Sorcerer Hunters Fan Fiction ❯ Perpetual Thoughts ❯ Planting Seeds ( Chapter 26 )

"I'm bored."

 

Until that point, Marron had only been partly aware of Carrot being in the study. Naturally he'd heard the door open, had sensed somebody walk in, had been able to recognize that it was his brother... however, it had been more akin to the feeling one feels when somebody walks into their bedroom during sleep. Marron had been meditating at the time, conscious enough to realize Carrot was there but too far out to really do anything about it. Fair enough, since why should Carrot want to come into the study in the first place? Perhaps there was a book that he wanted, though given the range of Marron's texts, that seemed somewhat unlikely. Maybe Carrot had been wondering the whereabouts of Mi-chan? Marron had let him out prior to his meditation, not that Carrot would have known that. Perhaps he just wanted to look out of the windows to Eden's grounds; the study did offer quite an impressive view of the gardens from two sides, the slopes, the border of evergreens around the edge, the view of Facade off in the near distance... however, that depended on Carrot being the sort of person to have the desires to sit around and admire views of the countryside, and as it was, he wasn't, not really. It wasn't even as if it was a good day for it, either.

 

On Carrot's abrupt statement, Marron opened his eyes. It was easy enough to keep concentration if the other person in the room wasn't being too loud or disruptive on the whole, but when you were being directly spoken to, conscious instinct to respond was too basic not to react. Well, that did depend on the kind of trance you were in, what kind of thing you were meditating on, how deeply you were involved... but when it came to Marron, when it came to Marron being spoken to by Carrot... well, that was just one of those things that couldn't quite be helped. Marron blinked to himself, then turned his head to look over at Carrot.

 

Carrot himself was sat on one of the cushioned benches set between the bookcases and beneath the windowsill of the study. He sat sideways-on to the bench, one leg pressed against the cushion and the other scuffing against the wooden floor with one toecap. He leant against the back of the bench and the windowsill, one elbow leant against the surface to support his hand holding his head; he stared continually out of the window, but he didn't really seem to be appreciating the view. Not that Marron could see much of it to make a judgement; sat on the floor as he was, all he could really see was the dull white-grey of the cloudy sky above.

 

"Ah... I apologize, niisan."

 

There wasn't really any reason to apologize, but there also wasn't really much else to say to something like that. Carrot wrinkled his nose and shrugged stiffly, "Not your fault."

 

Then why say something like that in the first place? Marron's expression fell fractionally, not that Carrot was paying any attention to something like that.

 

"... Was there... something you wanted?"

 

A sigh, "Not really."

 

"I wouldn't have thought that niisan would have come here of his own accord... I doubt there is much here that would alleviate your boredom."

 

"You're in here, aren't you?"

 

Obviously a phrase like that was supposed to explain Carrot's reason for being in the study in the first place, he spoke it with the conviction of such a belief. Marron could only fall into a small frown, not really understanding, feeling somewhat obligated to entertain Carrot in some way, shape or form. Was there anything really to talk about? Nothing much had happened recently, and surely that only contributed to Carrot's boredom...

 

It had been more than a week since Marron had really considered leaving Eden. To consider something like that... something like that wasn't a decision that could be made lightly, not even if the time spent away from Eden was only a matter of weeks or not even that... to leave would be to face questioning from anybody who caught him, to face questioning on his return... there was either that or the possibility of not returning, but was that really practical? They were Sorcerer Hunters and their primary mission was so; no matter where you went on the Continent, if Mama wanted to find you and bring you back, then Mama would find you and bring you back. It wasn't as if she was unsympathetic to the situations of her surrounding children, but Marron couldn't help but wonder if she'd have perception between 'needing some time away' and 'sulking'... and surely if he left and he really did leave to make a clean break and he did make a clean break and he did manage to find somewhere new and settle down perfectly and things were suddenly wonderful... if Mama called him back for a mission, wouldn't that put all of that in jeopardy? Of course, if he'd managed to settle down then surely it would have made the pain of seeing Carrot somewhat less, but how long would that take...

 

Another problem, Marron realised, was that a lot of his thoughts on leaving tended to be coupled with his thoughts of Carrot eventually finding him; he'd fight against whatever came in his way and manage to find wherever across the Continent Marron had hid himself, proclaim some kind of emotion at having missed Marron so terribly and wish for him to return to Eden...

 

Thoughts like those were rather selfish, Marron knew that. Alright if the intention of such a departure was really under pressure to better himself, but if the intention was only to tempt Carrot further...? Surely that would only create more of a frustration for the waiting, the time away, Carrot not being able to find him or Carrot not wanting to find him... Carrot thinking and agreeing that maybe that was for the best, not realising Marron's subtle implication...

 

If there was a time to leave Eden, Marron felt that such a time should be when his thoughts were less selfish and he could focus purely on trying to better himself. That presented problems in itself; surely the idea of the trip had come up in the first place as an effort to lessen those selfish thoughts...? If he had to better himself before he could even leave Eden, then surely there was less point in considering leaving in the first place...?

 

It might have all seemed an awful lot easier if Milphey had been supportive of the idea, Marron couldn't help but feel. He wasn't sure why; Milphey had said it himself, it wasn't as if Marron needed Milphey's permission to leave, or anything... but beyond that really was Milphey's opinion, and for as far as that went, Marron felt that he valued that opinion. Milphey was a strange person no doubt about it, but it couldn't be denied that he was thoughtful and deep and carried some kind of perception that other people just seemed to lack; if he thought that something was a bad idea, surely there was some real reason why he wouldn't approve of it? If it was something that Milphey really didn't approve of, Marron wasn't sure he could feel comfortable about it either. Again, he wasn't sure why. Before, Milphey had only seemed so accommodating to Marron's different thoughts and actions and reasons... he hadn't even expressed any shock over Marron's feelings for Carrot, and if anything was going to disturb a person to him, Marron felt it would be that...

 

The things that were questionable about such an idea seemed to outweigh that which was firm and sure and sensible. Marron couldn't feel comfortable at going for an idea unsupported, especially not with intention fighting action within his mind...

 

Still, there wasn't any rush. Nobody was forcing him to leave Eden; if he wanted to do so, he felt he should do it of his own free will rather than in direct accordance to anything... aside from the reasons why he should have gone in the first place, of course.

 

For the time being, he felt he could stay. It wasn't as if the days spent in Eden were unbearable, not by any stretch of the imagination.

 

Carrot made a loud noise of annoyance, shifting around on the bench so that he was sat facing Marron rather than the gardens outside. He folded his arms.

 

"Why does it have to be such crap weather these days?!"

 

Marron could only smile softly, "It's autumn, niisan. The earth needs preparation for the more extreme of conditions... it's something we must bear continually, the turn of the seasons. Indeed, aren't there things that can be treasured about autumn...?"

 

"Like what..."

 

Leaning back on two hands, Marron considered this for a moment.

 

"The transformation of the trees... the different varied shades across even our own immediate surroundings... being able to walk those familiar paths and watch the leaves falling, the subtle process from life to death shown all around us in such a blaze of colour... don't you think?"

 

For a few seconds, Carrot did honestly seem to be considering such benefits.

 

"I suppose, I suppose... still, it's okay to say all of that stuff, but lookin' outside it's just all dull and stuff! Why can't it be sunny, or something? I could appreciate the trees and stuff a lot more if it wasn't so damned freezing to even go outside all the time... it just looks like it's always going to rain, or something. If it's gonna be cold, why can't it just snow? Get into winter already, quit the waiting..."

 

"If niisan's cold, niisan should wear warmer clothes. You have a wardrobe full of clothes that you hardly ever wear...!"

 

"Because it doesn't take an army force of persuasion to get you out of those robes, huh?"

 

Marron faltered, "My robes at least accommodate for the changing seasons, niisan... I wouldn't think of wearing this particular robe in the midst of summer... see," Marron held up one arm, folding back the sleeve to offer the inside for Carrot's approval, "There's another layer of warmer fabric inside. However, I don't think anybody specifically designed a tanktop for winter use..."

 

"Hey, it's not like I'm gonna go out in the snow in a tanktop! I've got those puffy jackets, haven't I?"

 

"Suited for snow and little else, such a thing couldn't be suitable for a mission..."

 

"Stop picking on my dress sense! Maybe I just like tanktops, huh?"

 

"Yet niisan will still complain of the biting cold in the incoming months..."

 

"Shut up. How did we get onto this, anyway? I mean, what is the point in autumn? You got summer which is all happy fun woo whee hot yay stuff, then you got winter which is all cold and crap... then you get this random season in the middle that isn't totally hot or totally cold, and it's just like... I dunno, it's boring I guess. I mean, what happens in autumn? Spring, you got the new year, resolutions, new starts, all that shit. Summer, as I said, fun and bikinis and sun and things like that... and Saint Mama's Day, of course. Can't forget that. Winter, you get the fireworks and stuff... but autumn, what's up with that? No major holidays, no special events... why couldn't the fireworks guy have defeated that oppressive ruler guy a few months earlier? Woulda made autumn more interesting..."

 

"I suppose the less interesting seasons serve to make the interesting ones more treasured, don't you think? A quiet time when we can reflect on the things we enjoy about the year. Look back on the spring and summer festivals, look forward to the winter festivals..."

 

Carrot seemed unconvinced, "We should make our own festival."

 

"Oh? Like what, niisan?"

 

"I dunno. National day of... of... apple pie, or something."

 

"Isn't the apple season over now?"

 

"Well, you know what I mean! Everybody likes apple pie. Okay, cherry pie day. Everybody gets excited about making cherry pies for weeks and weeks, then on cherry pie day, everybody makes lots of cherry pie. Or villages get together and make one huuuge cherry pie which everybody has fun eating, or something. Then you get a random bastard Sorcerer who decides to change the local cherry crop into oranges for a laugh, but y'know, I don't think I've ever had an orange pie. Maybe it should be orange pie day! Hmn. Orange Pie Day. Everybody makes a pie made out of oranges. Damn, that could work! Lots of cream and stuff, sorta like a cheesecake but not. Just lots of oranges. And cream. Hell, if someone just poured cream on an orange, I could eat that... Orange Day! People paint themselves orange and eat lots of oranges dipped in cream! It can be a celebration of things that are orange, things that are creamy... it can be like, a national day for appreciation of cows, or something. Cow Appreciation Day!"

 

"Niisan, you're just being silly now."

 

"... Well, you get what I'm saying though, don't you? Just, something to make autumn not so damned boring. I mean, hey, we live with Big Mama, don't we? She's already got her own day, couldn't she get it so we all celebrate another one or something? Sorcerer Hunters Day. A day for the appreciation of Sorcerer Hunters!"

 

"Except that we're supposed to be a shadowy organization hidden from the main forms of government on this Continent due to our duty which is, after all, to dispatch those Sorcerers who do not deserve to live. I can't see such a day catching on, especially amongst the higher ranks of our social hierarchy..."

 

Carrot sighed, "I guess you're right. Well... failing that, how about Going Down To The City With Your Niisan Day?"

 

A smile, "Niisan, that can happen any day of the year..."

 

"Then, it can be an all-year-round thing, can't it? Today sounds good, doesn't it? Might stop me being so bored... and it's not like you're really studying magic at the moment, is it?"

 

"Only because you disturbed me, niisan."

 

"Yeeeah well, can't be helped."

 

A moment's pause, Carrot realised that maybe he really had disturbed Marron from something that he wanted to do; he blinked, turning his head to face Marron properly.

 

"I mean, it's okay, isn't it?"

 

"Niisan?"

 

"There wasn't anything real important you had to do or anything, was there? Important spells or stuff like that... I mean... I don't gotta be here if you don't want me to be here..."

 

"Niisan... I say it every time, I really don't mind...!"

 

This was true. It wasn't as if too much had changed between the Glacé brothers to really necessitate a sudden order of 'every time', but... at least from Carrot's point of view, just for the time being, he wanted to keep a slight eye on Marron. Especially after all the things that Gateau had said not long ago... of course, that time also involved what Carrot had said in return, and as far as those things went, he still felt them true - he didn't know what he could do about Marron, his strange moods, his guarded emotions... he didn't know what he could do to help Marron, didn't know how he could go about being a better role model for Marron, if that was indeed an issue... but then, hanging around with him to go on random visits down to the town was better than sitting around wondering where he was, and Carrot had found that niggle turn into a vague worry at points recently. Again, it wasn't as if he quite seriously believed that anything terrible would actually befall Marron, but... given the current climate, he couldn't help but just worry that it might.

 

So Marron was having an insecure patch, as far as Carrot could make it out. He still believed the logic in Marron perhaps going after Milphey or Gateau, someone who could take Marron's mind off him so much... but then again, it was hard to cope with the awkward silence of sharing a bedroom with somebody you didn't know how to talk to. Maybe there were hard things going on in Marron's life at the moment that Carrot didn't know how to deal with and didn't know if he even should, but... maybe, just for the moment... just while it was autumn and it was dull and there was nothing to do, perhaps it was a better idea to just try to set those things aside, just for the time being. Let things become an issue if they really had to become an issue, but in the meantime, things could meander on as they always had done. Perhaps it was hormones or something. Marron was a growing teenager, after all... Carrot wasn't really sure, but the couple of times they'd been out to the city over the past week had at least been, generally, peaceful enough. Maybe Marron was a quiet person but at least in these dull days he always seemed to have something pretty to say on the weather or on observing the people...

 

Still, while Carrot felt good about being able to take a step into looking out for the welfare of his kooky little brother, he also wondered if he should ever question if that was what Marron actually wanted; maybe Marron always stayed alone in his study for a reason - and of course, no magic ever got studied by going down to the city for a cup of tea. However, when asked, Marron would only ever smile and make Carrot really believe that yes, Marron did prefer the idea of going down to the city rather than studying his magic.

 

This was perhaps an expected answer, though. Maybe it still wasn't a good idea; just because Marron wanted to spend time with Carrot didn't necessarily mean it was a good thing that he did...

 

Marron hadn't really objected so far, though. Carrot wasn't sure if Marron's mood had improved somewhat for their time spent together or if Marron was usually so calm and that he just never noticed it, but... well, he hoped that Marron really would object if there were more important things he had to do. He wasn't sure Marron actually would, but he liked to think so, at least.

 

"Well... if you're sure..."

 

"I'm sure, niisan. Did you want to go down to the city today?"

 

"We could do something else if you had anything else you wanted to do..."

 

"Whatever you want to do is alright by me."

 

It was little things like that that Marron said that often caused Carrot to twitch and wonder if his mild strategy needed a rethink, but again, supposed that it couldn't really be helped. Still, the city again...? Well, it wasn't as if there weren't enough nice places across Facade to visit, but they did always seem to go down there... Carrot was just worried about Marron getting bored more than anything else. Not that Marron would express that boredom, which was half the problem. He'd bear any place with a smile if it was somewhere that he went with Carrot, even if the place really did bore him...

 

"Don't jump out of it so easily! Is there really nothing you actually wanna do? Nowhere you wanna go? Nothing you wanna go see? I mean... I know it's crap weather and everything, but we don't gotta go out just to eat... I mean, there are parks and stuff to sit in... if you wanted to... oh, I dunno. I just can't get over that there's really nothing that you'd actually wanna do!"

 

Marron's look fell fractionally, and Carrot felt slightly bad for that. Still, if it led to Marron actually making a decision under his own steam... this was another thing. Marron very rarely, outside of his professional capacity, seemed to actually make decisions. Well, he could decide if he wanted to spend a day learning magic, decide what spell to learn easily enough, but it was more that... talking to him very rarely earnt straight answers. Carrot, Gateau and Milphey had all discovered this to their own knowledge at some point or another over the years, usually chalking it down to Marron's mysterious nature. Carrot wondered if it was that, but then wondered if it was actually just that Marron was just incapable of making an actual decision... some people were just like that. Then, if it was decided that the 'goal' of any exercise undertaken was perhaps to calm Marron's troubled emotions, gear him into opening up a little more and a little easier... how could you expect somebody to tell you their awkward feelings if they couldn't even decide what they wanted for dinner? Even so, their trips to Facade did always seem to end up going wherever Carrot wanted to go, go to eat whatever Carrot wanted to eat... not that Marron didn't seem to enjoy himself, but... surely there was enjoyment in things other than things involving his brother, right?

 

Carrot earnestly hoped so.

