12 The Lovely Lounge

The sun was setting as Miya and Bo walked down the sidewalk. They remained silent for a while until Miya finally spoke.

"Uhhh...Did Tip or Kem say anything to you before they left?"

"Yes."

"What did he say?"

"He apologized to me."

For some reason, Miya could sense that he was bothered by her question, so she pursued no further. They walked a bit more, but he suddenly spoke.

"Do you know why?"

Miya was surprised that he asked the question. Whenever they'd left the combat room, his demeanor changed even though he showed no sign of emotion. Miya felt as if it was the same feeling that Kem had.

"They thought you were mad at them."

He stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. He didn't say a word, but his silence felt like a five-page essay. Miya motioned him to the side of the sidewalk, so as to not stop the flow of people coming by, then spoke.

"Even I can sense that you're not yourself, and I've only just met you today, Bo. You need to understand and accept your new self. The curse you have doesn't stop you from being the best person you can be. Continue to protect them and their happiness. There's no need to feel sad for a small thing like that. They chose to care."

He looked at her, but not in the way she'd had expected. She expected him to say something along the lines of, "You don't know anything about what I feel!" But no, He just looked at her.

"You're right. Thank you, Miya. You read me, but with this curse I thought I was unreadable. Thank you, truly. I forgot that this is how my friends have always been. Especially you, Miya."

His words confused her, and he grabbed her hand and they merged into the massive crowd of people venturing the sidewalk.

"I have somewhere I need to stop near here. Are you opposed to coming with me?"

Embarrassed, Miya looked down to his hand as he guided them through the traffic, and she felt her face grow hot.

"N-Not at all."

They made a left at the closest corner, directing them away from Miya's house before coming across a small building that was attached to the residential suites. It had a sign that read "Lovely Lounge" with a cat paw on it.

'Is this what I think it is?'

Bo began speaking without anyone to engage with.

"I'm here, and I brought a friend. She's nice."

The door slowly opened, and light shown from the building. The silhouette of a man followed.

"How's it going, Bo? I hear yo--"

He stopped with his face directed at Miya. She recognized his voice, but couldn't make out his facial features because of the shadow from the shop's light.

"Bo, We need to talk."

He pulled Bo into the building, and Miya could hear them speaking directly behind the door, but she couldn't make out any words that they were saying. The door opened once more.

...

"I know you! What was your name again? Faylo, Favo, Pharaoh?"

"It's Fable. Please don't wear it out."

Miya smiled as Fable sat in a recliner chair that faced the door, clearly annoyed. Children wandered the building, laughing and playing amongst themselves as Bo walked through the crowd of children, his target being another recliner with a few cats on the arms and top of the chair.

As Miya's eyes wandered, she noticed the curious glances of the children, their eyes meeting with hers on occasion, but they'd quickly avert their gaze, only to try to look again once she'd averted her attention to something else around the room. It was a lively atmosphere, and Miya smiled instinctively as she lie in it, having a strange familiar feeling about it.

Fable spoke through the mesh of children's voices, directed toward Bo.

"It's nice to see you again. How do you know Bo?"

Bo sat down, surrounded by a bunch of cats and 4 year old children. A girl, seemingly teenage, stepped into the room holding trays of tea. She had short brown hair and small stature, wearing a maid outfit for some reason. She seemed surprised at the sight of Miya, her eyes glittering with excitement.

"Pretty..."

She seemed like she was in a daze, and the expression she made gave Miya an awkward smile. Fable pointed toward her.

"That's Honey. She likes cutesy stuff like you. You and her would be good friends."

All Miya could do was nervously laugh, and the next thing she knew, Honey was in front of her. She began inspecting her body without saying a word. As she darted around her body, Miya tensed up, unsure how to react to her extremely forward approach.

"You even have nice fashion sense. Can I have her?"

She looked toward Bo who was too preoccupied with cats and kids to respond. Her gaze then turned toward Fable who also proceeded to ignore her. Her eyes started watering, and she fled to the rear portion of the building.

Miya felt a little guilty for a reason even she didn't understand. Fable chuckled from behind her, gently placing his palm on her shoulder from the chair.

"Don't worry about her. She's just like that. In a few minutes, she'll be here again gawking over you."

"She seems... sweet."

The comment amused him, giving him yet another chuckled.

"Hmph!"

Miya noticed that Fable was wearing more casual clothing now. A collared shirt and khakis suited him well, but one thing surprised her; He had removed the sunglasses that he was wearing the last time they'd spoke, but he kept his eyes closed.

'Why does he hide them?'

Fable spoke, interrupting Miya's thoughts.

"You seem to be more confident in yourself now, Miss Miya. Your eyes truly shine."

Miya gave him a backward glance, a sarcasm seeping through her voice.

"Thank you...Your confidence has grown a bit as well."

He put his hand on his heart.

"Oh...Your sass pierces me so...Where did you gain such power?"

His dramatization gave Miya a bit of a chuckle, but he began speaking again.

"I'm sorry ma'am, but I have very important reasons for keeping my eyes closed-- reasons you may not understand now but will definitely understand in the future."

He walked over toward Bo who had now become a human jungle-gym and asked him something Miya couldn't hear.

"Why ask me? She owns a mouth."

Fable didn't seem very happy by his response, but he walked toward Miya, twiddling his thumbs.

"Hey...um...Miya."

"Yes?"

"You see..."

He paused for a while

"I'm afraid I do not."

"What I'm trying to get at is that our little shop here is severely understaffed. As you can see, there are only two people working here, Honey and myself. Bo only comes over for visits, but the kids love his company... I wanted to know if you'd like to... uh... work here-- I'll pay you, of course!"

"Sure. Why not?"

Fable's jaw dropped, dumbfounded.

"Huh?"

"I said sure. Why not?"

"I know that, but...well...it's normally not that easy."

"Well I've never had a job, so why would I turn down the opportunity of getting one that seems kinda fun with nice people running it when you ask me to?"

"Thank you. It warms my heart that you think that way."

Bo moved, and the kids and cats got off of him. He walked toward the rear room and talked to Honey for a second before coming back.

"Let's go, Miya. I've kept you here long enough."

"Really?! We didn't stay here for long!"

"Yeah."

They waved their goodbyes and headed out. Honey didn't leave the backroom to see them off, but Bo said she was undressing, so he let her be. Fable led them out of the door and closed shop as they left, sending the kids off to sleep. A few parents picked up children, but some stayed, the lounge surviving as a small orphanage.

They returned to the original path and headed toward home. Bo spoke as cars zoomed past them, their lights shining through the now dark city scenery. From where Miya walked, she could see the lights of skyscrapers from downtown, mesmerizing her.

"How do you know him?"

"Fable? We met as I was walking to school... He didn't seem like himself then, but I'm glad he started feeling better. It was nice meeting him formally."

"...I see."

He didn't say anything else in response, but they eventually encountered a corner store connected to an alleyway. Bo ushered Miya toward the alleyway.

"Wait here. I need something for my dorm. Would you like something, as well?"

"Nah, I'm good."

He left and entered the store. The chatter of people passing by lingered as Miya lost herself in thought.

'What a hectic day it's been. Mrs. Boudreaux must be very worried since I'm coming in so late.'

She continued to sit there, the sound of the cars and people passing by strangely soothing her. All thought melted away as she felt as if she was going to fall asleep, and she remained like that until she felt something off. The chattering of the people walking down the sidewalk had vanished. She couldn't hear herself breathing, so she began to panic until her motion was stopped abruptly.