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maryonmega · 4 months ago

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Twin Stars - Chapter 16

Inside too (too much?)

You can tell that Stardust is uncomfortable with the swap. You don't really care. Priorities first. Even if you have to put on conscious effort to not speak too loud and let the others realise.

"Stardust, I'm not gonna beat around the bush here. What happened when I was away clearly was worse than you made sound, to get others eavesdropping because you can outrun me. Let me hear from your mouth what you did."

They look like a scolded dog. You're gonna get sick of this if It happens again today.

"If you already know, why do I have to tell? I already talked to everyone."

"Stardust, just spit it out."

You see them reach for a hat that doesn't occupy their head anymore.

"I hurt Mira. It was an accident, but the injury was painful. I tried to... I tried to take it back... Odile stopped me and took my dagger away."

Pitch dark...

It takes a lot to look at them.

"I told you, it had already happened."

"Yes, you did. Look, I..." He hesitates, then look at you. You can tell they want to look away "I didn't get it back then, but, I do now. I... I got rid of the part of me that was scared..."

"For it to be a reflex even out of the loops, I think it's a little further than just not being scared, Stardust..."

He's your sibling, you said it yourself. And a baby compared to you. And... you have nothing more to hide. You already spilled your guts, back in the Favor Tree. You don't have to worry about saying too much now when it comes to him.

"I'm sorry for making you see it so many times, Lo- Sisyphus."

"For once, I really would like if you did not apologize to me."

"I did to everyone too. I know it's not enough, but I really shouldn't-"

"Stardust!"

You realise that you yelled after they flinch.

"I'm sorry."

"You better be sorry for yourself!" They look away. You want to shake them "Blinding- no, no, it's gonna be ok! You have time, real time now! I'm sure it will get easier the longer you do. Or rather, don't."

"I got dagger privileges back the day before we found you..."

"Why am I not surprised?" It takes a lot to not put your hand in your face.

"It was more embarrassing than dramatic, actually." Stardust is sinking into their cloak "I felt like a child."

"You course you did. It is like with a child. Except that instead of an annoying whistle it's a dagger to kill yourself."

You decide to stop egging him after you can barely make out their eyes in the cloak and hair.

"L- Sisyphus..."

"Stardust, you're out of the Loops. You hurt Mirabelle, sure, but that would hurt her worse. Not just her, too."

It's not what you want to say, but it's what you know is more likely to work.

"I know. I... I don't want that. I really don't."

"Well, if Madame gave your dagger back, then I guess you mean it. Still..."

They still won't look at you.

You sight, and prepare yourself to sleep. You lend your cloak to Mirabelle, so you two will be sharing thermos privileges. It's not weird. This group has platonic sheet sharing all the time. You offer your hand, and they take it.

"Did you do it too? Even once?"

"I did. I regreted it. Their cries haunted me for several loops." Not a full lie. It's just hard to even think about what came before.

Hypocrite.

You feel his hand loosen it's grip, and you tighen yours to compensate. He stirs a little, but doesn't pull back. You can't see their face anymore.

When you're sure they're asleep, you carefully take one of his arms and roll up the sleeve.

Scabs.

A bit old, but not that old, and no healing craft involved.

You don't like that. It's a pipeline. But what can you do? You're on a hike. Even if they lose the dagger agin, they can find a way.

You pull the sleeve back down and push it back into position.

You can't even ask when you got so invested, can you? You already were, weren't you? Having to be literally forced to let them do that to himself...

Feeling bad will get you nowhere. You curl on your side of the cloak and try to go to sleep.

You hold Stardust's hand the following morning. Their eye is bloodshot and there's some swelling. You must have missed something, didn't you? Maybe it was for the best. You're not sure what face you would make if you saw them crying.

It's not just you, is it? You can see that. The others are trying to look like it's business as usual, but you can feel the tension. Not a tension like before, where there was clearly something that had to be talked about but nobody wanted to, but one where it's clear that they know what happened.

You can live with that.