 

"That I'd want to do..."

 

"Mmm! Somewhere you'd want to go, something you'd want to eat, whatever. You're probably quite used to all the restaurants and cafés I like to go to, but... y'knowww..."

 

"You ask me this all the time, niisan..."

 

"I know I do, and I never get a straight answer!"

 

Glancing away from Carrot, Marron still looked indecisive, "I wonder if niisan would enjoy places that I wished to visit..."

 

"Don't you think I get just as worried about that? If we keep going to the same places I like it's only going to make you bored of them, isn't it?"

 

"N-niisan, no it wouldn't...! If it's somewhere that niisan honestly enjoys, then I honestly appreciate it also..."

 

"So doesn't that get to work the other way? Don't you think I'd like to see the sorts of places that my little brother enjoys too?

 

"I fear that there would not be anywhere interesting that-"

 

"It doesn't have to be interesting, just so long as it's somewhere you like then it's gonna be interesting like that, isn't it!?"

 

"... Niisan..."

 

And so did the daily life of the Glacé brothers continue.

 

The days were, however, evening out into some kind of relaxation. Marron, while far from remaining continually chipper, at least managed to refrain from the things that usually created problems. He hadn't spoken to Gateau much, but that was alright - speaking to Gateau often led to untoward things. Since talking with Milphey that week ago he'd not seen too much since, but... still... thinking on Milphey's line of thought, thinking of his own feelings... perhaps, for the time being, it was better to be with Carrot than somewhere on the Continent without him. If things progressed further with anybody else, if events with Tira did deteriorate into some kind of relationship, perhaps that was the moment to take some time away. While things were still generally agreeable, perhaps there was no need for that quite just yet.

 

Tira's injuries from that past battle had since healed, and she seemed a little calmer about things now. Well, it wasn't that Marron had really had occasion to talk with her about it, but it wasn't as if she'd made the occasion to talk about it either; perhaps all she'd wanted to cover had been covered during that mission. Perhaps she'd come to her own conclusions. Perhaps she was just feeling rather peaceable herself - Marron didn't know, but he wasn't going to argue. The times they'd seen each other and spoken had been, generally, kind enough. Perhaps an event like that was best left forgotten, though Marron couldn't help but keep a bitter feeling in his mind for her confession of feeling...

 

That was neither here nor there for the moment, though. Sometimes Carrot went down to the town with Chocolat and Tira, sometimes he went down with Marron. Sometimes he spent time in his room reading, sometimes the Misu sisters went and did their own thing, sometimes Marron studied magic, sometimes he didn't. Essentially, the days were peaceful.

 

There hadn't been any mission since that against Kiente; it seemed that Big Mama hadn't heard anything from them since, hadn't heard any activity yet... still, that was alright. They didn't seem like the kind that would give up, but nobody said that they were hurried in their ambitions either. Mama had at least managed to work out the location of one of the two remaining seals that the Sorcerers might target - a small town named Verlena, about fifty miles west of Facade, mainly famed for cattle produce and cultural dance festivals. It sounded like a nice place and nobody would really have minded had Mama sent them there just to patrol (and sample the local cheeses while watching the local dancers), but nobody was going to try travelling fifty miles just for that sake at the moment. It was possible that the Sorcerers would target the other seal first, after all... it was best just to trust to Big Mama in such a situation. She'd keep the Sorcerer Hunters as up to date as she needed to.

 

So until that point, thoughts of that particular mission were more or less put out of mind. That is, until Carrot and Marron happened to encounter a certain acquainted Sorcerer on one of their trips down to the city.

 

No firm decision had really been made on where to go, in the end. This was rather unsurprising, but always made Carrot feel just a little frustrated; why could Marron never come straight out with 'I want to go to...' and they'd go? Surely it wasn't such a hard decision... but then again, Carrot supposed that Marron had never really needed to make up his mind over such mundane things, so suddenly being asked to do so so often was, perhaps, a little confusing. Maybe. He wasn't quite sure, and he hadn't quite reached the level of asking Marron why the hell he could never do something like that, so in the meantime they'd gone to The Evergreen, a large café on the northern edge of Facade. Maybe it took a little walk to get there, but even in such dull weather, the place was still rather classy and impressive... perhaps it wasn't as full as it could be, but that wasn't really something to complain about; less people meant more seats to choose from, meant quicker service... balcony seats were usually the first to go in such places, especially on nice days... on darker days, the balcony seats were usually occupied by a few singular people with their newspapers and not really anybody else. Despite the outside chill, Marron actually expressed preference to sit out, wishing to be where there was fresh air (even the classiest restaurants had their smokers). Too surprised to really object to the cold, Carrot had followed Marron outside. They'd ordered cups of tea and talked quietly for a while before Carrot happened to notice that particular Sorcerer.

 

Carrot blew on his tea in an attempt to cool it down; Marron seemed to have more of a tolerance for such things, gently taking small sips as his brother did so. They sat silently for a few moments, Carrot taking the slight sound of Marron placing his cup back against his saucer as a sign to start talking again.

 

"What about the Rosa Cantina?"

 

Marron glanced up, "Niisan?"

 

"We haven't been there, have we? Isn't that supposed to be kinda round here somewhere?"

 

A thoughtful pause, "I think that's a few streets away from here, niisan. Was that somewhere you wished to visit?"

 

"I dunno, I just don't think I've been there... sounds pretty posh though, it's probably expensive."

 

"It's also probably not somewhere you would wish to visit with your brother, niisan."

 

Carrot tilted his head quizzically, "Uh?"

 

"The Rosa Cantina is rather famed for its... rather romantic atmosphere, so I've heard. I'm surprised Chocolat hasn't tried to drag you there in the past..."

 

"Actually, that's probably where I heard the name... romantic atmosphere, huh? I guess it really is posh."

 

A smile, "Something doesn't have to be 'posh' to be romantic, niisan."

 

The conversation was easy and Marron seemed to smile nicely enough; spotting an opening for a discussion, Carrot leant his elbows on the table and latticed his hands together, leaning his head on those. He smirked, "I guess not... so what would Marron think was romantic, huh?"

 

"Ah!?"

 

The smirk turned into a friendly smile, "Just curious."

 

"Ah... things that were romantic..."

 

"Mmm."

 

"Well... that is..."

 

To think of something like that, Marron wasn't really sure. Romantic things? What kinds of things did he think were romantic? Surely it was more a matter of who you were with... even the most mundane thing could become romantic if done with the right person, couldn't it? After a few moments of silent contemplation, Marron supposed that that was the best line of reasoning to go with.

 

"... I'm not really sure..."

 

"Oh, come on..."

 

"N-no, I mean... as for specific things that are romantic... I'm not too sure. I think... somehow... it would be more who you were doing them with that was important... don't you think? Being able to do things together, being able to spend time with a person. That... I suppose... is what I'd say 'romantic' was."

 

"Being able to do things together, huh..."

 

"Yes, niisan."

 

"Like what?"

 

He always did have to get specific... Marron frowned in momentary concentration.

 

"Well... as I said, being able to spend time with a person... being able to be with a person, I suppose. Being able to do little things with them... looking at the stars, perhaps skimming stones across a river... little things that could be similarly appreciated. Perhaps cooking together..."

 

Marron trailed off at that point, Carrot laughed.

 

"Yeah well, I guess that would be a romantic kinda thing for you to want to do, huh? Eden's master chef shares his kitchen, that's real trust right there..."

 

"Nii-san... I'm not a master chef..."

 

"Better than me and Gateau though, huh!"

 

"Perhaps, perhaps..."

 

Another momentary silence. Carrot seemed satisfied enough, but Marron couldn't help but ask a question of his own... while they were talking on that topic it was alright, wasn't it? It wouldn't seem weird to ask such a question...

 

"... And what about niisan?"

 

"Hmn?"

 

"What kinds of things would niisan find romantic?"

 

"Oh, uh, huh, me?... Uhmn..."

 

Again, this seemed to take a few moments of contemplation on Carrot's behalf before he could answer. Marron was already prepping his mind up to take mental notes on whatever Carrot's answer happened to be.

 

"... I dunno really... I mean... I guess if I got with a girl, it'd be like... yeah spending time with them and stuff like that, that'd be good?... I guess... I think I'd probably like to treat someone like that, though I never seem to have any money so I dunno how I'd do that, but y'know... buying them flowers and stuff like that, you know? I mean... not that I'd want it just to be like, y'know, here have all this stuff or anything, but like... to be able to see a girl happy 'cause of something I'd done, y'know? Though maybe that's not a 'thing' as such... I dunno, really. I guess being able to make someone happy? Being able to make them smile, make them laugh, stuff like that. I guess that's pretty much like yours, being able to spend time with someone, isn't it? Spend time with 'em and make 'em happy. Be able to impress them. I guess being able to protect, a bit? I mean... it'd be nice to kinda... I dunno how to put it, but... I guess that, really. Protecting someone is pretty romantic, isn't it... I'd like to be able to do that. Protect someone and make them happy kinda thing."

 

Marron's mind was very rapidly turning all this over in his mind. Being able to make someone happy... being able to spend time with them... Marron knew it was likely a very different frame of mind on Carrot's behalf, but... there was the constant argument that the two of them seemed to go over before deciding to go anywhere - Carrot always wanting to know where Marron wanted to go...

 

Did that count?

 

The idea of protection was somewhat romantic, also. Marron could quite see that. To be able to be a bit 'powerful' like that... to be somebody's strength, to be somebody who could be relied on... to be able to protect somebody.

 

Nobody had to give Marron instructions on that.

 

However, did Carrot see anything romantic about being the protected as opposed to the protector...? Marron wondered, but didn't quite dare to ask.

 

Then, basically... being able to make somebody happy? Essentially, basically... Marron liked to think that, more than anything or anybody else, Carrot made him happy. Also lonely and depressed and other such things, but... none of those were directly Carrot's fault, Marron felt. When it came to the basic, Carrot made him happy.

 

Was that romantic?

 

Still, it was interesting to hear Carrot talk in such terms. Marron adopted a wistful sort of expression as he held his teacup against the table, glancing across to the side, looking down from the balcony he and Carrot sat on. A few people walked around on the street below, but not too many people... not really a day where many people wanted to go places, probably. Thinking about the romantic things... not least the things but the feelings... if that was where the conversation was leading, in its own meandering sort of fashion...

 

"I think... it's romantic to be preoccupied by a person."

 

"Well yeah, if there's someone you like then of course you're gonna be preoccupied by them!"

 

"Yes, but... I mean... to think of them all the time. To feel somewhat possessed by feelings of them. To think of nothing but that person, to be unable to think of anything but that person... to have feelings of such intensity... to be moved so entirely by a person. When somebody becomes so wonderful in private thoughts... to see somebody in such a powerful light... to be held in thrall by a person... to think that people could move each other so totally, that is... I think... something that's romantic."

 

Carrot found himself blushing slightly and honestly couldn't figure out why. Nevermind that Marron was actually talking about something a little private, but... he couldn't help but think about it, think about how Marron was, think about how Marron often seemed to think of nothing but his idiotic older brother...

 

What exactly was Marron trying to say!?

 

Of course, that depended on if he was trying to say anything at all... maybe that was just his opinion. Maybe it was. Well of course it was, otherwise he wouldn't say it! That didn't mean it had to mean anything, did it... yes, it'd be a romantic thing to be so occupied with thoughts of a person. That didn't mean that all-encompassing thoughts of a person always had to be romantic, did it? No, of course not.

 

A breeze picked up, carrying Marron's hair with it a little. Gently, he occupied himself with tucking errant strands behind one ear before turning to look back at Carrot. He smiled. Carrot still found his expression stuck on 'bemused', and Marron's next line didn't help him move that.

 

"... You make me happy, niisan."

 

"Ah... hah..."

 

Marron's expression didn't lie; the hint of a smile on his lips with the warmth in his eyes only seemed to prove that yes, Carrot did make him happy... Carrot's mind raced. Making someone happy... that'd been what he'd just been talking about...! Was that some kind of... was Marron trying to... was that... maybe... maybe it was some sort of... idea as to just what it was he was trying to say...? Or maybe he was just trying to make Carrot feel good about himself... maybe that... yes, that was the kind of thing Marron tried to do, wasn't it? Yes... but that still didn't explain what it was about that that made Carrot feel so unsure all of a sudden. Marron had a weird habit of being able to make him feel like that and it was even more weird that even after all this time Carrot still had no idea what the hell he was supposed to make of it when it happened. He supposed it was some kind of leftover guilt from that time in the past...? Maybe. He wasn't sure. He wasn't sure how to make himself sure. Then, all of a sudden-

 

"ITH YOU!!"

 

Both Glacé brothers were startled out of that self-contained moment by a shrill, familiar and annoying voice announcing the very obvious. Carrot jumped rather obviously, then turned around to address the speaker.

 

"Yes it's me, who wants to-... oh, god."

 

Standing tall and obnoxious at his full three feet of stature was the unmistakable figure of Count Potato Chips. Obviously trying to make himself look as dashing as was possible for him, he tiptoed and glanced to either side of Carrot, as if looking for something. Carrot only glared at him.

 

"Did you lose something?"

 

"Where-... whereth Mith... Mithes... Thira and Thockowat, wath it...? Thoth girlth that are alwayth with you. With the pink and orange hair."

 

"Tira and Chocolat? I dunno, I haven't seen them since earlier this morning. Why don't you go find them and stop bothering me?"

 

This didn't seem to please Potato, "I wouldn't be athking or even talking to you if I knew where thoth two were!"

 

Carrot stretched and turned away from the nuisance, "Well, I don't know where they are. So you can leave us alone now, 'kay? Thanks, bye."

 

"I thuppoth I'll jutht have to find thome other girl for the danth competithion..."

 

That certainly seemed to make Carrot's ears prick, and Marron had a nasty sinking feeling in his chest straight from the initial mention of those two words. A dance competition? Girls? The two together didn't seem a promising combination from Marron's point of view. Especially not from how Carrot usually tended to fare at various competitions, celebrations, meetings or challenges... Carrot's attempts were usually painfully predictable after so long. Carrot would meet a girl, attempt to woo her under pretence of the current festival, something would happen, the Misu sisters would be displeased, the girl would go off with somebody else and Carrot would be left pummelled and bleeding by the angry Tira and Chocolat. A dancing competition? Such a line of events seemed horribly horribly inevitable. Still, Marron stayed quiet.

 

"... Wait a moment. Dance competition?"

 

"Yeth! In Verlena at the end of thith month! I'll thertaintly win! I've been practithing all my danth moveth with mother for the past month already. Even if you think it'll be interethting to enter, my incredible thkillth will leave you breathleth!"

 

"Breathleth, huh? I'm sure they will. Though, that means... you've been practicing with Salad, huh?"

 

"What thort of thing are you thinking?"

 

"Does she have a partner for the dance competition...?"

 

"Mother doethn't really like to danth that much... and I wouldn't let you danth with her anyway! In the patht her and father often uthed to go though, I think. I think they even won onth! Tho I'm definitely in with a chanth!"

 

The thought of the diminutive Sorcerer taking part in any kind of dance was enough to make Carrot want to collapse with laughter, but he tried to hold that back as much as was possible. A dance competition... usually any kind of competition like that meant pretty girls, and a dance competition...! Girls liked to dance, didn't they? Surely any pretty girl would simply leap at the chance to be involved in the Verlena Autumn Dance Competition... even if he wasn't able to pick Salad up for a go, Carrot was sure that he'd at least be able to find someone!

 

For as long as he managed to hold back the Misu sisters, of course. Oh god, if they found out... certainly Chocolat would leap at the chance to dance with her darling, wouldn't she? That thought made Carrot shudder. If there was a chance to meet new cute girls, he definitely didn't want to be stuck with the two who'd try to whip him into a waltz...!

 

Carrot tried to keep his voice polite, "Would you tell me more about this dance competition...?"

 

Potato smirked, "Thinth you have no chanth, I might ath well! Thee, ith in Verlena, and ith at the end of the month."

 

"I... gathered that already."

 

"The danth ith thaid to be blethed by the thpirit of the danth goddeth! Tho everyone dantheth to pleath her. They alwayth have really good pritheth. Latht year there wath a cruith around the Continent! Of courth, I'm rich enough to be able to do that anyway, but that'th not the point. Thith year... thith year, I think the prithe ith a trip to Kaethith, that famouth plathe, to watch the fireworkth thith winter! For the winning danth partnerthip. That thort of thing thould be thooo romantic, tho I totally want to take a pretty girl with me! The'll fall for me immediately if the knowth about the fireworkth!"

