Sweet as vanilla

“I believe the blonde suits you, though I was quite fond of the pink as well!

“Aha, perhaps I should also shake things up with my hair.”

“D'aww~, thanks, Willy~!”

“I believe the blonde suits you, though I was quite fond of the pink as well!

“Aha, perhaps I should also shake things up with my hair.”

“D'aww~, thanks, Willy~!”

“Hmmm…. The mask is a plus, but I’m not sure how I feel about the blonde…. But she said I should try to fit in more, and this seemed like a popular color?”

“I believe the blonde suits you, though I was quite fond of the pink as well!

She felt a tension building in her temples, she thought it would go away once Van left, but paired with the feeling in her chest and the look on Linnaeus face made it hard to stop her nails from digging into the palms of her gloved hands. The way he looked at her while explaining himself made her feel pathetic.

“Of course you’ve looked into him.” She couldn’t help but roll her eyes, even with someone she considered a friend she still wasn’t able to step out from behind shadow that was Van Marigold. “We have these things called aShine, remember? I’m fine. I can take care of myself, I’ve passed the same bounty exam as so many others, in case you’ve forgotten.” It really did seem like the Mashiro twins forget this often, that or they did just believe she was truly that inferior to them.

Linnaeus looked away a bit shamefully at her eye roll. Maybe it wasn’t his place, but from the way Lye talked or didn’t talk about her brother, he wanted to make sure he wouldn’t be a threat. Still, her hostility towards him felt a bit misplaced.

“… Yes, I remember. But that doesn’t mean you should do everything on your own. There’s strength in numbers. I want you to lean on me. Honey and I will always be there to help, whenever we can and whenever you need. It’s part of our creed.

Again.

The word echoed in her head, it was clear what he was referring to and the mention of it made her stomach twist. She threw her hands out exasperated a bitter smile twisting on her lips as she seemed to struggle to find her words.

[text] I haven’t been before so we get to explore together, but this time it will be on my turf hehe [/text]

She made a mental note to pack extra allergy medicine in her bag, not doubting for a second that her allergies wouldn’t act up during the event. She would have to make a list of what to bring along, a picnic sounded nice….

[text] Im fine with meeting up, it gives me time to pick up some things on the way too ^^ [/text]

Sol read her first message and beamed. Gwen seemed to always be able to put a smile on his face. Going out in public with her opened up chances for him to really mess up, though, and he didn’t want to be a burden to her. But for now, he wouldn’t worry about it.

[text to: Gwendolyn] Yeah, it’ll be a little adventure! ^^ Now I just need to completely forget about it for a while so I don’t chicken out…. [/text]

He blinked curiously at the second message. [text] Is there something we need to bring? o.o [/text]

—-

But that reminded him of something else and he gasped slightly at the realization before frantically typing out a message to Lye again-

[text to: Lye] They have some sort of dress code for the festival, don’t they? I don’t think I own anything they’d approve of. I only have a couple outfits and none are really formal, I don’t think. From what I’ve heard, anyway. Would they let me bring my weapon? No, I think I remember hearing that weapons weren’t allowed…. [/text]

Gwen paused, if she told him that she planned to stop to grab various allergy pills she was sure it would make him feel like he was inconveniencing her and that was the last thing she wanted him to feel like.

[text] I thought it would be nice to have a little picnic while we’re there, you just need to bring yourself I can handle the rest ^^ [/text]

——

[text] No weapons, and yes there is a dress code [/text]

“He sounds like a little magician.” He responded feeling himself grow somewhat giddy about having two roomates, yes he was in fact counting Caitlyn’s cat as another roommate.

“Yeah, he kind of is. He’s a pretty mysterious guy. I wonder all the time what exactly made him want to follow me home, but he’s been with me so long that I guess it doesn’t matter anymore!” Honestly, she was really grateful that he did. It certainly made the last couple years a little less lonely.

“Well..” He paused realizing he had never really talked about himself much outside a professional setting. “I’m really into musical theater, I’m working at the Evergreen Theater at the moment. So, with that I dabble a bit with music, I’m not the most experienced with instruments but I know enough piano to get by. I also really like hiking and camping, but my schedules been all over the place that it’s hard to find time.”

