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Foolishness. 

Truly, unequivocally, this was a foolishness that teetered at the precipice of madness. 

True madness, that is.

Standing here, being here, she was once again aggravatingly reminded of the unbridled chaos and the unrelenting disharmony of humanity. Everywhere she looked, everything she heard, nothing but noise, nothing but pandemonium lashing mercilessly across every one of her senses. 

It seemed it universal across all realms that humankind would prove most insufferable amongst any other. What they lacked in strength, in power, they more than made up for in numbers… and maintaining a perpetual existence for annoyance. 

He, most especially, was unbearably annoying.

What did he call this? What was the term he used to describe this… this overwhelming sight beset before her eyes? 

The unending blaring of song blasting from somewhere unknown, the echoes of countless feet shuffling funneling in and out of everything opening simultaneously, and the constant deluge of crowds, so massive, so vast, that they seem to never end even as far the furthest horizon.

This, what did he call this madness, exactly?

"Shopping…" She muttered quietly, turning away from the sight in revulsion. 

Even the word itself, its very enunciation shaping her lips, felt just as much aggravating as the very notion itself. 

Kronocia itself had a similar sight before its inevitable collapse. From the most prosperous of glittering, golden kingdoms to the most frugal of distant, disheveled slums. Matters not where, there were always people in need, and as such, there are always wares to sell. But whereas Kronocian men would buy and sell as needed and required, here in this realm, it seems as if the act of buying and selling was more for leisure than anything else, as seen, as heard, by the laughter and joy of the people's faces as they blissfully stroll past her. 

Nevertheless, the sight of many people, loud, rowdy, especially would churn and bubble a fury in her stomach like nothing else. No, she much preferred the quiet, the barren, most especially… the non-annoying.

Which begs the question, then.

Why was she still standing here, beset by all sides by everything she despised most? Any other instance, and she'd already departed long ago. So… why, then?

She pondered, and wondered, coming to all kinds of conclusions, yet each was only more unreasonable than the last, all aside from one, the only one, a reason she actively tried to ignore… a simple reason, the most obvious too…

Because he told her too.

He brought her here, despite her protest, her reluctance, he did not shrink from her glare, where ordinary men would, but instead redoubled his efforts, and he did so smiling and joking all the while.

The sheer audacity of it. 

And now that he has indeed brought her here, to this vast shopping complex of madness, he dare tell her to stay whilst he scampers off to somewhere he adamantly refuses to divulge to her.

"A surprise ain't a surprise unless it's a surprise, yeah?" was his flimsy reasoning before he spurred off into the distance. "Five minutes, promise." 

Truly, the utter audacity… it boggles even her.

And the most confusing aspect of it all was that she listened. As infuriating, as agonizing as she found her entire predicament, she stayed anyway. She knew she didn't have to, didn't need to, and could so easily just walk away, but for some strange reason, even she couldn't fathom why…

She wanted to. 

Maybe it was pure curiosity, perhaps she wanted to see just how far this madness could go… or maybe perhaps… she too was as much a madwoman as he was a madman. 

"Hey, yo," suddenly came an excited whisper, a tap on her shoulder, "Guess who's back?"

She would never admit it, and seconds after the fact, she'd deny even to herself that it even happened, but he actually caught her by complete surprise. 

It didn't make any sense, any dangers, any threats, she had honed her senses to detect them all… and yet, just then in that split-second, she had to hide her shock, quickly mask her surprise in a glare, and whirled around, to face down against that aggravatingly cheery smile planted across his expression.

"I want to leave," She said, taking him aback and momentarily faltering his smile.

"What, already? We're here like twenty minutes."

"If you wish us only to take a stroll, we could have easily done it in places less aggravating than this." 

A second later, that smile reemerged once again. "C'mon, that's kinda your fault, don't you think? Can't pin that on me, Amelia. That ain't fair, girl." 

Again, a complete surprise of a response, that she even forgot to maintain her glare as she spoke, "My fault, you say? Really now?" 

He raised a hand at her, and she noticed a white bag draped over his arm, slinging back to his elbow, then still with an expression on the verge of laughter, he started counting at his fingertips. "I bring you to the arcade, you don't like games. I bring you to a cafe, you don't like coffee. I bring you to karaoke, you don't like singing. I bring you to the clothes store, you don't like - "

"Things that only reaffirms how wrong you are about all of this, and undoubtedly so, because I told you already before," She walked past him, colliding with his shoulder she did. "I don't like shopping. You've not the faintest idea of my likes. You'll always be wrong." 

