Not enough attention is paid to Grand Bazaar characters.

He heard her before he saw her, his eyes leaving the minnows he had been observing in the river to find hers in the beginnings of dusk.

"Ah, Gretel. Good evening." He couldn't explain why he always talked to her so formally; perhaps it was the fact that she was a friend of Dirk's and by extension he felt the need to set an example. But at the same time she couldn't be much younger than he was- despite the feminine nature of her clothing it was obvious that she was a fully grown woman; the slight tension of the buttons about her chest providing a more than unneeded hint.

He caught himself staring and returned his gaze back to the minnows, the familiar creep of blush rising on the back of his neck as she spoke. "Hello Ivan." She grinned, standing a little farther away than necessary. "What brings you here?"

"Oh, I was just watching the fish." He opened the book in his arms and gestured to the river, closing the awkward gap between them and allowing her to see the diagrams on the pages. Perhaps she was younger than he thought, or less experienced with the opposite sex- regardless, her cheeks quickly ignited at his closeness. "I've been reading quite a lot about fish in my spare time as of late. I wanted to observe some too, but with my tutoring schedule I can't always find time during the day."

She grinned at him once more, a piece of golden hair falling out from under the ridiculous hat she wore. "Oh."

He supposed he wasn't warranting much for conversation. But then, Gretel had always been quiet. On the few occasions he had seen her mulling about the house in search of Dirk they hadn't exchanged more than the usual hello and a bit of small talk. Or maybe it was just him- the way Dirk told it, Gretel was quite the conversationalist... He cleared his throat slightly, closing the book and folding it under his arm. "Are you interested in fish, Gretel?"

Her cheeks went off once more, her thumb reaching up to rub at her chin. "Well, not really-"

"Oh-"

"-but I only just got a fishing rod today, actually. I was hoping to try it out, but I've been so busy..."

He hadn't noticed the rod in her hands until then, the late summer light beginning to disappear in the early evening and hide her in shadows. "Oh, is that so? There's supposed to be quite the variety of fish in this river. You've picked a good spot to do some fishing!"

She let out a tiny chuckle. "I hope so... Although if the sun goes down any more, I wont be able to see what I'm doing."

"Oh, right. Well I'll leave you to it."

He was five paces away when a sudden thought overcame him; glancing back over his shoulder, he called for her. "If you ever want to borrow a few books- learn the theory of it, you know..." It was rare for him to word something so badly, the back of his neck going off again as she laughed.

"Thanks, Ivan."

He watched her draw back the line for a moment, turning his back as the lure propelled into the water.

This is an in between project I'm working on as I write the sequel to my other story, Lavender. I've recently developed a love affair with Grand Bazaar; the game play is quite a bit different than that of the other games in the series. Although it can be a bit tedious, I highly recommend trying it out if you haven't already! (Seriously. Even if you have to resort to doing yucky things like downloading an emulator... Try it. Buy it. You'll enjoy the challenge!)

P.S: Taking requests for any other fics you would like to see published...