Hearing It Is Different From Speculating.

The next plaza over, turns out, is the one with live music! It’s wonderful, if not a bit rough around the edges. I wonder if it’s a local indie band? I wouldn’t know, I’m just a cat. Still, cool to see them live! I’m a bit mesmerized watching them as we walk from booth to booth, stopping for a quick bite to eat. Yancy buys me a hot dog, and the others have various kinds of burgers. We’ve taken up refuge at a table under the burger place’s canopy, Val facing away from the crowd as he eats by stealing fries off of Marius’ plate. Marius doesn’t seem to care much, having not touched them much since sitting down.

I finish my meal quickly and finally look around. The crowd is drawn around the band, but all things considered, it’s thinner in this plaza, probably because of the imbalance of traffic. There also seem to be less vendors and booths here than the first plaza, probably to make room for people to eat and watch the live performance.

Yancy animatedly talks about where she wants to go next, having pulled out a map and points to a place on it.

”…That author is here, I want to visit their booth. Oh, and this one here is said to be experimenting a bit, so I want to see what that’s all about, she’s usually really successful with new things.”

”Sounds fun!” Val says, watching her and listening closely. “I’m curious now, do you know what she’s experimenting with?”

”Not a clue, she said she’d reveal it here!” Yancy says, eyes sparkling. “I can’t wait!”

”Then we’ll have to stop. It’s in Plaza C, right? Let’s go as soon as we’re done eating.”

Yancy excitedly nods, and I glance at Marius out of the corner of my eye. As expected, he’s not listening to Yancy much and just focused on Val. I’m not sure if he’s had a proper conversation with Yancy yet since we got here. I frown, maybe Marius should try to befriend Yancy, at least? Bare minimum, she’s Val’s friend.

”What do you think, Marius?” I chime in, drawing the table’s attention to him. It catches him off guard as he rapidly looks between everyone else.

”I— erm. Uh.” Marius clearly wasn’t paying attention at all. It makes me giggle a bit before I nudge him.

”An author we like is going to reveal their latest work in Plaza C. Sounds like they tried something new!”

”Oh.” Marius clears his throat, taking a drink of his water. “Y-yeah, sounds interesting. We’ll go there next, then?”

”Let’s do it.” Val says, gathering his trash up. “We’ve been here for a while, we’ll have to wrap up soon. We spent a lot of time in Plaza A. I want to at least see the rest of the plazas before I have to go back.”

Everyone agrees, cleaning our areas before we head out.

Despite the weird start to all this, I’m having a bit of fun walking around with everyone. It makes me feel funny, so I decide to ignore it for now and focus on now. As we cut through a street to Plaza C, a flash of purple catches my eye. I follow it on instinct and my stomach drops when I recognize Janice. She’s inside of a shop right now, like she’s taking a break. It looks like she’s barking orders to her aide, who’s carrying her bags for her. Without a second thought, I reach out and grab Marius’ arm, pulling him to the back of the group with me. I lean over to whisper in his ear before he can get cross with me.

”Janice in the building to the right, two shops back. We just passed her.”

Marius tenses beside me, looking back. We’ve already walked too far to properly see her, but he doesn’t seem to doubt me. He nudges me so that we’re walking perfectly behind Val and Yancy, who are chatting away clueless about what we’re doing. He glances back to me.

”Keep eyes on our backs. If we need to, we can find her first and guide her away, or we can get Yancy and Val to hide until the coast is clear. Which ever ends up being best.” He murmurs so the others can’t hear.

I nod in response. Right now, this is about protecting Val. We have to keep our eyes and ears sharp.

When we enter the C Plaza, there’s more of a festival vibe than before. Lots of balloons, a few stalls that look like they have nothing to do with what the fair is about, kids running around. I have to dodge a few as they pass. We stick close together as to not lose each other, when Yancy points at a very large and eye catching booth.

”Over there!” She starts to run over, having to bob and weave through the crowd. We do our best to follow with as few casualties as possible.

When we reach the booth, Val slides in next to Yancy, Marius close behind followed by myself. The author sitting behind the booth smiles as she talks to the folks here before us. As soon as they leave, she turns that smile towards us.