Perhaps, with this, finally, he'd stop trying. 

She continued to walk, where exactly, she didn't care, so long as he didn't follow her, didn't try anymore. She could go, finally, she could go… and so after striding a fair distance away, she chanced a quick glance behind her - briefly, she felt her body tense, she wasn't sure why, and as her black eyes shifted and stared - he was nowhere to be found amongst the crowd.

A breath escaped, a long sigh funneling through her lips, but again, for some strange reason… it didn't feel like relief. Her body eased, but it still felt heavy. The cause of all this madness was no longer following her, that's what she wanted, sought. Truly, it's what she intended by walking away.

Right?

"You know, there's still the library we didn't try, think it's on the third floor somewhere if my memories aren't fucked." 

Her head spun immediately to the left of her, her eyes wide, her surprise brazen, as his pondering gaze met her own.

"You like reading?" He asked her, slightly holding back a reluctance in his tone. "Gotta say first, ain't a big fan, let me tell you. But hey, if that's your thing… I don't mind relearning my ABCs." 

"I want to leave," She repeated, regaining her composure. "Did you not hear me say? As it always is with you?"

"No you don't, c'mon," He replied. "You're just grumpy I made you wait for me, right?" 

She shook her head, firmly, quickly, quicker than she even meant to. "Perish the thought. That is simply not the case. This crowd, this noise - you, especially! I grow weary of it all." 

"Oh yeah, huh?" He challenged her, his cheery smile turning sly. "I saw you turn your head just now. Wanna try explaining that?" 

She felt her body tense again.

"No, I didn't." 

"You didn't?"

"I didn't. It never happened."

He smiled again. "Right."

Why? Why does his smile not just simply disappear? Everything she's tried and yet… why does it only just seem to grow wider? Was it a permanent fixture? An unfortunate disfigurement? 

And why does it infuriate her so much to see it? 

"Got you something," He said, holding out the white bag with one hand, and reaching inside with the other. "It's a gift. C'mon, even you have to like getting gifts, right?" 

Between his fingertips, he pulled out a small black box. Then for once, his face stiffened, as he wordlessly handed it to her, and in her hands, the box felt as light as a feather. In the middle was a slit, and at the top, were inscriptions written, stylized, and beyond her comprehension as much as she tried to decipher it. 

"What does that say?" She asked him, throwing a wary glance his way. 

"Beats me, don't think anyone actually knows," He shrugged, "Companies and their choice of logos, man. Confusing as shit why they choose as they choose. That's why I made mine easy to read." 

Not content with his answer, she shook the box, feeling and hearing something small bouncing within, raising her suspicions even more. "What's inside?"

He narrowed his lips, looking tense again. "Told you, right? A surprise ain't a surprise unless it's a surprise," then not a moment after, he nervously flailed an arm around. "'tually, know what? You don't have to open it here. Do it later. When you're home, maybe. Just, you can leave it and - "

His words trailed away, realizing it had gone unheeded. The box had already been parted open. And at once, he looked away, staring in every direction possible except for hers.

Red. 

Shimmering, lustrous red, reflected back in the blacks of her eyes. In pairs, side by side one another, resting above a tiny cushion in the box, tiny gems twinkling.

"You got a nice necklace there. Red, I noticed it, you look really good with it on," He muttered in a low voice lacking his usual springiness. "So I figured… earrings seem like the next step, right?" 

Earrings. 

"I thought you'd look even more of a ten outta ten with them on." 

In Kronocia, she had a surplus of them. Every day, she'd go through her collection, and was always eager to wonder what would best suit her for the day. But this, these gemstones glinting before her eyes, their craftsmanship, their material, why it wasn't even worth starting a new collection with. Barely worth a blink of an eye.

And yet…

Amelia blinked.

"Do you, uh…" He gulped. "You like 'em?"

She slammed the box close and looked around briefly for a place to stow it, before ending up stashing it back inside his bag. 

"I suppose you aren't always wrong, after all…" She said, quietly… doing her best, and failing miserably, to smother the small delight spreading inside her. 

Yet, once the moment has gone and passed, even this instance, she'll surely deny it ever even happened. But, maybe perhaps, just this instance… she might be willing to admit that she just simply forgot. 

Yes... that'd be best....