Maybe Not

Pon pon pon pon pon!

"Heeeey Freeeeeeyaaaaaaaaaaaa! Freeeeeeeeeeeeyaaaaaaaaaaaa! You know you waaaannna seeeeee meeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! C'moooon! Frey-Freeeeeeeeyyyyyyyyyy!"

Hmm. Well that could've worked better. No movement from inside the house; only a faint wave of hard punk music permeates. Maybe she's... busy. Naaaaaaaw! She can't be too busy for Lyla! See, Lyla's like a goldfish—like one of those pets that don't need much of anything other than a couple things, then you can go ignoring them for a few weeks. Yeah, that.

And her attention span's a little like one too... well, naw. She just puts a lot of focus into the things most people don't put a lot of focus into. Like holidays. She must be the only one looking forward to Valentine's Day... but that being said, there aren't very many couples around here... pshhhh, maybe Digby'll show up. Isabelle never specified him... a lot of things, huh? Are they dating? Probably? Maybe? She's gonna go with yes.

"Freya! Freya! Freya! It's important! Freya!" Hmm, maybe she should open the door and walk on in herself. That might net her an answer. By this point she's not sure what will. Oh! Oh! There's an idea! Man, that's a great idea!

"Freyaaaaaa! If you don't open this doooor, I'll tell Faaauunaaaa you're ignooooriiiing meeeeeeeeeeee!" Okay, so blackmail isn't a very nice approach.

Creee... Hinges squeaking.

Ah, maybe blackmail isn't a very nice approach, but it also happens to be a very effective one. Bringing Fauna into the conversation always works. Isn't it great when the seemingly invincible people have obvious weak points?

Anyways. There is a snarling pink wolf and her eyes are muted against the idiocy of the girl in front of her. "Oh, goodness, what do you want, Lyla? And please, make it quick."

She's blinking a little furiously, color rushing beneath her cheeks. Aw, now Lyla feels kinda bad... naw, but she's got something important to say! And Freya needs to know about it, cuz when anyone needs to know about anything, they go to Freya! It's just a thing that happens! So anyways!

"Um um! I'm... uh! I'm trying to figure out what we'll be doing for V-Day, since—"

"Lyla, did you actually shorten Valentine's Day?"

Pause. "Yes, I actually did." Moving on. Freya's tired eyes roll. "So! V-Day! That is the important thing for this situation!" She is awarded with another roll of the eyes, one foot tapping impatiently against the entrance of the house's tile floor. The claws click against it, ki ki ki ki ki... "I just... like, it's one of those things!"

"Lyla, why can't you be concise?"

"Well, you see, Freya, it's a lot bigger than that!" A grunt. She's annoyed. Welp. "It's like one of those things! You know, like a hippo! I feel like I'm one of those hippos in a clothing store where nothing fits because they usually don't expect hippo customers, and so I'm trying and failing so bad! Nothing fits! I'm demolishing fabric as I'm putting it on! It's a mess!"

Deep release of breath. She pinches the bridge of her muzzle. "Okay Lyla. But this doesn't have to do with me or—"

"BUT LIKE!" She's still quiet but she manages. "AND I HAVE TO TRY TO FIT INTO CLOTHES THAT ARE TOO SMALL! AND I HAVE TO TRY TO STRETCH THEM OUT! AND IT'S NOT WOORRRKIIIIIING! AND I FEEL LIKE A LOOOOOOSEEERRRRRHHHh—"

Freya yells. "LYLA!" That gets her to shut up.

Her paws clench and unclench and clench again by her sides, a constant kneading effort to the air. It's like she really wants to drop Lyla out of her head as soon as possible. And she probably does.

Oh, why has Camofrog been such a moody jerk these past few days? He was good at subduing the girl.

Another sigh. Rubbing at tired eyes. Then, "Okay, Lyla. I understand that you have your own little"—oh, so idiotic—"problems, but I have things I'm dealing with too. And I can't answer all of your"—very, very stupid—"questions, so you'll have to ask somebody else about that. Umm... how about Fauna? She has a boyfriend, she'll have some ideas. Okay? Okay." And with a tired wave of the hand, she pulls back her door and slams it shut in Lyla's face.

Which she admittedly deserved every inch of.

Lyla, somewhat upset by the flow of their conversation, deserved or no, skips back and sighs at the plastic blue door. Her eyes catch onto that little felt broken heart, the one resembling Freya's punk soul, and she just... stares at it for a moment. In wonder. In worry. Why was it a broken heart? Could've just been black or something... nnnf. Questioning the felt life choice on a door...