You don't let go of their hand even as food and worsd start to move around you. This is your Stardust moment. You even let Mirabelle keep your cloak a little longer to keep the contact.

You're not soaking up on it yourself, definitely not. The skin-to-skin contact break did not leave you metaphorically drolling like an addict that got a fix and then their desired taken away

It's not weird. They know what you did. It's not weird. It's expected even.

Right?

#in stars and time #isat #in stars and time spoilers #isat spoilers #isat fanfic #in stars and time fanfic #two hats spoilers #twinfrin au

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maryonmega · 5 months ago

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Twin Stars - Chapter 10

Audience seat (worth it?)

You're nervous.

You've been nervous before going into a play before, but those moments were different - you were still new to the language and didn't want to lose something that matters, it was long and you kept silently wishing for your stomach to not make a loud noise, the place was kind of empty and you wondered if you were going to stand out once the light turned on, this sort of things.

You never feared having a panick attack before.

Of course, you wouldn't have asked if you didn't think there was a good chance would can just sit down and enjoy - the wonders of not having to hide that anything weird is going on! - but stars you'll only be sure when you're there.

And you want to do it. It's not fair to lose something like that forever.

You already cleaned and changed, and are now running your fingers throught your hair to try and get it a bit easier to use an actual comb. In a way it's like a special occasion!

"You know we still have half hour, right?"

"I want it to be nice!"

Isa looks at you with what you're sure is a type of foundness usually directed to baby animals. It doesn't calm your nerves, but does cover it in a layer of embarrassment. You accidentally pull too hard.

"You know, it could be easier of you start at the tips."

You untagle your fingers and look at him.

"If I what?"

"Start near the tips." He runs his fingers on his own hair as a demonstration "You're pushing knots togather like this."

... It was that easy?

You feel your face heat up, but chenge tactics anyway. For a moment, you consider asking Mira for help, but shoves it out as soon as the thought comes. Too early.

"Again, if you get uncomfortable, you just have to ask to leave."

"I'm gonna sit on an end, Isa. So I can leave without saying a thing and you'll never know."

Isabeau simulates a dramatic voice, but his little smile is still there.

"A rogue taken in is still a rogue at heart."

"Hard learned lesson."

It's more work than you'd usually want. Maaaybe because you took so long, but details.

You almost get too impatient, but a second thought helps refuel your decision: it can be a special occasion. The thought of saying it makes you nervous, but, when your partner is being as patient as it gets, the least you can do is show what is fine.

"You know, you can sit at the end with me. Then it can be like a date."

You see him perk up. Victory?

"Like I'd choose any other way! But yes, it can be like a date. A date with our friends near."

"Moral support."

"I can get behind some moral support."

You finish combing your hair. Untangled, it gets to your shoulders. You really should comb more often (you say that every time, you know you won't).

Once you're satisfied, you put on the little wristband you got yesterday (there's a butterfly on the little bell!), check the clock - this took way too long! - and offer your hand.

"A warm hand for this cold morning?"

"How could I refuse?"

You two exit hand in hand. You don't let go after joining the others, or when the group leaves.

You feel like a teenager dealing with their first crush, but, right now, you don't mind. You're glad you have this.

~★~

Blind you. Now that you see the actual poster, this thing is long. Stardust, why do you have to jump head first like this? You don't think?

You pat your pockets where your snacks are, just to think about something. You look at your line order, which will translate into the seating order: Stardust, Fighter, Mirabelle, Researcher, Kid, Pétronille, you.

It's, if you're honest, a bit of a relief. You won't see Mirabelle's face, but that's fine. Better than raise the risk of crying in public. You can see the Kid's kicking feet, though, behind (beside?) their sister's legs. Kid Sandwich.

The lights turn off, and the play starts.

It quickly became clear why there was a fight to pull it so shortly after the King: the main storyline is about a fictional country being taken over by a tyrant that takes away people's freedom and a very determined rando going on a quest to taken the tyrant down. The bare bones, sure, but still.

You swallow. You pay enough attention to not be caught off guard later, but to... well, to a higher power who cares, audience seat is hard to slip back on.

