#furbo

During a lull in exploring Planarcadia, Dan Heng brought Stelle to one of the parfait drink shops along Yum Yum Alley.

As he set the glasses down at the table, Stelle beamed at him. "What did I do to deserve you treating me? And it's just you and me… is this a date?"

A brief smile twitched across his face. "I wanted to check in with you."

"About what?" She took a long straw sip of her banana smoothie.

"How have you felt since coming to Planarcadia? Particularly after that incident with the school…" He spared his crushed ice lime drink a glance, but his attention was on his companion.

That got Stelle to release the straw. "Huh? Well… I didn't really think about it much at the time, but all things considered, I've felt fine, I think."

"No anxiety or panic episodes?"

She gave a quiet "Oh" as her face fell. "Actually, no. I think it was because I broke out of Sparxie's illusion quickly, or… but March pulled those jellyfish out, and at first I wasn't worried because they were her colors, but sometimes a red one would show up that grabbed memory traces-"

"Stelle." Dan Heng reached across the table, not quite taking her hand to steady her but keeping close. He shook his head. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring those nightmares back by association."

"No, I get it," Stelle said, her smile small and strained. "It still didn't feel as bad as the memoria tide. I think the context was different enough to not freak me out. Even with that happening, I still felt much better than I have in a while."

"Really?"

"Yeah! Hopping through the jump puzzles is a lot of fun, the food is great, there's all kinds of things to see and play around with…" The change in topic restored the light in her eyes as quickly as it had dimmed. "People around here are really just passionate about what they like, whether that's their favorite streamers or imagenae or comics. It's nice to see."

"That's one way to look at it." The stoicism in Dan Heng's face relaxed away. "It's nice to see you excited about your adventures again."

"Aww, Dan Heng," she cooed, reaching to take and squeeze his extended hand. "It's sweet of you to worry about me. I think I'm doing better now, really. Not perfect, but better."

"I'm glad."

"Even if the world might end in a few days if we don't do stuff right, I feel like I could handle it, you know? Like I'm at the table instead of under it."

"Only you can say that with a straight face, but I believe in you." He gave her hand a squeeze in return, and for a moment Stelle wondered if that was to soothe her or himself (or both).

"Maybe that's what part of what Elation is about," she said. "Moving forward and finding joy, and healing so you don't get stuck in a rut forever."

"I can get behind that." Dan Heng looked behind him before squinting at his drink. "The shop's policy of insisting you dine in is… restrictive."

"Oh? Wanna go somewhere?" She leaned in to whisper, "Don't worry, I've figured out how to sneak away with the cups. I even bring them back later, like a responsible citizen."

"Very responsible." He lowered his voice in turn. "I'd like to go back to the Express with you for a while, if that's okay."

"Oh?" Stelle repeated, longer and with more emphasis. "Not a problem for me. Just follow my lead so we can take our drinks…"

The two got up, carefully blocking the table with their bodies to grab their drinks, and strode off in the direction of Perdido Station. As they walked, Dan Heng switched the hand his drink was in, leaving his other hand free to brush against Stelle's. She took the cue, and they held hands as they approached the station.

A bright flash from somewhere interrupted the sweet tableau, and Stelle whipped around, released Dan Heng's hand, dashed forward, and scooped up the culprit, all without spilling a drop of her drink.

Paraprince, one of the Furbos from Furbo Weekly, was now dangling by her jacket in her boss's clutches, trembling and clutching her camera. "I'm sorry, President! But how could I not take a picture of you and your fellow Nameless being so cute?"

"Flattery will get you nowhere. Show me that picture," Stelle grunted, putting out as much of a hardass vibe as she could muster.

The foolhardy Furbo pressed some buttons and turned her camera around to show Stelle the display. Sure enough, the photo was a perfectly focused shot of her and Dan Heng holding their drinks and holding hands while they walked, charmingly framed by the angle and the station entrance.

Stelle sighed, heart melted by the image captured in front of her. "Send me that photo when you get back to the office. If you post it anywhere else, Dan Heng's therapy bills are coming out of your next paycheck." With that, she set Paraprince down.

"Y-yes ma'am! I'll go back and get it to you ASAP!" With that, the Furbo ran off so fast she forgot her traditional smoke bomb.

"I was going to back you up, but you seemed to have it handled," Dan Heng said when Stelle rejoined him.

"Just one of my employees rubbernecking," Stelle said, taking his hand once more. "Shall we go back home and get comfy?"