Talks in the Garden

"Why do I have to apologize? It's all her fault!"

**Talks in the Garden** is a 4-star card from the *Deal of the Devils Cards* event. It is centered around Kieu Duyên Nguyen from first-generation group Royal Flush.

The card art features Kieu Duyên Nguyen and Aishwarya Waghmare (all from Royal Flush).

The card story features Aishwarya Waghmare (all from Royal Flush).

## Card Story

In the serene garden of white tulips, Duyên and Aishwarya sat at a wooden table, the fragrant blossoms surrounding them like a protective embrace. This was a lovely space for them both to calm down from the situation. The tension from the argument with Celeste still lingered, but as they began their conversation, it seemed like a fresh start.

Aishwarya cleared her throat, her usual composed demeanour softened. "Look, Duyên, I know you have a knack for mischief, but we need to resolve this issue with Celeste seriously. We can't let it affect our group dynamics."

Duyên grinned mischievously, leaning in closer to Aishu. "Oh, I promise I'll be good. For you, I'll be on my best behaviour." They winked, causing a faint blush to tint Aishwarya's cheeks.

"Please, this is serious. Duyên, I've been thinking about it, and maybe we should try to approach Celeste in a more empathetic way," Aishwarya suggested, trying to steer the conversation back to the matter at hand.

Duyên let out a playful sigh, their eyes never leaving Aishu's. "You're always so sensible, Aishu. It's a good thing you're here to keep me in line." They reached across the table, gently placing their hand over Aishu's, causing a flutter in Aishwarya's heart.

Aishwarya looked down at their hands, a blush deepening. "Well, someone has to do it," she murmured, trying to regain her composure.

"But you know," Duyên said, their voice softening, "sometimes I just can't resist teasing Celeste. It's like a reflex, you know?" They leaned in closer, their breath grazing Aishu's ear, causing a shiver to run down her spine.

Aishwarya tried to maintain her serious facade, but Duyên's charm was starting to break through her defences. "I get it, but we need to strike a balance. Let's find a way to voice our opinions without resorting to teasing and arguments."

Duyên chuckled, enjoying the playful banter between them. "You're right, as always, Aishu. Maybe you could help me with that. Show me the right way to approach these situations."

Aishwarya's gaze softened, and she couldn't help but smile. "Of course, Duyên. We're a team, after all. We'll figure this out together."

As the sun dipped below the horizon, the tulips seemed to glow with a magical light, mirroring the warmth in their hearts; however, the resolution to the argument with Celeste hadn’t made much progress, which was when the pair heard an exasperated sigh behind them.

“So, you’ve just been flirting the whole time?” Diya questioned, both amused and disappointed.

Duyên jumped slightly at the tone of her voice, a slight pink dusting her cheeks while Aishwarya turned to face away from Sadiya’s judgemental gaze, though she could still see a red tinge on her ears.

“Look. One of you has to be the bigger person here, and Celeste has a lot to think about right now, so please, Duyên. Do it for Royal Flush.”

“Why do I have to apologise?” they huffed.

Upon hearing the anticipated protest, Sadiya tilted her chin downwards and head to the side, and stared directly into Duyêns soul, brows raised slightly in a ‘really?’ kind of disapproval. As much as they fought to reciprocate such a look, the attempts were in vain, and so, begrudgingly, Duyên agreed to be the bigger person (they felt incredibly threatened by Diya’s mom stare). She produced her phone and aggressively typed in the passcode, nails tapping loudly against the screen out of frustration, and to dispel the sudden uncomfortable silence they were all experiencing. Pressing on Celeste’s contact, she glanced up at Aishwarya, only to be met with a subtle sigh and a half-smile. With this newfound motivation, her brows furrowed as she remissly wrote out an invitation to talk things out and perhaps solve their disputes.

“Aaand sent!” Duyên beamed, with a rather large grin on her face. “Looks like I’m more mature than Miss Decision-Maker!”

Letting out a sigh, Diya expressed her concern for this mindset, “You’re not helping your own case, Duyên.”

This was met by a snarky eye roll as they mumbled something under their breath, and then smirked to themself. Duyên skipped over to Aishwarya and tried to get back into the usual flow to forget about the unpleasant situation they’d got themself into.

Now, despite putting their cheeky front back on, it had been really eating away at Duyên that Aishwarya was genuinely disappointed by their actions this time, so they were caught very off-guard when a gentle hand tapped their shoulder. It seemed that Aishu’s frustration was wiped away in the instant Duyên had made the right decision (in truth, she didn’t have the heart to be properly upset with them), and she smiled warmly, happy to have their usual playful personality back. An expression like this from Aishu was rather rare, so Duyên’s innate reaction was to sharply turn and hide the blush creeping onto her cheeks.

“I hope you two are able to make up so we can actually start planning our next gig.” Aishu teased.

“Hehe, she won’t be able to say no to my charm.”

It was nice to start feeling like a group again.