Thus, lunch ended, like all things eventually do.

S paid for the food like he said. I'm pretty sure our check was, in total, somewhere around 5 coin, but S just threw down a handful of golds and got up and we left. And it was a big handful, too, easily in the double digits. I guess he meant it when he said he didn't like counting money.

We started aimlessly wandering around the city like we usually do when we're in between things to do. Though, we weren't doing it for very long, because we ran into another one of those tasteless hero statue thingies. Guess they have one here too, huh. Well, they have three quarters of one, just missing the head. Seemed like they were in the process of rebuilding the thing. Guess Catface has dropped by this place before. 

I feel like rebuilding it is a pretty big waste of time and money. Why not build something nicer, like a pretty fountain? One that shoots LAVA!

"Huh. Didn't knew this place had one of those." S said as we stopped and looked at it for no particular reason. "Isn't rebuilding it a bad idea? I know that whole thing with 'the cat' is supposed to be under wraps, but shouldn't the local government at least know about it? Especially in a city as big as this. Isn't this a threat to public safety?" S said, quietly and tactfully.

"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing." 

 "...Right."

"Oh, uh, speaking of these statues, the one back in Starsford-"

"Right, she got that one, too?"

"Yep."

"Probably tripped on the way out, too..." Sis muttered.

"Dang, she works fast. Know how they did it?" S asked.

"Uh... Somethin' about breaking it before, holding it together for a while... With an illusion... Also got someone to bust up Maurice's place for some reason. Or maybe they did it. I dunno, it's hard to keep track of anything they try to explain." 

"Right, I can imagine." 

We remained there on a convenient bench for a while, chatting and gazing out at town and stuff. There were a surprising number of people who stopped to wistfully stare at the almost-statue. Granted, most of them were kids, but some of them were, like, full on adults. Not that there's any shame in that sort of thing, but... Y'know... Though, I guess I can give them a pass this time, though. If you ask me, the lack of a head makes the piece far more appealing overall, adds far more artistic merit. 

"Right, I know you said you don't eat, but what are you going to do with those?" S asked Sis, who was still carrying the full box of fries.  "And why get fries, specifically?" 

"They don't need to be refrigerated." Sis explained.

"Yeah... Why's that important?"

"In case this guy forgets to eat again." She said, gesturing towards me. 

"Wha?" I said.

"Kind of an impractical emergency food, isn't it? Won't they get stale?" 

"They'll still be edible."

"Right, I guess that makes sense. But that's not an airtight container, they might still go bad... Maybe? Do fries mold?"

Sis shrugged. "I dunno much about potatoes. Maybe."

That's a good point... Has anyone ever kept fries long enough to know if they mold? Do potatoes mold? If so, would they still do so after being fried? Truly, one of life's great mysteries. One that can probably be very easily solved by anyone relatively quickly. 

"Right, anyways, that's a snack, not a substitute for a meal. A good meal has meat! The best meal is nothing but meat!"

"I suppose that first part's true. Still, in a desperate situation, calories are calories." 

"The heck's a 'calorie?"

"Don't worry about it."

"Wait, what sticky situation? He can teleport."

"Well... You never know." 

"Right..."

Hmmm... Y'know, they're getting along pretty well right now! This is good! Sis is actively engaging in conversation with him! Mostly, anyway. At least, like, 33% engagement.

Hmmmmm again... Now that they're talking, I wonder what would happen if I removed myself from the equation? What kind of things would they talk about in my absence? I'm eager to know! I mean, uh, maybe me removing myself for a bit would help them develop their relationship further! This is definitely something I need to test! For everyone's sake, of course. 

"I, uh, g-gotta go piss. I'll be back in a sec." I lied.

I think S skeptically cocked an eyebrow for a sec, but he still said "Right." all the same.  

"'Kay." Sis said.

"Uh... Why did you also get up?"

"You're moving, aren't you?"

"Y-yeah. To the bathroom."

"Yeah. And I'm coming. What if you get attacked?"

"I'm not going to get attacked on my way to the bathroom."

"Can you say that for certain?"

"That's..." No, actually, considering my track record... Still! "It's just the bathroom. You don't... You don't come with." 

"That's dumb."

"No, it's... Uh..."

"I don't mean to pry, is your family... Alternative?" S asked, slightly facetiously.

"Ehueh..." I said with a shrug.

. . .

Well, one thing led to another, and now I'm standing alone like an idiot in a public bathroom, not doing anything, and S and Sis are just waiting outside. I wasn't able to get her to not follow me, but I at least got her to agree to not go into the bathroom itself. (On the condition that I 'scream really loud at the slightest unforeseen occurrence,' at least.) No thanks to S. I think he found the situation funny, so he just went along with it with a crappy grin. Bastard man.

