Winter Festival Pt. 2

"Get off, Kir," Cress grumbled, pulling the woman's arms off of her.

"Awe, don't be like that, I've just missed you so much! It's been weeks and you keep saying you're too busy to hang out when I know all you do is stay at home on your computer." Kirian's eyes glanced at Illia, and she gave Cress a sly grin. "Or has Illia been the one keeping you busy?"

"Stop joking around!" Cress yelled, shoving Kirian hard into a broad shouldered man with short black hair. He had a strong jaw and nose, and judging by his indifferent reaction to Kirian bumping into him, Cress assumed he was her date.

"Thanks for catching me, JJ," Kirian cooed, wrapping her clingy arms around the man's chest. He was almost as tall as Illia and by how he was eying her, he wasn't pleased that he was shorter.

"Girls, this is my boyfriend, Jeong, though you can just call him JJ."

"It's nice to meet you, JJ," Cress said, scrutinizing the man. Kirian had a habit of picking partners who were only after her money or her body (often both). Being a hopeless and serial romantic, Kirian never seemed to notice until she had Cress and Vianna in a bar drinking her woes away all night.

"Well met," Illia said.

"Err… Well met?" JJ replied, slightly taken aback by Illia's peculiar greeting.

"Don't mind him," Kirian cut in, oblivious to the awkward introduction. "He's shy."

"He looks anything but shy, Kirian! You always say shy guys are too cowardly to ask you out and JJ looks like he's had more than his fair share of women."

"Have you heard from Vi?" Cress asked, changing the subject before she made a snide remark out loud.

"She said she'd be here soon with Ian."

"Ian? I thought she was bringing a… Oh."

A tight knot formed in Cress's chest. As the only relative she had her own age, Ian was like a brother to her. She'd only introduced him to Kirian and Vianna once, so to hear he was Vianna's date without any warning felt… confusing. Almost like a betrayal.

"Oh my God! Did you not know? I'm so sorry, they were probably… Well now you won't be surprised when they get here, right?"

"Right."

A firm hand grabbed the side of Cress's shoulder and pulled her closer. A warm, spiced aroma wafted in winter air around Cress, tickling her nose and she rested her head against the rock hard support.

"Awe, look at you two. Are you really not—"

Just before the urge to punch Kirian burst free, Kirian jumped up and down waving into the crowd. A moment later, Vianna and a brown haired man in a matching colored wool trench coat sauntered over.

"Ian!" Cress cried, throwing her arms around her cousin's shoulders. They used to see one another every few days, but they'd only been texting in recent months. She didn't doubt it was because he was spending his time with Vianna instead.

"Crescent Roll!" His strong arms pulled her into a crushing embrace and he lifted her off the ground and spun her in the air. "I'm sorry I haven't been by lately."

"Are you really?" Cress said, childishly glaring at Vianna and pursing her lips. "Or have you and my BEST FRIEND SLASH MANAGER been skulking around behind my back?"

Vianna shifted uncomfortably and looked away red faced and Ian scratched the back of his head. "We just made it official yesterday. We were waiting to tell you until we were sure what we both wanted."

"You still could have let me know! Why did Kirian know before me?"

"Kir!" Vianna punched Kirian in the arm. "How could you!"

"I'm sorry!" Kirian threw up her arms with a devious smile and retreated behind her boyfriend. "It just slipped out!"

"Whatever," Vianna mumbled. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you, Cress."

"It's fine," Cress said, dropping her pouty attitude before anyone thought she was being serious. "I'm happy for you two! You're a great match. I'm just pissed you hid it from me."

"Who's this?" Ian's eyes were glued to Illia's as he set Cress down. There was no visible hostility, but Cress knew Ian well enough to know he was determining if he felt she was worthy of being around Cress.

"This is Illia. I told you about her."

"A pleasure," Illia said. "Cress only sings your praises."

"Sings my…?" Ian's forehead scrunched and he reacted similarly to JJ.

"She's from Libya," Cress blurted. "So she sometimes sounds a bit old fashioned."

"Libya? I didn't know that!" Kirian said. "That's so cool! I've always wanted to visit the desert."

"Yeah." Cress looked around for an excuse to avoid questions. "Anyways, I'm starving. Illia and I skipped lunch so we'd have room for festival food!"

It was a half truth. Cress had skipped breakfast but they had agreed that Illia should eat beforehand since there was unlikely to be anything raw for her at the festival.

"Me too," Vianna sighed, shoulders sagging. "I had to go into the lab this morning and forgot to eat."

"Then come get some fried cheese with me! You too Kirian."

"But I don't want to leave my JJ," Kirian complained, clinging to JJ's arm. "What if he gets lonely?"

"I won't get lonely. Go spend some time with your friends."