“Well, their specialty are their croquettes so I wouldn’t miss out on those. My personal favorite is the potato croquettes with curry, but their pulled chicken croquettes are also really good.” Bonnie excitedly went on to explain her favorite items on the menu pointing them out as she did, Nava seemed to have already made up her mind on what she was going to eat seeing as she had turned to watch the conversation between he other two girls.

“Ooh that sounds really good! I don’t think I’ve ever had croquettes before. Let’s go with that~!” Sable grinned excitedly, getting hyped just by listening to Bonnie go on. She wondered if Nava might loosen up once she had something to eat, too. Probably not, though. Would anything get that woman excited?

“How has your guys meetings been going? I’ve seen Nava slave over a canvas before so I can only guess how intense that sort of thing can get.” She glanced between the two, in all honesty it had been quite some time since she had seen Nava work on a piece that was Bundle of Lavender related.

“Hah? 彼女はあなたにさえ言及したことがありません.” He responded with a light chuckle, a brow quirked with interest at his warning. “Oh? Now you’re just making this more interesting.” He felt a familiar giddiness building in his stomach, it would be a lot easier to defend the return hit rather than if he were to strike first. He applied more pressure into his arm, his body didn’t appear to be apply the added pressure it seemed to be fully from his arm, he was tip toeing the line of activating his ability and using his actual strength.

“Let go of him.” A cold voice commanded, Lye stood at the entrance of the alleyway hands balled into fist on her sides. She could feel her blood boiling at the sight.

“Him? Why?” Van turned his gaze to his sister a bit surprised.

“He’s my friend, now get your hands off of him!”

“Some friend you’ve got, the guys was creepin’ on you, following for like last ten boothes.” Van huffed finally letting Linnaeus go, stepping back shoving his hand into the other pocket of his jacket. Posture relaxing as if he had not be buzzing for a fight moments ago.

“당신은 내가 누구와 관련이 있는지에 대해 발언권을 얻는 마지막 사람입니다. 이제 떠나. ” She spat back a uncharacteristic venom lacing her tone, as she glared down the taller twin. “떠나다.” She repeated with more emphasis seeing that Van had not moved yet, Van spared one more glance to Linnaeus before moving to exit the alleyway.

“I’ll meet you at the station in an hour.” He told her as he walked past, disappearing into the sea of people with a new task of finding a way to kill some time. He looked down at his hand as he walked away clenching and unclenching it, at least he knew he had the energy to get some Hecaball practice rounds in later.

Once Van has left, Lye let out a deep sigh rubbing her face with her hands before looking at Linnaeus. “Are you okay?” She asked, expression returning to a more neutral one.

He would have taken offense if it weren’t for the fact Lye didn’t even want to seem to associate with her brother, let alone tell him about her personal life. What was more surprising was the fact Van knew the language. He was pretty sure Lye didn’t, at least not to a more fluent degree. Where did he pick it up?

The pressure of Van’s arm against his chest felt oddly stronger than he figured it should, but before he could do anything, he heard Lye’s voice and turned his eyes to her. She looked pissed. Van finally let him go and Linnaeus took in a deeper breath now that his chest was free. He quietly watched their exchange, and although he couldn’t understand most of what they said, there was an obvious air of hostility from Lye. He kept his eyes on Van as he walked off, making sure he wasn’t going to do something else stupid, before turning back to Lye with a sigh.

His gaze glanced towards Linnaeus halted attack, a smirk pulling on his lips. Oh, how tempting it was to cause some trouble. With the Leviathans press team already scrambling Kawakami’s incident he was sure they would do whatever they could to keep his from spreading to far, but was a scolding from Larsen and Viridian really worth it? Truthfully his own patience for his “good behavior” was wearing thin…

“Ah, so you’re a fan! Who’d you fall for her as? Princess Mia? Eris? Oh, or are ya a more hardcore fan who saw her before those?” The patronizing tone was almost begging for Linnaeus to hit him, even if the kid was a detective or whatever it didn’t just give him the right to follow Lye. He felt the prick of his reputation at the assumption he would hurt his sister, little did this guy know that he already had before. Still the shit eating grin remained plastered on his face, arm remaining in place.

“Y’know, I’ve met alotta detectives. This some kinda of hobby ya guy have? Being lil freaks who creep on unsuspecting girls? Disregarding a target and all that, unless you’re just that much of an amateur to get distracted.” He tilted his head to one side as if weighing the option, if he wasn’t able to jump to violence as his first solution than at least he could get some fun by running his mouth.

