[VE] Making memories

Míngzé had not expected her to call the bear in his jacket cute, or no, she’d called him cute. It was nice, but he did his best not to think too much about it. He could still recall Xīyuàn’s comments. All he was doing was helping her find her way in life after all. It was— yeah. Best not think too much about it.

They were her for her, so it was only fair that she also got to decide what they were going to eat. Míngzé hummed in agreement when she proposed to get some crepes. “Those are usually very good,” he told her. Last festival Míngzé had also ended up with them, after Qiān refused to give him anything but fries.

As they were making their way towards the right stall, Mingzé’s cane moved from left to right, telling him about possible bumps. A while ago he used to hate the thing, but as he had no other choice, he’d come to accept it. But it was moments like these, that his irritation towards the thing came back to the surface. What he noticed was a pressure, as if something was pushing the cane away. What happened was nothing major. A young boy, younger than twenty was with a group of friends and was walking backwards, not paying attention towards where he was going. The result was that he nearly tripped over the cane when it moved to the outside.

“Watch out you fu—” the young man growled almost insulted, but his words died on his tongue. Yet the angry glare remained.

“I’ll try harder next time,” Míngzé replied, his tone tinged with irritation. Seeing as the kid had not finished his sentence he probably realized what he’d said was wrong, but that did not matter.

This was not the first time something like this happened, although it was not a weekly or even monthly occurrence, luckily. Almost each time ended the same way, which is why Míngzé did not make a problem of it. It stung, yes, because in the end they all swallowed their words after seeing him. They felt sorry, that was what it was.

By telling them he would try harder next time, he would only fuel their guilt. Which was better than making a scene. Already he could hear them stammering, unable to form logical words. Lucina told him he shouldn’t do so, to which he only hummed in response. He would explain later.

That was, at least, before Lucina continued. Míngzé frowned and turned his head towards her. There sounded a stammering apology before the boy and his friends turned around and left. He clenched his jaw as he vaguely saw the disappearing into the crowd. “It uh— It’s best to just let them be, really. Going against them might only make it worse,” Míngzé explained with a soft shake of his head, followed by a sigh.

“Let’s get something to eat now.” He flashed her a smile before tugging at her arm. This really was only a misunderstanding and he would not let it ruin their day. They would feel worse about this whole ordeal anyway. “You should also try a milkshake if they have any.” He would keep the swings of his cane minimal, to prevent this from happening again.

It was fine. Those boys had noticed their mistake, although Míngzé couldn’t shake the feeling that he’d missed something, and were now gone. In the end that was all that mattered, but Lucina did not seem to share the same ideas. “Really,” he acknowledged with a nod and a small smile. There were worse things that could happen than this.

Míngzé hummed softly. It was difficult to make decisions for someone else, as everyone had a different taste in things. Maybe she did not like the same things he did, which was totally fine. “I always go for vanilla, but feel free to try any you want. People also seem to like the banana flavor, especially with freshly added bananas mixed in between. It’s really up to you.” The vendor had heard him talking, and already asked if that was his order. Míngzé could almost hear the man smile. “Yes, and a crepe with hot chocolate sauce, nothing else. For you, Lucina?” he then asked, head turned towards her. Hopefully she already made her decision as other people were already standing behind them.

Once both had made their decision, all they had to do was wait. Luckily for them, it didn’t take very long. Their order was placed before them, but even with this— Míngzé reached out and the owner handed him his milkshake. It was all he could really carry. Yet he flashed the man a smile, thanking him for the help.

Míngzé didn’t want to tell Lucina that she had to carry everything else. “Is there still room to sit anywhere?” he asked, forcing his voice to remain casual. The way his heart softly ached only fueled a certain anger. This, all of this should not bother him anymore. It hadn’t done so in years.

By clearing his throat, he pushed away the thoughts again. “How are things with Xīyuàn?” Míngzé inquired, genuinely curious. Until this moment, they had been too busy, but now there was finally a moment to spare. Having Lucina around had been nice, but it was still better this way. Of that he was certain. “Are the two of you getting along?” Compared to him, his cousin was a whole different person and he would understand if it was too much at times. He would also not be able to live with her for a long period of time. Even when he loved her.

There was only a bench left, which was probably more than he could’ve hoped for. Not having some stable surface would provide an extra challenge, but he would manage. “Perfect,” Míngzé said with a small smile, following her towards the bench and carefully sitting down. He placed his milkshake next to him before folding his cane and also placing it somewhere next to him. Next he held out his hand to accept his plate and place it on his lap. All Míngzé needed to do now was be careful and hope not to spill any hot chocolate on his clothes or the teddy bear.