”Hello!” She greets with a smile that doesn’t fully reach her eyes. If the circles under her eyes are any indication, she seems very tired. She must have been here for a very long time already. “Thank you for visiting my booth, have a look around! Let me know if anything catches your eye!”

”I-I! Uhm, Actually, I wanted to see your latest book!” Yancy stutters out, starstruck. The author smiles, reaching for a copy from underneath and handing it to her.

”Ah, I’m glad! It just came out, I’m hoping it’ll take off. I’d like to try more things like this in the future.”

”What exactly is it about the book that keeps being hyped up?” Val asks, curious as he peers over Yancy’s shoulder to get a look for himself.

“It comes with a spell.” She says, smiling. “It’s supposed to activate when you reach a certain part of the book. Some people have been weary of it, but it’s a harmless spell that goes with what the book is about.”

”It’s a book about… a girl who dreams a lot, isn’t it?” Yancy asks, turning it over to read the back to confirm. The author chuckles.

”That’s right.” She says. “I won’t spoil what it does, but after you read it, something should happen in your dreams that night~ It only works once per copy, though. I’m not skilled enough to make it be used multiple times.”

”I… I wanna try it!” Yancy declares, rummaging through her bag for her wallet. “I’ll get one right away!”

Val ponders the book for a minute, before nodding. “I’d also like a copy. I’ve never read a book with a spell like that before.”

”Of course! Here, let me grab you another one…”

Marius nudges my shoulder, distracting me from what’s happening. I follow his line of sight, and at the end is Janice wandering the streets. He looks back at me, and I make a quick decision.

”Hey, we’ll be right back! I wanna look at a booth over there.” I lean over, catching Val and Yancy’s attention. They both nod.

”Oh, sure.” Val says, eyes drawn to Marius behind me. “Is… Marius going with you?”

”Yeah, just cause I don’t wanna go alone in this crowd!” I cheer, stealing the boy away before Val can protest any. Marius doesn’t look too pleased about that, but too bad!

We follow Janice through the crowd, and when Marius realizes I’m following her, he gives me a tug before leaning a bit closer to talk.

”Why are we following her? We don’t want her to know we’re here!”

”We don’t want her to know Val is here.” I correct him. “You and I can steer her away from them. Just follow my lead and trust me, a little bit? You’re more than welcome to step in anytime~”

Marius doesn’t respond, or at least I can’t hear it above the crowd.

We catch up with Janice and her aide, and I gasp.

”Oh my gosh! Is that your sister?!” I say loud enough to catch her attention, which works as she turns around. A brief look of surprise crosses her face before she trains it back to something that could easily be mistaken as elegant and graceful.

”Oh, Marius! I wasn’t expecting to see you here.” She says, her eyes tight as she looks at her brother, then over to me. “Who’s… your friend?”

”Uh, her name is Lana.”

”…”

Janice stares at me for a second before turning to her brother with a serious face.

”Beloved brother, you can do way better than to date a granny like her. She’s way too old for you.”

I feel my tail bristle under my dress as I get defensive.

”Hey, I’m not that much older than you! I’m like… twenty-four.”

”Wow, that's so old. Brother, why are you dating a woman that much older than you?”

”Hey—!!”

I’m so flustered I can’t even respond properly. Twenty-four isn’t old! I know she’s like, what, eighteen? Nineteen? But like, I even lied about my age and she still disrespects me! I think I was like, twenty-nine when I died, so I would be… Wait, how long have I been here for? Would I be in my mid thirties if I were still alive in my past life? Oh, oh my god, you can’t be serious…

As my mind spirals with these revelations, Marius interrupts quickly.

”I’m not dating her.” He says with finality. “She’s just a friend of a friend, so I’m showing her around.”

”Oh. I see. Good! You can do better.”

”I disagree!” I pout, but Marius disregards my complaints.

”Why are you here?”

”Huh? Didn’t I tell you?” Janice looks puzzled. “I’m here to buy presents for Vallie! I heard he reads a lot to that silly cat of his, so I’m buying lots! Actually, I heard he would be here today. A little birdie told me he would be here with another girl. Can you believe that?! Some nerve, that girl!”

Janice pouts and crosses her arms. Ah, so there’s still some rats among the maids. I’ll have to warn Yancy. Wait, did she call me SILLY?!