Linnaeus’ hands clenched into fists as he tried to maintain his composure. If this were anyone else, he wouldn’t care. But they were talking about Lye, the only friend he’d ever known. Badmouthing and making assumptions…. This guy really was an asshole.

For some reason, he felt the corner of his mouth quirk just slightly into a subtle smirk. “Kanojo ga anata o nikumu riyū ga wakarimasu. I’m not the only one tailing, so you don’t need to worry about letting a suspect get away. Believe me or don’t, but I suggest you remove your arm before things escalate and I decide to act in self-defense.”

“Hah? 彼女はあなたにさえ言及したことがありません.” He responded with a light chuckle, a brow quirked with interest at his warning. “Oh? Now you’re just making this more interesting.” He felt a familiar giddiness building in his stomach, it would be a lot easier to defend the return hit rather than if he were to strike first. He applied more pressure into his arm, his body didn’t appear to be apply the added pressure it seemed to be fully from his arm, he was tip toeing the line of activating his ability and using his actual strength.

“Let go of him.” A cold voice commanded, Lye stood at the entrance of the alleyway hands balled into fist on her sides. She could feel her blood boiling at the sight.

“Him? Why?” Van turned his gaze to his sister a bit surprised.

“He’s my friend, now get your hands off of him!”

“Some friend you’ve got, the guys was creepin’ on you, following for like last ten boothes.” Van huffed finally letting Linnaeus go, stepping back shoving his hand into the other pocket of his jacket. Posture relaxing as if he had not be buzzing for a fight moments ago.

“당신은 내가 누구와 관련이 있는지에 대해 발언권을 얻는 마지막 사람입니다. 이제 떠나. ” She spat back a uncharacteristic venom lacing her tone, as she glared down the taller twin. “떠나다.” She repeated with more emphasis seeing that Van had not moved yet, Van spared one more glance to Linnaeus before moving to exit the alleyway.

“I’ll meet you at the station in an hour.” He told her as he walked past, disappearing into the sea of people with a new task of finding a way to kill some time. He looked down at his hand as he walked away clenching and unclenching it, at least he knew he had the energy to get some Hecaball practice rounds in later.

It didn’t take him long to pinpoint who was following, the man was always close but not close enough. Amateur. As they moved through the crowd Van reached out a hand trying to guide Lye towards the inner side of the road closer to the vendors to maintain space between her and the stranger.

“Let. Me. Go.” A look of loathing washed over her face as she yanked her arm from Van’s lose grasp before once again trying to forget his existence.

“Yknow, you could atleast try to play nice…” He muttered under his breath letting out an annoyed sigh, atleast it put some more space between her and the stranger, he had began to pick up on the rhythm of when the man would take his gaze off of them. In one of the lapses, the rabbit submerged himself into the crowd practically disappearing. His casual movements remained as he crossed infront of the blue haired stranger, it almost made the way he grabbed the collar of boy seem natural. Even up as he dragged him into a nearby alley way, swiping his ankle to further slam his back into the brick wall.

“Better start talking. Fast.” His lips formed a thin line as he stared down with an intense analytical ruby gaze. One hand remained tucked into his jacket pocket, while his other arm pressed the stranger into the wall.

Well, that was unexpected. Not entirely unreasonable, given the fact they didn’t know each other, but he should’ve guessed someone with Van’s reputation would know how to get the jump on someone. 

His first instinct was to fight back and he had to restrain himself from retaliating, one arm already half raised to strike. Shit, how would he explain this, though?

“I’m not here for you. I was making sure Lye was safe. You might not believe me, but I’m a detective.” Linnaeus thankfully still had his hands unrestricted and he slowly brought out the Mashiro Private Investigators ID to show him. “I was tailing someone else. You happened to be here.” With the badge raised, it was more obvious his hands were artificial, as he’d opted to use his old arms for the sting in case things turned violent.

“Ah, so you’re a fan! Who’d you fall for her as? Princess Mia? Eris? Oh, or are ya a more hardcore fan who saw her before those?” The patronizing tone was almost begging for Linnaeus to hit him, even if the kid was a detective or whatever it didn’t just give him the right to follow Lye. He felt the prick of his reputation at the assumption he would hurt his sister, little did this guy know that he already had before. Still the shit eating grin remained plastered on his face, arm remaining in place.

