"She was really cute, you know", he commented to his friend.
Aldebaran glared at his friend and grunted something - and Mu only guessed it was an agreement.
"If only a little older, ne?" he continued teasing.
"Oh, shut up already", Aldebaran said, making Mu laugh a little.
They continued walking toward the Sanctuary in silence, Mu still smiling and Aldebaran still embarrassed. Somewhere along the way the little flower that had caused the entire incident fell to the ground unnoticed.
**
The sun was already setting when Mu looked out his window to see the taller man roaming the ground toward the village. He smiled gently and made his way out.
Once he'd reached the ground the other Gold Saint was a long way off, but still walking. The smaller man shook his head a little and started on his way. He'd only taken a few steps toward the other man, when he noticed what had caused this late evening outing; the little flower Aldebaran had received from the little girl was laying on the ground, starting to wither.
Mu picked up the flower and cradled it to his hands, smiling again... That silly gentle oaf, he thought fondly. He looked up and saw that Aldebaran had sat down on a rock overlooking the sunset.
"Hey, you!" Mu greeted his companion once he was close enough. "What are you doing out this late?"
The tall Saint looked up, starting."Mu! I thought it was somebody else..."
"Who did you think?"
"Nobody..."
"Were you looking for something?"
"Nothing..."
"To me it looked like you were. What was it?"
"I just felt like going for a walk", Aldebaran stated, staring at his feet again, and Mu smiled gently.
"Oh, then you're probably not interested at what I found on my way down", he started to turn away, hearing the other look up again.
He turned back and noticed the other Saint staring intently at him.
"The flower, you big softy", Mu smiled. "That's what you were looking for, wasn't it?"
"How...? Where...?"
"You had dropped it, it was right back there on the ground", Mu smiled at his friend, holding the flower out to him.
Gently the taller man reached out to take the flower, but took hold of Mu's hand instead and smiled.