You're being very normal. Totally normal. You're not drumming the arm rests for any reason other than tension because of conflict. You're sure as the sunrise not putting a lot of effort into keeping your breath normal.. You're just a mentally sound person watching a play where the deuteragonists make allies and find out about an artifact that can mean victory.

Act 1 over. Lights on. Break time.

There isn't a lot of places to go in that hall, but you find a little space behind some stairs. You lean into the wall. You don't question why there's a hollow space in the first place.

You breath in, and out, in, out, in, out. It's ok, you'll be fine. No need to make the others worry think you don't want to stay.

"Hiding away?"

You almost jump out of your skin when you hear. Did... did the sister follow you there?

"I said I wanted to use the bathroom." she explains, as if she had read your mind. Or you're rustier than you thought still. Blind you.

You give your signature grin.

"So you are?"

"Dodger. But, yeah, I guess so." She shrugs.

You open your mouth, half ready to say something witty, but change your mind and close it. You don't think you have energy for that right now.

You undo your fake grin and nod.

"I can't blame you. It's weird."

"'It' what, Sisyphus?"

That sounds like a cue to be careful. You've had enough of cues for a lifetime.

"The whole, group, thingy. I don't remember if I had time to tell, but I'm kind of new too."

"You didn't."

She doesn't look happy. You don't blame her.

"Well, point is, being shoved in a circle because someone you know is on it and walking that weird line where it's like nobody wants to... what's the word?... it's like they don't want to be reminded that you're new. They're nice but it's weird."

Nille looks away and nods.

"Super weird. Doesn't help that they seen attached by the hip most of the time. I mean, what in the world did I lose?"

"Not just a long time, a long time of a countrywise crisis, and we just got back, and it's like not just them, but everyone wants to act like everything's fine and dandy, which technically is, but it's not!"

"But what do we know? We're just the siblings. They're alive, right?"

You blink at her, and watches some tension leave her shoulders.

You didn't mean to spill out like that, even if it's not exacly specific, but, it wasn't a bad thing?

You take a deep breath, and shake your head.

"Sometimes thinking about the whole thing makes me angry. In the end things turned out good but stars some stupid crab is included."

She looks at you with an intense look. You feel weird, untill it downs that she's reading you.

You saw this type of look before. Once. When someone wants to know if mean it or is doing some song and dance.

You're not bothered. You meant every word. And Nille notices that.

"I get it. I get a bit angry too. It's not fair, tho, is it?"

"How will I know? I'm on the loop!"

You see her back out for a moment, but then she chuckles. Must be from tension. The pun only made sense for you.

"Yes, of course." She takes a deep breath. Pheeeew. "You know, I couldn't tell if you didn't tell."

"Each deals how they can. In my case, I don't." You say, and wink.

"Anything to avoid another loss, eh?" You breath in, but any noise dies in your throat "Well, I'm pretty sure the break is almost over, so let's also avoid an earful. How about that?"

Your throat still feels tight. You nod and follow her back.

Lights out.

You're not zoning out and that's a victory of it's own. After some time, you start feeling cramps. Oh, right, you have not eaten.

You fish around with your hands and sink into your cloak. Odile was right, snuck in snacks are tastier.

Drama happens. Character scenes happen. The relic is found, but an unshown aside from some tentacles giant sadness attacks the heroes. One of them fights it alone so the others can leave.

Act 2 over. Lights on. Break time.

Oddly enough, you're not as shook. Maybe because you didn't put as much effort into not being shook.

Oh well, you might continue to lie to others for as long as you're not caught, but you learned that day that it's useless to lie to yourself. Letting things out, even if you didn't dig very deep, helped.

A thing, if not the thing...

This time, you go to the bathroom. You rip off some toilet paper and let yourself weep.

Oh, look, you can cry from both eyes now.

You bite the inside of your cheek hard to avoid laughing. Not too hard. Not too hard.

...

Oh.

And you thinking you were out of the loops!

It takes a lot of effort, but you manage.

