a spirit of will.

“Oh... this city really likes parties, huh?”

“What if they are from a video game? They might as well be, just like you and I might as well be characters from a manga.”

Rohan said as he sat up again, gently leaning his face against Reimi’s hand. He was glad that his nosebleed was from natural causes, otherwise if the two of them were in some kind of harem manga Reimi might think him a pervert. 

“They carry the skull of their mother’s on their head after their mothers die. It’s really interesting.”

Rohan did not seem to detect the tragedy inherent in his words, or if he did he did not show it. He sighed and looked elsewhere. 

“You should hurry up and find one, if Arthur finds out you’re looking for another pet he might get jealous.”

Reimi gave him a dry smile; his manga references were something she had gotten used to, but, it didn’t make them any less odd.

“Oh... how sad...” 

Just as Rohan leaned into her hand, Reimi in turn leaned towards the mangaka. She looked at the doorway where the Pokemon had just been, wondering if it was happy to have found a family of its own now.

“Oh, don’t say that.”

“He doesn’t mind your cat-- even if you named it after Koichi-kun.” She still had not figured out why Rohan had done that, but, figured it was just another one of Rohan’s bouts of eccentricity.

“I’m fine.”

Rohan said, even though he was not fine. There was blood streaming from his nose, but the rest of his face and expression were flat as if he did not notice. He was ignoring it. He rolled back onto his feet and looked at her. It seemed Reimi had forgotten about wanting to cover him in paint for the moment. He was fortunate that she was actually be a considerate and kind person, what a convenient weakness to take advantage of. 

Rohan looked over to the pokemon. One of the few that Eto let run around her house at all times. “Have you ever thought of catching one of those?”

Rohan said, swiftly changing the subject. 

“There are ghost type pokemon you know. You would look cute next to them.”

Reimi immediately pulled a napkin out of her dress pocket, and floated upwards in order to press it against Rohan’s nose. Thankfully, she was a nice person, unlike a certain, green-haired novelist who would have laughed at the sight of the mangaka falling flat on his face.

She followed his eye, and saw a small creature waddle by the door, one that had brown fur and seemed to be carrying... a bone?

“Oh, cute, but why does it have a skull on its head? That’s kinda’ morbid.” Said the ghost.

Had she considered catching one? Well, perhaps...

“Hey wait a moment. Unlike you who wears the same outfit, again, again and again, these clothes are designer.”

Rohan took a step backwards.

“They can’t afford to get paint on them they’re incredibly expensive, and need to be dry cleaned only.”

Rohan’s eyes spasmed, and looked out of the corner of his eyes to find a clear pathway to the door.

“Let’s just talk about this for a moment.”

He suddenly made a break for it. So much for talking about it. However, his smeargle was standing in the exact wrong place causing Rohan to trip over it and face plant straight into the ground. 

“Oh, c’mon, don’t be shy.”

Reimi cooed, a feline-like grin evident on her face; behind her, Rohan’s Smeargle mimicked such an expression, clearly eager to join in on the fun as well. Yet, as Rohan tried to make an exit, the Pokemon comically blocked his path with ease.

“Rohannie!” 

Rather than laugh or poke fun at the artist, Reimi was quick to hover over to him, sitting on her knees as she sat over her boyfriend.

“Perfect! I’ll just grab some boxes then, and…” From a shelf she pulled off three pink cardboard boxes, which she figured would be enough to fit all of them with room to spare. “..and we’ll be set.”

Packaging the cupcakes was a simple and quick process, and when they were done Muffet scooped up the three boxes, one in each pair of hands.

She started walking towards the front of the bakery to leave out the front door, but stopped, hesitating. After a moment of deliberation, she changed her mind, asking Reimi instead, “Could you get the back door for me, dear? I think I’d rather not exit out the front, and my hands are a tad full.”

Reimi nodded, and was quick to help package the cupcakes, taking care with each sweet. It would be a shame for all of their work to go to waste, should any of the cupcakes get damaged in their boxes.