Míngzé was trying his best to cut his food with his plastic fork, keeping the pieces as small as possible. He really should’ve gone for something easier to eat than this, or ditched the sauce because that was making his life difficult. Otherwise he could’ve eaten it with his hands.

“Oh yeah, I’ve never shown that to you, I also have some stuff that works that way. It’s easier.” Especially easier than this damn crepe. Finally Míngzé was able to take his first bite and it was extremely underwhelming with no chocolate at all. Somehow this reminded him of something. “I hope she gave you a spare key. Did you know she locked me out of my own apartment during new years eve?” Míngzé sighed but there was a small hint of a smile on his lips. Although it had once irritated him greatly, he now found it so absurdly ridiculous that it almost made him chuckle.

Mistakes were made that day. Míngzé took another bite, but now he ended with a mouth full of sauce, which was also not great.

This was the last time he would even buy something like this to eat at a festival. It was too much of a struggle, especially when trying his best not to struggle. He kept the irritation off his face, instead forcing a calm expression to take over. Would she notice if he threw it away without even finishing half of it?

“I’m sure Xīyuàn can explain everything, she knows a lot about that kind of stuff, and also helped me set up my small setup.” Maybe one day he would also make everything work on voice commands, now they are only the most basic things. “Just tell her I’ll come for her neck if she does.” While he could laugh with it now, that did not mean he wanted her to do it to someone else. Especially not Lucina.

Just when he wanted to take another bite, chocolat unknowingly dripped down, luckily on his plate, he could hear Lucina speak up again. A confused expression formed on his face as he raised an eyebrow and lowered his fork again. “Wha—” he started until something softly hit his knee. “A pokémon?” he asked, clearly puzzled. Indeed, when he bent forward he could see a dark shape moving at his feet. “I don’t— where did they come from?” The one at his feet jumped on the bench next to him, sniffing at his crepe. Míngzé already raised a hand to shoo it away, when the creature pressed her head against his head. The fur was very soft and he reached out to pet it.

Míngzé felt how the creature next to him only came closer. He moved aside, closer to Lucina in an attempt to keep some distance. “Yeah some pokémon are different from others, be it because they are shiny, have a trait or sometimes it is simply the difference between a male and a female,” Míngzé explained absent minded as he was struggling with the thing that sat next to him. Without knowing which species this pokémon was, he had no way of telling her why hers was different.

“They’re supposed to be that way.” While Míngzé had no fear for pokémon, he did not particularly like wild or stranger pokémon. He could not read them like others could and had no idea how kind or mean they were. This one however did not give up and placed its paws against his arm to get closer to the teddy bear at his chest.

A hum rolled over his lips at the next question of Lucina, but then felt the pokémons cold nose against his neck. “I uh— shall we go towards the next big thing?” Minzge jumped to his feet, unfolding his cane in the process. “There is some kind of search, how about we do that next?” He was not hungry anyway and perhaps he could get away from this stranger pokémon.

Even pokémon colorations were a mystery to Lucina, which should not come as a surprise anymore. “They have a different color compared to the standard ones you would normally come across. People view them as more valuable because of it.” Something that did not really matter to him.

Míngzé looked in the direction of the strange pokémon with a troubled expression. It wants to get closer Lucina told him. “Right.” What if he did not want it to get closer to him? Míngzé thought it was a good idea to keep going, maybe the creature would give up at some point. Yet he was aware that it kept following the two of them, sometimes softly touching his leg. His plan was simple, ignore it long enough, and it would eventually hopefully go away. Once more he held onto the other's arm as they continued.

“I assume something Valentine related, although I have no idea what.” Normally this was a festival he skipped each year, so he had no idea if this was a yearly occurrence or not. Seeing as they were here anyway, there was no harm in trying. “Although, you might need to do all the hard work,” Míngzé said with a small smile. Things like hide and seek were not actually things he was very good at, surprisingly.  

Míngzé raised his brow as he noticed how a pokémon approached them for this part of the event. There was a letter, which of course meant nothing to him. He patiently waited for Lucina to read it out loud and as she did, he hummed silently. Riddles were never one of his strong suits, but at least it was easier than something he needed his eyes for.

“That could be a lot of things,” Míngzé thought out loud. It was a lot to remember too. “Hearts converge under the gaze of night, and then what?” Meanwhile, the pokémon rubbed her head against his leg, only for Míngzé to ignore her completely. His mind was racing as he was trying to uncover this riddle.

“Shall we go sit down for a moment?” If they were going to solve this riddle, he would need some time to think this over. Perhaps he would record it with his phone, otherwise he had to ask Lucina the same question over and over again.