When you're done, you use Healy Bealy a craft so your eyes won't be bloodshot when you go back.

You're doing good, you think. your face is clean and darkless when you walk out.

The others are already on their seats when you walk in again. Bonnie's hat is keeping yours. Ir gets removed by Nille when you arrive.

"Just in time... Are you okay?"

"Never better!" You say with your signature grin, and sit with your legs crossed.

Lights out.

The heroes go throught the tyrant's castle's basement to get in and face followers while dealing with some drama fallout. Very run-of-the-mill. This time, with no sarcasm at all, it doesn't really ring bells that leave you disturbed.

Untill a basement room colapsed and crushed a chunk of the group. Including the first deutagonist.

You try to swallow the lump in your throat by paying attention to how the group managed to make the body gathering believable. They're good. They're good. The rest of the act is very emotion heavy. The second deuteragonist's (protagonist's?) actor is selling his soul on the performance, but you can't really dismiss anyone else.

You're normal about this whole thing. Very normal. You're disturbed in a normal amount for someone watching a tragic play. You're not scratching your pants under your cloak when someone on stage talks about leaving the blame game for later.

Act 3 over. Lights on. Break time.

You really don't want to have a breakdown in the bathroom. Way too close. Will just make things worse. At least now it's acceptable to weep in the hall, so you do so.

You sat down to watch a play about what was in essence a death march. Except it's not over yet. You're pretty sure that, if you walk out of the hall right now, you'll see stars.

Your stomach churns. You could throw up. But you won't. The snacks were given by Bonbon in good faith.

In, out, in, out, in, out. If it had a fifth act, you'd soon have a Memory from how it smells behind those stairs.

The thought makes you laught. Some tension leaves. Good, good. You don't have to be fine now, just fine enough to make it through.

You pat your cheeks with your cloak one last time, than walk back.

Lights out.

The heroes make it to the upper floors, and the protagonist/deuteragonist recieves help from the first protagonist's ghost - but he's the only one who sees them and they don't interact with scenary, so it's unclear if the ghost is meant to be real or a hallucination. Just like in act 2, others stay behind facing enemies and sadnesses.

In the end, the tyrant is taken down pretty much with sheer fury. Then, there's a brief epilogue where the protagonist and an ally talk about what it took to restore peace and how the friends they lost will always be in their hearts.

... Hang on, all of that took place in sixteen blinding days?

You join in the clapping, of course. Credit where credit is due. Your feelings are another business.

Fucking joke.

The curtain falls. Lights on.

You can hear a mix of reactions around you. From people saying it's great and worth every second to people worried that it might spawn sadnesses.

In out in out in out in out. As discreet as you can.

Outside, illuminated by street lights, you check your group. The Kid seens eager to talk about how nice stuff looked (makes sense, you guess. You wouldn't think they would pay attention to that sort of think. But then again, there's a lot of things that you wouldn't think. Not outside of a very limited context. Once again, your eyes sting, but it's much easier to hold back. Somehow, it's like getting to know them all over again)and Nille seens to be enganging if still shaken up (you can't blame her, even bare bones can touch sore spots). The Researcher and Mirabelle look interest in discussing characters and what might have inspired what (count on the bookworms to do analytical legwork). Behind them...

You shove your hands in your pockets and look away.

...?

There's still a roll of bread in your pocket. How did you miss it?

You hold it, glad to have something to do with your hands.

"I think the ghost was real."

"See? Sisy agree."

You hold back your confusion. They were in on it? When did they comment?

"Really, Sisyphus?" The Researcher looks at you with squinted eyes. Keep calm, will you? It's a valid question about an interpretation, not a trap "Absurd timeline aside, the story was pretty grounded."

"Yes, but..." A normal response that a normal person would give, ok? Now, normal words, go! "The ghost knew stuff he wouldn't otherwise know, no? And, usually, a hallucination so vivid takes time to settle." You put on your signature smile "Also, a ghost guider is just more" relatable "interesting."

"Also nothing that can't be explained as noticing things and crediting the 'friend'. And, of course, which option is more interesting is subjective."