She goes skipping down the side of the cliff, wending one of the little paths and landing into the sand below. Just a stroll, something, she doesn't know, finding herself rather soon face-to-face with the doe herself, just... sitting, back against the cliff, legs out beneath her.

A stroke of tranquility brushes along her soft brown face. Excited, Lyla darts up to her, plopping down beside her. Fauna stirs at this. She rubs at an eye some, smiling faintly. "Ah, hello, Lyla! It looks like you've found my secret hiding place, eheheh... although I guess it's not that much of a secret... or a hiding place. Ahahaha..."

Such a sweet little voice, a gentle twinkling laugh, a smile to match. Honest, caramel eyes... so small... so... oh, it twists the heartstrings! Even Lyla can feel its presence! Hah, no wonder Freya's so overprotective of the poor girl. No wonder...

She tells Fauna about her dilemma, using a great amount of flouncy hand gestures, the doe's head moving slowly with them. She blinks sometimes, eyes thoughtful and big, with one hoof to her lip in pondering.

"Hmm! This is quite a problem, no? Well... personally, I don't think it has to be a very big thing to move the hearts of Wherford. Eheheh... maybe just a nice place to look at the stars..."

"Like the plaza."

"Big, and open... good to dance in!"

"Like the plaza!"

"And easy to make festive! We can buy streamers and everything!"

"Like the plaza!"

Fauna breaks off into giggles. "Eheheheheh... well, yeah! If you'd like to make it in the plaza, I guess we can! It's got the little podium in the middle, so it should have a nice place to look at the stars... it's big, it's open, it's good for dancing~ And we can make it sooo festive! Eheheheh... it'd be more fun than just in front of the town hall for sure, I think!" Nodding, beaming, face bright and flecked with pink.

The pinkish ground and the flower blossoms stir overhead. Some of them go floating off the edge of the cliff, landing like raindrops into the sand below. Fauna holds out a hoof and manages to balance one or two: her face brightens even further.

There is a nice smile upon her face, one only heightening as the thoughts set in. "And... and we can invite Keke..! A-And Digby, and everyone else who wants to come..! It can be like a dance party, only better. Eheheh..."

The two share a giggle, nodding slowly.

"Yeah..." Lyla grins. For once the shadows in her face stretch apart, spreading thinly along her, taking away the tire from her expression. "Yeah, that's great..! Eheh... that's great... man, I hope everyone loves it. I hope that... I hope that for once, they get really happy about something... heh..."

Fauna's little head shakes with her agreement. They bounce a little in place, excited for the thought of it, excited for the thought of what they're gonna buy on their shopping spree! Ooohhhh maaan!

And it's a nice feeling. A nice thing. One precious to think about, one thankful to have.

And oh, is Lyla thankful it's not Halloween.

Moving slowly, one pink paw upon her forehead. She's leaning down, glaring at the floor, feet cold, hands cold, heart beating hard in her chest. "Ohh, this is horrible," she mutters constantly; sometimes missing a few vowels, sometimes without even saying the words, only running through them in her mouth.

Twitching. Turning back. Taking one long stare into her front door. "I-I... oh, atrocity of atrocities..." Paws curling, she pulls back to her front door, muttering things again. "Too much to think about... I-I don't know what to worry about... it's all so much... I just... I am... auh..."

It takes her a few shaky tries, but the lock manages to clasp shut. "Okay. No more. No more." Furious head shaking. "No one else.

Splutter. "A-Ah... E-Except for Fauna... because Fauna... Fauna's... Fauna's so... important... and she deserves so much safety... forever. Aahh... I'll be fine as long as she's... R-Right." Splutter, stutter, her voice so low and weak it's hardly a voice at all.

"Too much to think about... too much indeed... oh, this is horrible... horrible...

"No more... no more, but Fauna... but... she might... ahh... no more, oh, no more... okay. Oh, this is horrible..." Slowly she files back from her door.

Only she doesn't go very far before stopping. Shallow, rasping breaths. Eyes wide, eyes narrowed, eyes falling closed in desperate need of a rest. To stop seeing, stop thinking, stop something. "No... no no... don't do that..." Enough rubbing at them and she manages, but she is shaking. Freya pulls that coat of hers from her bed and wraps it around her, slowly sinking to the ground.

She sits there, then, staring blankly at the tiles. Her paws clench and unclench and clench again.

"Oh, atrocity of atrocities... oh, this is horrible... horrible... yes, very... hhhhh..."