Disclaimer: I like eggs.
SPOILERS
A Koa Monkey With No Eyes
It takes a lot out of Guillo not to laugh. It can't really laugh in the first place, but that's beside the point. The point is it's true. Sagi and Milly like each other and it's as obvious as an olifant in the middle of a Mintakan street (and as awkward as a wingless cloudgull) and it has become Guillo's greatest pleasure (and easiest pastime) to tease them because they remain blissfully and annoyingly blind to their attraction.
Guillo knows they're dense and stubborn and that's the greatest combination in the world because the wench's face when Guillo straight facedly told her that Sagi has a love quadrangle going on, animated puppet included, was completely and utterly priceless. Guillo believes it has never seen a more pathetic sight since it discovered a fantail duckling without its mother.
Speaking of pathetic, the best time to tease Sagi and Milly is during dinner.
The group sits around a fire. It's nighttime, and the air is warm and it's the perfect weather to sleep outside. The fire crackles and insects sing tunes and Sagi and Milly eats dinner while Guillo watches. They are underneath a big round moon and it's easy to forget that they have an important mission to accomplish. As they eat, Guillo notices the two teens playing something similar to a game: a staring game. Sagi stares at Milly, Milly stares at Sagi, but they never evermake eye contact because that means admitting to feelings. Or something stupid like that, Guillo figures.
At first, it's funny to watch them make goo-goo eyes at each other, but Guillo soon realizes that the two morons could actually keep it up for the whole dinner. They look ridiculous and Guillo is getting increasingly embarrassed and irate and the awkwardness is as evident as a pack of hograts in a Mintakan noble's cupboard. Guillo can't handle it and decides enough is enough.
"Could you two stop staring at each other? Not even a caplin with no wool would look as ridiculous you do right now!"
The reaction is instantaneous. Their cheeks become so red Guillo is almost worried it'd have to push them into Moonguile Forest's spring. Sagi looks away too embarrassed to say anything, wisely deciding to focus on the almost-gone food in front of him. Milly, on the other hand, stupidly decides to say something with defiance because she has to get her point across. "I was not staring at him! I was only making sure he was okay and liked the food." She glares at it, her cheeks slightly red.
Guillo scoffs. "Right. You would think you could tell a better lie than that, wench."
"Shut up, dingbat!" Milly yells, enraged.
If Guillo could laugh, it probably would have right then, but it's glad it couldn't. The awkward silence following the wench's outburst is more than amusing enough.
Another good time to tease them is when Sagi is jealous. The group had just bought new weapons and magnus for their journey. The magnus ended up costing a lot more than they had initially intended to pay, so they are currently very short on money, barely enough to buy a proper meal, so the group lounges around in the outskirts of town, wondering what to do, when Milly sees a boy around her age, conveniently hauling some meat around, and gets an idea. Leaving the other two confused and curious, she approaches the boy and proceeds to flirt incessantly with him. Guillo watches this happen and is impressed: she knows how to use her womanly charms (not like he'd ever tell that to her face). But Sagi, the poor boy, also watches the scene and stands there with the saddest, sulkiest face Guillo had ever seen.
After a fulfilling argument about her behavior, Guillo notices Sagi's face and gives an exasperated sigh.
"Sagi, stop sulking. You look like a fluffpup with no sense of smell."
Milly turns to the teal-haired boy and studies his slight frown and downcast eyes. "For once, I'd say the can opener's right. What's wrong?"
Sagi almost immediately changes his expression and puts a strained smile on his face. "N-nothing!" he says, trying to cover up his sulkiness. "Nothing at all!"
Milly puts her hands on her hips and gives him a piercing look. "You know you can't lie to us, Sagi."
Sagi sighs and the gloomy expression once again appears on his face, defeated. "It's just..." He sighs again. "Did you really have to flirt so much with that guy, Milly?"
Milly looks alarmed. "It was so we can eat! It meant nothing, I promise!"
"I know!" Sagi replies. "I know, I just... I don't know..."
"Sagi..." She bites her lip worriedly.
Their exchange is kind of cute, in an annoying, unnecessary sort of way, so Guillo decides to intervene. "Don't worry, wench. Sagi's just jealous."
"Guillo!" Sagi exclaims. "That's not what it is! Don't say stuff like that!"
Milly giggles at Sagi's outburst, the worried expression on her face gone. She says his name, smiling, shining.
Said boy whips toward her. "Milly, don't listen to what Guillo said, okay? It was only kidding."
"You don't have to worry about that. I already know," she replies, giggling. "But, if it'll make you feel better, I promise I won't do it again." She smiles at him. "So cheer up, okay?"
Sagi blushes slightly and smiles back. "All right, then."
Guillo turns away. If it had eyes, it would roll them. "You guys are like two mating pollywhales."
The pair blushes deeply.
"Shut up, dingbat!" Milly screams at it.
Guillo knows about Lolo's attraction to Sagi and Guillo is certain Milly knows about it, too. It both irks and intrigues Guillo because sometimes it wonders if Sagi thinks of the purple-haired gadgeteer in that way, too. But when it comes right down to it, Guillo is sure he doesn't.
The group eats lunch at Lolo's place, invited by Lolo herself. She and Sagi are being extremely friendly with each other; Lolo is obviously making a point to talk to only Sagi, not really bothering to speak to anyone else. Sometimes, Sagi turns to talk to his companions, but each time, Lolo grabs his full attention again. After a while, the pair opts to just completely ignore the other two in the room. Guillo doesn't really care, but Milly is a different story, burning with envy and shooting daggers at the aforementioned girl with her gaze. Much to her chagrin, Lolo is too involved with talking to Sagi to notice the angry girl's scowls.
