Strange, Autor thought again, as he had been doing so often of late. How you notice people after running into them.
Malen had asked for another drawing session, and he'd declined. Pique and Lille were attached at the hip, of course, but that didn't prevent each from bumping into him together and separately. And, though he hadn't started playing piano in the salle, he kept getting glimpses of the brunette in the cafeteria, in the music rooms, the library...
It was time to talk to Duck.
He bought a loaf of bread on his meager editor's pay and headed down to the pond, only to find himself bristling as soon as he arrived.
"What are you doing here?" he asked the brunette.
She turned to face him and placed a hand on her hip. The girl held up her own loaf of bread. "Feeding the ducks."
"Quack!" Duck said, and started in on her feast.
"So are you following me?" the girl asked abruptly, before he could get a word in.
"No, of course not!" Autor blurted out, color blooming on his face like a peony. "Why would you even think that?"
She tilted her head. "Because I see you all the time now. Everywhere I go, you're there."
"Quack!"
Autor laughed dryly, a quiet breath. "I've noticed the same. Who are you?"
"What?" she said, blinking at him. "I'm not some mystery, all right? My name's Erina."
"Erina," Autor repeated, furrowing his brow. "I've never heard of you. "
"Huh," she said. "Guess that means you weren't following me. So what's your name?"
"Autor."
"Hi, Autor," she said, holding out her hand. "Nice to meet you."
He shook it, dumbfounded.
Erina turned to the pond to feed Duck, and he cataloged everything he knew about the girl and then some. Tall, brunette, and... and not afraid of anything. He saw that while she had the grace typical of ballerinas, she planted her feet solidly when she stood, and looked him in the eye when she spoke.
Wholly unnerving, he thought, watching her scatter breadcrumbs with thin fingers. And not at all like Rue.
Autor frowned, tearing into his bread just to have something to do while watching her. Duck quacked happily, a reminder of what they'd all been through-and what no one remembered. His gaze traveled to the line of Erina's back-and he covered his mouth to keep the strangled sound from leaving his lips.
Wait! he thought. Weren't you an anteater!?
Once she finished with her bread. Erina clasped her hands behind her back and rocked on the balls of her feet. "Hey," she said. "Are you really 'together' with Femio?"
"Quack!" Duck said.
Autor started. "What! N-No! No, I'm not-" he said, and turned, only to see her beaming at him.
He frowned back. "Not funny."
Erina chuckled, and Duck quacked rapidly, giggling.
Autor scoffed, and walked away, leaving his brunette and his bread behind.