Work Text:
“And there we go.”
The sound of gravel crunching under the carriage wheels stopped as it came to an uneven halt. Sitting behind the reins, you clutched the leathers straps in your hands and as an excited squeal escaped your throat. Your heart was pounding in your chest, finally coming off the high of learning a skill like this. Steering a carriage, even if it was in a straight line, is still an accomplishment, especially for a beginner like you. The light rush, coursing through you, made you feel like you had just conquered the world.
“Good, you did it.” Otto said softly, smiling proudly as he regarded you. His tone carried a hint of relief that this was over, but you were still jittery and full of adrenaline after your first time behind the reigns to notice how nervous he was. Being a maid of Roswall L Mathers, made you feel pressured to have skills like these, especially with capable maids surrounding you like Ram and Frederica. You had big shoes to fill with them around.
“Thank you.” You let out a shaky laugh and started talking about the experience, recounting how it felt to you. Otto just smiled and stared at you. It was amazing how you still had that childlike wonder in you. The way your eyes sparkled when reliving the experience, how your hands motioned around in an expressive manner, and that smile that could not hide the excitement you felt in that moment. It is something so naturally beautiful about you. He could easily forget his own nerves when he watched you like this.
Otto was more than happy to make time for you, even if that time was shortened when Frufroo snorted, tossing her head and stomping her tail to catch your attention. She didn’t like it when anyone but Otto handling her reins. Otto is the only reason why you got the opportunity to steer the carriage. He had to do a lot of convincing to make the ground dragon swallow her pride and give you a chance to be behind the reigns.
“Guess that’s it for today’s lesson?” his voice sounded playful, though you both had responsibilities elsewhere.
“Yeah, I guess so.” You got out of your seat and moved to stand next to the carriage “Well, thanks for that. Sorry if I delayed your trip to the mansion.”
“Oh no. Mister Natsuki asked me to take him to the mansion a bit later than we originally planned, so it was no problem.” He said, waving his hand while the other came to rub the back of his head.
“OK, but still. Thank you, Otto. This lesson meant a lot to me.” You said, much calmer this time with so much sincerity. “You are an amazing teacher if you’re able to teach someone like me to steer a carriage.”
The compliment caught Otto off guard and he had to look at the ground to be able to answer you. “My pleasure Y/N. I’m glad I could teach you the basics.”
You smiled up at him while noticing a few changes in his demeanour. He was acting more nervous than before and his face got a faint pink tint to it. You can see why Subaru enjoys teasing Otto so much now. But you decided not to do that to his poor soul after what he did for you.
“Whelp” you tapped the seat you just sat on, signalling your que to leave “guess you better head to see Subaru then. I also got to go and see how Roswaal is doing.” You walked away and waved over your shoulder. “See you when you come back, okay?”
Otto just shyly lifted his hand in a weak wave and stared after you jogging away. Frufoo grumbled and snorted again.
“Sorry girl.” Otto reaching for the reigns and positioning himself to take off with the carriage.
“Thank you for working along today, I know you don’t like it when other people steer the carriage so I appreciated it when you allowed Y/N to do that.”
Frufoo only snorted in response.
“Yeah, now let’s go. We are late and Mister Natsuki might be mad at us for that.” Frufoo screeched another response.
“I heard that…!“ Otto said irritated and flustered. They started moving and it was quiet for a while until Otto registered what he heard. “Wait… Do you think that was flirting?”