Ch5. Care for Some Spaghetti?

"Look, Gunther, I'm not sure what your trying to hide, but we're going back home, so come on!" Swaine glared at his burly familiar; he had followed him all over the city for the past hour and his patience had reached its limit. The Hurlabaloo sighed, tired of forcing his master halfway across the city. He jumped back into Swaine's chest with a grunt.

"Finally…Now I can get home." The mechanic turned around and made his way through the evening streets of Hamelin to his rundown place. After walking for a good half hour, he reached his destination.

"Wonder what sort of mess Gunther was trying to hide…maybe he broke something?"

Swaine reached out his gun and unlocked the door, not bothering to get the keys from Gunther. Before his hand could reach for the door handle, a familiar purple Electrongo opened it for him and peaked out with a chirp.

"Wha-? Aren't you Esther's familiar? What was your name again…Bozo?" The man scratched his stubble in thought but then grimaced with pain as the bird pecked angrily at a certain area.

"OWCH! Ow ow ow…" The poor man bent over in pain, holding the spot where the bird had pecked with fury. "S-stupid bird…right where it hurts…ow…"

Gogo glared at the man, demanding an apology. "Ow…wait, your name's Gogo, right? S-sorry, my bad." Swaine brought his head up to make eye contact with the familiar. After a minute of staring Gogo chirped an 'hmph' and turned to the house.

The first thing the man noticed when he walked into his home was the air wasn't filled with its usual mustiness. The living area was free of its dust and even the picture on the fireplace was now viewable. He also noticed the smell in the air no longer consisted of dust but now smelled of something cooking.

"What's that smell…sniff, sniff…doesn't smell half-bad, actually…"

He followed the smell into his once-filthy kitchen. Standing in front of the stove was a familiar blonde woman stirring a boiling mixture in a large red pot. Gogo had waddled over and chirped cheerfully to his master. Esther looked down to her side and gave her precious pet a smile as her blue eyes shone. Opening the lid of a smaller green pot, she sprinkled some spices into a thick red sauce and stirred it in, humming to herself. She was completely oblivious to the mechanic standing behind her.

However, a certain Bougie was aware of their guest. Swaine suddenly looked to his side to see a spooky familiar nuzzling his arm as it purred. It then floated up to his face and under his chin. The sensation was quite ticklish and Swaine couldn't help but chuckle as this little ghost continued to show affection.

This laugh caught Esther's attention as she turned around with a gasp, but then found herself laughing as the Bougie buried itself into Swaine's curly hair.

"Aww, he likes you!"

"Heh, think you could get this guy out of my hair?"

"Okay, here Spooky!"

With that the little ghost glided over to Esther, now purring as he rubbed by her slender legs. "Aw, aren't you an affectionate little guy? Ooh, yes you are!" She knelt down and scratched the Bougie on the head adoringly.

"Anyway, what are you still doing here, blondie?"

The man had an oven mitt tossed in his face with a muffled slap. The tosser was not happy. "Seriously, enough with the nicknames already! I've got a name you know!"

"So…are you gonna explain what you've been doing the past few hours or what?"

"W-well…" Esther turned back around and stirred the food in the large red pot, "I wanted to help you…You're house was a mess, and you didn't look so good…and I knew you wouldn't let me help you willingly, so about last night…I wasn't really sick. It was an act."

"So you became a little actress last night, eh? Quite an elaborate performance."

The woman nodded as she added some pepper to the pot. When the man peered over he saw what she was cooking; spaghetti. "Anyway, I figured that 'persistent co-worker' of yours would call you again and make you go back to work, even though you had company…" She added some garlic and continued, "And while you were away…well, my familiars and I gave your house a big spring cleaning."

"Huh. So let me get this straight; you pretended to be sick to your stomach to stay over at my place and then rummaged around my house, sticking your nose where it doesn't belong."

"Hey! We didn't do that! I just told you we cleaned it, nothing else! Besides, your house was filthy! I practically did you a favor!"