 

Listening to Potato's voice for so long was rather annoying, but worth it to pick up what nuggets of information he held. Carrot's mind was already ticking over; the winning dance partnership got a trip off to Kaesis to watch the fireworks in winter!? He hated to admit it, but Potato was right; such a thought really was romantic... what kind of girl wouldn't think so? Kaesis was that place with the hot springs, wasn't it... ah, to be able to be in the hot springs in winter with a pretty girl with the fireworks lighting up the sky... what a wonderful thought.

 

There was still the matter of the Misu sisters, though... was there any risk that they'd hear about the dance competition? If they did... the results were, to Carrot, depressingly predictable. Tira would scream and shout at him for the whole time, totally reducing his chances of being able to score with a nice normal calm girl... Chocolat would take the opposite tactic, she'd be all over him insisting that she be his dance partner, and if he dared suggest otherwise she'd beat him six ways from sunday...

 

There was also the matter of the dance goddess Potato had mentioned. People danced to please her spirit? Well, if the goddess was a hottie, then it was all good.

 

Then of course, the matter of Potato wanting a date for the dance...

 

He wanted a date... Carrot wanted to get rid of the Misu sisters... an idea was starting to form in his mind. He needed some kind of plan to get Tira and Chocolat off of his tail and, perhaps, onto Potato's... nothing Carrot could think of would persuade them to make such a jump, but anything was worth it if it got the Misu sisters out of his hair for long enough to get with some nice girl... Carrot attempted what he hoped was a genuine smile, "You know what? I'll talk to Tira and Chocolat for you, see what I can do."

 

Potato's eyes seemed to light up, "Re-... really!?"

 

"Yes, really!"

 

Then narrowed, "What'th the cath?"

 

Carrot waved his hands, "No catch, no catch! I mean, you said it yourself, any girl would be totally wowed by the idea of being able to go to Kaesis to see the fireworks, huh?"

 

Still seeming unsure, Potato folded his arms.

 

"I don't know if I trutht you... thtill... if you were going to talk to them... well, I can't thtay around here all day. If I can't trutht you, then I've thertainly got to go and athk other girlth! Maybe I can athk Mith Thira and Mith Thockowat mythelf..."

 

"Right, well, you go do that. Bye now."

 

Needing no second bidding, Potato quickly shot off, as eager to leave Carrot's presence as Carrot was to have it left. He waited until Potato was gone from the nearest visible radius, then turned back to face Marron with an excited chuckle.

 

"Hehehe... oh man, did you hear that!?"

 

It would have been very hard not to. Marron nodded, "Yes, niisan."

 

"Oh c'mon, don't look so dour about it all if you were listening. Isn't that exciting!? A dance competition! Oh man... oh, man... isn't that just the coolest thing ever? I mean... if I was able to get a pretty girl to come with me, then... y'know... that'd be so cool..."

 

Marron didn't seem to share this excitement, quietly sipping on his tea.

 

"I highly doubt that Tira or indeed Chocolat would wish to partner themselves with Count Potato Chips, niisan."

 

"Well no, but if anything gets them off my back for long enough to get with some nice normal girl, then it's worth it. I mean, who knows... maybe if I manage to get either of them with Potato, he'll speak to his mother for me, and then... ooh, heh... heh..."

 

Admittedly, at that moment, anything was better than Carrot saying that he wanted to go to the dance competition with Chocolat or especially with Tira, the more recent threat, but that still didn't calm Marron's thoughts any. He'd been rather clouded in his thoughts when he was last in Kaesis, but even he had to admit that a trip there to see the winter fireworks would be one worth going on. He himself had little reason to want to enter a dance competition, though... if Carrot wanted to, that was his own decision, Marron felt he had no right to try stopping him. Personal reason perhaps, but no right. Still, another thought came to mind.

 

"Niisan, can you even dance?"

 

"Don't know until you try, right?"

 

"... I hardly think you can hope to win a dance competition if you've never danced before..."

 

"Well, I'll just have to practice then, won't I? I'm sure we know someone who can dance. Oh, dammit... if I'd thought of it while that runt was still here, I could have maybe asked him to see if I could get Salad to give me lessons... he said she could dance, didn't he? Tch... I wonder if I'll see him again... damn, never thought the day would come where I actually wanted to see him. I guess we'll just have to hang around here in the future and see if we hit lucky... 'course, it would be luckier to see the lovely Mrs Chips herself... mmph. How annoying. That idiot didn't even say when the competition was! How am I supposed to know how much time I've got if I don't even know how much time I've got! Jeez!"

 

"If a mission happens to send us quickly to Verlena, then perhaps we might have occasion to find out..."

 

"Oh yeah, and what's the chances of that happening..."

 

"Verlena is where one of the seals to the Eclipse magic lies."

 

Carrot couldn't help but feel as if he was being somewhat berated with that line, said so easily but as if he should have known something like that... now that Marron mentioned it Carrot did remember something along those lines, but that had been a while ago, how was he supposed to remember something like that!? Not like it was really important or anything...

 

Still, the fact that Verlena held a magic seal only gave another reason to visit the place... check that the seal was okay, make sure no bad guys were attacking it... go to the dance competition...

 

"Aaaaah, it must be destiny!"

 

Marron raised his eyebrow slightly, "What might be destiny, niisan...?"

 

"The dance competition! The magic seal! It can't be coincidence! Surely it's destiny to go there and maybe I can be heroic and rescue a girl from that evil Sorcerer guy and she'll be like 'oh Carrot' and then she might agree to dance with me and then we might win and we'd get to go off and see the fireworks and it all would have been fated right from the moment I heard Potato mention the dance competition!"

 

"You believe in fate, niisan?"

 

Still that slight sense of being told off. Carrot kept up his buoyant smile, "Well, why not? It's a bit romantic if you can say it to a girl, isn't it? Fate leading to that point and stuff like that. Especially at that dance competition...! Oh man, I'm really looking forward to it. I hope I can find out more about it... like when it is... wouldn't want to miss it... but I don't think that Count Runt would leave trying to find a partner until the last minute, even if he has been practicing with Salad. Hmmn... I wonder where we could find out more information..."

 

It was all a little annoying, but on seeing Carrot look so happy about something, Marron couldn't remain in a bad mood for too long. It wasn't as if anything that they'd heard that day was really bad as per se... so there was a dance competition coming up, so maybe it was a perfect opportunity to go after girls or whatever... Carrot was the kind of person who could probably come up with so many ways to go after girls as there were hours in the day, it wasn't really as if all of them would ever succeed... and of course, Carrot admitting that he'd never danced before... as they sat on the balcony still, Marron couldn't help a slight smile. Even if a girl did want to go to the dance competition, who would want to go with somebody who'd never danced before...? Perhaps some people would just want to go for the fun of taking part, but with such a prize, surely many people would be heading there with the intention to win... perhaps Carrot was enthusiastic but enthusiasm didn't always equal talent...

 

The rest of that visit to the town was generally compromised of Carrot's excitement of the dance competition and Marron only vaguely keeping track of what he was saying. It wasn't that he didn't want to listen to Carrot, but... when he was only really saying the same things over and over, it was perhaps safe to tune him out just a little.

 

All the same, Marron was rather glad that Carrot would have heard about such a thing while on a journey to the city with him rather than with the Misu sisters.

 

Returning back to Eden, the weather still hadn't cleared up too much. The sun shone brightly somewhere but the sky was still cloudy, the general colour of the clouds was grey, the wind was needlessly harsh and unquestionably chilly... Marron noticed Carrot holding himself as if cold and shivering when a particularly strong gust blew past. He rolled his eyes good-naturedly; Carrot never would learn about wearing warm clothing, would he...?

 

As the two of them approached the main building, Marron noted that the doors to the great hall were slightly ajar, as if somebody hadn't closed them properly... he himself couldn't really remember if they'd left them open or closed when they'd left that morning, but in such cold weather, it was perhaps best to keep them closed... but, at least they weren't locked. As Marron walked forth to open the doors enough to let them back inside, he found himself stopped by Carrot's hand on his sleeve. He stopped.

 

"Hey, uh... Marron?"

 

He turned around, "Yes niisan?"

 

Carrot looked slightly shifty and he was keeping his voice low, as if he didn't particularly want to risk being heard by anybody. Marron felt he had a good feeling who he didn't want to be heard by, too.

 

"... You won't... mention to... certain people about, y'know, the dance competition... will you?"

 

Marron smiled gently, "Of course not, niisan."

 

He honestly wouldn't.

 

Saying that seemed to calm Carrot greatly, he rather visibly relaxed and patted Marron's shoulder enthusiastically, "Oh, good! Good! I'm glad! Thanks! 'Cause I mean... y'know... sometimes you just wanna keep it to yourself, y'know..."

 

"Yes, niisan."

 

That seemed to seal the conversation; Carrot grinned widely and pushed the door to the great hall open himself. He stepped inside, Marron followed. Marron closed the door behind them and the two of them walked forward a few feet inside before realising that they weren't actually alone in the room; not only that, but the other occupant of the room hadn't noticed them, not yet.

 

The great hall itself was, strangely enough, a long and rather wide hall; it was supported (and decorated) on either side by a number of gigantic pillars that stretched up to the high ceiling. Occasionally these were punctuated by large decorative orbs that may or may not have served some kind of purpose... towards the latter end of the hall, the pillars were punctuated by doors and walkways to other areas of the church. Usually, the end of the hall was lit and illuminated for the purpose of Big Mama occupying the end; at the moment, the area seemed lighted as if she should have been sat there in wait for any random Parsoner to tell her their troubles, but... she was somehow absent. Perhaps she had something to do?... The lights that would have lit Big Mama only further complimented Milphey as he crouched to the right a little in front of the area where Mama would have normally sat. He had his eyes closed and seemed to be concentrating on something; Carrot seemed to notice this first, he almost made as if to say something, but realising Milphey's apparent concentration, Marron stopped him from doing this. They shared a glance and their walk slowed to a stop, pausing in wait just to see what Milphey was doing, if anything.

 

Milphey rose from his crouch, his eyes still closed. He seemed to do so rather slowly... his arms were held out in front of him, his fingers touching. He stood up straight, half-turning as he performed a rather impressive leap to his left; he landed with one leg behind him and one bent to support him, and he rose to his full standing figure again... he seemed to stand on the tips of his toes, the Glacé brothers noticed his shoes lay to the side. Milphey then twirled neatly, seeming to bob in a fluid sort of way as he returned to the particular spot on the hall floor that Carrot and Marron had first seen him when walking into the hall; he then leant over, seeming to be aiming at something nearer the floor... seeming as if he was practicing dancing with an invisible person? It was possible. He leant down close then performed a kind of spin on his feet so he was now half-knelt on the floor, as if taking the position he'd mimed for previously. He leant back then leant forward then stood up again, hands pressed flat against the empty air in front of him as if pretending to join with another... circular twirls in large arcs, as if dancing round and round with this imaginary person... this realisation caused Carrot to whisper as quietly as he could up to Marron's hear, "It looks like he's dancing...!"

 

This had been fairly obvious, Marron felt. He didn't reply to Carrot's surprised exclamation, only continuing to watch Milphey's solitary silent dance.

 

He was, by all accounts, rather impressive. He didn't seem to put a foot wrong, never slipped, always seemed to end up in the positions he desired... he managed all of this with his eyes closed and a strange kind of flexibility that nobody would really have doubted Milphey to possess... there was something almost electric about the concentration that Milphey seemed to afford to this activity. Something tense about the atmosphere in the room. Marron had the feeling that this wasn't strictly something he and Carrot should particularly have been standing and watching openly, but on the other hand, who would do something like that in the great hall if they wished to keep it a secret...? Of course, the great hall was probably the largest (or at least the most easily-accessible, Marron thought briefly of Kahlua's pyramid) open space in Eden, not counting the outside grounds, and were they really suited for such an activity? The grass, the damp, the cold, the wind... but even so, Marron leant close to Carrot's ear, whispering back in turn.

 

"Perhaps we shouldn't be watching this, niisan."

 

"O-oh, yeah..."

 

"Let's go, quietly."

 

Carrot offered no argument to this. The two of them softly stepped over to the right side of the hall, walking quietly closely to the pillars on that side which would eventually lead them to the doors to their bedroom corridor. However, while they walked, it seemed that Milphey came to a pause in his activities and that Marron and Carrot hadn't been the only two to be watching at all - as they walked forward, Dota flit forth from the bedroom corridor doorway, clapping enthusiastically.

 

"Uwaaa~...! Milphey, Milphey, you're fantastic! That was so amazing!"

 

Marron and Carrot paused, about four pillars away from their destination. They just watched Dota fly forward and hover close to Milphey, who now had his eyes open and was smiling. The tense sort of atmosphere was broken all of a sudden. Milphey laughed, scratching the back of his neck.

 

"Oh, ahaha... I'm not that great, really... I'm a bit rusty. It's been about a year or so since the last one, hasn't it? Of course, if it's coming up next month then it really has been that long... and it really doesn't seem like it... oh well, how time flies! So, how about you, Dota-chan? Thinking of entering this year?"

 

Dota seemed to falter slightly, swishing her tailfeathers back and forth.

 

"Oh, I... I... I-... I don't really know... I mean, that is, if Sirius wants to, then... then I'm sure it'd be great!... But I'm not really sure... I- I mean, it's not really something I've done before or anything... I probably wouldn't be any good at it..."

 

Milphey waved one hand in a dismissive sort of fashion, "Come on, Dota-chan. Don't talk like that...! I'm sure you'd be fantastic if you just gave it a go!"

 

"I don't know... isn't it something lots of professionals go for...?"

 

"Mmmmnnn... not particularly... I mean, sometimes you do get professionals there, and some of the dancers are very advanced in their dancing, but a lot of the runners are just normal members of the public like you and me! And of course, when the physical presentation matters just a little... I'm sure a cute girl like you would impress the judges almost definitely!"

 

"Because I've got wings..."

 

One eyebrow raised gently, "Is that a bad thing?"

 

"Oh, n-no! I mean... well... I don't know..."

 

"Well, if you don't want to decide now then it's okay, there's no rush just at the moment. But time is starting to become something of the essence... I should have started practicing earlier myself, but I've had other things on my mind and I completely forgot about it until the other day, I happened to see something that reminded me and I thought, my, isn't it that time of year when the Verlena Dance Competition usually is...? I asked around a little, and yes, it was! But, better late than never. I just need to brush up, I think..."

 

Dota seemed to regain her spark, "Oh, but you're really really excellent! Have you ever won before?"

 

"Ah, ahahaha... in the distant past, a couple of times... I've also known the organizer for quite some time now. I haven't always taken part with the actual dancing, some years I just can't find a partner, but... well, sometimes he lets me commentate, too. That's always fun! Perhaps I could commentate for Dota-chan and give her a boost of confidence, hmmn?"

 

"It'd be a shame for you not to be able to find a partner, though... you're sooo good at dancing, I don't see how anybody could lose against you..."

 

"Well, it's all down to the public vote, isn't it? If there's a favourite, then they sometimes win. That said, you never can really tell what the mood's going to be like until you really get there... well, I suppose if you stalked Verlena months in advance then you'd probably be able to pick up some tipoffs, but what's the fun in that?"

 

They both laughed at that; Carrot and Marron still listened silently, seemingly unnoticed by Milphey or by Dota... it was the next question and answer that perked Carrot's attention.

 

"And, um..."

 

"Yes?"

 

"Have you ever, um... seen... her?"

 

"Her?"

 

"Well, don't they always say something about a Dance Goddess? Some kind of blessing sort of thing..."

 

"Ahaha~n, that's a secret!"

 

"Ouuu... Milpheyyy, can't you at least tell me?"

 

Milphey laughed, "Well... I suppose it's not that much of a secret. But yes, sometimes... it's not so much that she's a Dance Goddess, more a spirit of the season... on occasion, yes, the Autumn Goddess does sometimes turn up and give her own blessing. Rarely, but sometimes."

 

"Waa... she does exist, then..."