"In what world someone just going nuts is more interesting than ghosts existing?" Pétronille asks. You notice some defiance in her face and voice.

Maybe it helped her relax, too?

Mirabelle jumped in. Or rather, returned:

"Hey, sometimes madness can be more scary than supernatural! It's very believable and doesn't stick out too much in a more grounded story."

You smirk, but need more time to thing about a response that won't out you. You can sense a tie and tie break coming. All you need is-

Stardust and Fighter are paces away. Stardust looks upset, and they're holding each other's hands.

You grip the poor innocent bread.

"Well, that's the charm. I guess."

And take a big bite.

You can feel eyes on you. You don't know or care who's. You just want to get to the room and shower.

So, you only pay attention to the path.

...

At this rate they might think you're angry.

You care enough to keep your mouth shut.

#in stars and time #isat #isat spoilers #in stars and time spoilers #isat fanfic #in stars and time fanfic #two hats spoilers #twinfrin au

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maryonmega · 4 months ago

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Twin Stars - Chapter 14

Pleasant (bittersweet?)

Your hand stings. When you held it out, the area where you held your dagger was darkened. Of course it is. No scars means no callouses.

It's fine. You're not actually hurt aside from that. You didn't give the poor child even more survivor guilt. Everything is fine.

Now that you have Nille's hand in yours, you can tell that it's very calloused, too. Everyone around you works hard and it shows in their bodies.

You don't need to show in your body. You can feel yours in your soul.

"Thank you. For helping us. Truth is, I don't know a lot of combat craft..."

"Not everyone does. What matters is that That everyone is okay now."

You say everyone, but you're still looking at Bonbon. They're not smiling. The carefree smile they had telling you two about how the party met the lady is long gone. Makes sense. But no one's bleeding, so it should be fine soon enough. And no one will. You're sure of that. Even if that encounter was not a fib.

Because... even if you are an orchid character, doesn't mean you can't act.

"Still." She rubs your hand. It's comforting. As odd as that sounds. Accepting her touch doesn't feel like a betrayal. Just like neither does saying her name. It's like she's the one solid evidence of the vague idea you had back there, with Mirabelle. Ironic, how what's keeping you in this plane mostly comes from women "Thank you, Sisyphus."

The idea that crosses your mind is absurd, but, after that scare, you can brush it off as a "heat of the moment" thing. Because you're not overthinker Siffrin.

"I can show you some, if you want."

"It'd be nice, yeah."

"That was so cool!" Bonbon says. You... not surprised, after the tension broke and everyone is okay. That last part sure is important for them, you know.

Your eyes sting. You hold them in. Bonnie's alright, you have no reason to cry.

"Think nothing of that, kiddo. You have to know how to look after yourself, when out and about." You breath in, and out. Nille accepted your offer "What's your craft type, by the way?"

"I'm a paper type."

What?

"What?"

"Don't look like it?" She's smirking. Did she- she thinks your shock is funny? "You're not the first."

"Figures!" She could snap you like a stick! And made a protective stance! Don't judge a book by the cover indeed!

"Of course, if that makes things hard..."

"No, no, the idea is kind of similar, I guess. I'll help you!"

"You could help me too. I want to make people stronger." You can almost hear the like Za in Bon's voice. You're not surpised they choose this route. You... You're not surprised at all...

"Maybe, maybe..." You mumble. You feel yourself slump on the cart.

You can feel the silence after that.

The lady drops you off at the town she was staying. Her caravan was there for a fair that would happen a few days later.

You'd be more surprised if the party didn't decide to stick around a little longer after that. You should have seen the return of the alliances, however. In a way. The seven of you decide beforehand, as well as a meeting spot. It was, good, to have something on the forefront of subjects so you won't have to worry too much about saying too much. You're sure it's gonna be mostly looking, anyway.

You don't breakdown on Mirabelle again, you don't feel sick when, the day of, you eat a cheese croissant, you even find yourself smirking to the looks Stardust and Bon give you. You do feel pressure on your throat when it downs on you that you're calling them Bonnie and has to pass it off as "wrong pipe", but overall, the moment comes with no big incident.