Swaine paused for a moment and then picked up one of her long bangs of hair. He rubbed the hair between his coarse fingers. "…A bit damp. I take it you used my shower without my permission as well?"

"I-It was just a quick rinse, honest!"

Swaine crossed his arms. "You're nothing but a nosy little-omph!" He was stopped as another oven mitt was thrown at his face.

"Well, you know what you are? A selfish arrogant idiot who acts like a-oof!" The oven mitt was tossed back to her face. Esther returned it in the same fashion. "Take this!"

"You're an annoying brat!"

"You're a coward!"

"You're impossible!"

"You're insipid!"

"You're-wait, you're food's burning!"

"You-huh? Oh no!"

Quickly turning around, she grabbed the other mitt and put them both on as she opened the oven, a faint burning scent lingering in the air. She pulled out a slightly burnt lump of bread.

"Oh, phew, it's not too bad, just on the sides." The air was now filled with the smell of slightly burnt babana bread. The tamer placed the food on the counter and pulled off the worn oven mitts. Gogo and Spooky stared at the sweet bread hungrily, licking their chops. Their master waved her finger, "Oh no, not until it's cool. You don't want to burn your mouths, do you?" The two animals hung their heads down in disappointment.

"So you messed around with my house, borrowed my shower, and used my kitchen. All this behind my back and-OW!" Swaine stopped mid-sentence as Esther slapped her hand across his cheek. It wasn't a serious slap, but it still stung. The man raised a hand to his cheek, wincing at the tenderness.

The blonde turned around with her nose in the air and continued with her cooking. "Hmph. I had just made this delicious dinner for you to eat, but if you're going to act that way, I guess I won't let you have any." She stirred the tasty meal in the pot, giving the air a scrumptious smell; although Swaine pretended not to notice.

"Fine by me. I wasn't even hungry."

Unfortunately, his stomach decided to use that very moment to disagree with him as it growled pleadingly. The man mentally slapped his forehead. "Nice one, Swaine. Real smooth."

His stomach wasn't the only one who had other ideas. Gunther popped out of his chest and looked up to the mechanic with big eyes.

"What?"

The Hurlabaloo's gaze rested hungrily on the now cool babana bread as his large mouth watered. The Bougie also floated over and looked at the man with pleading eyes. Even Gogo waddled over and raised a feathery eyebrow to the stubborn man.

Esther saw this staring contest between the familiars and her friend. Tapping her chin for a moment, she spoke. "Well, I might let you have some if you apologize."

Swaine looked from the cook to the familiars, then back and again.

"Dammit. Dammit, dammit, dammit…"

"…Alright, fine…I'm sorry. There, you happy now?"

Esther was silent for a minute, then leaned forward and flicked his nose with her finger. Grinning as he scratched his nose, she said, "Alright, apology accepted."

"Careful with those! We don't want any spills!"

A soldier called out to another pair of soldiers struggling to carry a large barrel. The label was in bold black print and stated the name of its chemical contents; 'ASTIFIZED HEXALUCID ACID'.

"There! That's the last one!" Shoving the last iron barrel on the high self, the soldier took off his helmet and wiped his forehead, revealing curly ash-blonde hair. The other one did the same, uncovering his short black hair.

"Yeah…we're finally done. But why do we have to put the stuff here? This is a storage room for machines, not chemicals."

"I think we ran out of room in the normal room. But what I want to know is why we have to put it on those high shelves."

The third soldier walked up and looked at the barrels. "Well, if we put them on the ground, one of the tanks could run over them and cause a pretty big spill. They should be safer up there, I hope." He turned around and waved at the other two. "C'mon, our work here is done, so let's get a bite to eat."

"Oh yeah, I'm starving! We should swing by Uncle Carl's or something!" The two soldiers jogged up to the other one, leaving behind the barrels of chemicals on the self just above Porco Moco, the newest member of Hamelin's military weapon inventory.

The Hurlabaloo chomped at the piece of sweat babana bread as if it would be taken away before he could finish it. The other familiars ate with a similar eagerness (save the calm and elegantly nibbling Umberwood) but Gunther's eating was something else entirely.

