It was one in the afternoon, the laziness after lunch was encroaching on Marielle, and the aftertaste of tea still lingered in her mouth. She sat idly at her desk, tapping away on the desk with her pen, her glasses put away for a moment. Each tap became more and more delayed as she stared down the stack of closed textbooks, lost in thought. She felt frustrated, but couldn't exactly place why. It had been a couple of days since Seren arrived at their home, but she hadn't seen him once after dinner that night. She wasn't expecting much in the first place, but the feeling weighing her down didn't go unnoticed. He spent days working, evidenced by the constantly shut door, and the light leaking from under his door when Marielle would walk by late at night. She closed her eyes for a moment, thoughts racing, then stood up.

She put her glasses back on and opened the door with intent, ready to set off to father's office. Except someone was already standing there.

"Wha—!" she jumped back, her hand instinctually raised to her chest.

She heard a small chuckle in response.

"S-sorry about that," he said, as he raised his hand to cover his smile.

She stared at him, confusion in her eyes. What was he doing here? How long has he been standing there??

"I was a bit hesitant to knock this early after lunch," he said as if to respond to her thoughts.

"o-oh, uh, it's fine" she breathed out, winding down from the scare.

"Anyways...what brings you here?" Seren fidgeted with his hands for a bit. His hair was neatly combed back and he looked put together despite the fact he had been holed up in his room for days. She smiled slightly at the sight.

"uh—so your father told me to—", he started quietly, "no sorry...What I mean to say is, would you like to go out into the city together? I'd like to take a look around" he sputtered. 

Marielle read his expression for a second. Father put him up to this.

"Sure!" she replied happily. 

Her initial plan was to pester father into letting them take a trip downtown, but apparently, he had similar ideas.

"I'll meet you at the front door in 15 minutes, I still have to tidy up"

"Alright, I'll see you there", he responded. She watched him walk away and then retreated into her room. The bed was in a state of disarray, and her curtains still hadn't been pulled back since morning. Her room embodied laziness. She pulled up the sheets and fluffed the pillows, hoping he didn't catch a glance at the mess. She stood in thought for a second.

10 minutes and a few dozen checks in the mirror later, she walked out the door in her red dress, a bow tying back her hair to top it all off. She hoped he didn't think she dressed up, that would be embarrassing.

She saw him waiting at the front door, staring out towards the gate.

"Hey"

He noticed her presence. 

"Hi" 

He looked over at her and kept his eyes there. Her eyes shot to the floor, expecting him to say something from the way he stared. When she heard nothing in response, she looked back up at him. He quickly turned his head away, a tint of red creeping on his face.

"Sorry, you just look...pretty..." he said, still facing the other way. And now it was her turn to blush.

"Thanks...uh, you're looking pretty good too." She made a vague gesture toward him with her hands. That was all she could muster in response

He smiled and beckoned her out the door, and followed behind. A carriage was waiting for them at the gate, and they made their way towards it. 

As they sat, she told the coach driver to take them downtown and paid the fare. She was worried there would be an awkward silence throughout the ride but it was quite pleasant. He looked out the window, asking about each interesting thing he saw, and she would respond with equal enthusiasm. She felt like a tour guide, and now was her time to shine, considering her mind contained so many useless facts about their city. 

"Oh! The large building over there with the horse statue used to be a museum, but they realized no one really came out this far away from the major streets so they converted it into a library. It's kinda nice to have it away from the main area. Ooh and that orchard over there belongs to an old lady who lives nearby, she's super nice. Though I haven't stopped by in a while..." 

She was in the middle of talking about the plethora of festivities that often took place downtown when she was interrupted by his stifled laughter. She immediately shut up and could feel her face getting warm.

"s-sorry" she muttered

"No, no! I wasn't laughing at you" he chuckled, "It's cute how you were rambling". He was staring at her the whole time, the way her eyes lit up at every new piece of information that suddenly popped into her mind, he just couldn't look away.

Hearing that, she buried her face into her hands.

she sneaked a glance towards him, but his attention was back outside again. Right on time, the carriage stopped and the coach driver announced their arrival. She rushed to get out of the carriage and into the fresh air, conscious of her flushed face. He followed suit and now they were both just a few minutes away from their destination. 

"It feels so familiar to back home..." he muttered before looking at her.

"Shall we get going?" 

She noticed the excitement on his face and let out a small laugh,

"of course! I'll take you on the best tour of your life, follow me!"

The streets were filled, as they usually were. There were stalls, cafes, and stores everywhere. The perfect place to buy everything you didn't even know you needed. Hats, shoes, stationary, totally real diamond jewelry, there was plenty of everything. She usually came here with friends to grab a bite to eat or restock on pens and paper, but today she didn't really plan on buying anything. She brought some money with her, maybe she could buy him a welcome gift, it was getting overdue at this point. They walked side by side, many times she kept walking forward without realizing something had caught his eye until he was already 20 steps behind. He didn't linger for too long, as he would catch up quickly to hear about the next best place from her. 

"Mary's Cafe, run by good ol' Madame Mary of course, is a great place for a drink, but their snacks aren't the best. If you want to get some decent office supplies, definitely pay a visit to Maxwells, they only keep the best in stock." And she rambled on. He made sure not to let his laugh slip this time, he hadn't meant to make her stop talking back in the carriage.

They stopped by almost every single store, separating from each other a few times to explore something that had caught their interest in the passing. She was still on the search for a little gift, but nothing met her expectations yet. It was late afternoon by the time they exhausted themselves. She ended their exploration and showed him the way to the public park, hoping to find a nice place to sit for a while before all the mothers came by to hog the shady spots under the trees. They made their way to a tree, and took a seat with the snacks they managed to buy before the rush got too bad.

"It's always like this just so you know, never expect a quiet day in the city" she sighed. Her legs hurt, she hadn't walked around this much in a while.

"I like it, it's refreshing" 

"It's also fun to listen in on passing conversations too" he added, at a lower volume. She laughed at hearing that. That must be why he seemed distracted at times.

"Do we have to be back by a certain time?" he asked

"No, just think of today as your whole day off. It's Saturday, so we can stick around until late. There are usually events on weekend nights, we can go check it out"

"That sounds fun" he checked the time on his watch.

"We still got a few hours til then...should we wander around some more after this"?

"Sure! There's still a ton of places I can show you if you're up for it" 

"Alright" he smiled.

She knew there was usually good music and dances that went on late into the night, but it changed every week. The last time she came here with her friends they had fireworks all night. 

She was looking forward to finding out, but for now, she enjoyed the shade under the tree.