 

"Oh, come on, Dota-chan! Working in our line of experience and you'd doubt something like that? Some spirits just like to naturally show off a little, it seems like she's one of them. Don't really blame her."

 

"OH WOW IS THAT TRUE?!"

 

Carrot shot forward before Marron could stop him; he held his hands out uselessly for a moment before resigning himself with a sigh and following after Carrot, who had shot off to where Milphey and Dota were standing. Both Milphey and Dota looked up with slight surprise, obviously they hadn't noticed the Glacé brothers standing there... or, at least, Dota hadn't. Milphey smiled, "Ah, so you decided to stop eavesdropping at last, Carrot-chan?"

 

"Uh?"

 

"Anybody would have noticed you standing there. You too, Marron-chan. Come on out, it's not scary! Anyway... yes, Carrot-chan, it is true. Hasn't Carrot-chan seen enough things to believe that sort of thing too?"

 

"Well... yeah... but... wow, a goddess at the dance competition? A real actual goddess? One that isn't Big Mama?"

 

It seemed that memory was still prickling at Carrot's memory. Milphey laughed, "Yes, a real actual goddess that isn't Big Mama. Of course, the chances of her actually showing up are rather slim... in the last ten I've been to she's probably only shown up once or twice, but... well, you never know, we might be lucky. Carrot-chan, Marron-chan! Don't you think that Dota-chan and Sirius-chan should enter the dance competition? I'm sure they'd be absolutely absolutely excellent, but they both seem rather shy about it..."

 

Marron smiled his support, "I'm sure if you put your heart into it, you'll do wonderfully."

 

Dota giggled, "Thank you, Marron! Though I don't know what it would take to persuade Sirius..."

 

"If it was you, he'd probably agree to anything."

 

"Well, maybe..."

 

Carrot interjected, "IF SIRIUS WON'T GO WITH YOU THEN I WILL!!!"

 

For a moment, he could see it clearly in his mind; he and Dota on the empty lit dance stage... he would be wearing a tuxedo, Dota would be wearing a very elaborate and pretty dress... she'd also have her hair down... they would be dancing, the crowd would be hushed in awe and wonder. The music would support them, would compliment their perfect movements... the music would swell in a magnificent sort of way and Carrot would lift Dota for a twirl, her wings would keep her aloft... the audience would be amazed, cheering and applauding... they'd win, of course. A trip to the Kaesis fireworks in winter with Dota-chan, that wasn't a bad idea at all...! Dota was so cute and adorable and if they really pushed out with the hair and dress and such, then no doubt she'd look absolutely stunning... and she'd be so happy to have won the competition with him, she'd look up at him, 'Oh Carrot' she'd say, 'I'm so glad I decided to enter the dance competition with you... I wouldn't have been able to do it with anybody else...' and with a gruff, masculine, supportive sort of voice, Carrot would reply: 'I only did it for you, Dota-chan... such a beautiful woman such as yourself should deserve a much better partner...'

 

'Oh no, Carrot...! Not at all! I'm so glad we were able to do this and I'm so glad we were able to do it together! My main happiness is because it was with you! It... it was only because of you that we were able to win... that I was able to win...'

 

'Dota... could it be...?'

 

'I couldn't be confident before, but because it was you... because it was with you, I... I was confident... I felt that I could win, because it was with you...'

 

'Dota...'

 

'Carrot...'

 

The crowd would still be applauding and cheering their victory, lights would shine and be reflected in each other's eyes... they'd look at each other, really look at each other... Dota would have a certain kind of expression, that kind of wanting, that kind of needing... naturally, they'd kiss, and this would only inflame the audience further...

 

Then of course, sex would follow straight afterwards. Of course.

 

"I... I don't think that would make Sirius very happy..."

 

Dota spoke kindly and with a smile, but that was undeniably her indirect putdown. Carrot let the daydream occupy his thoughts for a few moments longer before Dota's real-life counterpart snapped him out of it, he sighed.

 

"But if he doesn't want to take you to the dance competition then there's no choice but to go with me!"

 

"Ahaha, if he doesn't want to go then I don't mind not going... or at least, if I wasn't actually taking part, then I could just watch, I don't mind that!"

 

"But the people out there have to see how beautiful you are!"

 

"Carrot, you're embarrassing!"

 

That said, Dota didn't really sound too embarrassed. Marron folded his arms, his hands tucking into his robesleeves... he watched Carrot's blatant pandering with a thin-lipped glare. Of course, it seemed that Carrot couldn't really help it... he'd been flirting with Dota for as long as anybody could remember, but while Dota certainly had never seemed to mind, she didn't really seem to take him seriously, either... Carrot didn't seem to mind that, though. He'd flirt with her, she'd giggle and blush... of course, now that Sirius around she was certainly out of bounds, Dota always made sure to remind people of that (as if anybody would have forgotten), but that didn't seem to stop Carrot trying. Marron wasn't really sure what it was exactly about the scene that was uncomfortable - both Dota and Carrot quite clearly knew their grounds - but even so... Carrot just flirted so easily like that...! Carrot would want to take Dota to the Kaesis fireworks? Well, why not? If it was all in fun... and what else could be classified as 'fun'...

 

Milphey seemed to notice Marron's mental turmoil, stepping forward and putting his hands on Marron's shoulders.

 

"If Carrot-chan wanted to go with Dota-chan, maybe Marron-chan and I could step in as the competition! Oh my, we could be rivals."

 

Carrot raised an eyebrow, "Jeesh... if you did that that'd be far too much pretty... besides, that wouldn't be fair, you're far too good a dancer!"

 

Both Milphey and Marron seemed to pick up on Carrot's words at about the same time. Milphey smirked with a 'hehe~n', Marron's expression switched from looking vaguely troubled to looking vaguely confused - he and Milphey at the dance competition would be 'too much pretty'...?

 

What kind of point of view suggested that...? It seemed that Milphey had wondered the same thing...

 

"Oh, and who's to say that dear Dota-chan isn't good at dancing? Though, really... ahaha, Marron-chan and I would be just too gorgeous to compete against? Well," Milphey wrapped one arm around Marron's front while stroking his cheek with the back of his hand, "I wouldn't deny that Marron-chan is certainly pretty. Carrot-chan would agree?"

 

"What else am I gonna say?! It's not like he's buff or macho or anything, how would you describe him?!"

 

Marron had a slight feeling that Carrot's use of the word 'pretty' wasn't specifically a compliment.

 

"Oh well, I'd always just say that Marron-chan was gorgeous... slender... lithe... delicate... mysterious... fantabulous..."

 

"That's not even a word!"

 

"Isn't Marron-chan gorgeous enough to have words made up about him? If I say he's fantabulous, then he's fantabulous! Fantabulous Marron-chan."

 

It seemed as if the conversation had taken to describing Marron as if he wasn't actually in the room. Feeling a slight sense of irritation at this, Marron abruptly pulled away from Milphey's hold and turned to face him, speaking of one of the things he knew would provoke a response from Carrot.

 

"So, if you already know of this dance competition... if Dota and Sirius do also... do you think that perhaps Tira and Chocolat would find such a thing promising?"

 

Milphey looked thoughtful, "Perhaps, though I didn't think to mention it to them... I've been trying to convince Dota-chan and that shy boyfriend of hers for a while now, but... well, I thought that maybe it'd be a little dangerous to suggest something like that to them - naturally Chocolat-chan would want to take you, wouldn't she Carrot-chan?"

 

Carrot's eye twitched, "I'm glad you haven't told them yet... right from when I first heard about it, I was hoping that they wouldn'ta heard... 'cause... egh..."

 

"That's not to say that they couldn't find out on their own, though! Around this time, I'm sure competition flyers are going up all over the city! I know it's getting colder and the weather makes it nicer to stay inside than go outside, but such a thing would be advertised rather fiercely... well, I'm sure they'll hear about it eventually. Perhaps it would be better if they found out from our mouths, before a plot to ensnare Carrot-chan could be worked out..."

 

Both Glacé brothers failed to see the advantage in this. Surely the Misu sisters knowing at any point would cause a plot to be given inspiration? Carrot folded his arms with a resolute expression, "I'm not going if it means having to go with either of those two! Maybe I should go like Dota said, and just watch. Even if I can't win, I'm sure a lot of pretty girls would be watching... hmmn... but then I wouldn't be able to win the prize... what a dilemma..."

 

"My my, Carrot-chan is very confident about his definite victory...!"

 

Realising the point of Milphey's words, Marron's expression softened. He smiled slightly, "Nii-san... saying things like that when you yourself said you hadn't danced before..."

 

"Yeah, well! I said that and I said that you don't know until you try and isn't that right? I bet I could be a really good dancer if I tried! I mean, I'd have to find out how to dance... but if I can get Potato to get the wonderful Salad-san to teach me, then the path to victory will be clear!"

 

Milphey put on an expression of exaggerated sulkiness, "And saying things like that when there's a very adept and practiced dancer right in front of you..."

 

"But if I get lessons from Salad-san then maybe I can go with her to the competition and win and go and see the fireworks with her!"

 

"Ah, Carrot-chan, Carrot-chan... sad though it is to admit, mere enthusiasm on its own won't get you everywhere in life. There might be hundreds of participants, it all comes down to the public vote...!"

 

"You can't dampen my spirits, Milphey! I am going to take somebody to the dance competition and I am going to win! There's still time to find somebody and there's still time to practice... so I'm not going to waste any more time! HERE I GO--!"

With that, Carrot sped off back in the direction that he and Marron had already come from previously - obviously he meant his words, leaving the other three standing (or at least in Dota's case floating) there, blinking their confusion. Dota laughed to fill the silence, "I wonder where he's gone...?"

 

Marron's voice was dry, "To try and find Salad-san, no doubt."

"Aah... I suppose... well, I'm going to go and see if I can find Sirius and persuade him some more about this competition! I think it'd be really fun, and... well, it'd be fun! Bye-bii, you two!"

 

Dota waved happily and flitted off up the bedroom staircase.

 

Marron and Milphey stood in silence for a few moments, Marron still staring towards the open door (that Carrot hadn't closed in his rush); the path to Facade was visible, but Carrot was obviously already gone. Maybe he'd find Salad? Marron didn't know what the chances of that were, let alone the chances of her agreeing to teach him... he wasn't entirely sure what Milphey had meant by his earlier comment, either. When it came to the context of the dance competition, wouldn't it be the worst thing for the Misu sisters to know...? Chocolat seemed to be the expert at coming up with strange plots involving her darling. Tira also had an uncanny knack at ending up somehow alone, together with and/or kissing Carrot somehow... Marron could think of too many times in the past when those kinds of things had happened to be comfortable with the situation.

 

Then of course, the unlikely but possible scenario where Carrot and the Misu sister who'd dragged him into doing whatever it is they'd dragged him into doing won...

 

Watching the fireworks in Kaesis with Carrot... both of them would love that, wouldn't they? Marron faintly recalled Gateau's behaviour when they were last there, talking about how you could probably so obviously see couples at it in the mixed bath. Chocolat would probably grab her chance, wouldn't she? Amongst other things. Such a romantic atmosphere, Carrot might even get a bit carried away with Tira, might he not...?

 

"Marron-chan, Marron-chan! If you stand there bristling for much longer you'll turn into a brush!"

 

"Ha-... ah?"

 

"For somebody who tries to make himself so closed to others, Marron-chan is being rather easy to read at the moment. I don't think we can stop Carrot being enthusiastic, no matter who he wants to go with... but, I wouldn't worry too much. Even if he was to get into the competition... well, do you think he'd win?"

 

This was true, but of little comfort.

 

"It's not really on principle of him winning... I just can't help but wonder what the Misu sisters would do to him in the meantime in the attempt to woo him into being their partner..."

 

"Ah yes, well, that would be a problem, admittedly... though, do you really think that Carrot would bow to their attentions? He's only been putting up with them for years now, what's changed all of a sudden...? I wouldn't worry about it."

 

It was undeniable that any problem became just a little easier to face once the problem was shared, once you had somebody to share it with. Marron had felt this himself once Milphey had gained knowledge of his feelings for Carrot - especially with Milphey's manner and attitude, knowing such things and not really caring... so Marron-chan had feelings for his brother? Oh well. That sort of attitude had amazed Marron slightly, but... he couldn't say that it hadn't helped, as much as such a situation could have been... of course, he wondered on occasion, perhaps it would have been better for somebody to find out who decried the whole thing as perverted... made Marron feel as bad as he felt himself sometimes... but that was a conflict for another time. Whether he was truly unforgivable or not wasn't really the issue, more that the feelings truly couldn't be helped... and Milphey knew, he could talk about such things with him. Milphey had even come up with his share of plans to help them get together, or some semblance of... no doubt about it, Milphey was a useful ally.

 

So how did Tira see Marron, now that he knew her secret? Since that mission in Neris they hadn't really spoken outside of their normal boundaries... perhaps Tira didn't see Marron as somebody she could talk to or maybe she was just dealing with things herself, Marron wasn't sure and couldn't really know... he didn't want to ask. If she did feel that she was unable to talk to him then that was perhaps better than the alternative - somebody knowing was different to having somebody you could talk to...

 

It still had to be wondered exactly how much courage that night had leant to Tira, though... Milphey wanted to know what had changed? It was hard to say. Maybe nothing had changed. Maybe everything had changed. Marron wasn't entirely sure.

 

It felt almost inevitable, looking at Milphey's easygoing expression, that he'd find out about Tira's feelings eventually. Whether Tira would tell him or whether Marron himself would say, he didn't know... he felt he should make the effort to keep Tira's secret a secret, though. Was there really any reason for Milphey to know? Of course, if Milphey knew all the background information, this meant he could sympathise with Marron on a closer level, really understand just what it was that was a problem at that moment in time...

 

Specifically what loyalty did Milphey hold, though? Marron, again, wasn't sure. Milphey kept all of his secrets, that was a given, but... if he knew Tira's secrets also, might he not wish to work for her best interests also...? Could two interests even be balanced like that? Marron felt, not for the first time, that he just didn't understand how Milphey worked. Milphey still smiled at him. He sighed.

 

"... I can't help it."

 

"Marron-chan worries about a lot of things... come on, let's go and do something relaxing. I've just been practicing for... my, it must be more than an hour now! I could do with a sit down and a cup of tea. Would Marron-chan like to join me?"

 

Milphey had already taken a step towards the doorway that would lead them towards the kitchens and the sitting rooms. Marron eyed Milphey carefully for a moment, as if he wasn't sure of Milphey's motives... but really, he thought, that was all too plain. Before anything else, Milphey would want him calmer and more relaxed, wouldn't he...? Even if he couldn't do anything about the situation he could at least try to make the situation less of a threat... supposing that Milphey was only trying to help, Marron accepted.

 

****

 

So it turned out that the Verlena Dancing Competition took place at the end of the month; that meant that, from when Carrot found out about it, anybody wishing to take part had about four weeks in which to practice. This meant that, from when Chocolat found out about it, anybody wishing to take part had about three and a half weeks in which to practice. Marron wasn't sure if any practice had taken place within the few days of calm before the storm, but once Chocolat discovered the existence of the competition, it naturally meant that everybody else in Eden knew also.

 

Marron wasn't sure if Carrot had been able to locate Salad Chips; from his general silence on the subject, Marron came to the conclusion that he hadn't. Perhaps the excitement of it all had worn off slightly? No matter what his feelings towards the competition, no doubt Chocolat would certainly wear him down towards it in the end. This was a little comfort; if Carrot was annoyed at the mere idea of the whole competition, then this meant he'd be less likely to want to play to win, less likely to be on the constant lookout for pretty ladies... in theory. In practice, Carrot would probably be on the lookout for pretty ladies no matter what the situation, but... it was nice to dream, in any case.

 

Predictably enough, on finding out about the competition, Chocolat had practically squealed her way around Eden proclaiming about how she and her darling would be the best couple there and quite naturally would win the first prize and be off to watch the fireworks where they'd end up having sex and Chocolat seemed quite determined for everybody to listen to rather graphic descriptions of her daydreams at least twice; this annoyed Tira as much as it annoyed Marron, it seemed. Marron noticed Tira trying to catch his eye for a shared look of exasperation whenever they were in the same vicinity as Chocolat, but tended to avoid this when he could.