You have not third wheeled early morning and don't want to ruin the day by doing so now. Looking at trinkets could be nice but you know you'll be too nervous around Madame to actually enjoy. Who does that leave you with? Today is "together with the coastal siblings" day, it seens. That... sure will help with your little situation, you're sure.

Bonnie seens more than entusiastic about the booths. Not "disturb others" level, good thing, but has been all but dragging you both. An almost comical image, in part due to your sizes.

You are taken by surprise when they keep having their eye caught by little crafted (in the artsy sense, not the spell sense) animals – a crouchet bunny, a porcelain hen with chicks, a wodden rather specific type of fish with a joint to move it's tail – although not in a way that tips to wanting to have one, and your surprise give you a wave of sadness.

Did you forget about this? About this side of Bonbon, Bonnie, Boniface, when you gradually stripped them and others of their dimensions? Did you never know that, your time before the start too taken by a mix of fear and escapism to have less than surface level things emerge?

Is it a difference, something more to indicate that this is another minor-case-k kid? Not your Bonbon despite everything? Someone who you'll have to know again, as much as you are to them now?

...

Much like with your birth name, you're hit with the reality that you'll never know.

You watch Nille lift a hen decoration with eggs under it and admit that it's cute but easy to get distracted and break.

Madame was right, she is young. Sure, twenty one is an adult, but Bonnie doesn't remember their parents. The start must have been rough. You'd know, but... Not really. You had to grow up too fast, too, but at least you only had to worry about yourself.

And, now, after a crisis that affected the both of them personally, you're intruding in their moment. You should leave, though, seeing the song and dance happening, you feel like you should do something, yet anything you choose will be wrong.

You feel a tug in your heart.

You pinch at the cloth of your sleeves. Not most, far from most, but some of the stuff is rather cheap. Maybe...

You grab a little bird. Or rather, a head, a torso, a tail and two wings separated with strings conecting them. It's clearly meant to be a decoration rather than a toy, but will have to do.

"I'm having this little guy. You guys want a little guy too?"

"Oh no don't worry." "No. I'm no baby."

Yup, no surprise at all. You nod and walk out with your dismembered bird and leave the two to have their moment without a prying eye.

...

You're going to regret it.

You don't pick an expensive one. A little sheep that you can hold between your fingers. Too much at once can be overwhelming. You take your sweet time putting everything back in place before paying, then hide the toy in your pocket. Later.

You consider wandering to let them have more time, but, you're not as much of a corvid as your Stardust. You choose to drag your feet and act distracted with the bird that maybe you'll crudely sew into your turttleneck just to justify having it.

"Hey, sorry for taking so long."

Best thing you can do, really. Let them have their moments. Even if it's just audience seat, it's great that there's no forth wall.

When you all are done and go find where to sleep, you put your hand on the pocket to grab the little toy sheep, and your finger brushes on something you haven't thought about in a while.

You still have to return Stardust's coin.

...

Well, you don't have to give the sheep now.

It was a fun little time, but pretty much it. It's not like shopping was the main objective, after all. South still took priority, with your starting point. A silver coin and a tiny dolly weight nothing, but you're so aware of them in your pocket that they might as well be a twenty pounds heavy.

Vaugard is beautiful even in autumn. It's not full of mountains, at least not in the route you all chose (well, the party chose, but you wouldn't complain). Climbing doesn't sound like the right word for what happens next. Hike? Maybe. You should get a dictionary too. One of the few things you're sure of now is that Bonnie wants to bite your arm untill you drop the block of cheese.

All the walking left you tired to the bones and made the bedrolls of the camp lure you like a siren call and the chilling air around made putting out the fire feel like a crime. But! It's fine! You're not heartless, in any sense now. You offer to Mira to use your cloak as a shared blanket out of kindness! Not because you want that very normal to want and very much achievable good grade in party member!

"You don't have to do that. It's your cloak."

"Yes, it's mine, and I can do what I want with it, including sharing."