My muse is touch starved, send one for your muse to-

“I didn’t know you were into this sorta thing..” He commented idly picking up a knick knack off the table looking it over, it was odd to him how these vendors could leave their wares out unattended. How were they so trusting, it would be so easy to slip it into his pocket and walk off… he set it back down glancing towards what his sister was looking at.

“Big surprise…” Lye muttered rolling her eyes as was debating if she should buy something for Méline, the older woman did seem quite fond of pottery display pieces.

Van’s pulled the sunglasses resting atop his head down over his eyes, he could feel the hairs at the back of his neck standing up. A familiar feeling, someone was watching them. Best case scenario it was someone who recognized him from Hecaball, worse case scenario it was someone who didn’t recognize him from Hecaball. Still his movements remain languid, seemingly unguarded though he took note of their surroundings as they continued on to another stall. Most face would be drowned out in a crowd, but Van having been both sides of a tailing knew what to look for, more than he would like to admit it had become a second nature to never fully relax in a crowd.

Van had replaced his shades now. Was that significant? Or was he just reading too much into things? Maybe it was just a coincidence or maybe he was feeling guarded around Lye. If only Linnaeus could hear them better. Lye didn’t seem to want to talk, though, so he’d probably have to rely on Van. Or… it might be easier to just wait for an opportunity to approach Lye without her brother around. Though he could be waiting a while for that…. It would probably also be weird if he decided to try and text her in the middle of the market, alerting her to the fact that he was practically stalking them at the moment. … Best strategy for now was to keep close and wait for an opportunity to approach Lye alone. 

"Let. Me. Go." A look of loathing washed over her face as she yanked her arm from Van's lose grasp before once again trying to forget his existence.

"Yknow, you could atleast try to play nice..." He muttered under his breath letting out an annoyed sigh, atleast it put some more space between her and the stranger, he had began to pick up on the rhythm of when the man would take his gaze off of them. In one of the lapses, the rabbit submerged himself into the crowd practically disappearing. His casual movements remained as he crossed infront of the blue haired stranger, it almost made the way he grabbed the collar of boy seem natural. Even up as he dragged him into a nearby alley way, swiping his ankle to further slam his back into the brick wall.

Despite some time having past between Lye’s run in with the notorious Chimera Killer and the current moment, her parents concern over her traversing the city alone was completely understandable. Lye herself still had a good amount of underlying anxiety on the subject as well, despite be able to mask such an emotion she rarely declined company when she went out. She had adamantly tried to avoid this situation, however it was hard to say no to her mother insistent nature, especially knowing it came from a place of concern over her youngest daughter’s safety. At least it meant she could get out of her and Van’s weekly lunch, again another idea from her persistent Marigold matron.

“So, what are ya looking for again?” Van looked over the hand made bag on display at the booth they were currently at, he enjoyed going out, but his scene was more of those filled with various boozes and dimly lit clubs it was actually his first time at the market. Lye hardly tried hiding her disdain towards him when they were alone, but he figured this would still be a chance to see what sort of things she was interested. He had missed so much of their formative years that he knew better than to assume she was still into whatever sparkly magical girl was on tv at the time.

“….” Her lips pursed as she momentarily considered not responding to him, though she had learned silence was an answer he would not take. “I’m just looking. That’s like the whole point of a market.” She responded sharply setting down whatever she was looking at already beginning to move on to the next booth, not signaling to her brother that she was done, though the taller rabbit easily turned on his heels and followed making sure to match her pace.

That was interesting. From what body language he could read, Van seemed much more relaxed than Lye. He still couldn’t hear them clearly, especially over the crowd. True, there was a slim chance that anything would happen, especially out in the open like this. Still, the more crowded an area, the easier to get away with something. The way Lye was wandering, it seemed pretty aimless. Plus, she barely seemed to acknowledge her brother. What was he doing there, anyway? Why would she be out with him alone? 

“I didn’t know you were into this sorta thing..” He commented idly picking up a knick knack off the table looking it over, it was odd to him how these vendors could leave their wares out unattended. How were they so trusting, it would be so easy to slip it into his pocket and walk off… he set it back down glancing towards what his sister was looking at.

“Big surprise…” Lye muttered rolling her eyes as was debating if she should buy something for Méline, the older woman did seem quite fond of pottery display pieces.