Guillo finds the whole situation quite amusing (it would never admit that Guillo finds Milly's contempt to be one of her best traits), but Lolo is kind enough to allow the group to eat inside her own home, at her own expense and Guillo knows the angry glares are becoming a bit much.
"Milliarde. Tone down the death stares, why don't you?"
"Death stares? What death stares?" Milly says as she stabs a slice of meat on her plate a bit too harshly. "I'm not giving any death stares!"
"Right." Guillo responds sarcastically. "And a cloudgull doesn't know how to fly."
"I'm not!" she insists as she shot another hate-filled glare at the unsuspecting mechanic.
"It looks to me like the wench is jealous," Guillo says smugly.
"Jealous? Me?" Milly scoffs. "I am not jealous! Why would I be jealous of Lolo? I mean, sure, she might be pretty and helpful and smart and totally Sagi's type, but I am so not jealous of her." She over-stabs another piece of meat.
"Well, then, I guess you might not care that they're talking about you."
She immediately stops moving to listen to Sagi and Lolo's conversation. She looks like a rampaging herd of olifants; Guillo can literally see the murderous intent oozing from her pores.
But Milly could not have been more wrong.
"Well, Milly's one of the best people I know!" Sagi's voice sounds sincere and cheerful (like his voice ever sounds like anything but). Guillo glances over at the aforementioned girl. She has a confused look on her face (a far cry from the wrathful, vengeful face she had before), like she can't quite believe Lolo and Sagi aren't talking bad about her
"For one thing, I can't even begin to count how many times she's saved mine and Guillo's life," Sagi continues. "I feel like every time we get in a battle and I find myself fighting against hopeless odds, Milly always seems to magically appear and help me out. Wherever I look, there she is, right next to me. She's either bravely fighting off a whole pack of monsters, or saving Guillo's life. At least, when she's not busy saving mine."
Guillo glances at Milly once more and sees that the anger on her face is slowly fading away. She begins to slowly eat her food again, but Guillo knows she is listening to every word.
"Sagi, I'm sure you don't need saving all the time. You probably even save Milly sometimes!" Lolo says. Guillo thinks she sounds desperate. The puppet glances over at Milly and decides that she thinks so, too.
"I guess I've saved her life sometimes, too," Sagi agrees. "But it's not just the number of times Milly's saved my life. It's more than that."
"Oh?" Lolo says. Guillo could have sworn it hears a bit of disappointment in her voice.
"Yeah. She's also an amazing friend." Milly starts to blush a little at Sagi's words. "Whenever I'm feeling tired, Milly would always say something to keep me going. Once she does, it's like I can keep going for days. When I'm feeling down, or when I'm beginning to lose hope, she would smile at me, and all of a sudden I'd feel like everything will be okay." Guillo hears warmth seep into Sagi's voice as he talked. Warmth similar to the way a little girl hugs her bunnycat. Warmth similar to the way he talks about Gena.
"Really." It is obvious now. Lolo is definitely disappointed. A small triumphant smirk forms on Milly's face as she takes another bite from her meal. Sagi, ever oblivious, doesn't notice a thing.
"Really," Sagi agrees, except with more conviction. "Milly has always been there for me. I care about her a lot.
"And, anyway, she's deadly with those dual clubs of hers! Right, Milly?" Sagi looks toward her, his eyes shining.
"Milly blushes and says, "Oh, I'm not THAT great. Hahaha..."
Sagi looks back at Lolo and laughs. "She's just being modest. But, trust me. It's pretty scary even to me to see her fight with those things. It makes me feel really glad that she's on our side."
Sagi turns toward Milly. Their eyes lock and he smiles gently, a smile, Guillo notices, that is reserved solely for the brown-haired young female. "I feel so lucky to have met her." Milly smiles back, touched.
She bows her head and looks down. She doesn't give Lolo any death stares for the rest of the meal.
Milly swooped into their lives like a waterlark swoops in to catch its prey. Dual clubs in hands, moving as gracefully as a dancer, Sagi was utterly entranced right from the beginning, although he would never admit it.
Sagi saved her because he believes in her. She had never been believed in before, trapped in that bomb shelter of a home she shared with Baelheit. And his sincere faith touched her far more deeply than she would ever care to admit.
Guillo knows this because it has been watching over the two teens since the day Milly decided to stalk them. The animated puppet is more certain of their attraction for each other than the pair in question are themselves and while this is a source of amusement for Guillo when they are lounging about in the Sfida, it is an alarming thing when faced with life and death.
So, Guillo does what it has to do and jumps into the nerve system instead. The door closes between it and the shocked expression on the wench's face, and Guillo wants to tell her to stop crying because she promised to cry buckets after it was all over. This is far too soon.
As Guillo waits for the end, there is an enveloping calmness, an undeniable contentment and Guillo wonders if this is what happiness feels like. Before everything fades to black, Guillo thinks about the quietlands the wench loves so much and those silly rock formations they worked so hard to push up those hills. The rock people really did look like a little family. Guillo remembers that it felt like home.
Despite the circumstances, Guillo knows that if it had a mouth, it would smile.
A/N: Ahhhh, I love Guillo, I really do. Its animal analogies are the best I've ever seen. Btw, canon calls Guillo an "It" so I shall, too.
I edited this a lot and now I'm much more proud of it. I hope it shows to you guys as well.
Thank you so so so much for reading my story and I hope you have a blessed day! :D