"Gunther! Slow down and chew your food!"

But the blonde's advice came too late, as by the time she finished her sentence, the piece of bread had disappeared.

"Well…I guess that means they like my cooking, at least."

The familiars munched on their babana bread while Esther and Swaine had plates of spaghetti. The tamer fidgeted anxiously as her friend tried her cooking.

"Um…so how is it?"

"…It's pretty good. It's a lot better than my cooking, that's for sure."

Esther sighed, relieved that her friend was satisfied with her cooking. "I noticed you didn't have a lot of proper food in your kitchen…I thought you weren't eating right."

Swaine chewed as he thought before swallowing and asking, "So…I never got to ask the other night, but what else have you been doing for the past three years, besides taming monsters?"

"Oh, nothing much, I've made some friends with the other girls back home and some other animal tamers from other parts of the world. My father's still a babana merchant, so I've been eating a lot of babanas." She chuckled before continuing, "But babana's aside, he still practices magic."

"Hmm, I see…" Swaine took another bite of his meal, enjoying the taste.

"And you?" Esther cocked her head to the side.

"Eh? What do you mean?"

"What else has been going on with you besides your job at the palace?"

The mechanic almost choked on his food; he had hoped she wouldn't ask that. But he didn't have much of a choice here.

"Oh, well, nothing, just helping out my brother and all."

Esther suddenly cracked a grin and struggled not to laugh as her mouth was full of spaghetti. The man raised an eyebrow at this-he certainly didn't expect that reaction.

The woman had managed to sober up and swallow. "I-I'm sorry, it just when you said that, I remembered that picture on the fireplace. The one of you giving Marcassin a noogie-haha!"

"Oh, that. Yeah, that old thing…" The man looked down with a strange expression; he wore a fond smirk but his eyes conveyed sadness.

"…Is something wrong?"

Swaine looked up to Esther's blue eyes. He sighed, knowing she wouldn't accept a simple 'no, I'm fine,' for an answer.

"…That photo in the frame was actually taken from a newspaper about a year ago." Esther raised her delicate eyebrows at this. "Marcassin and I were just minding our own business and talking in the hallway. I can't remember what we were talkin' about, but after we did I gave my little brother a noogie, as you could see." Swaine smirked at the memory as Esther giggled, remembering the humorous picture. "…What I didn't know was there were a few paparazzi stalking pretty boy and took a picture of us. I didn't notice it until the camera flashed…my street smarts must have gone rusty."

The mechanic looked down, ashamed of letting his guard down that day. He was snapped out of his trance as he felt something warm lightly tap his hand. It was Esther's hand.

"…Go on…"

"…anyway, it was in all the papers the next day, and people started to gossip about it. It's not that I give a damn about my reputation but being the center of attention just isn't my style. And my occupation only makes it worse."

"Hm? You mean being a mechanic?"

"Not just any mechanic. I didn't tell you this, but… I'm the Top-Head Engineer at the palace-that's like the equivalent of being the boss of all the inventors and mechanics in the entire kingdom. I started as a regular one three years ago, but I was so good at tinkering that I got promoted as time passed. I didn't think it would change anything, so I accepted them." He shut his eyes in regret. "I wish I had just stayed a plain old average Joe mechanic. Everybody that I meet-at work and outside of work-treats me like I'm some bigwig. It's probably a habit from being a thief, but all this attention I get just gives me a headache."

Swaine rubbed his fingers on his eyes, frustrated. His previous occupation had given him a mindset that couldn't be undone-that he hated unnecessary attention to himself- and now his current job has him in the spotlight where ever he goes. The man twirled the spaghetti around his fork, concentrating on the stringy meal.

"Generally, my problem is my big-all-important job plus my relationship with the ruler of the kingdom-and that equals a hurricane of attention on me. I can't walk two steps without someone not knowing who I am or talking about me."

Esther was quiet the whole time as Swaine told his tale of the past few years. She kept her blue eyes on him as he spoke, taking in the information. When Swaine finished with a sigh, the woman stared at her plate, fiddling with her hair.