 

As for Carrot, the attraction of the competition did seem to wear away rather rapidly once the Misu sisters were aware of it. He spent most of his time storming around Eden after Chocolat, yelling about how he couldn't dance and wouldn't want to be involved in it even if he could dance, which rather made a change to how he'd been speaking previously, but still. There didn't seem to be any way to escape it; would Chocolat really be making her claims right until the end of the month? Three and a half weeks had never seemed a longer prospect to Marron. Even the others seemed to be getting fed up of it a day or two later - Tira usually followed after Chocolat and Carrot, shrilly yelling her own yielded protests on the event. Gateau would usually roll his eyes and make some sort of comment on how he was going to go and find someplace quieter to practice his poses, Eclair usually followed off after him. Marron himself usually just wandered wherever he could... it was hard to concentrate on anything without the concentration being broken suddenly by either Carrot or one of the Misu sisters screaming about something or another. It really seemed a big deal all of a sudden... Milphey seemed to be the only one who found it amusing at all.

 

He and Marron tended to retire to the front rooms for cups of tea quite often; Marron didn't have anything else to do and Milphey was keen enough to spirit him off for his own company... they usually complained and talked about the same things repeatedly, but Milphey at least didn't seem to mind.

 

Marron set his cup down on the table in front of him to cool down, sighing slightly.

 

"I wondered if they would have tired themselves out after all the screaming they managed yesterday... Chocolat even came into our bedroom this morning before niisan was awake, making her claims on him for the dance competition. I was already awake, but he wasn't... I'm sure being woken up in that sort of fashion isn't one that would endear her to him any. I feel sorry for him..."

 

Milphey only chuckled into his cup, taking a sip and then setting his down across the table from Marron's own.

 

"Oh, it's nice to see everybody so energetic, though! I doubt anybody'll actually get down to actual dance practice. Even I haven't managed to recently, it's terrible really... well, it's not as if I have a partner this year, I don't really mind. It's just as much fun watching as it is taking part, some of those dancers really are spectacular!"

 

"It'd be a shame for you not to take part, though... out of all of us, you've probably got the most experience..."

 

"Isn't that the point? I've taken part in - and watched - quite a few of these competitions. I can wait until next year if I don't get to see this year's competition. It's no loss to me."

 

The sound of Tira shouting somewhere else in the building was faintly audible.

 

"My, and Tira-chan seems quite angry these days... well, maybe it's an unfortunate time of month for her, who knows. She often gets rather angry..."

 

"... Mmn..."

 

"Well, we only have just over another three weeks or so to go, then we can put this aaall out of mind until next year!"

 

Marron leant his head on one hand, pressing his forehead against his fingers.

 

"I'm... not entirely sure that I can put up with this for another three weeks, Milphey."

 

"I wonder if they can? I'm sure they'll tire themselves out eventually."

 

"Would you really believe that of Chocolat?"

 

"... Marron-chan has a point. Well, three weeks isn't really that long, when you think about it. I mean, twenty-one days? That's only five hundred and four hours, and when you think that they've got to sleep for at least some of that time, why, it's not a long time at all!"

 

Despite the gentle tone in Milphey's voice, five hundred and four hours seemed like a terribly long time for Marron. Three weeks. How long would it really take for Chocolat to wind herself down? Was there any risk of Tira saying anything that could be dangerous...? Not that Carrot really seemed in the mood for accepting any kind of offer or proposition from the Misu sisters at this moment in time, but... well. Marron wasn't in the mood for risking things, either. Was there ever anything that could really be done, though?

 

Milphey's expression seemed sympathetic, "Marron-chan doesn't look placated by that."

 

"Three weeks is still a long time..."

 

"Well, that depends on how you look at it... but yes, it can be. Chocolat-chan is always Chocolat-chan though... perhaps her bark is worse than her bite but her bark can be rather loud when she wants it to be. Still, what can we do about it? She's determined to take Carrot-chan to the dance competition, Carrot-chan is determined to dodge her advances. It's the usual sort of thing..."

 

"You're normally the one who comes up with solutions, Milphey."

 

A raised eyebrow, "I am? Gosh, might Marron-chan be relying on me to do something...?"

 

He sounded genuinely surprised at this; Marron faltered, blushing slightly and glancing to the side, "Well, not relying... it's as you say, what can we do about it... but if there was perhaps something we could do about it, well... perhaps if we could come up with some way of quietening them down just a fraction... perhaps there's something we could do...?"

 

"I'm sadly not magic, I can't wave a wand and make it happen. I can, however, see what I can do..."

 

Picking up his cup of tea, Milphey didn't finish his sentence. He had a rather sneaky tone to his voice, and Marron had a feeling that Milphey was already thinking of ways to quieten the others down even at that moment... that thought calmed him slightly. Milphey had a quick mind, if anybody could be trusted to think of something, Milphey was that person. Marron himself wasn't really quite sure what would bring silence back to Eden's halls, but... that was precisely why he was asking Milphey, really.

 

Two days of shouting and argument continued on before Milphey called the five Sorcerer Hunters down to the great hall for a meeting. A meeting of or for what, nobody was quite sure - Marron had a suspicion, though. Perhaps he was going to tell the Misu sisters and Carrot how much of a disturbance they were being to the other residents of Eden? Perhaps he'd tell them that the dance competition was cancelled...? Marron hadn't spoken to Milphey on the subject since that first mention of it, so as he accompanied Carrot downstairs for Milphey's meeting, he was as in the dark as the grumbling Carrot was.

 

"Hmph, managed to get a few minutes to myself and then suddenly Milphey wants to see us all... jeez... I feel like I haven't had any rest at all these last few days. She's been yelling at me, whispering at me, getting all physical at me... I wish we'd never found out about that damned dance competition. If I never hear anything about it ever again, it'll be too soon..."

 

As it was, the meeting itself was about the dance competition, but it would at least hold some surprise for the residents of Eden.

 

Once everybody was gathered in the great hall, Milphey stood in front of them; he was smiling brightly, and by his feet was, what seemed to be, a vase that would have held flowers had it not been empty. Carrot tried to peer into the vase as he walked past it, but couldn't really see anything.

 

"Good morning, Carrot-chan! Ah, and Marron-chan too. That's good, we've got everybody here it seems...! Tira-chan, Chocolat-chan, Gateau-chan, Marron-chan, Carrot-chan... and me. Yes, that's everybody that I wanted to see! Now... perhaps you guessed, but I wanted to just have a word with you five about this dance competition that's coming up in Verlena in, ooh, three weeks or so."

 

Chocolat waved out one hand, "I'm going with darrr~ling!"

 

The speed at which venomous stares were aimed in her direction from Carrot, Tira and Marron was enough alone to cause Milphey to chuckle. He paced back and forth, his arms folded.

 

"Well, that was what I wanted to talk to you about, roughly. You see... as I was saying to some of you the other day, I've been to quite a few of these dance competitions in my time... they're always a lot of fun, you can guarantee you'll see a lot of interesting people, elaborate dresses, things like that... it is genuinely a nice event to be at. And Chocolat-chan, you seem rather determined to take Carrot-chan along with you, don't you...?"

 

"Of course!"

 

"Well then. We've all inevitably heard about your designs on dearest Carrot-chan, but I couldn't help but think... maybe it would be fun to see us all take place in the competition! A little friendly rivalry never hurt. I haven't taken place in the competition for quite some time now, it would be nice to have a partner once again... so, that's why I brought you here today. You see, you can't really prepare yourself for a competition without practice, can you? I'd be happy enough to teach everybody else, I'm sure we'll create a stir!"

 

Gateau raised his eyebrow, "So we're all gonna be pairing up for this?"

 

"Yes, Gateau-chan!"

 

He spoke with a definite glare in Marron's direction, "Might that not be a bit... awkward?"

 

"Ohoho, well. In my capacity as one who knows a few things about this particular pastime, I'd like to think that I knew a bit about what makes a good dancing partnership - I've been watching enough of these to know what kind of pairings the audiences like to see, the types that always seem to come out on top. As we're playing, wouldn't we like to play to win? Hmn, Carrot-chan?"

 

"Uh? Uh... uh, yea... I guess..."

 

"SO!"

 

Milphey picked up the vase.

 

"There's six of us here. I wrote our names on paper and put them in this vase - it seems that Chocolat-chan's been very determined about getting Carrot-chan to dance with her, but... well, it seems he's been rather reluctant, doesn't it? So, to give us all a fair shot at this... of course, there's only one Carrot-chan, but I'm sure we'll work something out. Rather than something that annoys all of us, I'd rather this became something that was fun for us all! Don't you agree?"

 

There was mumbled agreement from the others, this seemed good enough for Milphey. He smiled brightly while sticking his hand inside the vase, "Well then! Let's begin. Let's see here... rustle rustle rustle, who might the first pair be? Holding one piece of paper, two pieces of paper... here! Chocolat-chan, would you like to read them out for me?"

 

Producing two slips of paper from the vase, Milphey handed them to Chocolat. She turned them so that she could read the names on them, "Ah... Gateau on this one, and Tira on this one..."

 

Milphey looked as if he wanted to clap his hands together, but the vase in his hands prevented him this. Instead, he clenched his free hand and smiled widely, "Gateau-chan and Tira-chan! Such a strapping, masculine fellow with our dear delicate little Tira-chan here. I think the audience would like such a display of the differences between the sexes, don't you think...? Gateau-chan, Tira-chan, do you mind maybe dancing together?"

 

Tira looked as if she didn't know how to voice her protests; her and Gateau? Not that she minded dancing with Gateau, but... that left three others for Carrot to potentially end up with. If he ended up with Chocolat, her sister... that would only have proved her claims right and likely she wouldn't shut up about it ever... if he ended up with Marron, wouldn't that only be yet another thing Marron was able to do that she wasn't?... And Milphey... it was no secret that Milphey rather liked Carrot, was it? What designs might he have on Carrot...? Tira had a nasty feeling that, perhaps, Milphey might have fixed the papers or something so that he got Carrot instead. Would Milphey do something like that? She wasn't sure. She realised he was waiting for an answer from her... she didn't want to insult Gateau, she flustered.

 

"Ah, ah, n-no, I don't mind, I don't mind! Gateau-chan... does Gateau-chan mind...?"

 

Saved from what could have been another awkward situation with Marron, Gateau stepped over to where Tira was standing, smiling his relaxation while hiding his relief behind a smooth tone of voice.

 

"Why would I mind being able to dance with a beautiful person, huh...?"

 

Tira blushed and Marron rolled his eyes. He really would go for anything, wouldn't he... Milphey stuck his hand in the vase again, "The second pairing! Gosh, isn't this tense? Let's see... one piece of paper, two pieces of paper... here! Marron-chan, would you like to read these out?"

 

"Ah? Ah, alright."

 

He was handed the second pair of slips, wondering where this was going. How would such a thing have the potential to silence Chocolat's constant cries? Personally, he wasn't too sure about the whole situation. Milphey had said that it'd be fun for them all to take part in the competition, but... thinking about it as he turned the slips of paper over, him in a dance competition...? In a competition, in front of so many people...? He didn't think himself confident enough in his dancing skills for such a thing... surely Milphey realised this, realised that it wouldn't be his sort of thing, what exactly was he thinking with such an idea!?

 

As Marron glanced at the two names on the pieces of paper, his mind made a mental connection to the two names left over, and... suddenly he had a slight inkling, alongside the sudden turns his lower stomach seemed to be making, at what Milphey might have been thinking.

 

"Ah, these two... Chocolat, you seem to be paired with Milphey..."

 

"WHAT?! But I-... I-... I was going to dance with darling! Noooo, that can't be... let's see those--... can't we have another go!?"

 

"Chocolat-chaaan, aren't you pleased at the prospect of being able to dance with me...? It's all in fun, isn't it? I thought that putting our names into a vase would be a nice impartial way to sort out who danced with who. We're all friends here, aren't we? Surely it doesn't matter who dances with who, it'll be fun all the same!"

 

"Saying 'friends' like that... it's different when it's darling and me! The audience would be so impressed by our obvious sexual chemistry that they wouldn't be able to help but vote for us! And that means that darling's going to be dancing with Marron... isn't that... a little weird?"

 

Milphey placed the vase down on the floor then folded his arms again, "How do you mean?"

 

"Well... I mean... darling and Marron..."

 

"Come now come now, with six of us here, four of us male and two of us female, it was inevitable that there'd be at least one pair like this! Even more if Chocolat-chan and Tira-chan had somehow ended up together. I don't know, nobody seems to mind a same-sex pairing as long as they can dance well... some of the most famous dancers are brothers or sisters or brother and sister! There's only as much problem with it as you have with it..."

 

Chocolat looked slightly abashed but still muttered, "I'd still rather dance with darling, no matter how good a dancer Milphey is..."

 

Whether he'd heard this or not, Milphey gave no indication. He merely clapped his hands together, "Right then! Now that's decided... I have some urgent business to attend to. I shouldn't be longer than a day or two, so wait for me, alright? I want to have fun teaching everybody to dance. We've got a lot to fit in a short amount of time, so rest up in the meantime, okay? Anyway-... oh gosh, look at the time. I've got a horse waiting for me down in the city. See you guys in a bit, okay? Byee!"

 

With that abrupt finish, Milphey dashed out of the great hall, leaving everybody else to stare at his sudden departure. There was a momentary silence, then Chocolat's sigh.

 

"He's so enthusiastic about it all... I guess it'll be good if he's teaching us, though..."

 

Marron nodded, "Niisan and I were watching him a few days ago. He's a wonderful dancer."

 

"Well, I suppose I have a chance... hmn, maybe if Milphey and I do win, maybe I can drag darling along to Kaesis..."

 

A growl from Carrot's direction, "Don't talk about me as if I'm not even in the room!"

 

"Darrr-ling, wouldn't you want to go to Kaesis with me...?"

 

"I've already said! I'm gonna find a pretty girl and I'm gonna take her to Kaesis!"

 

"Darliiiiing, you're so mean! There's a pretty girl standing right in front of you, see? See? I can be pretty! Don't you think I'm pretty? What about me isn't pretty, huh? Be very careful what you say, darling."

 

Before Carrot could say just what it was about Chocolat he agreed was pretty or thought wasn't pretty, Tira had Chocolat grabbed by the wrist and was already dragging her away towards the bedroom staircase, muttering something about Chocolat being shameless. Chocolat didn't try to get away from Tira, and as they ascended the staircase, Chocolat's voice was audible, "At least you get to dance with Gateau...!"

 

Taking this as his own sort of cue, Gateau walked back towards the staircase. He turned around for a moment, leaning back against one of the hall's supporting pillars.

 

"Well, coulda been worse I suppose. Should be pretty fun dancing with Tira."

 

Carrot scoffed, "Rather you than me!"

 

Gateau had an indescribable look on his face as he glanced from Carrot to Marron and back again. He pushed himself away from the pillar and made to walk up the staircase, "I could say the same thing to you, Carrot."

 

The sound of Gateau walking up the stairs, reaching the top, walking along the corridor... this left the Glacé brothers alone. Carrot folded his arms and rocked on his heels, "He's still got something against you, huh! Well... I guess until we can do something about it, I'm stuck with you?"

 

The tone was good-natured, but Marron couldn't think of much to say to that.

 

"... Indeed."

 

"Still, s'better than having Chocolat pawing all over me. Even if she does come up with something else, I'm sure Milphey'd try to do something about it. He said earlier he was gonna do something to get me not dancing with Chocolat, 'cause he could see how much it was pissing me off... heh, Milphey's a good guy."

 

Still slightly curious about Milphey's motives, Marron bent down for a moment to pick up the vase. He glanced at the two pieces of paper he was still holding, the pieces with Chocolat and Milphey's names on. He looked at those, then reached inside for the last two pieces of paper. He brought them out, looking at them also. As expected, 'Marron-chan' and 'Carrot-chan' were written on each in Milphey's neat and flowing handwriting... he ran his finger along one side of Carrot's piece of paper. It seemed as if his and Carrot's pieces had been ripped from the middle of a sheet of paper... four ripped sides... Chocolat's and Milphey's had at least two straight sides...

 

Carrot whapped Marron gently on the arm, "Whatcha lookin' at? It's only got our names on it. I'm gonna go back up to bed, I think... Chocolat woke me up pretty early with all her yelling... hmnf, I wonder what it'll be like, the dancing with Milphey thing? Might be a bit interesting. Never know, maybe knowing how to dance'll come in useful in the future..."

 

"Mmmn..."

