Viole walked in silence.

There wasn't much to see or do. Lasco' Emporium was situated in a back alley. It was not a narrow alley, but a long, smooth, tall cement wall sat across from him. Pure grey. Not much to say or do.

That left him with just watching Ruard's back as the two approached the end of the alleyway. He hesitated while still away from the mouth of the alley - Viole suddenly had many doubts about his disguise. He would definitely stand out as the "stranger in the odd mask". Didn't that -

And then everything changed.

Night had come over Ludina but light filtered over everything - the crisscrossing lines with square, paper lamps, the multicolored bulbs that blinked from above, and the street posts that dotted the corners and threw passerbys in stark relief.

And that revealed the truth of the disguise. They were masked. All of them wore masks and colorful, flowing robes. Viole just stood still and silent as he watched a group of three, one of which was a unmasked child sitting on the shoulders of an adult, pass by underneath one of the street posts. The adult (parent?) held up a stick of something fluffy and pink and the little girl took a bite.

"Cotton Candy. Would you like to try some?"

Viole whirled around to Ruard, "What is this?"

"Ludina's annual Year of Victory Celebration. I thought you knew this festival was happening. Wasn't that why you asked to leave?"

...No. It wasn't.

"Well, it doesn't matter," he says - cutting off Viole's worries. "We will only be able to see a bit of the festival - still have those errands and all."

"It'll be more than enough to have fun though."

Viole shouldn't have been surprised. He knew she would be one of his "bodyguards" but was still surprised nonetheless by Taeyang standing there on the corner - the blonde wig from before on her head and looking like it was seamlessly attached. He has the inane thought of asking her how she did it, but a voice snaps him out of it.

"Well, if you're here I guess I can leave him in your hands."

The sound of Ruard's receding footsteps and lazy wave greeted Viole as he turned around. RBut he didn't have the chance to address the boy.

Taeyang would have none of it.

The young woman from FUG latched onto his shoulder - halting the man in place. "Where the hell do you think you're going?"

He looks over his shoulder at her - he had his usual bored look but something else as well. Disdain?

"What? I have something I need to do. If you think the festival is so fun, you two can scurry off and be kids."

"You know I can't just let you do that. We're all supposed to go together. Safer that way."

"Not going to make much difference against a -".

Viole could feel eyes on them so he cut in, "Maybe we can move this argument somewhere else?"

"No." Taeyang bit out, her voice frosty. "Ruard is right. It wouldn't make a difference. We can multitask." She smiled and Viole had never quite seen a smile like that before. "Good luck."

And that bored look on his face was back in place, paired with a sigh. "Will do."

And he started to walk away at that, and Taeyang turned around and went the other way. After a beat of hesitance Viole followed her.

"What was that about?"

Taeyang sighed. "It's nothing really ... I'm sorry you had to see that."

"It's fine, don't worry about it". Just to show that he hadn't gIven up Viole added, "So..."

"Ugh-okay, I've kinda been trying to befriend him since we met."

...don't make assumptions. "Why?"

"We're the only Regulars here - everyone else is either Rankers or hired thugs."

Fair enough. "What about Hwa Ryun?"

A beat of silence as she looked at him. Stared at him. The silence carried it's own weight and pressed down on their shoulders. Viole had to break.

"Right. Of course. Silly question."

She looked after him for a moment then sighed, "To be honest, I see less of her than I do some Rankers. She's just never around. In fact, I've seen her more in the last couple weeks than I have in years. I don't know why but she's sticking around you like butter. Or as close as she gets."

A conversation from the cave comes to mind, right when he learned the Flare Wave Explosion. My God. His eyes became half-lidded as a weight settled on him. Similar to the one caused by the silence but more distinct, heavier in a way. "She's looking for something I can't offer."

"It looks like you have more of a issue with her than me." She muttered so softly that Viole almost didn't hear it. "Anyway, let's try out some of the games!"

He didn't have time to get a word in edgewise as Taeyang had already grabbed Viole's wrist and dragged him forward.