After everything was ready to go, Reimi followed Muffet’s lead, only to stop herself. She wondered what it was, but quickly received her answer.

“Oh! Of course!”

Reimi turned, floating until she reached the bakery’s back door, and held it open for Muffet.

“Don’t touch him.” 

Rohan said in a low voice as he was too busy concentrating on his painting to really pay attention. When he noticed that Reimi predicatbly did not listen, he simply smirked at her new colorful look.

“Why Reimi, what beautiful colors you have. Can I try to paint as well?” He picked up his brush and splashed it in her direction, putting even more paint on her, and causing the splash of colors to get even worse. 

Rohan snickered. 

“You’ve become a work of art yourself.”

Reimi’s expression flattened. She hoped she could wash paint out of this shirt, but knew better than to press her luck.

Hands dirty with paint, Reimi wiped at her face, then reached out towards Rohan-- specifically his clothes.

“Oh, Rohannie, it’s not fair if I’m the only person who’s being turned into art.”

“Why don’t you come closer, so I can paint your face, too.”

“Oh, he’s cute!”

Reimi cooed over the pokemon that was lounging in her boyfriend’s office-- Rohan had said it was specifically called a Smeargle, though, Reimi didn’t think that was an appropriate name for something so cute.

“Can I pet hi--?” Reimi had held out her hand, yet, before she could finish or even pet the pokemon, Rohan’s Smeargle suddenly whapped Reimi in the face with its tail, splattering her with its paint.

Reimi paused completely, then blew a raspberry as she tried to wipe at her face with her hands.

     Out of the corner of your shades, you spot her — a floating girl, a ghost? A sprite? Whatever, or rather whoever she was, she nearly made you jump two feet in the air. Not a feat easily achieved, but this time around, your chill demeanor helps you keep your feet on the ground. You don’t even realize that you’ve been caught zombie-ing the fuck out.

     DIRK: Am I, uh,      DIRK: In your way?

Oh-- looks like she’d gotten caught. Reimi ought to have learned by now, others could easily see her; the people watching she had done so long ago could not be replicated any more, not in this city.

But, maybe that was a good thing.

     It’s difficult to keep yourself from swaying your hips in the ever-so-slightest way, and tapping your foot to the beat over the speakers of the grocery store. Sense of presence? Who had time for that nonsense? Not you — you’ve been standing in front of the soda for five minutes now. 

     It really is a catchy song.

Reimi floated through the aisles as she pleased; she had no actual need for any of these items, but, was simply giving herself an indulgence-- that, and her boyfriend had asked her to pick up a few things. In doing so, she took her sweet time, people watching as she pleased.

The young woman stared into a window of a bright storefront; Sector Five had plenty of them, but it was the fashion displayed of this one in paritcular that drew Reimi to it. She looked like any other girl, ogling beautiful dresses and trendy outfits.

“Of course really! I wouldn’t have offered if I wasn’t serious, right~? And it’s not like your position here isn’t flexible! A little delivery job now and again—or even only this once—won’t hurt.”

The rest of the cupcake decorating went rather smoothly… for Reimi. Muffet had to be pulled away to deal with a dispute a customer had, and that took longer than it had any right to. By the end of it and when the cupcakes were done, and Reimi had decorated more than Muffet, despite her hand disadvantage.

“A little bump in the road, but at least the cupcakes didn’t suffer for it… and we’re early, to boot~! We could probably box them up and deliver them right now, actually, if you didn’t mind leaving right away?”

Reimi nodded; “Oh, yes-- really, I’m more than happy to help out how ever I can.”

She spoke honestly, and even when Muffet had an issue to deal with, she continued to work as quickly and efficiently as she could. In the back of her mind, however, she hoped that Muffet wasn’t dealing with too much of a hassle. She could only wonder what the issue specifically was, but knew better than to ask.

When the other returned, Reimi was pleased, both with the cupcakes and Muffet’s demeanor.