 

Simple, but effective.

 

Keeping to his promise, Milphey returned to Eden two days later. On his return, he called everybody back for another meeting; it seemed that he'd been to Verlena and back, having registered everybody for the dance competition while he was there. This sealed it, and they were all entered... apparently they could withdraw on the day of the competition if they really wanted to, if they really didn't feel up to dancing or if they'd broken a limb or so, but unless there were special circumstances they were, basically, in for the long haul.

 

So the organizer knew Milphey well and knew him well enough for any thoughts of switching Carrot for Milphey to seem useless to Chocolat's mind. The five Sorcerer Hunters had gathered around one of the larger tables in the second kitchen area; it was lunchtime, and everybody had sandwiches. Nobody seemed too keen on actually eating them, though; for the time being, Chocolat was quite intent on making her feelings known.

 

"... I can't believe he did something like this all of a sudden! I mean, jeez! It's not that I don't like him or anything, he's a great guy, but why did he have to do something like this all of a sudden..."

 

Gateau leant one hand on his curled fist, "You're only angry 'cause you don't get to dance with Carrot."

 

"Of course I am! Darling and I are destined to be together!"

 

Carrot growled across the table, "Haven't I already said to not talk about me like I'm not here!? I mean, jeez, how do you think I feel!? I could have got a pretty lady to dance with, I was so going to go ask Salad-san but no, Milphey has to fix it so I'm dancing with this one here!" Carrot punctuated his speech with a pointed finger in Marron's direction. Marron looked up, looked uncomfortable, stared back at his sandwich.

 

"Don't notice a good opportunity when you've got one, do you Carrot?"

 

Both Carrot and Marron shot glances at Gateau, Carrot was the one to vocalize his annoyed confusion.

 

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

 

"Oh, come on. You can't say you've not noticed how gorgeous that brother of yours is, can you? Him and Milphey... I bet the voters will love it. And I mean, come on, this is Milphey - this isn't going to end here, you know that, right?"

 

Chocolat sounded wary, "How do you mean?"

 

"Do you think Milphey ever misses a chance to dress up?"

 

There was a momentary silence as this thought dropped like a leaden weight across the table. This was true. Milphey would likely enjoy the chance to look pretty, and since he'd already had the audacity to enter everybody else into the competition, there was every chance that he'd probably leap on the opportunity to make everybody else look pretty too...

 

Tira tried to break the silence, "We-well, Dota-chan and Sirius... aren't they entering as well? I'm sure they'll be very popular... I'm sure Milphey will make sure that Dota-chan looks wonderful and Sirius, well, he can be very imposing just from standing there, even though we know that isn't what he's really like..."

 

Carrot took a lengthy swig of his drink, whacking the cup back down on the table with enough force to cause some of the liquid to spill over the edges.

 

"I wanted to dance with a girl."

 

"And I wanted you to dance with a girl too, darling! Me!"

 

"Why did he have to decide this all of a sudden!? I mean, even if I couldn't have got Salad-san, I could have at least got to dance with Eclair-chan!"

 

"Hey, you leave my sister out of this!"

 

"Yeah well, I'd rather dance with her than with-"

 

The silence that had fallen across the table seemed horribly thick as everybody waited on Carrot to end his sentence. Marron had looked up at this, looking at Carrot (who sat directly opposite him) with such a sudden look that Carrot couldn't help but feel guilty... why did everybody have to go silent right at that moment, anyway?! Didn't they understand how he felt? It was a big dance competition with lots of flashy prizes, who on earth went to one of those sorts of things with their own brother?! Everybody seemed to be staring at him all of a sudden. Carrot picked up his fork and prodded at his sandwich, glancing down at the dark wood of the tabletop.

 

"... than... than with another guy... I mean, c'mon... it's a big dance competition, isn't that a bit weird...? Don't you think...?"

 

Gateau sounded amused, "Hmph, just don't tell anybody that Marron's a guy, I'm sure the average person in the audience wouldn't be able to tell the difference."

 

At that, Marron decided to take his leave of the table, turning his head and walking back towards the outer corridor. Everybody else watched him go with a sort of stunned and curious silence, obviously confused. Tira glanced at his plate, "He didn't even eat his sandwich..."

 

Carrot growled again, "You had to piss him off, didn't you Gateau?"

 

"What?! It's my fault!?"

 

"You said he looked like a girl!"

 

"I didn't mean it like that!"

 

"Well, you go tell him that, then!"

 

A brief look towards Tira and Chocolat only confirmed that they thought that he should also; Chocolat was nodding her head slightly. Gateau's expression fell, "It's not my fault he's so damned sensitive...! Can't he take a joke?"

 

"And you'd know all about that, wouldn't you?"

 

"What the hell's that supposed to mean!? Besides, if anybody should be apologizing to Marron it should be you, you're the one who came right out and said you didn't want to dance with him!"

 

"Yeah well, you know what he's like! It's gonna be weird, isn't it?!"

 

Chocolat's voice was gentle, "Gateau, maybe you should go apologize to him... or at least see what's up with him...? I'm sure darling here wouldn't be able to say anything tactful..."

 

You couldn't really argue with that. Gateau sighed heavily and pushed his chair out from under the table, getting up and walking the same route that Marron had left by.

 

Walking out of the kitchen, the first thing that Gateau noticed, other than that Marron wasn't immediately in that outside corridor, was that it was raining outside. Perhaps the kitchens had been too sheltered to really pick up such a thing, but being in that corridor with those windows, one could see to the gardens outside. At least, one would usually be able to see to the gardens outside - at the moment, the windows were obscured by steadily running water too much to show the view. Perhaps a window was open somewhere; there was a chill in the corridor, and the sound of the rain sounded too fresh somehow - the sound of it hitting against the window was loud enough, but somewhere outside was the sound of it hitting against the gravel path outside, the whisper of it against the grass... Gateau stood there for a moment, taking in the view before setting off to find Marron.

 

How annoying. Having to go and make sure that Marron was alright... having to go and possibly apologise to him... such thoughts only made Gateau more bad-tempered as he thought about them. Apologising? It wasn't as if Marron ever expressed such sentiments. Getting Marron to apologise for some of the things he'd said was like trying to get blood out of a stone, yet Gateau was expected to trail after him for the smallest verbal trip-up?... It wasn't as if he could have argued with the faces of those sitting around the table, at least not the Misu sisters... Chocolat, especially, was a hard person for Gateau to deny. She had been right, of course; even if it had been Carrot's fault, even if Carrot realised it as his fault, then the chances of him going off after Marron and being able to say something tactful... those chances were rather low. The Glacé brothers were a law unto themselves, weren't they? Carrot wouldn't be able to broach the subject and Marron wouldn't want to risk it, Gateau knew the two of them well enough to think he could predict such things.

 

Who on earth thought that he was a better choice, though?

 

Other than Carrot.

 

Gateau pulled his jacket about him self-consciously as he walked through the outer corridor of the kitchens. That was a completely different situation... that was nothing to do with this. This was just a little case of Marron being far too damned sensitive for his own good, nothing to get worried about. As far as the others went, he was the natural choice, wasn't he? Maybe it was his fault, he wouldn't find out just by sitting there getting stared at by the other three. What did his own personal feelings matter?!... It wasn't as if anybody else was too aware of those anyway, except perhaps Eclair. Even she only heard the briefest summaries whenever Gateau could be bothered to reply to 'what's wrong?' with a truthful answer. Most of the time he didn't really like to admit just what was wrong, and to be fair sometimes there honestly wasn't anything wrong, but when it came to Marron, it was hard to feel entirely satisfied on the situations.

 

Some days, Gateau felt alright about relations between he and Marron. When they talked and talked normally, when they could make general conversation and talk about shared subjects that involved absolutely no sniping or jibing whatsoever... when Marron was in a good mood, it seemed that things were alright. Of course, it all depended on Marron's mood, Gateau thought darkly to himself as he continued to walk. If Marron was willing to talk normally then Gateau would humour him - it was easier to talk like that than risk awkward subjects... as far as Gateau himself concerned, he didn't mind leaving the uncomfortable things if Marron wasn't going to mention them. Nobody had to know of the tense sort of annoyed feeling he felt when usually confronted with Marron. Nobody had to know of the biting anger that snarled beneath his skin whenever Marron did things like this. Not least because such things were hard to describe... hard to describe and harder to justify. He wasn't sure he could even justify such feelings to himself - was it just that he suddenly couldn't stand Marron...? It certainly seemed that a lot of things that Marron did without realising or caring were the things that irked Gateau to his strongest feelings... what kind of thing caused this? Perhaps the pain of the failed relationship... having got used to such things about another person, perhaps it was just tricky to get used to them definitely not being your kind of thing to be concerned about anymore... Gateau had never really had a relationship with someone such as Marron before. If he could help it, he didn't really want a relationship like that again, not really. Still, despite the time that had passed since then, things still felt... strange, somehow. Strange in a way that Gateau couldn't quite put his finger on. Perhaps it was just the displacement theory of having to readjust to living the life he'd always led with such a fundamental thing changed, Gateau wasn't sure... perhaps it would have been easier had he not lived in the same building as Marron, if there could be some kind of guaranteed time where he knew that he wouldn't accidentally run into Marron in the corridors, where he knew he wouldn't have to suddenly be launched into awkward conversation... living together, working together... it was all rather awkward, wasn't it? If there could be just a small amount of distance... maybe even just for a week or two, some time that would be totally and utterly marked as being free of Marron Glacé...

 

That was a very different line of thought to things thought not even a year previous, weren't they? That his thoughts kept devolving to that mindframe was another thing that annoyed Gateau. It was far too easy to let his mind drift and remember times when Marron hadn't seemed so strange, so manipulating, so crafty, so sly... such a time seemed so much more innocent in Gateau's mind's eye. A time back when he was content to show off for Marron and see how Marron would react, where he'd flirt and see Marron blush or glare or get annoyed... there hadn't been anything deep in that, had there? It was when things had become deeper that they'd become more complicated.

 

All that time, he'd been asking things of Marron. Asking him to look, beckoning him to bestow his hallowed attentions... it was when Marron finally asked things of Gateau that suddenly he realised he couldn't return the favour. He couldn't do the things that Marron asked him to. He couldn't understand Marron. Marron seemed very firmly determined to remain like this for as long as possible - he'd seemed to want Gateau to fulfil his every need without knowing or even wanting to know why... things didn't work like that... you couldn't be so selfish like that, could you...? If it was a relationship then... then that meant that it was between two people, meant that surely you had to work together to make things work...

 

Marron's attitude on such things made Gateau wonder if he'd ever wanted the relationship to work. Ah, but no - this was the person who didn't regret any of it, wasn't it? Who didn't care about all the selfish requests he'd made, who didn't care how much this had angered Gateau... this was the self-centred opinion of somebody who saw himself entirely in the right, who honestly didn't seem to understand why people wouldn't bow to his every whim...

 

It angered Gateau more to think that he would have been more likely to bow to said whims had he ever actually known what they were. Was that the only issue? Would that have made everything better?... It was hard to know, and it annoyed Gateau that he'd even consider it.

 

In any case of broken relationships and hurt feelings, such thoughts were almost inevitable, however. Even in the most amicable breakups, which Gateau had also experienced, there was always that niggling sense of doubt in the back of the mind - what was it that had caused the breakup? It had been her who'd said she thought they should stop seeing each other... she'd obviously come to some kind of decision. She'd spoken her feelings obviously enough, so... so surely it was on her terms and conditions, that had been plain enough, but even so Gateau had never been able to help but wonder... was there any way in which he'd failed? If there had been any one thing he'd managed to do more or better or for longer, would she have stayed with him? Even in the friendliest of situations, it was hard to wonder if there was in fact something lacking... and obviously he hadn't been enough for her, right? Not if she'd wanted more from that other person...

 

The situation with Marron was even more a sharp kick to the flagging ego than that had been. To be fair, Marron had never tried to make any pretence over his feelings - from the beginning he'd practically laid out his feelings for that other person, those feelings that seemed to prevent him doing anything at all... at the time, Gateau hadn't really seen those feelings as a threat. Alright, so Marron had these feelings for this other person, but if he was willing to do things with Gateau, then that surely meant that there could be an easygoing sort of relationship there, didn't it...?

 

It would have been much easier if that had been what it'd meant. As it had been, 'easygoing' didn't seem to be in Marron's dictionary.

 

No, the more things had continued on like that, the more Marron had seemed determined to whittle down Gateau's own feelings to his own ends. It was alright to do things in an exact certain way, as long as there were no pretences. It was alright to have a relationship as long as Gateau didn't mistake himself as being held anywhere in Marron's high regards. It was alright to say romantic things as long as you didn't mind them falling on deaf ears. It was alright to be in a relationship with somebody as long as you were perfectly aware of the fact that they belonged to somebody else and strictly wouldn't allow any kind of mental sort of shared ownership. Nevermind any deep thoughts of whether you could really own a person like that - as far as things with Marron went, he seemed to rather enjoy mentally belonging to this other person, god forbid anybody get in the way of that...

 

Then you had to ask yourself just who this person was...

 

It wasn't until Gateau reached the great hall that he spotted Marron, who was currently leant against one of the large pillars. The front doors were open; if the hall from the kitchens to the hall had been chilly through a window being open, then the hall was certainly colder for the door being open, while it was raining as well... the sound of the rain falling was magnified by the magnitude of the great hall, but if he was uncomfortable through the weather or the temperature, Marron made no indication of this. Rather than that, Marron seemed perfectly content to just watch the weather from afar. For the time being, it seemed that he hadn't noticed Gateau - or at least, if he had, he was content to ignore him for the moment. Gateau didn't have any problem with that. It wasn't as if he specifically wanted to watch Marron or anything, not like that, but... just to see him standing there while thinking about things... Marron's body language seemed very closed. He was leant against one of the pillars, his arms were folded tightly across his chest and the flat of one foot was pressed against the vertical ridges of the pillar. He leant his head back and watched nothing in particular with some silent kind of intensity, the only movement his body made was that of breathing. Gateau watched this for a few minutes. That was a typical sort of pose for Marron to take.

 

The question of just precisely who it was that Marron felt so strongly for had been a question asking itself through Gateau's mind for longer than he cared to currently think about. Ever since the first mention, there had always been that curiosity... somebody that Marron really would feel so strongly for? It had been interesting, at first. Somebody who he really wanted. Somebody he could never have? Well, everybody had an interest like that at some point or another in their lives. Gateau was starting to believe it was almost human nature to pursue those you could never hope to have, just for the sake of their innate unreachable nature... and yet, this was Marron. One of the purest examples of something one could never hope to have. Surely such emotions proved that Marron was just human, like everybody else? Well, almost... they almost could have done...

 

That Marron had never trusted Gateau to know just who that distant wanted person was had always been a point of contention within Gateau's mind. A relationship surely had to be built on a degree of trust, surely? Certainly, but it seemed that Marron had never seen him as somebody to trust... had always just expected him to accept all that Marron told him...

 

That which Marron told him and that which Marron didn't tell him. After so long, one couldn't help but wonder about something which had been such an integral problem in the relationship. There was somebody else? That was usually grounds for breaking up. It wasn't as if Gateau hadn't always known this, but then to the degree of which Marron had clung to his thoughts of this person... when somebody had decided to break up with you, it was usually nice to know why. If there was another person, then it was usually nice to know who. Maybe not required knowledge, perhaps arguably it was sometimes better not to know, but... again... surely it was just human to want to know what kind of person had been preferred?... What kind of person had been better somehow... what person had been favoured over you yourself... was it somebody who was wonderful? Somebody who was perfect? Somebody who had some kind of glowing personal quality that you yourself lacked...? Such questions were the kind that were asked over and over. Then, to stand there in the great hall and look at Marron standing there so still and so silent... to think that there was somebody he looked up to so steadfastly... somebody he idolized above all others... somebody he wanted... but couldn't have... somebody he wanted so badly... somebody who occupied his thoughts so constantly...

 

The thought had cropped up in Gateau's mind all the more often recently. Even more so after those conversations with Milphey - even with the person himself. With Carrot. Everybody seemed to hold a suspicion - Milphey wouldn't admit it outright, but that seemed to be his intention and his implication. Even Carrot himself seemed to have his own wary feelings over just how deeply Marron felt for him, and this led him to making hasty sorts of declarations and decisions...