Well, this doesn't change anything, I'm still gonna move forward with the plan. 'Course, I'm not about to do it in a dirty bathroom. Gross. I put my hands together and warped myself to a dark alley-y part of the city. This place has significantly less convenient dark alleys than Starsford, but there's still that place by the alchemist shop we went to a while back. I made sure to find a nice, isolated and comfortable spot for me to chill in.

Y'know, this place isn't much less dirty than the bathroom. Ah well.

Anyways, I put my hands together once more. I'll be listening in on them, because, uh... I need to check up on their progress. Yeah. And... I'm not being creepy, am I? No, of course not. This is normal. This is reasonable. This isn't an abuse of power, it's...Friendship. Yeah.

I put my hands together with 0 hesitation or doubt in myself. I promise. 

"Huh. Come to think of it, I think this is the first time he's had to use the bathroom since we met." S said. Don't think about it too hard, pal.

"Who the hell are you, exactly? And what are your intention with Beyes?" Sis said rather abrubtly, looking up at S threateningly.

Well, she lasted 3 seconds before threatening him, at least. That's... Well, it's something.

"Didn't we do this already?" S said.

"You never gave me a real answer. And I figured you might be more honest if he wasn't here to get in our way."

Ah! Yikes! 

S chuckled as she said that. "Well... Yeah, sure." He said.

"What was that about? I'm not kidding."

"I know, I know." 

"Talk."

"Okay. I'm still S. Doer of things. Legally, I don't exist. Functionally, I probably exist."

what

"Eh, debatable. But keep going." 

what

"Uh, okay. As for my intentions... I guess to do stuff with Beyes. 'Till we get bored. Then..." He concluded with a shrug.

"Then what?"

He shrugged again.

"Hm. I suppose that's understandable for you lot..." She didn't quite seem satisfied with that answer, but she moved on anyway. "Under what situation would you harm him in any way?"

"I guess saying 'none' would be irresponsible... Only for the sake of necessity? Or comedic effect." 

"Well, that last one can't be helped, but 'none' would've been a better answer!"

"Would it? What if he had a leech on him? Pulling it off would hurt, but it'd be necessary."

"I wouldn't let that happen in the first place. Though, I suppose that could happen if I weren't present."

"That so?" S said, less than amused. "Why do you wanna know all this, anyway?"

"Because I won't be here forever." Sis stated. "I need to know he'll be protected when I'm gone."

. . .

Wait, what? 

She... She intends to leave soon?

Oh. That... I... I hadn't really considered that... Hm...

"Aren't you a little young to be saying that?" S asked.

"Very funny."

"Right, right. I suppose you would want to go back to your family soon." S said. Then he looked out into the distance for a moment. "Say... Mind if I ask you a question?"

"I'm asking questions."

"Right, of course. But while we're in the neighborhood... Who are you, exactly?"

"I'm his sister, I already told you."

S said nothing, and just looked down at Sis. I couldn't quite see his expression, but Sis didn't seem to like it.

"I...I-I-It doesn't matter. I just, I have to... I... I can't let him die." Sis said.

"Is he at risk of dying?"

Sis looked down at the floor, and clenched her fists. "Who among you isn't?" She said, softly.

S chuckled, though it didn't seem like he found anything funny. "Y'know, I've been asking myself that a lot recently."

They stood there in silence for a while, and I began to think that this might have been a really bad idea. Buuuuut I'm too invested to back out, soo...

". . . Can I ask you one last question?" Sis asked, her eyes still on the ground, and her threatening tone abandoned.

"You just did." He said quietly, with a nod. 

"How strong are you?" 

S smiled. "'Sthat mean I passed your test?" 

"Answer the question."

"Well, I'm not so sure about me, but there ain't a thing sand can't do, and there's no one who knows it better than me." 

"I can't say that fills me with confidence." 

"It should!"

"Hm. I suppose I'll just have to watching." S said, looking up, and speaking a little louder. "I... I'd like it if you didn't disappoint me."   

S chuckled once more. "I'll do my best." 

. . .

Dang. He's good.

I... I should probably leave the bathroom soon, shouldn't I? Yeah...

I closed the hole, put my hands together, and-

"YOU!" A very loud, unfamiliar and scratchy voice shouted out towards me. 

Instinctively I looked up and saw a very tall, old, and lanky man clad in blue robes and matching tall hat, both with a LOT of burn marks on them running straight at me. He looked a lot like Maurice, mostly because he was a tall old man, but he didn't have a single hair on his face. Or anywhere that I could see, actually.

"I REMEMBER YOU! FROM THE BUSHES!" He said to someone near me. Right?

I looked around. There was no one near me. 

Ahhh... Never mind.