Rubie and YV had just narrowly escaped the queue for food, securing a bag of cinnamon sugar churros as they stumbled back onto the main street. You'd argue that stuff like this was genuinely meaningless- especially for some probably mediocre churros out in a random town fair, but what made this 10 times more special than it would've been alone was the fact that she was with a friend. YV pulled a churro out of the paper bag, taking a bite out of it and relishing the comforting warm sweetness of it before offering the bag to Rubie.
"You want one? It's the least I can do for making you wait in line with me!" he spoke through full cheeks, and Rubie's eyes flicked to the pile of sugary sweet churros waiting for her in that bag, but really, really had to pass up the offer. "No thanks, I probably ate my body weight in snacks right before I came here– and don't worry about it! I wouldn't make you wait alone and bored in that queue."
YV took another bite of the churro, his brow raising in curiosity "You ate before going to Lunaris? God– you really are a foreigner… You're missing out on all the delicious food here!"
She couldn't help but laugh at how serious this was for him, the sheen in his eyes grew more and more intense at the mention of her limited stomach space. "I know! I know! It's just that Mitzi 'n I were having this stupid little welcome back party for me. It was really fun! We spent, like, literal hours binge watching this show and–"
But Rubie trailed off, realising that her mentioning Mitzi had thrown YV out the loop, his gaze had gone distant– not fully gone, but hazy enough to make her realise something important that she'd already forgotten about. Right, Mitzi had touched on this just a little bit before they went out. They weren't friends anymore… at least from what she could tell.
"Oh, that's… that's nice!" He took a third bite off the churro to silence his words, and that was all he was willing to say about that. She could tell something had changed in his mind, it was like taking an instrument out of a full band- even if he looked and acted the same as he did just a few seconds ago, something was off about him now.
Now it was obvious. She needed to change the subject, and fast too. The last thing she wanted to do was kill the mood or pry into a story that wasn't ready to be shared yet. She looked around, scanning the park for something to distract the two of them when her eyes landed right on it– a high striker just a few feet in front of them that was free of a queue.
Rubie piped up, feigning excitement for YV's sake as she skipped a little closer towards it, "hey– that looks fun, right?"
"What?" YV met her eye again, following her line of sight directly to the stall. "... A high striker?"
She nodded, as vigorously as she could, tugging on the end of his sleeve and she bumped up the enthusiam in her voice. "Yeah– come on! I wanna try it out!"
It was a little smaller than the others, understandable considering how the high striker didn't take up much space at all. Despite YV's curious– and somewhat doubtful– eyes on her. Rubie's attention flew to the top of the stall where countless plushies dangled from strings on display. She knew that with her strength she wouldn't even be able to come close to winning any of them, but hey! Maybe if she really believed in herself she'd be able to win… that giant black cat plushie up there! Really, how hard could it be?
Rubie walked right up to the stall, paying a small fee to play. He handed the hammer to Rubie a little later, and even just holding it was already giving her some trouble– But from beside her, she heard YV let out a little giggle watching her struggle, and it reminded her of what really mattered, if YV was gonna end up forgetting about what she said because she did something stupid, then so be it– right?
She tried her best to raise the hammer, smashing it down on the target with all the might she had in her body– only to score something that didn't even reach 50% of the meter. Both the stall owner and YV applauded her attempts anyways, the sound of his laughter welcome to her ears again as she brushed off her own failed attempt to win a giant prize and settled for the flimsy toy gun the owner had given her instead.
"And how about you, my boy?" the owner called out. And YV paused, curious eyes flitting up to his face to see if he was addressing him "Would you like a try?"
"Uh–" His eyes shot wider as he looked to Rubie for what to do, and as soon as he saw her nod encouragingly, already starting to whoop and cheer his name, he seemed to have made up his mind.
YV looked from the bag of churros he was holding to the high striker, and finally to the line of plushies up to the stall. Shrugging his shoulders he finally ended up relenting, sighing before handing her the bag.
"Oh, fine! Why not?"
Rubie cheered in seeing his decision, a little relieved to see he was starting to enjoy himself again. She watched as he dusted his hands off, showed off some stretches for theatrics, picked up and held the hammer high above his head and only going to strike the spot when his heart and mind were in the ready.
She caught the flash of sheer power in his eyes before he violently slammed the hammer into the high striker with so much force it shook the entire meter back and forth for a few seconds. The rushing sound of his swing cutting the air around it was almost just as loud as the ringing bell and flashy music that played the moment YV hit the very top of the meter.
"-A winner! We have a winner!" The automated suave voice of the high striker repeated the same sentiment over and over again as YV gently set the hammer down like he didn't just exert the force of a bodybuilder with a proud smile. The stall owner snapped back in a flash, going on to congratulate YV, giving him the god-given choice to take home any of the prizes hung off the ceiling. He thought for a while, before smiling to himself and pointing straight at the black cat. Hm, he had a good eye.
The man handed it off to him after climbing a ladder to unite it from the rest of the little guys up there, tossing it in his direction as he caught it with both arms. YV then turned around to Rubie, his smile restored back to full health as he spoke. "I saw you looking at him…you know, before you totally flopped the high striker- so I thought I'd win him all for you!"
Rubie scoffed at his wording, saying something stupid about how she definitely would've been able to win him all by herself without YV's meddling. Even with the friendly fire they were shooting in each other's way, Rubie could tell that this gesture went deeper than that, she felt it in the way he spoke, the chunk of him that was missing had returned and maybe this was his way of telling her 'Thank you.'
"Sooo…" YV spoke up again as they left the stall, dragging out his words as if he already had an idea forming in his mind. "It's 8:50… the show they put on to introduce Lunaris is about to start in, like, 10 minutes…"
The show…? She swore she could remember something like that being a part of Lunaris' opening nights but she just couldn't put a finger on it. She thought for a while, furrowing her brows just enough for YV to catch her expression. He turned to her, eyeing her right on. "You know? The opening show? With the same Willowfield creation myth they act out every year?"
She narrowed her eyes. That sounded awfully familiar– the more she thought about it the stronger the picture in her mind was. The opening show… Oh!
She lit up in an instant, and she heard YV laugh from beside her once he'd realised she'd remembered. The opening show, they did it every single year to mark the start of the Lunaris Festival. It was the same thing over and over again, but somehow the legend of how the town came to be all those years ago back in the late 1800s just never got old.
This part of the night was always YV's favourite. She remembered how when they were little, he'd always talk on and on about performing in one of those shows one day, and it seemed as if that dream hadn't worn off even as he grew older. That childlike spark inside of him was as clear as day, even with how hard he was trying not to let it take over.
Rubie sighed, amusement clear in her voice, "So, I'm guessing you wanna go?"
"Of course!" He piped up, passion driving itself through his words before he toned down the drama, a little bashful. "Well– I mean– only if you want to, that is…"
She let out a little laugh- even when literally brimming with excitement YV was still considerate to a fault. "What are you talking about? Hell yeah I wanna go!"
He lit up again at her agreement, reaching for her hand before excitedly dragging her off to the main stage with the speeds of a track runner– it was a struggle even trying to keep up with him. It had been decided, the two of them were well on the way to catch the highlight of the night.