"…Actually Swaine, I've been having some similar problems back home, too."

The mechanic looked up. "Huh?"

"After our adventures with Oliver, I had gained a reputation as a famous animal tamer. It was exciting at first because people recognized me for my talents and accomplishments. In the past, everyone respected me because I was the daughter of a Great Sage. They were probably afraid if they didn't they'd be in big trouble. To be honest…it was kind of lonely." She pulled at her long blonde bangs as she paused. "That's why I always liked being with animals; they didn't judge me for who my father was and they were true friends. They're not afraid to show their love."

As that last sentence passed her lips, Spooky floated over to the tamer and nuzzled comfortingly at her soft cheek. Esther released a giggle at the tickle of this eerie pet's affection. Stroking its pale body, she continued her story.

"Anyway, after I gained my fame for being 'a world class animal whisperer' as some people called it, I found out it was the same problem all over again. In fact, it was worse; my talent as an animal tamer plus my relationship with a Great Sage results in me being treated differently from everybody else." Her blue eyes shone with sadness, the color of loneliness. "I…I just wanted to be normal."

Swaine listened, intrigued by his friend's talk. He had never expected anybody else to feel a similar way to what he was feeling these past few years. Like him, she was close to a Great Sage and although her job wasn't 'important' it was widely recognized that she was above the rest. It was almost identical to his issues. He was so lost in thought that he almost didn't hear what she huffed out next.

"And to top it all off, now that I'm a grown woman, all the boys back home won't leave me alone."

Had Swaine been eating or drinking at the moment she said this, he probably would have choked. Thankfully he wasn't consuming anything at the time.

"W-wait, what do you mean by that, exactly?"

"They keep throwing themselves at me, 'confessing their love' and begging to go out with me."She drummed the table in an irritated manner with her pretty finger. "They care for the image of me, a 'talented, beautiful blonde', not who I truly am. And furthermore, I don't particularly feel anything for them. Not that they're all bad or anything, but I just don't feel any…attraction to them. No magic or chemistry or whatever you call it."

"…Wow."

Esther raised an eyebrow. "Huh? What's so 'wow'?"

"I'm having that sort of problem, too! Well, sorta."

"Oh? Our womanizing Swaine has a bit of a woman problem now?" Esther grinned in amusement.

"No, not that kind of problem, and I'm not a womanizer, for cryin' out loud."

She raised a finger up, "You flirted with my soulmate Myrtle AND I saw you wink at Queen Cassiopea after the battle."

"…Whatever. Anyway, my problem is with my brother."

Esther cocked her head to the side in confusion. "What? Prince Marcassin?"

"Yeah. Lately he's been trying to convince me to try and become 'an eligible bachelor'." He put air quotes around the last part with his fingers, rolling his eyes. "Says I should 'have someone special in my life' or whatever. He tries to come up with these 'ideas' to try and clean me up and stuff. Last time he shaved off my stubble!" His hand came up protectively around his chin. "You have no idea how weird it is to go around without something you've had for over fifteen years...Ever since then I've been steering clear of my brother whenever I get the feeling that he's up to something involving me."

"Oh, I see…" Esther nodded her head just before a yawn escaped her lips.

"Eh? Is my story boring you?" Swaine said, but then he broke out a yawn as well.

He was suddenly aware of how all the familiars were asleep on the floor, how dark it was outside, and what the hands of the old clock read. It was almost midnight.

"It's pretty late…" The mechanic looked at his friend as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes. He stood up from his chair, knowing he would have company over for one more night.

"C'mon, sleepy head. Let's get you to bed."

After guiding a sleepy Esther to his bedroom, Swaine collapsed once again on the couch. However, it was now free of its mustiness, making it a bit more comfortable. "Maybe Esther's cleaning spree isn't so bad after all…" He shut his eyes and drifted into a deep, peaceful slumber as he snored softly. (Okay, maybe not so softly, but at least it didn't wake up anybody else.)