 

All of the evidence, if that was what it was, seemed to point to that one conclusion. Thinking about it logically, thinking about it rationally, it seemed almost simple. Of course. Who else would Marron think of so much, so highly, so often? That it was his brother, his blood-related brother only lent weight to the line of thought about how this was somebody unavailable to him...

 

So if this was taken as fact and it was Carrot that Marron wanted - and as much as Gateau thought that he'd like to deny it, he really and honestly couldn't see it in any other way - then this meant that Marron's wonderful and perfect vision of a person was in fact of Carrot.

 

That it was almost undoubtedly Carrot was the worst thing about it for Gateau. The fact that this was Marron's brother was hardly here nor there in this thought process, though Gateau couldn't help but think of such feelings in relation to his own knowledge of sibling love, and any thoughts of acting like that with Eclair just sent a queasy sort of feeling to his chest. That was... just no. He didn't like to think about that. Eclair wasn't that sort of person, he liked to think that he certainly wasn't that sort of person - and Marron was?... Well, that was how it seemed. So determined in his feelings that even thoughts of blood relation meant nothing to him. Such bloody-minded and stubborn devotion had to be admired, Gateau thought humourlessly.

 

No, the main thing that Gateau had issue with was the fact that it was Carrot, again. This wouldn't have been the first time he'd lost by default to Carrot's overbearing knack of making himself somehow loveable. The first time Gateau had chalked down to a matter of 'it couldn't be helped', but then... to think about it, to look around to the people he lived with, to look at everybody's feelings... perhaps it just came from having not grown up on Mount St Hordic with everybody else, but Gateau couldn't help but wonder if there was something he was missing. The Misu sisters both seemed quite determined on Carrot in their own sorts of ways - Chocolat was a given and even Tira seemed to have strange expressions when it came to matters involving Carrot, and this was before you took into account how much she liked to beat and whip on him... some people had strange ways of showing their affection. Then of course was Marron, who'd obviously idolised his brother from a young age and it seemed that this habit hadn't faded away through the passing of years... even Milphey seemed rather taken with Carrot over anybody else (well, given his recent behaviours with Marron that had to be questioned), or at least, he had been... maybe it had been personal bias, but Gateau had never quite been able to look at Carrot as anything other than an unbeautiful idiot who really didn't realise how good he had it. It wasn't that Gateau didn't like Carrot, he liked Carrot as a fairly trusted friend, and given the current climate of Eden Gateau trusted Carrot to remain sane more than he trusted other people, and that was saying something... but when it came to matters of personal relation... when it came to that overbearing need to want to be with somebody... when it came to things like that, Gateau felt that he was missing something. All of these people were attracted to Carrot. Why?!... All that Gateau could think of was that he'd obviously missed something during those tender years of childhood. It didn't really seem like something you could ask somebody - "Just why do you love Carrot so much, anyway?!"... what kind of answer could that have but personal feeling? Personal feeling was as unique to each person as a fingerprint, even if somebody managed to explain totally and perfectly why it was that they loved Carrot, Gateau wasn't sure he'd be able to understand...

 

Such thoughts combined with the fact that something in his mind still seemed unable to get over Marron often created conflict in Gateau's thoughts. Gateau would look at the situation and try to figure out just how Carrot was better, and always be unable to come up with any sort of conclusion. Carrot was a moronic perverted girlchasing idiot who didn't realise or care that he had most of the population of Eden screaming for his babies (or at least the part that came before babies); Carrot did at least seem to have some sort of brotherly concern when it came to Marron, but... well, Gateau didn't really blame Carrot for not taking advantage of any of his suspicions, to be fair. Essentially, Carrot was a normal sort of guy, wasn't he? As normal as one could be in the situation. He at least realised the need for boundaries on relations, didn't he? Either that or the thought of him and Marron just freaked him out, and Gateau wouldn't have blamed Carrot in either situation. Still... he'd said it to Marron in the past, surely he realised that there were some things that Carrot just wouldn't be willing to give... some things Carrot wouldn't be willing to do...

 

Of course, whether Marron wanted to take notice of that or not was on his own shoulders. What he wanted to believe was his own business...

 

At least, that was as much as Gateau wanted to think. Strictly, nothing to do with this fascinating irritating enigma was anything to do with him - surely nothing was, unless he made it his business to be so...? And then there was Marron looking so empty, and Gateau could hear the voice in his head that had spoken to him about a week or so ago, the voice that had requested help. The voice that had said that it needed help, and needed help from Gateau.

 

It was things like that that rather annoyingly tested Gateau's resolve. It wasn't any of his business. It wasn't any of his business. It wasn't any of his business.

 

Marron wanted his help.

 

Marron needed his help?

 

Needed help from somebody, anyway.

 

This hadn't been mentioned since the initial conversation, so Gateau couldn't help but wonder if the event had been forgotten... but of course, this was Marron. Marron wasn't the kind of person who would forget such a thing - he seemed to keep such knowledge of past events for precisely the right moment... maybe it had been something said in a moment of weakness? Ah, Marron would never admit such a thing... even admitting weakness was, Gateau thought, something that Marron would find almost impossible. Yet he had asked for help... recognizing that you needed to be helped was surely a strength, wasn't it...? That was true, but then you had to consider just who it was who was asking for the help in the first place... when it was Marron... when he wouldn't say just what sort of help it was that he needed... given Marron, Gateau wasn't sure that he would ever admit such a thing. It would be exactly his style to ask for help in that irresistible sort of way and expect people to be able to give that help without anybody ever speaking of what it was... such a confusing guy. Surely Marron could realise that nobody in the immediate vicinity was psychic... nobody was psychic and nobody knew him well enough to be able to just know such things... and then, out of everybody, he had asked Gateau.

 

Had it just been that he'd been in the right place at the right time? That was questionable. Could any place with Marron really be the right one? Could any time with Marron really be the right one? It was possible that Marron would have granted his request to anybody who'd remained there to listen...

 

It was perhaps something, again, that couldn't be helped. However, it was one of those situations that set those small worries off in Gateau's mind once more...

 

If there was anything he could do more of... be better at... do for longer...

 

If there was something he could do that somebody else couldn't...

 

Perhaps it was some sort of curse or maybe it was just bad luck, but nobody ever got out of their ruts by sitting back and doing nothing, did they? However, one also had to consider if their path was a rightly-chosen one... had Marron ever considered such a thing? He seemed so determined to prove things to himself that he'd never sat back to consider if the things he was proving were the right things to prove... however, just because he was like that didn't mean that everybody else had to drop down to his level...

 

It was a difficult situation and Gateau didn't know what to do about it. Taken on the very basic level, Marron had said he'd wanted some sort of help. It was a good thing to grant help to those who needed it, wasn't it? Maybe it was an innocent request. Maybe something could be done. Maybe something could even be done about the angry and violent thoughts Gateau often had recurring over things with Marron... he was quite sure a lot of the things in his waking dreams were things that Marron quite surely wouldn't want help with, but in those darker moments it did draw some kind of perverse satisfaction to imagine Marron lost in fervent pleasure and screaming Gateau's name like how he'd never wished to when they were actually together...

 

The simple debauchery of physical pleasure... and there was a kind of pleasure to be found in that, no matter what Marron thought. Perhaps he considered himself too high-and-mighty to subscribe to such thoughts. Gateau wouldn't have been surprised.

 

If there was an anonymous need for sexual relief...

 

You didn't need love for that. Once, what seemed like long ago, Gateau had felt that perhaps he was indeed in love with Marron... that had been before a lot of other things had happened. Whatever existed now, Gateau was quite sure that love was not a part of it. It didn't need to be. Marron had never seemed to have any problem with that in the past.

 

Wasn't that sinking to Marron's level...?

 

To consider this of somebody who had previously been held in such high regard, this almost made Gateau smile. Perhaps it was, perhaps it was. Whatever Marron's problem was, he apparently had a different one at this moment in time and somehow, the others had thought that he himself could help Marron with it. They really knew nothing, didn't they...? Still, that wasn't really their fault. Gateau walked closer to Marron, watching his ears twitch rather obviously at hearing Gateau's step approach... aside from that, he didn't make any other sign to show that he'd noticed Gateau's presence. Gateau noticed this as much as anything else... rolling his eyes, he supposed it'd be up to him to make the first move, as usual. Marron was hardly ever the first one to cast the web.

 

"... I... guess I pissed you off, huh."

 

Marron turned his head to face Gateau, a vaguely annoyed expression on his features.

 

"It wasn't you."

 

He turned to face the outer door once again. Gateau sighed, "Yeah well, it's gotta have been that, huh? Either that or Carrot being an idiot again."

 

"Perhaps I just couldn't bring myself to appreciate the atmosphere in that room."

 

"... Well, yeah, I guess I can understand that. Everybody's a bit highstrung at the moment, aren't they? Trust Milphey to do something like this."

 

Gateau was standing next to Marron now, a few feet away from him. He put his hands behind his head, waiting for some response from Marron... Marron still seemed to find something out of the front door very fascinating, he didn't seem very willing to talk. Gateau was about to speak again when Marron cut across him, answering with something unrelated, as was Marron's usual method of conversation.

 

"... So I look like a girl, do I?"

 

"I knew that pissed you off."

 

"No, no, I'm just curious... I never quite realised I had that kind of appearance to you. You should have said something."

 

Marron was doing a very good job of hiding any anger he might have felt behind a calm tone of voice, but Gateau felt he knew Marron well enough by this point to know that the calmer Marron sounded, the angrier he probably was. It'd take something so small to anger Marron so much? Of course, given how Marron was about Carrot, Carrot's contribution to the past conversation hadn't helped... Gateau just wondered how would be best to deflate any anger Marron might have been feeling without bearing the brunt of it on his own shoulders. Likely Marron was looking for an opening, an opportunity... Gateau wouldn't have put it past Marron to behave so. As much as he'd been preoccupied on his own thoughts on the way to the great hall, Gateau wasn't willing to leave himself open to any method of verbal or mental assault Marron might have had prepared for that moment. Again, Gateau wouldn't have put it past him.

 

"I never thought you looked like a girl. I was only fooling around..."

 

Still no visible response from Marron. Gateau glanced heavenward, seeking patience.

 

"... I'm sorry. Okay? I apologize for whatever it was I managed to do to piss you off, 'cause it was obviously me, right?"

 

A long pause.

 

"... It wasn't you."

 

Gateau relaxed slightly. Not an outright apology, but probably the closest it was possible to get out of Marron Glacé. Gateau wasn't sure he quite believed Marron's words, but he could only take them at their face value. And of course, if it wasn't him that was the problem, then...

 

"Then it was Carrot, huh?"

 

Still Marron didn't take his eyes from the unchanging view outside. He didn't seem in any rush to speak, his voice seeming to hold a drifting sort of quality to it when he finally did decide to speak.

 

"... My brother is right, of course... it would be strange, wouldn't it...? Two brothers going to a dance competition... how abnormal."

 

That last word was spoken with enough venom to surprise Gateau. He raised his eyebrows, looking down at the still figure standing beside him... Marron's expression had changed. He looked clearly annoyed now, displeased... Marron could be mysterious sometimes but then at other times, it seemed far too clear just what he was thinking. No doubt this harkened back to all that Carrot had said about normality, what seemed like so long ago... but, Gateau felt, this wasn't his argument. Not his business. Nothing to do with him. If Marron wanted to pick through every word that fell from Carrot's lips, that was his decision to make. Gateau tried to keep his tone lighthearted, though he wasn't too sure how far he succeeded in that.

 

"Yeah, well, it can't be helped, can it? Milphey already putting us forward and everything... I guess he has his own reasons, huh."

 

"I'm sure."

 

"He could have at least asked us beforehand! I mean, I don't mind dancing with Tira and everything, but jeesh... I can't even remember the last time I danced. I mean, like, proper dancing... I guess if Milphey's gonna teach us then it'll be okay, but I dunno... I'd much rather it was a posing contest or something."

 

"Dancing isn't that far off from posing."

 

"Hm?"

 

"Posing in motion... it could be a kind of dance."

 

Marron's tone of voice still hadn't lightened, but Gateau had a feeling Marron was trying his best.

 

"... Well, I guess... hwah!... Hwoh!... Wa-cha!"

 

Gateau threw a few poses for the sake of it. Maybe Marron was right... whether it was dancing or posing, it was still performing, surely? Alright, so dancing was performing with a partner, but... he hadn't quite thought of it like that before. An audience was an audience, and surely anybody would be wowed by his perfectly honed body! What's more, Marron seemed to be half-glancing at him. Gateau paused in his current pose, then fell back to a normal stance.

 

"Hah. You were watching, weren't you?"

 

"How could I help looking when you're making such stupid noises?"

 

The urge to tease was rising within Gateau. Whether Marron was in a caustic mood or not, he'd still looked, that couldn't be denied. The thought was hard to justify - if Marron was in a bad mood then arguably it was best to leave him to it, even though the others had sent him to apologize... but just to get some sort of reaction from that peculiar young mage... that wasn't an unfamiliar feeling. Always so concerned over Carrot... he really did need something to take his mind of that stupid brother of his, didn't he? Gateau was quite sure that he didn't need the hassle of it being him, but teasing and flirting was an entirely different territory. It wasn't serious, was it? Marron needed to learn that not everything had to be.

 

"You still looked though, didn't you...! Heh, I've still got it."

 

Shooting a glare at Gateau, Marron's tone was still rather acidic.

 

"And what's that supposed to mean!?"

 

The rain seemed to batter quite strongly against the outer windows in the silence following that question. Oh, too easy. Gateau felt very aware that he hadn't wanted to leave himself open, but then when Marron was standing there and asking things like that, suggesting such things... what was that supposed to mean? What was any of it supposed to mean, Gateau had never felt he'd known. Marron had paid a little attention to Gateau now, as much as he always had done. Maybe he'd meant to, maybe he hadn't. Whatever that meant. He could have looked away, could have ignored... could have chosen somebody else a week or so ago. You didn't say something like that and then just ignore them afterward. As the opportunity was there, Gateau felt that now was as good a time as any to raise that issue that had been bothering him the most... and Marron's glare... was he angry? Perhaps. Unable to resist the urge despite a small voice in the back of his head telling him it wasn't a good idea, Gateau pressed his hands together in a vague pleading gesture, momentarily adopting an expression of wide-eyed need.

 

"... 'Please help me, Gateau!'... Isn't that the kind of thing the person in front of me said not long ago? And we all know the sort of help you need."

 

Marron made no pretence at hiding his anger; why on earth did Gateau have to bring such things up now!? As if he wasn't in a bad enough mood from the kinds of things Carrot had said and implied, now Gateau had to stir him up further?! What was the point...

 

"What the hell are you saying!?"

 

Gateau prodded Marron between the eyes, "You get a little wrinkle right here when you're pissed off."

 

Quickly throwing Gateau's hand away with surprising strength, Marron took a few steps away from the pillar, still glaring at Gateau, wondering just what sort of threat might be unleashed. He didn't blink unless he had to.

 

"Don't touch me, Gateau. What are you insinuating...?"

 

Aware of the echoing qualities of the great hall, Gateau kept his voice as quiet as he thought he needed it.

 

"If it's not me then it's going to be Milphey, huh? Running around saying ambiguous things all the time... everyone'll be at your beck and call, right? Having me and Carrot run across Eden 'cause we're worried you might be doing weird things... having everybody worried about you 'cause you never tell anybody anything, having us all wondering what the hell's going through that fruity head of yours... trying to be all mysterious, 'the one I love' and things like that... requesting help from people you don't want anything else to do with... why ask me, huh? Was it 'cause I just happened to be there? Couldn't run off and ask Milphey, huh? 'Cause that's the choice Carrot gave you, isn't it? One or the other, and you won't dare go against the word of that brother of yours..."

 

Why on earth Gateau felt that now was the moment to bring up all these sorts of things was a mystery to Marron as much as it was a mystery to Gateau; it had been at least a week or two since that mission against that Kiente Sorcerer, since that night most recent where Marron had acted so strangely... as far as Marron could decipher, things had been more or less going alright since then - he'd managed to keep his mood stable and nothing other than the business to do with the dance competition had really happened in the last little while... so just what was it that was irritating Gateau so much?!

 

Perhaps he'd underestimated the strength of a bottled concern.