”Oh, that?” Marius responds before I can. “I talked to him this morning, they decided to go tomorrow because something came up at the palace.”

Oh, nice. Marius is good at lying on the spot. Janice falls for it immediately, her face falling into disappointment.

”What?! Man, I spent so long here too hoping to spot them…”

”Sorry, sis.” He shakes his head. “You shouldn’t interfere with what he does, anyways. Just leave him alone.”

”I’m in this to win, Marius!” She declares. “I don’t care if you don’t want me to be with him! I want it and that’s all that matters! The way I see it, it’s only a matter of time~”

”…Hey, didn’t you say His Highness doesn’t like that author?” I chime in. Yeah, I’m feeling a bit bitter. Need to knock her down a peg. I point at the book she has in her hand. Marius blinks a couple of times before he can respond.

”Oh, yeah. He did, didn’t he?” Marius looks around. “Actually, I don’t think he likes any of these authors.”

’Wh-what?!” Janice nearly cries. “What do you mean?!”

”Val is kinda picky. He told me most of the authors he likes will be in Plaza A.” He elaborates, like a liar.

”O-oh! I can’t give him something he won’t like…” Janice mumbles, before gathering herself back together. “Ahem. Well, in that case, I will be off. See you later, Marius! See you never, weird old lady!”

”Hey!” I nearly scream, wanting to follow her to give her a piece of my mind, but Marius stops me.

”Let her go.” He mumbles near my ear. “I bought us some time. She might even leave before we do.”

”Good riddance.” I frown, glaring after her. “Rude girl.”

Marius laughs unexpectedly, startling me.

”Yeah, she is, isn’t she?” He says, still laughing with a smile on his face. “Maybe one day she’ll learn some manners.”

He turns away, walking back towards where we left Val and Yancy, and I follow suit. Now that I think about it, he really must love his sister. He wants her to be happy. It’s too bad they want the same person that they can’t both have.

Abruptly, Marius stops, and I nearly crash into him.

”They’re gone.” He states, and I peer around him. He’s right; they’re no longer at the booth we left them at. Marius looks panicked, but for some reason, I feel strangely calm.

”It’s ok, let’s just go look at some booths further down. They probably just went with the flow of people.” I suggest, nudging his shoulder so he has to walk down the pathway.

“I… okay…”

It really is a lot harder to spot them in a crowd, though. Val did a good job dressing down. Even as I peer over heads, I can’t spot his blonde hair anywhere. At least, not until we break away from the crowd. We stop under a tree for some shade and to regroup, when I spot the pair we’re looking for at a booth just across the way.

”Oh look, there they are!”

I point them out to Marius, and he breathes a sigh of relief.

“Thank god, I thought something might have happened. Come on, let’s go.”

Marius starts towards them, but I reach out and stop him. He looks frustrated when he turns back around and I shake my head.

”Nah, let them have a moment. Look at them.”

And that’s when Marius stops to get a good look at the pair. Yancy is talking animatedly about something at the booth, and when Val responds, they both laugh. When Val turns back to the booth, Yancy gets a bit closer, their arms touching, and Val doesn’t pull away. Marius is deathly silent beside me, watching the moment, before he lets out a deep sigh and goes to sit at the base of the tree, his head knocking against the trunk.

”…Dammit.” He curses, rubbing a hand over his face. Carefully, I approach him and join him, sitting down next to him.

”…is… everything okay?” I ask tentatively. His frown deepens and another sigh escapes.

”…Just peachy.” Voice dripping in sarcasm, Marius scowls at the sky.

”You don’t like it.” I state more than ask. The observation makes him flinch.

”What do you mean?”

”You don’t like Val being alone with Yancy.”

”…is it that obvious?” He finally meets my eyes. “Then, no, I don’t like it. But… I also don’t like that I don’t like it. Does that make sense? I feel like I don’t make any sense.”

”No, you make sense to me.” I reassure him. “You’re jealous but hate that you feel jealousy.”

”Wh-who said anything about jealousy…?”

”Then why don’t you like it?”

Marius frowns, mouth tight. “Ugh, fine, maybe I’m jealous. So what? It doesn’t matter, does it?”

”Of course it matters. He’s your friend. Anyone would be a little sad to see someone they spend a lot of time with start spending more time with someone else, right?”

