All For Love [Reth x OC x Jel]

Investing

"Man my garden has suffered.." Azu sighed as she leaned on her hoe, pouting a little while she rested after finishing up tending her farm for the first time in almost a week. There'd been so many knapweeds that certain crops were all out of sync now, and she'd be waiting for another few days for lagging plants to grow in so she could even plant a new batch of seeds. This was going to set her back in her savings a bit; but she could figure it out...maybe some extra mining could make up the difference, once she was back to it. One way or another..

"Here babe; I brought you some tea~" Reth chuckled as he walked over to her, handing her the glass of iced tea and letting her take a drink while he glanced around at her farm plot. She'd expanded a lot since the first time he'd been there; he had to wonder how much it'd cost her so far, to have all of the permits for her line up of preserves jars, on top of all of her resource refiners.. "What all do you have in those..?" he hummed, coming to stand behind her and wrap his arms around her waist.

"Mm-" Azu hummed as she lowered her glass and sighed, leaning back against the chef and smiling as she pointed jar to the furthest to the left, starting down the line. "Apples, blueberries, tomatoes, peppers, and potatoes; Im planning on getting another couple of them soon for onions and corn; gotta spend money to make money, yknow~?" she giggled, glancing up at him over her shoulder. "Preserving the best quality crops is worth it for the uptick in profit margin; and since some things preserve faster than others, it makes for a pretty steady cash flow in the background, while Im out hunting and mining.." she hummed.

"How much do you even make off of all that~?" Reth laughed a little as he shook his head; but when she actually told him, his eyes widened and he felt his lungs seize up.

"Right now~? About 20k or so, on a typical week; just off the preserves, not counting extra crops, gemstones I find, extra resources, and goods from hunting. Overall I think it floats between 25 and 30k on average." She hummed; furrowing her brow a little when she felt his grip on her waist tighten. She was healed enough now that it didnt hurt when he squeezed her; and she could reach up behind her to hold his face as she twisted a little to kiss his cheek. "You okay, Trouble?"

Reth was very much not okay; he couldnt even try to wrap his head around that kind of money, and as soon as it clicked for him that she'd said week, and not month, his eyes widened even more. He was finally forced to gasp for air when his lungs started to burn, snapping him out of his shock enough to look at her face; furrowing his brow a little. "What..?" he heaved, letting go of her so she could turn to face him. "H-how much-?? How long have you-? How-??" That was 100k a month, easily; he barely even made that kind of money in a year-!

Azu had to giggle a little as she put her tools away and set her tea down before coming back over to him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and letting his return to her waist. "You heard me right, babe~ Ive been working hard since I got here, but I only started making that kind of money about three months ago when I bought the permits for the fourth and fifth preserve jars."

For a moment it was silent between them, as Reth tried to comprehend just how much gold his girlfriend had made since she materialized here; but as the door creaked open and Jel poked his head out, the sound of the tailor's worried voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Are you two alright? Reth, darling, you look like you saw a ghost?" he called as he started to walk over, furrowing his brow at the chef. He'd been inside at the table, working on a few concept sketches while Reth had stayed close by for her to tend the farm; and the man had seemed fine when he'd come in to grab a drink for her only moments before, so he was worried for a second that something had happened; at least, until he saw the way Azuriela turned to smile at him and roll her eyes a little.

"I think I broke him baby; apparently big numbers dont compute for our poor Troublemaker~" she laughed lovingly; even if she knew exactly why it was such a shock to Reth...she didnt know for sure how much debt he was in, but she knew damn well that a 'life debt' didnt come cheap..

"What? What do you mean my muse?" Jel chuckled a little as he came to stand with them, wrapping his arms around Reth from behind and finding his hands against Azu's back to hold them there. He could feel the way Reth finally jolted a little, seeming to snap out of it enough to turn his head and peek back to lock their eyes for a moment. "What did I miss?"

"He asked how much money I make, and I told him~" Azu laughed warmly, shifting her hands so that Jel could lean against Reth's back, letting her wrists rest on the tailor's shoulders.

"I-" Reth blinked a little as he looked between the two of them, finally settling on Azu's magenta irises again as he furrowed his brow. "You're serious??"

Azu rose a brow at him, glancing to meet Jel's eyes for a moment before she giggled. "I'm serious; I really have made about 25k a week for going on three months now; at least, up until the accident happened."

"Dragon-" Jel breathed as his eyes widened a little too; even if he had an easier time running those numbers in his head than Reth did. "Is it just disposition, love, or are you working toward something?" he laughed breathlessly, letting his head rest against Reth's.

"Honestly Im not really aiming at anything specific, but there's no real reason to stop, yknow?" Azu closed her eyes and smiled to hide the way she lied through her teeth at them; knowing they would have seen the burning determination she had, thinking about how long it would take to work up enough to follow her plan through..

"But there is a reason to expand.." Reth narrowed his eyes at her, gripping her waist a little tighter. This only made the sinking feeling he had pull him that much deeper; once again wondering if he was that reason..

"Well.." Azu bit the inside of her lip as she opened her eyes and furrowed her brow; looking between Reth's narrowed eyes and the confused stare that Jel was giving them both. "Why not?" she tried to chuckle it off; but she could see in his eyes that Reth didnt believe her; and she couldnt blame him.. It made her sigh a little as she let her gaze soften, sighing at the two of them. "...I just want to make sure I can support the three of us. You two deserve to be spoiled and adored, and I want to be sure I can do that and still provide for us." she smiled a little, pushing up onto her toes to give them each a kiss. "Call it investing in my future~"

"Sweet Tooth.." Reth murmured as his brow upturned, feeling a whine die in his throat as he held back a wave of tears. Dragon, they were making him cry so much today..!

"I didnt know we were worth so much to you, my muse.." Jel smiled dreamily at her, shyly grinning as he squeezed her waist, pinning Reth against her in their embrace.

"Of course you are~ I mean, I plan on spoiling Miles, Tish, and Kenyatta too; but you two are at the top of my list, yknow?" she giggled, watching the way the two of them smiled at her sheepishly.

The two of them blushed in deep shades of pink and purple, hearing her finally admit that they were her reason, or at least a big part of it; clinging to each other there for a few moments in the afternoon sunshine, as it settled in for them. Even as they finally let the topic drop and shifted their focus to murmurs about what do about lunch, though, Reth couldnt entirely shake the thought that lingered in the back of his head..

She isnt planning on doing anything about his debt...right..?