamed at her brother, clasping her hands together. “Oh, it’s going to be such a magical night! I can’t believe my older brother is finally going on a date with the sweetest person ever!”

Reth ran a hand through his hair. “It’s not a date — and you say that like I’m actually going to the concert, Tish.”

Tish looked at him, puzzled. “What do you mean? Didn’t you get the tickets—” Her blue eyes widened in shock. 

“Don’t tell me you literally pretended you got tickets to the Bahari Boyz concert!”

Reth gaped at her. “Wasn’t that the plan? I thought you said that was a foolproof way to, you know, show that we’re friends — and like maybe make up for dumping all my work on her!”

His sister’s face was caught between incredulous disbelief and horror.

“ No , Reth, I said to pretend you coincidentally had two tickets to go to an event she would be interested in, like the Bahari Boyz concert! And then you would ask her to go with you! Why would you just pretend you had tickets?”

Reth waved his hands around wildly. “I don’t know, I thought it was part of the plan!”

Tish’s hands were on her hips. “Yeah, the plan for her to spend time with you and for you to do something she likes to make up for having her deliver your shipments!” She couldn’t believe her brother sometimes. Consuming so much soup must have turned his brain into soup too.

Wincing, Reth had to admit that it made a lot more sense to pretend that he had coincidentally gotten tickets, not to pretend that he had tickets. He buried his face in his hands.

“Okay, it’s cool, I can work with this — so I just need to get tickets to the concert before Saturday, right?” Reth took a deep breath and smiled, but his smile faltered when he saw the expression on his sister’s face. “Uh, what’s wrong?”

Tish tilted her head with an air of despairing amusement. “Reth, I know you think the Bahari Boyz are silly, but they’re really popular! It will be almost impossible to get tickets for an event happening in two days!”

He hadn’t thought of that. Admittedly, he didn’t think too much about the Bahari Boyz in general, although he would still smile and nod whenever Tish gushed about them. And apparently Sweet Tooth really liked them too since she had been willing to go to the concert with him.

“Maybe someone will be willing to sell their tickets?” Reth suggested tentatively. “It happens! Things come up and people have to resell their tickets!”

“Umm…” Tish bit her lip. “Yes, but those tickets would normally be, ah, auctioned off, not just sold.” She looked at him meaningfully.

Reth didn’t need to be a genius to understand she was hinting at his financial situation. He wasn’t in debt to the cartel anymore, but he definitely wasn’t bid-over-concert-tickets either. 

Groaning, he rubbed his temples.

“She would understand, you know?” Tish said hesitatingly. “You could always wait until they’re back in town and try again then!”

He could. Yes, she would understand. But he would feel–was already feeling–terrible for messing up the situation so badly, especially when he could still picture the bounce in her step as she left the inn after agreeing to go with him.

“I’m going to try anyway,” he decided. “Besides, she’s already spent so much on me–it’s about time I returned the favor.” He straightened his shoulders and passed the pack of food he had packed for Tish and Jel’s dinner to her. “I’ll see you later, ok?”

She took the package. “Well, alright. If anyone can do it, it’s you!” She beamed. “I’ll pay attention to see if I can find people selling tickets, too! And I can ask Jel—”

“Wait wait, maybe don’t tell him,” Reth interrupted with wide eyes. Seeing Tish’s confusion, he hurried to add,  “I’m sure it’d be helpful to get as many people as possible on the lookout, but then, uh, she would also know about the — the fact that I don’t actually have the tickets,” he finished with a blush and his hand on the back of his neck.

“Oh, ok,” Tish agreed. “I won’t tell!” She walked with him out of the store, locking the doors and waving farewell as she turned to the right.

“Thanks, Tish,” he called out. 

Time to find Bahari Boyz concert tickets.

Chapter Text

There were no tickets. 

Reth had scoured every message board and information network he could with no luck. Turns out the Bahari Boyz had fans with very deep pockets.

But! There was still hope! Kenyatta had stopped by the inn and asked for a jar of pickles to tick off Eshe, and also let slip that Nai’o might have tickets for sale. As well as the fact that she wasn’t too happy with him, but Reth didn’t want to get involved in their drama. So here he was, tapping his fingers against the counter as he watched the clock.

As soon his shift ended, he rushed out the kitchen with his gold and some cookies, speed-walking to the stables.

“Nai’o! Just who I wanted to see.” 

Nai’o started, turning to him in surprise. “Oh, hey Reth! How can I help you?” 

Reth pursed his lips, not sure where to start.

“I… heard you might have Bahari Boyz tickets I can buy?”

Nai’o flushed slightly, a guilty smile breaking out on his face. “Oh, has the news already spread that much?”

Reth hummed noncommittally, knowing that revealing his source of information while both parties had so many emotions could lead to misunderstandings. The farmer probably wouldn’t hold anything against him, but he didn’t want to risk it. “I heard some things, yeah.”

Nai’o sighed.  “I bought Bahari Boyz tickets for tomorrow to surprise Kenyatta — but she already went while I was fixing up a fencepost for Ma. Well, and for the ormuus.”