Stars, you sound like a child. It's true, though.

Mirabelle lets out a small sound, then crawls closer, still clinging to her own blanket. You don't think about how you were already close by sharing a tent and now the folds of the blankets are the only barrier that isn't mental. You unclasp your cloak and let it fall over the two of you, the craft doing it's trick if the relief on her face was a good indicator.

"Thank you."

"Think nothing of it."

If she does, she might pity you more. You don't want your new-old friendship to start with pity.

For some time, you're not sure how long, you just lie awake and watch her breath.

...

You rub the leftover sleep off your eyes.

You can't quite remember your dream, but you feel... somehow different. Light. Maybe it's just the rest, your body thanking you for taking care of it for once.

Why do you also feel like you should beware mint? How specific.

You get out from under the cloak and blanket and get out as carefully as you can to not wake her up. You're cold like a snake with bad circulation, but that's alright. The goosebumps in your skin are almost welcome, even now. Besides, you don't have to stay cold for very long. It's easier to find dry sticks in fall. Because! You're nice! And it's easier now that you actually woke up during decent sunlight. And Bonbon will like that, you hope.

The place you all stopped at is quite pretty. The trail is not too steep and is surrounded by vegetation made more interesting by the fall color changes, plus the rocks. If it wouldn't become too heavy soon, you could get some cool rocks.

You make a pile with the sticks and some dry grass in the small circle of rocks that was made yesterday and do your best to light it up. The warmt is welcome on your face and through the fabric of your shirt. Not the same as your cloak, but welcome and brings feeling back to your fingertips.

The sun doesn't move much by the time you hear a tent open. The siblings. Of course.

"So that's why it's warmer."

"Good morning to you too, Bonnie."

"G'morning." "Morning, Sisyphus."

Now seens like a good moment, no?

"I was thinking about making breakfast. Grilled cheese sandwiches!"

"And it's for things like this that I keep the pots and pans!" Yup, holding back in front of big sis.

"Snack leader doesn't share?"

"Oh, you don't know half of it." Pétronille said. You see her face become teasing.

"I'll wait to know, then."

...

You said that out loud?

"Well, Bon, if my idea is such an insult, then let me make a truce offer."

You stand up from where you were by the fire, and make your way back to the tent. Mira is still asleep. You dig into a pocket to find the little sheep.

You walk back with your arms behind your back and your head hung in a way that makes your hair fall your face. You hope that will hide your little smile.

You make a show of getting down to one knee and presenting the sheep.

"Forgive me, my liege."

You wait.

They don't take the sheep. For some time. This is starting to get awkward.

You hear them hum and take it. You look up, and they have a rather serious look on their face.

"Offer accepted." Bonnie say. You... don't think they're quite playing around, but you're not going to poke in case they are.

The morning goes by smoothly. Sort of. Mira gave back your cloak and the others are in autumn clothes. Of course. You should know they would have those. The trail is still quite a sight. After your life as a wanderer became a bitter memory, who would know something similar would be welcome?

It's another thing when you go back to walking - hiking! Hiking is the right word! - and Bonnie hangs back for a moment. Near you.

They look serious. The little sheep has it's head poking out of their collar.

"Sisy, you don't have a dead baby somewhere, do you?"

What?

"What?"

Was this Mirabelle's theory? She did see that you were(are) grieving, but...

"Belle thinks you had a baby but they died and that's why you're nice to me." Bonnie says, like it was just run-of-the-mill dumb gossip "But that's stupid. She and Za don't have a baby but they're nice to me, too. And not everyone who has babies is nice to them. And I'm no baby, I'm already in the two digit club..."

They continue to talk about how the theory is stupid, and you feel yourself be pulled out of reality by the sheer dread creeping in your veins.

Buying that sheep was a mistake No, if they liked it enough to tuck like that, than it was a good thing.

But, oh, boy, you're blinded. More than you thought.

#in stars and time #isat #isat spoilers #in stars and time spoilers #twinfrin au #isat fanfic #two hats spoilers #in stars and time fanfic

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