 

As for Gateau, as much as he'd been trying to press Marron's buttons for his own idle amusement, it seemed that quite the opposite had happened; there was always something about Marron that, these days, seemed to annoy him. It annoyed him even further that he couldn't quite work out what this was - 'the fact that he exists' seemed a little harsh, but apart from that, just what was it...? It wasn't anything Marron really said or did, because he didn't really seem to say or do an awful lot... maybe it was past memory? Annoyance at the way that Marron had acted in the past? Gateau had never considered how difficult it might be to get over Marron, even now he was in that required position, he had no idea how he was supposed to go about it. Speaking to him always seemed to end up in some strange kind of argument, leaving him to his own devices never seemed to work, and in the line of work and living where they saw each other in close proximity practically every day of the year, how was anything supposed to work itself out!?... Of course, that last meeting of tempers hadn't improved much at all. Marron speaking so hopelessly... that had frustrated Gateau as much as anything else. How the mighty had fallen. Even more annoying when it was somebody like Marron - he would talk so strangely about how he had no regret for all those infuriating past actions, and then he'd have the sheer audacity to ask Gateau for help!? Even more annoying, Gateau would consider this. What sort of help Marron wanted or needed he wasn't sure, but there was still the base instinct that he was somebody who wanted help and should be granted it. Was this basic human compassion? Was it because it was Marron and Gateau had spent a great portion of the most recent years of his life practically swooning over any path Marron had chosen to undertake? That one such flawed person would make him so flawed in turn caused Gateau's anger to swell as much as anything else.

 

Let Marron wander around Eden in a mysterious stupor if he wished, that was only his own business.

 

That Gateau recognized such a feeling far too keenly, that was less forgivable. How on earth was it that Marron still seemed to affect him in so many ways? It seemed so complicated now. Before it was the simple matter that Marron was attractive and Gateau was attracted, that was it. Then Marron spun his particular sort of web and made everything needlessly complicated... such complications, Gateau felt, had not yet left his life. What could he do?

 

The basic line of thought had been that Marron was beautiful.

 

He was still so beautiful. So fucking beautiful it made such thoughts difficult for Gateau to stomach. The complications outweighed the beauty but this beauty would still ask for his help? How amusing. Even more funny that Gateau would immediately consider 'what do you want me to do?' as a legitimate question.

 

It wasn't his business.

 

It wasn't any of his business.

 

Marron was angry now, that little wrinkle twitching on his upper brow. Cute. He was angry? That made a change. It was nice to see him show emotion these days.

 

Gateau wondered if that anger was anywhere close to the anger he'd ever felt at Marron's actions. Ah, but Marron didn't regret, did he? He thought Gateau should hate him. No, not hate... hate was a very extreme sort of word, but there were great grey areas between 'love' and 'hate', weren't there? It felt good to say such things to Marron's face. Get it off his chest, so to speak. Some days were alright, some days he could speak to Marron almost normally, but then other days... other days it was all Gateau could do not to unleash his anger in a tirade of statements; how could Marron remain so calm? How could he have the insolence to request help from somebody he'd rejected quite spectacularly? Why did he always have to be so damned beautiful? What would it take to soothe all his mysterious problems? Why did Gateau care anyway? Why did Marron cling so fervently to Carrot's every word? Ah, that was a question with a possible answer.

 

It was like, Milphey supposed, watching two predators size each other up. Both Marron and Gateau had been too intent on their own business to really notice him standing in the archway that would lead up to the bedroom corridor, and once they'd started talking, Milphey had found the conversation too interesting to really bring himself to leave. If either of them noticed him, he had enough excuses stocked up and his well-practiced smile that would reveal nothing... as for the moment, it was less that Gateau was advancing on Marron and more that Marron was backing away, but each step was mirrored.

 

A dangerous dance.

 

"Gateau, that-... that has nothing to do with any of this...!"

 

"Always trying to be so damned mysterious, as I said... 'he's so cold', people say. 'He's so distant'. There's something to be said about a mysterious person, isn't there? You always want to know more about them, want to see if they can open up to you, wonder just what it is that can make them tick... but y'know, people say other things, too. If you shine a light into the darkness, it'll only show you how much more darkness there is to see, huh? For someone so mysterious you make yourself pretty damned obvious when you want to be. Shame some people don't seem to notice, huh?"

 

Gateau had moved so he was obscuring Milphey's view of Marron, now. Slightly annoyed by this, Milphey stuck his head out of the archway and checked that the coast was clear. It was. He tiptoed lightly to stand behind the pillar Gateau and Marron had just walked past; perhaps this wasn't strictly the kind of scene to be observed, but... well, it was their own fault for arguing in the great hall, wasn't it? He wondered if perhaps he should interrupt; this conversation seemed to be going in strange directions... but by the laws of practicality, in theory he wasn't standing behind that pillar and in theory he wasn't spying on them, so in theory he didn't really have any right to interrupt. What a shame. It just meant he'd have to watch for a little longer then, wouldn't it? Since, in theory, he wasn't there at all... it couldn't be helped.

 

Marron seemed to find his voice, speaking with a little more volume.

 

"Gateau, why are you bringing all this up now?!"

 

"It was because of Carrot, wasn't it?!"

 

"What!?"

 

"You, storming from the room. Because he doesn't want to dance with you. Because he'd rather dance with a girl. More normal to dance with girls, isn't it?"

 

"It's not my fault that our names were picked like that...! I had no idea that Milphey was going to do something like that. If I had any choice in the matter, I wouldn't have chosen to be in the dance competition at all! It's not something that I'd choose to do..."

 

"Wouldn't be surprised if you'd got Milphey to fix those results."

 

"What?!"

 

"Stop Carrot running off with Salad Chips... make sure you can keep an eye on him... and you get to dance with your beloved niisan, how about that?"

 

In truth, those had been the sorts of things Marron had at least been slightly glad about Milphey obviously fixing the results... also the sorts of things Milphey had considered when fixing the results in the first place, but neither Gateau nor Marron were to know that (though Milphey figured that Marron would probably have guessed). Milphey hadn't really thought of this possible outcome - he hadn't spoken to Gateau for a while, but he supposed it had perhaps been a mistake to have left him for so long. Obviously Marron still made him angry in that way ex-partners sometimes could... there were ways of ridding anger and bad feeling, Milphey knew such things keenly, but practically cornering said ex-partner while antagonizing them into blind rage was not a method he would perhaps have picked. Speaking of which, Marron had backed against the next pillar in line. Milphey peered out from the other side of the pillar he was hiding behind; that was perhaps not the best position to be in, but be it upon his own head...

 

"Why-... why would I plan something like that!? What my brother does in his spare time is no business of mine..."

 

"That's the best lie I've heard all day. Says the brother who runs around town with a first aid kit to help his injured brother after the Misu sisters have laid their most recent loving punishment on him. Says the brother who won't let his stock of Spinner Traces go down, just so he knows where Carrot is every hour of every day if he needs to be found."

 

"You know the trouble my brother can get himself into..."

 

"Carrot's a grown kid, Marron. You don't need to look after him all day."

 

Gateau continued to advance, now having his hands pressed against the pillar on either side of Marron's head. If Marron had really wanted to he could have ducked and ran off, it wasn't as if Gateau was physically obscuring or detaining him in any fashion, but their stare was unbroken and Marron's expression was still highly displeased. There was escape, yes, but escaping wouldn't get to the heart of the matter... Milphey wasn't entirely sure that Marron had even noticed he'd run out of space to step back into. Their physical movement came to a halt and their voices dropped once more. Milphey tiptoed a lean against his pillar, as if this would help hear Marron and Gateau any...

 

"Hey, Marron."

 

"What is it...?"

 

"How stupid do you think I am?"

 

He asked the question earnestly. Marron glanced to one side, "What kind of question is that..."

 

"No, really. I want an answer. Do you actually think I'm so incredibly incredibly stupid that I'd just nod and smile at you each and every time?"

 

"I don't think you're stupid..."

 

"Okay. Well, assuming that you're not lying, please tell me if I'm wrong, because you never know - I might just be being stupid here. But, you see... it's fairly common knowledge that you idolize that brother of yours for no real reason whatsoever, right?"

 

"H-.. ah... n..."

 

"Can't answer? Right, this helps. Anyway, you totally think the world of him. Even if he told you to pick between me and Milphey in some weird bid to be 'normal' you would, huh? Past experience, stuff fucking up, who cares about all of that? As long as the treasured niisan says it's okay, well, that's fine!"

 

"Gateau..."

 

"So, Carrot makes some kind of implication that he'd rather dance with a girl than you. Not too shocking since, y'know, he's always after girls, he seems to rather like them, you see. Then, our little hero Marron here storms from the room. It was either me or it was Carrot and, would you look at that, he insists that it wasn't me. Then, it must have been Carrot, huh?"

 

"Leave my brother out of this."

 

"I think it's a bit late for that, Marron. What part of your life isn't he involved in?"

 

No answer.

 

"You want my help, huh? Why not just ask that idolized brother of yours for help, huh? Someone so brilliant in your eyes, he should be able to do anything, shouldn't he?"

 

Milphey could hear Marron's breathing at that moment, even over the constant pattering of the rain outside. Nobody spoke for about half a minute. He carefully stepped around the left side of the pillar, wondering how far he could spy out on the two of them without being noticed himself; this really was a dangerous situation, wasn't it? It seemed that Gateau was trying to make some sort of point or at least trying to make his way towards one, but precisely just what this point was, Milphey almost dreaded to think... from his calculations, it seemed that Marron was rather dreading the answer to that question also. The things that Gateau said... did Marron really have no answer to them anymore? No answer he could easily give... not to Gateau, anyway...

 

"... Relationships between siblings... pretty strong, aren't they? I mean, I should know, you know? I'd help Eclair with anything she wanted help with. My duty as an elder brother, isn't it? But then again, there are some things I don't think Eclair would ever ask me, you know?"

 

"H- haa..."

 

"Carrot wants you to be more normal, huh... have normal relationships, do normal things... as I said, I'm probably stupid, I'm probably missing something here. There was something preventing you before, wasn't there? 'The person I love' and everything... and now, now, you need my help."

 

Still no answer.

 

"I'm not stupid, Marron. You gotta wonder if Carrot is, too. Now, I wonder what kind of things Marron would need help with..."

 

Marron still stared up at Gateau with those angry, angry eyes. It didn't seem as if he wanted to reply to that question, whether it had been rhetorical or not... Marron regretted having ever made any kind of request of Gateau in the first place. As much as he'd tried to use him for his own ends in the past, none of that had worked - Gateau was an unwilling pawn and it seemed that he was far more dangerous as an opponent than a pawn. He was right, he wasn't stupid, Marron knew this. Just what conclusions this mind had come to, Marron wasn't sure - he didn't know if he wanted to know but he had a nasty feeling Gateau was going to say anyway... had he ever made any mistakes while presuming Gateau's intellect? Had he ever misjudged? Ever passed Gateau off as something harmless? It was never a pretty thing to use somebody. Marron had a feeling that these were just the sorts of repercussions he perhaps deserved. Gateau wasn't smiling, but Marron didn't like the look on his face... sort of... knowing, somehow. He seemed awfully pleased with himself all of a sudden, and this quite annoyed Marron. What kinds of things would Gateau presume that he knew? Gateau knew nothing, Marron had been careful with what he'd told Gateau. Ah, but wasn't that one of those risky presumptions?

 

He'd said about how Marron could be so obvious. Marron had a worried feeling deep within him; he'd been obvious? What about? What with? He'd never meant to be obvious about anything... especially not about anything that Carrot could ever suspect...

 

"You wanted me to help you..."

 

Not unless the situation called for it... Carrot had backed away... Gateau had him against that pillar... Gateau was leant close now, had brushed away the hair from where it had obscured Marron's ear. He nestled his head momentarily against Marron's shoulder, leaning against the pillar slightly and his mouth just on level to whisper into Marron's ear. He murmured with deceptive softness.

 

"I could fuck you like Carrot never could."

 

Milphey regretted that he was just too far away to hear just what Gateau had said to make Marron react with such sudden speed; all of a sudden, Marron had hit one hand up to knock Gateau's right arm away and had broken free from under Gateau's hold, having taken a few hurried steps backward and now standing a few feet away from Gateau, away from the pillar. He seemed shocked, somehow. His eyes were wide in a disbelieving sort of way, his brow still knitted into a frown but the rest of his expression barely supporting this... his breathing had been heavy before but he was panting now, his breathing quick and his chest rising and falling as if he were exhausted... or as if he'd been shocked? Probably. His expression was suddenly about as angry as Milphey had ever seen it, and it seemed as if Marron no longer cared to make any effort to prevent anybody else from hearing anymore.

 

"... NEVER SPEAK SUCH ACCUSATIONS TO ME AGAIN!"

 

He stormed off out of the open front doors, and Gateau didn't try to go after him. Milphey heard a bemused 'hmph' from Gateau, and decided that now was the time to make his presence known. He stepped out from behind the pillar, his arms folded.

 

"... Whew, Gateau-chan must have said something impressive to make Marron-chan react like that! I wonder what it was?"

 

Seeing Milphey seemed to bring Gateau back to his senses, and very quickly.

 

"Muh-... Milphey!? Where the hell did you come from?"

 

Milphey smiled, pointing at the pillar behind him.

 

"I was just there!"

 

"For the... the whole time?"

 

"Come now, Gateau-chan. Gateau-chan was arguing with Marron-chan in the middle of the great hall of the main diocese of the Stella Church! It's hardly a private venue. I suppose you should be glad it was me and not Carrot-chan... at least, I don't think Carrot-chan's in here. Where is everybody? I wanted us to have a meeting about this dance competition I took great pains to register you all for. Entrants were supposed to be registered last month, but... I pulled in a few favours... anyway, I suppose it can wait until Marron-chan's calmed down a little... what did you say to him, anyway?"

 

"You heard."

 

"You were whispering, Gateau-chan. I only heard three quarters of the whole argument, though I can't say it wasn't interesting... but is it a good idea, I wonder, to antagonize him so keenly about his relationship with Carrot-chan..."

 

Flagging under Milphey's honestly curious gaze, Gateau looked honestly guilty. Milphey wasn't somebody to lie to, somebody to withhold the truth from... perhaps in a better frame of mind Gateau would have attempted it, but with those bright eyes and the sound of the rain outside, Gateau found himself incapable. He slumped against the nearest pillar, "I-... I... I said that I-... I said that I could have sex with him because Carrot couldn't. In... not so many words."

 

"... Oh. Oh, hmn... I see. Well."

 

"Milphey, he-... he didn't deny it..."

 

"Didn't deny that you could have sex with him or didn't deny that Carrot couldn't?"

 

Gateau's expression said as much as Milphey presumed. He sighed.

 

"Well, come now, I want to find the others and tell them about the timetable I've got scheduled. Starts at the weekend. If we stick to it, we should be in decent shape for the competition... did you say where the others were?"

 

"Ah, they were in the other kitchen, we were having lunch. Um-... Milphey...?"

 

"Yes, Gateau-chan?"

 

"... Did you fix the results so that Carrot and Marron would be dancing together?"

 

Milphey had been walking towards the corridor that would lead to the kitchens. On Gateau's question, he spun on his heel so that he was facing him, just for a moment.

 

"Like much else to do with this situation... I think it's best that Gateau-chan comes to his own conclusions, hm? Now, the others..."

 

That was the only answer that the suddenly harried Milphey seemed to be willing to give. He made his way down the corridor, leaving Gateau standing there.

 

For a few moments, Gateau considered going after Marron, perhaps apologizing to him. So maybe apologising to Marron was often something that took great effort since he never seemed to register apology at all, let alone accept it, but... maybe... maybe saying something like that had been unacceptable, even if the feeling behind it was something Gateau believed in. He could, if Marron wanted him to. That thought still annoyed him as much as anything else. Sex didn't have to be related to anything else, did it? It could be anger management for Gateau and some sort of release for Marron. If he wanted to accept it.

 

On the other hand, Gateau felt that his first attempt to apologize to Marron had gone badly enough. Perhaps it was best not to risk it again so soon... it was raining pretty hard out there, likely Marron would realise this before long and come back in to where it was dry. Gateau tried to repeat to himself that it just was not his problem. It wasn't his problem. It wasn't his problem. It wasn't. It wasn't.

 

Quietly, he followed Milphey back down to the kitchens.