Greed and Despond (Ban x Sin!Reader)

18

When we returned to the Boar Hat we all went our separate ways. Meli and Ellie were hanging around in front of the tavern, chatting. Diane was talking with King at the back of the bar, and Ban was inside on a hunt for booze. I was sitting on the roof of the tavern, above Meli and Ellie so that I couldn't see them, and on the opposite end of Diane and King. I sat with my knees curled up to my chest, hugging them close to me as my head lay on my bicep. Meli had given me my clothes back, so my hood hung loosely over my face as I stared up at the stars.

I traced them into patterns, identifying old and creating new constellations as I stared at the gas giants that decorated the sky. It was silent, peaceful. It was nice.

"Whatcha doing up here by yourself?" A voice asked. I lazily raised my head up, finding Ban walking across the steep rooftop holding four pints of ale in his hands. I smiled, releasing my legs.

"Enjoying the quiet," I responded as he sat next to me, setting two pints next to me and one next to himself, the other in his hand. I grabbed one if the ones he set next to me, taking a small sip. "But I guess hanging out with you is fine too."

He took a chug of the alcohol in his cup, then let his hand loosely hover in front of him. There was a comfortable silence between us as we sat on the roof. I smiled smally, taking a swig from my glass, then lightly sloshing the liquid around.

"Y'know, Ban," I started, and he looked at me from the corner of his eye. "I don't mind the nice side of you."

"Nice? I wouldn't call it that."

"Oh, really? Then what would you call it?"

"Pitiful."

"Wow. My pride has been wounded."

"Probably why your the Sin of Despond, not Pride," He chuckled.

"Well," I hummed, "I don't mind the pitiful side of you. Better?"

"Not really, but it's better than nice," he grinned, setting his now empty mug next to him. I did the same, only mine was about half empty.

There was a loud boom, and I jumped, squeaking quietly as I shot my head in the direction of the noise. I sighed, returning back to my original position as I saw a large, red firework in the sky.

"You good, flame princess?" Ban laughed, looking into the sky.

I glared at him for a moment, before smiling slightly and watching the sky as well. "Just fine, gigantor."

I smiled, a small blush on my cheeks as we watched the fireworks together from the roof of the Boar Hat. We were quiet for most of the time, but it was a nice quiet. A really nice quiet.

• Time Skip •

We had been traveling for a few hours since the fireworks show. I didn't get any sleep last night, which wasn't surprising. Hawk's Mom started traveling at around midnight, and it looked to be about eight in the morning now, so we had been on the road for a decent amount of time.

We were now approaching a small town built on the side of a mountain, Byzel, I believe it's called. We were all in the main room of tavern right now, except for Diane, of course. She was looking through a particularly large window on the side of the room while Meli explained what we were doing here.

"That town hugging the mountain is called Byzel. It hosts a flea market festival every year," he explained, "Anything can be sold there; weapons, junk, jewelry. There was a rumor that a crown from a distant kingdom was on sale here once."

"And what does a flea market have to do with us?" Hawk huffed, making his way down the rocky path with the rest of us. As Meli explained, we exited the tavern and onto a uneven path that lead to the town. Diane sat next to the tavern, watching us as we crowded around the area next to where she was sitting.