Chapter 46 - 44 - May 31st
May 31st, 2018AR
Another Thursday morning and another morning where Shouri Tomoshibi found himself wrapped up in a cocoon of tailed girls. Taika was the recipient of his embrace this morning, with the typical arrangement of Rebecca and Pacifica flanking their backs. Rebecca and Taika could at least deal with one another's presence now, which was an improvement, though asking them to hold each other would probably cause some animosity.
Baby steps with those two.
Either way, today had been booked pretty heavily with each of the three girls wanting to do something different.
Unlike back in Riva Sranvi where Pacifica and Taika wanted separate "dates", today the three wanted to do things together.
It was relieving that they were growing close to one another.
...
Was this really okay?
Was it okay that he was happy with these three?
What if she was in pain somewhere and he was wasting his time here?
"Sho." Pacifica's voice roused him from his thoughts. "Don't think like that."
"What, you a mind reader now?" he whispered back.
"No, but I know what that face means. Especially now." She smirked.
Another day had begun and Shouri would focus on the day ahead of him.
Rebecca took the lead as they walked around the historic streets of Leono. "The buildings around here are so different!" Taika exclaimed, taking in the rustic brick buildings they passed by.
"Leono has been around for a couple hundred years, it's a really old city that prides itself on its storied past," Shouri explained.
"It's a lot cleaner than I expected." Pacifica too was studying the local architecture as they passed by various locally run shops.
The group's current leader came to a stop in front of a certain building. "Here we are." Rebecca flashed the tuner to the group and pointed to the business they had gathered at.
"The Forum Australis"
"What... is it?" Pacifica asked, not gleaning any useful information from the name of the shop.
"Well if Rebecca wanted to go here, there must be a reason," Shouri decided. "Come on."
Piling into the small shop, their questions remained unanswered. There was a variety of smells in the air: earthy odors, but also the distinct aromas of flowers and other natural scents.
The quartet started to slowly look around, finding there were prices on various items in the store, along with names.
They found clothing, jewelry, pottery, furniture, paintings and drawings. Looking around further they found hand-made kitchen utensils as well as soaps, bath bombs, and other artisan goods.
"What is this place, Rebecca?" Shouri quietly asked his Resonator, feeling it rude to raise his voice any further.
"I-I thought it was like an art museum or something and I thought you'd like nerd junk like that," the fire element hissed; ears folded back as she desperately tried to hide her embarrassment. "Sorry for wasting our time," she muttered quietly.
Before Shouri could try to console Rebecca, Pacifica stepped between the pair. The otter excitedly presented a bar of soap to Shouri. "Sho! Sho! Can I get this!?" Pacifica cared not about the atmosphere here, using her normal speaking voice.
Shouri smirked, glancing over at Rebecca. "Certainly. I'm glad we came here," he declared, also in his normal speaking voice. Rebecca kept her head lowered, but smiled.
For the second outing of the day, they found their way out of town. Thankfully Leono was on the smaller end of the large Lyberteran cities and as such it only took a small bus trip to get out into the wilderness.
Pacifica led the way to their second activity, her own tuner in hand just as Rebecca had before.
"So where are we going now?" Shouri questioned as they disembarked from the bus. There were many other tourists also disembarking. Many had large backpacks for camping or were generally hiking.
"This is the Evergreen Bayou – it's a super famous spot a lot of otters come to. I just had to visit it while we're here!" Pacifica beamed.
"It's stupid humid here," Rebecca noted.
"Don't worry about that!" Pacifica wrapped an arm around her fellow Resonator's neck. "You'll be perfectly safe with me!" the otter declared, her tail wagging excitedly.
"I'm worried," Rebecca groaned, ears folding back once more.
"I'm also worried," Shouri muttered.
"I'm sure it'll be okay Sho." Taika patted her Maestro's back, though she spoke more to convince herself of her own words than him.
Unlike Rebecca, who didn't even know what her choice of destination for the day was about, Pacifica had already made all the proper reservations needed. With a quick exchange of paperwork, they were ready to go.
"So what exactly are we doing here?" Shouri braved asking.
"BOAT!" Pacifica excitedly shouted.
Rebecca paled at the idea. "No thanks, you can have my share." She hugged herself, tail wrapping around the inside of her leg.
"Come on Rebby! I'll keep you safe! Promise!" Pacifica pleaded with the fire elemental.
"I can't swim and lake water is cold, and smells," Rebecca countered.
"The smell is the best part!" the otter insisted.
Shouri and Taika's eyes went back and forth as Pacifica and Rebecca had their minor disagreement about lakes.
Finally, the Maestro decided to cut in as the voice of reason. "Pacifica, this is all fine and dandy, but you need a license to drive a boat," he pointed out.
The otter all of a sudden gained an aura of smugness, clicking her tongue in pity for these fools. "My dear Maestro, your Resonator came prepared with her boating license." Reaching into the inside of her swimming trunks, she retrieved the plastic card and presented it to her Maestro.