#mouthing-off

Avi stood next to Nanami, both clapping at the teenager in front of them.

Maku bowed, proudly. "Yes, thank you, thank you. I'm the best."

Nanami rolled her eyes, and Avi smiled, amused.

"There you go." Maku held a piece of cloth in the air and threw it back at Nanami. It was part of what was left from their old poncho, now just some garbage Maku decided to keep, in this occasion, to show off some of their magic tricks. According to the Redwoods, their hoodie had way too many holes and tears to be fixed. It was a shame to let it go to waste, but they'd provided a replacement for it; it didn't have as many uses as they could give their old one, but this one would do for now. Their green scarf was currently folded neatly on the ground.

Nanami raised an eyebrow. "Will you give me my coin back-?"

"NEXT TRICK!" Maku announced, taking off their poncho. They gracefully placed it on the ground and smirked.

"Now, I'm gonna need a volunteer for this one." They knelt down and quickly pulled it off, revealing a small fire underneath.

"Is that safe?" Avi clapped, entertained.

"Psh-" Maku grinned, "It's me we're talking about, fire's my element!"

"That's what I'm worried about." Nanami mumbled, glancing at the fire to make sure it wouldn't spread.

Maku didn't seem to hear her, or at the very least pretended not to. They put on their poncho again, "Aaaanyway, I'm gonna need someone to give me two-"

Someone tapped on their shoulder, "Excuse me?"

"Can't you see I'm in the middle of something?" Maku snapped at the person behind them; a teenager around their age stood there, holding a piece of paper on their hands.

The person moved the paper around, "I'm sorry, but I'm looking for a... Maku?"

"...What do you need them for?" Maku took a small step to the side as to avoid the flame in case they needed to run, "Whatever you heard is a LIE, PAL!"

"Uh- I was asked to deliver this letter," they stopped moving it, taken aback, and glanced at the name written on top of the envelope. "It says it's for Maku B-"

"Oh, in that case," they snatched the letter from their hands, "yeah, that's me."

"...That was easier than I expected."

"Yeah, sure, congratulations. You can leave now," Maku waved their hand in dismissal.

"What?"

Maku ignored the question, instead opting to read the envelope. "For... Maku. Huh, yeah, it is for me!" They lifted it up to the sky to see the inside, "Just a bunch of text, though..." They kept checking around it for clues.

The person sighed, annoyed, and started walking away, murmuring something about at least being paid for it.

"Who is it from?" Avi asked, curious.

Maku shrugged and read the backside. "From... Ir- oh." They scowled.

"Everything alright?" Nanami spoke up.

"Yep!" Maku perked up, their grin back on their face, "This is perfect!" They crumpled up the letter and threw it into the fire. "I needed something to stoke the fire with!"

"Wh- You didn't even read it?" Nanami blurted out. Avi looked concerned, too, but remained in silence.

"No time. Reading is for nerds anyways." Maku kept grinning. "Now, two coins."

"...What?" Nanami asked, confused.

"I need two coins for my next trick." It was Avi's turn to raise an eyebrow. "I'll give these back, I swear." Maku rolled their eyes.

Avi handled them the two coins and Nanami sighed, resigning to the one she lost.

"Both of you, stand in front of each coin..."

Avi was fairly surprised, and of course wary, when a stranger approached her; and it was even more surprising when she received a letter from them, requesting her to give it to its owner. But seeing who it belonged to was... rather amusing.

Maku had decided to stay outside that day; a simple matter of commodity, since the weather had been nice enough at night to stand sleeping out.

They were getting used to their new poncho. Despite it not having the hoodie they were so fond of, it was fairly more useful than they once originally thought: that night, it proved to be quite a comfortable pillow.

They woke up, rubbing their eyes, and checked the... borrowed watch on their pocket to see it was barely 9am.

Karia had already woken up by the time Maku did, apparently, as they didn't see her around. They shrugged; knowing her, she was probably pestering the Redwoods for food.

The teenager stood up and stretched. There weren't really any plans for the day; they still didn't feel like going out, and since they were feeling quite comfortable inside the village and there was no need to work yet, just relaxing for now was good enough.

Maku saw Avi approaching in the distance. They stood up and waved at her; yeah, they'd dedicate today to hang out with her. That sounded like a nice plan-

...Was Avi grinning? She seemed to be holding something in one hand.

"What's with the face?" Maku raised an eyebrow.

"I didn't know your last name is Badawi," Avi kept grinning, waving the letter at his side.

Maku seemed taken aback, "What- Where did you get that?!" They glanced at the paper before snatching it from his hand.

"Is that a bad thing?" Avi asked, curious.

"No- I mean, yes- I mean, NO!" Maku blushed, embarrassed, and checked the envelope. Just as they suspected, their full name was written there with a handwriting they knew all too well, "...But it's weird," they murmured.

They moved their fingers towards the side of the envelope to open it, but stopped when they felt their friend's hand rest over theirs.

The blushing from before couldn't compare to the tomato they felt like right now.

"Don't burn it this time, alright?" Avi didn't seem to notice the blushing despite focusing his gaze on the other teenager.

"I-I won't!" Maku exclaimed and teared the envelope apart, taking the piece of paper inside.

As they kept on reading, their grimace only increased.

"Everything okay?" Avi raised an eyebrow.

"..." Maku pondered for a few seconds, unsure if to tell him, "It's from my aunt."

Avi simply tilted his head, encouraging Maku to continue.

"She wants me to go... chat," they scowled at the last word. They hadn't told either Avi or Nanami about their last encounters, although they'd probably heard some details here and there from the Redwoods by now.

"Then go," Avi shrugged nonchalantly.

"Pff- What?!" Maku blurted out, "I can't just go!" they crossed their arms and pouted, "I don't wanna."

"You need to, though, right?" Avi replied again.

Maku stared at the ground for a few seconds before meeting his gaze again. As much as they despised to admit it, it was true; while their talk with Chai had helped them get some ideas in order, they knew they had to do something to get those stupid feelings out of their chest once and for all.

...And it wasn't like they could just go and reject Lachellen's orders. They could already imagine her coming all the way here to drag them back to the house or something just as embarrassing.

Maku kept looking at Avi, and Avi kept looking back at them.

Somehow, Avi always knew what to say or do to convince Maku. Most of the time, words weren't even necessary for them to understand what those deep, brown eyes meant or what that mysterious but captivating gaze explained in such a profound way. It felt like all they needed to do to comprehend what Avi wanted was to look at that kind smile and that it was enough to make them feel at peace-

Maku suddenly glanced at the side and scoffed, "I hate it when you get all smart with me. Fine, I'll go; but if anything happens, I'm blaming you for it."

Avi smirked and shrugged, "Works for me."