JJ gave Kirian an encouraging smile that looked more genuine to Cress than the smiles of all of Kirian's previous smiles put together. Maybe there was hope for him yet.

"Will you keep him company, Ian?"

"Of course," Ian said with an unreadable smile.

"Are you coming, Illia?" Cress asked.

She shook her head. "No, I will stay with the men. The smell wafting from the stands is a bit too pungent for my liking."

"Are you sure you'll be alright?" Cress whispered, leaning closer to Illia and earning her a side eye glance from Ian. "Ian can be… intense when it comes to me."

"I will be fine. Enjoy yourself. As you said, today is a way to 'recharge'."

"As long as you're sure," Cress said, walking over to Vianna and Kirian. "We won't be long."

"We won't be long". Cress had said it before they'd found the two dozen person long line for the fried cheese. Though she tried to enjoy her conversation with her friends, she couldn't push away the anxious feeling rolling in her stomach. Ian was nice but tended to be somewhat aggressive and pushy towards anyone around Cress that he didn't know. There wasn't a zero possibility that Illia would lose patience with him.

"This is taking forever," Kirian whined. Cress couldn't help but agree. It'd been at least ten minutes since they'd gotten in line, the savory scent of boiling oil, cornbread, and melted mozzarella taunting them from afar.

"Maybe we should have gone somewhere else."

Vianna shook her head. "All the stands Ian and I passed were just as busy."

"But I miss JJ! I knew I should have brought him over."

"We'll join them again soon," Vianna said, petting Kirian's black hair like she was a puppy. "Besides, it'd be nice if our partners got along."

"She's not my partner," Cress blurted without thinking. Her body temperature flared under her double breasted coat and she could feel sweat on her back.

"Is that really true? Or have you two just not talked about it?"

"It's true!"

"If you say so," Vianna said, shrugging. "But even my romantically challenged eyes can see the tension between you two. You like her, don't you?"

"How could she not?! Have you seen Illia? She's tall and gorgeous and has that luscious wavy chocolate hair… And the white highlight at the tips is to die for! It makes me want to get mine done, too."

"I don't like her like that," Cress protested. "We're just friends and roommates."

"Are you being so obtuse because this is your first girl crush?"

"I swear to God Vianna, if you don't stop I'm going to fry your face next to the cheese."

Cress's frustration became a source of entertainment and Vianna and Kirian continued to tease Cress until they got their food. By the time they finally returned to the other half of the group, her face was ruby red and she was ready to shove her food down the other girls' throats.

"You look distressed," Illia said as Cress approached. Vi and Kirian had already migrated to their boyfriends' sides; Vianna was sharing her cheese with Ian while JJ was holding Kirian's while she ate it in a less than family friendly manner.

"It's nothing. They were just teasing me."

"Teasing? What for?"

Cress looked down at her food and struggled with the impulse to throw it on the ground as hard as she could. Why couldn't they have just left it alone? It didn't matter how she felt about Illia. It didn't matter how Illia felt about her! In the miraculous event Illia even had feelings for Cress, what could they even amount to? Illia would leave forever one day. Cress could see how much Illia disliked Earth, from the food to the people on it. Even if she wanted to, Cress could never ask her to stay.

"Just for being single." Cress omitted the finer details. "They're always making fun of me for it."

Illia's lip tensed. She didn't say anything, but her darkened green eyes made it clear how she felt.

"Don't worry about it. We came to have fun, so let's just enjoy ourselves! This is your first human festival, right?"

"Indeed. The atmosphere here is significantly more… energetic than the festivals my people hold."

"Are you uncomfortable with the crowd? We can go whenever you want."

"I am fine," Illia said. "As you said, we should enjoy ourselves and I find solace being by your side."

"You find solace by my side? How am I supposed to push my feelings down when you say things like that? Is that not flirting in her culture?"

It took some time for the group to finish eating before they could wander the festival. Kirian had insisted they take their time, arguing that walking while eating was bad for digestion and though a quick search online proved her wrong, she was adamant in her stance. Ian and Vianna were in their own world, though that didn't stop him from side-eying Illia at every chance.

"Did you talk to Ian at all?" Cress asked Illia. They were at the rear of the group while Kirian and JJ were the vanguard.

"Briefly. He made some personal inquiries that I answered in line with the backstory we fabricated. That was all."

"Did he buy it?"

"I believe so." A cold gust of wind blasted down the open street, causing a roar of laughs and curses from the festival goers. Cress had been spared from the worst of it thanks to Illia, who had turtled into her jacket and scarf.

"She's so cute..."

Illia's gait faltered and she bumped into Cress. Cress's voice had been quieter than a whisper under the buzz of the crowd so it would have been impossible to hear her, yet the ever graceful Illia had stumbled right after she spoke.

"So utterly adorable."