”…No, not like that. I…” Marius trails off, gaze falling back to Val full of sadness as he watches Val pat Yancy’s head.

“…I’ve been in love with him for years.”

The confession is quiet, only I could hear it in the sea of noises from all around. Honestly, I’m surprised he admitted it at all.

”Then…”

”I haven’t said anything,” He interrupts, pausing for a second before continuing. “Because of something dumb when we were kids. It was petty, and even at the time I knew it didn’t make sense to be that upset over it, but I just couldn’t control how I felt at that time.”

”…Can I ask what happened?” I’ve been dying to know since they’ve become friends again.

”It… had to be a misunderstanding. Val already told me he doesn’t remember but the kid he was talking to wouldn’t leave him alone unless he said what he wanted to hear. I… It hurt, y’know? The way that kid was talking about me, and what Val said, made it sound like Val would never return my feelings. Heck, I didn’t even realize what those feelings were when it happened, but it hurt. A lot. It wasn’t until after the fall out that I figured out why it hurt and…”

Marius frowns, nose scrunching up as he recalls painful memories. “…It was bitter… to realize how much I liked him after I already cut him off. Felt like I didn’t get to process those feelings and they just kind of lingered.”

”That’s…” I reach out to cover one of his hands with mine. “I’m sorry to hear about that…”

”It’s in the past now.” Marius waves me off, giving himself a bitter smirk. “I couldn’t keep him away in the end, and my feelings never went away. We fell back into the way we used to be so easily. Now I’m here watching him try to find someone to marry because his dad said so, watching him have a date with a girl, and I can’t… bring myself to do anything about it. What can I do about it? I hate that I feel like this, but I don’t have the right to force my feelings onto him.”

My eyes drift back over to Val and Yancy, who are buying something at the stall now.

Val would hate to learn that Marius feels this way, so conflicted. Having to watch the person he likes marry someone else. Would he feel the same way if it was Marius getting married? I don’t know for sure if Val’s feelings are romantic, but there’s clearly love there. The way I see it… regardless of what happens, I’m not sure if their friendship would last like this. Might as well be reckless instead, right?

”You should tell him how you feel.” I declare, causing the boy’s head to snap towards me, shock written across.

”I, I can’t! I shouldn’t. I don’t want to put Val in a difficult position.”

”Well, you hate to see him with someone else, right? The way I see it, either you tell him how you feel and possibly work through it, or continue being miserable while Val falls in love with someone else. What good is a friendship like that, anyway? You’d just end up resenting him again. That feeling won’t go away, so do something about it.”

I stand up and dust off my dress. Seeing the pair in the distance begin to walk away again, I turn to smirk at Marius as I walk in their general direction.

”Come on, lover boy. Think about it and do something.”

I hear Marius scramble to get up and follow as I turn and speed walk to where Val and Yancy are.

Do I want Marius to end up with Val? Not necessarily. But it would do them both good to confront whatever feelings they might have locked away.

“There you guys are!” I place a hand on Yancy’s shoulder, startling her. She lets out a cute squeak as she turns around, breathing out a sigh when she sees it’s just me.

”Oh, Lana! It’s you. Thank goodness.”

”We couldn’t find you, so that guy was getting worried~” I point back at Marius, who’s just now catching up. “Almost freaked out, even!”

”That’s—an exaggeration.” He stubbornly replies, refusing to look at us, only to steal a glance over to Val who’s smiling back at him.

”Well, I’m glad you caught up. Sorry, I didn’t mean to wander away so far. Guess I got caught up in everything.” Val laughs, leaving his place by Yancy’s side to stand before Marius.

”Er— It’s alright. Just don’t do it again.” Marius huffs.

”Alright, alright. Promise!” Val responds, quickly moving behind Marius and begins to push him forward. “You pick where we go next, then! Lead the way!”

”H-Hey, wait a sec!”

”You haven’t gotten to choose where we go yet! It’s your turn!”

Val’s smiling wide as Marius attempts to get out of the situation of having to choose, oh the horror, and Yancy giggles at their antics. She turns to me, smiling and in a good mood.

“Shall we?” She asks, holding a hand out for me. I return her smile, taking her hand.

”Sure, let’s!” I let her lead me this time.