Reth’s heart pounded as Nai’o twisted his fingers in his lasso.

“This is good timing though! I was going to go by myself, but it felt like a shame with one extra ticket — especially since I’ve been too busy to go camping with Auni like I promised.” Nai’o gave him a thumbs up. “I have to say though, I didn’t take you to be a Bahari fan!” 

“I’m not,” Reth confessed, looking around. There was almost no one around, but just to be safe, he moved closer and lowered his voice. “So, uh, I may have kind of done something stupid and pretended I had tickets instead of pretending I had accidentally gotten the tickets so I’m trying to make up for it and actually have the tickets.”

Nai’o blinked at his rushed explanation, and for a moment Reth wondered if that had been too much information for the man to handle. Then his eyes lit up with understanding, and he nodded knowingly.

“I got you.” He winked at the confused chef. “I’ll bring them to you tomorrow morning.”

Reth smiled, reaching for his money pouch. “Thank you. You have no idea how much this means to me.”

Nai’o waved his gold away, causing Reth to frown. “Nope. Keep it. If I can’t make my girlfriend happy with me, I can at least make yours happy with you!”

They weren’t dating — although he had hinted he would be open to it, but honestly? She was so out of his league he knew she’d realize the mistake she’d made and leave eventually. Also, he hadn’t even said who he was trying to get the tickets for! What if it had been Tish?

“Your face.”

“What?”

As if reading his thoughts, Nai’o gestured at his face. “Your face, Reth — you’re definitely getting the tickets for someone you like a lot . And not in a brother-sister way!”

Reth hadn’t realized his face was so expressive. Then again, he was a terrible liar, so he supposed he shouldn’t be surprised that his expressions gave away what he was thinking.

“Well, thank you—really, I mean it. Also! ” he added quickly, a little offended by the refused payment and wondering how Nai’o would ever get by in life. “I’m not just gonna take the tickets from you. I might be a questionable guy, but come on, I’ve got some standards. You’re getting steak. Anytime you come by the inn. On me.”

“It’s really fine,” Nai’o protested. But he could tell Reth meant it, so he let it go.

“Thanks, Reth.”

He hesitated, then added, “Instead of steak, though… think you could make a couple cakes for me? Auni’s been feeling down lately. I want to cheer him up, but I’m pretty hopeless when it comes to baking.”

“Done,” Reth agreed immediately. He understood the feeling of wanting to take care of a younger sibling, and Nai’o was doing him a huge favor with the tickets. “Cakes and steak. Anything else?”

“Wait, no, I didn’t mean both,” Nai’o sputtered. The chef had already made up his mind though, and also pressed a bundle of wrapped cookies into the farmer’s arms. “Take this for now, and I’ll get the cake done tonight and we can meet up tomorrow.”

Nai’o seemed hesitant to take the cookies, but seeing Reth’s set face, he accepted them. “Thank you.”

“No, thank you ,” Reth felt a huge weight lifted off his shoulders. 

He had managed to get tickets after all, and wouldn’t have to disappoint his Sweet Tooth. He’d even managed to slip some gold into Nai’o’s pocket when he wasn’t looking!

—

“There’s the face I keep seeing in my dreams,” Reth teased as he waved her over with tickets in hand. “You ready?”

“Yep!” She beamed up at him.

They navigated the crowds and finally got their wristbands after a long wait.

“You know, I didn’t take you for a Bahari Boyz fan,” she commented, glancing at him with a grin as she fussed with her wristband.

He reached over to help her secure it. “I went to one of their concerts with Tish before–” He flushed slightly as he remembered the serenade his pouting and sulking had resulted in and hurried to change the topic.

“But hey, Sweet Tooth, I thought you liked them?”

She shrugged. “Their music’s pretty good–and honestly, I’m super happy to get to spend time with you here! I’ve just never thought about attending one of their concerts before.” She beamed at him.

“Thanks again!”

Reth smiled softly. “Aw, it’s the least I can do for the voice in my head that isn’t mine.” He paused, clearing his throat. “Not to make it weird or anything, but I’m really glad you took a chance with me when you came to Kilima.”

Seeing her wide eyes turned towards him, he quickly backpedaled. “I made it weird, didn’t I? Sorry! Forget I said that. Let’s talk about something else. Anything,” he added semi-desperately as she continued staring, her mouth now slightly open.

She seemed to realize something and closed her mouth, then laughed. “No, it’s not weird! I’m glad I met you too!” 

Her lips curved upwards. “Although, for the sake of not sounding weird either, what I meant to say was – what can I say? I love trash.”

“Ouch!” Reth grinned down at her, easing into their familiar banter. “Eh, that just means you know what you like and won’t run off at the first sign of trouble. Although,” he counted on his fingers with mock seriousness. “At this point, it’s more like the twentieth or something.”

The Bahari Boyz took the stage, and as the crowds started cheering, Reth barely made out her next words.

“I’m not planning on leaving anytime soon.”

He couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across his face and ducked his head. Even as they turned their attention to the performers on stage, he kept those words in his mind, turning them over in like candy on his tongue. 

She’s here to stay.