It was nothing, that's all

Deanna Li. A person known best for being unknown. It was almost certain that Deanna Li wasn't even their real name, but since no one knew what else to call them that was the name that was best used. Their teeth were sharp, each single tooth individually sharpened every morning and placed into a mold at night. Their hair was short at the back, with two long strands at the front reaching her ears. Two cherries hung from her ears. The fruits seemed to be all too real to be considered earrings but their colour was much more bright than the actual fruit could ever be.

They opened the door slightly and settled themselves in front of the pair, their hands tugging at the blue tie hanging from their neck. "Deanna Li. At your service." They said with a smile that seemed all too forced. They opened the floor, revealing the inside of the cottage. "We've got products from all over the world. From Medeis at the corner of the world all the way to Seia. Beauty products, novels, comics, figurines, furniture. We even have the latest fashion from the evil kingdom for those interested."

"Me." Rykar said, raising her hand. "I'm interested."

Deanna Li smiled wildly.

The fashion from the evil kingdom was unique. With the ban of colours other than red, grey, white, black, and navy blue, creators had been forced to come up with different ways to make their clothing varied despite the lack of options. The evil king had then begun to enforce a specific silhouette onto the country's fashion, forcing most overseas or underground, along with storytellers, musicians, dancers, and anyone involved in the arts. The underground cities expanding below the evil kingdom were considered a 'must visit' for anyone willing to take the trip.

"What do you think?" Rykar asked Daniel, pulling a black overall from its place on the wall and placing it against her body.

"It's-" Daniel began to say before Deanna Li interrupted.

"No." They said, shaking their head disapprovingly. "Evil kingdom clothing doesn't suit you. You don't have the features for it." Upon hearing that Rykar raised her hand, running her fingers across her chin. "He would be able to, but you- no way. You're better in…" Deanna Li took a moment to think before focusing on what Rykar was currently wearing. A white shirt underneath her father's green argyle patterned vest. It was slightly too big for her but could seem more of a choice made on purpose rather than by accident. "What you're wearing right now is good. You should stick to that style."

Rykar frowned slightly. "I like my style, but people from the evil kingdom look so-"

"Cool? Like they could destroy you with a single look?"

"Exactly."

Disappointed, Rykar turned to Daniel. "Ah. He does fit it." She returned the overall and leaned against the wall, slightly insulted. "Oh." Her annoyance vanished immediately. "Do you change clothes in your world?"

Daniel sighed. He'd spent the past few days in the same shirt, pants, socks and shoes, grateful that the prince had given him a towel and something to sleep on. "I would usually never stay in a place like this." The prince had said when they first arrived to the building. "It is the best way to travel incognito though, since my parents don't know I'm away. I made an almost identical copy of me and it is now taking on most of my duties." The person behind the counter asked for their names and the prince immediately said, "Prince David of Piria and this is my companion. He's not from around here."

"We do." He said.

"How long have you been in those?"

"About… three days."

Rykar closed her eyes and opened them slowly, turning to Deanna Li who seemed horrified. "We're going to be traveling for a while so- a suitcase, clothing items that'll make up an ok amount of outfits, toiletries, a towel, and a bedroll."

"Oh no." Daniel said. "Please don't. I don't have anything to pay you back with."

Deanna Li shook their head. "No. It's on me. You can wash my dishes and do my laundry to pay back, but otherwise I'm not taking a cent."

A few hours later, having seemingly forgotten why they had arrived there in the first place, Rykar found herself debating how much detergent was too much detergent. The washing machine arguing with her didn't make it any easier, complaining that there were too many clothes at first, not enough secondly, she'd mixed a red sock in with the darks third, and put the conditioner where the detergent had to go fourth.

"Have you never done laundry?" The machine complained.

Rykar felt a growing vendetta against this particular machine. "I have, you're just weird." She said, finally clicking the start button. "For one, you're not very helpful." Daniel stood by the entrance of the laundry room, quietly watching the washing machine talk back, waiting for Deanna Li to call him back as she finished the adjustments on the garments he'd reluctantly agreed to accept.

"Do all washing machines talk?" He asked, surprising Rykar who'd grown used to him simply existing.

She shook her head. "Just some. Depends on where you're buying them from." Her leg kicked the washing machine slightly. "This one here is probably from Happy Home Electronics. One of their mechanics got annoyed and programmed an entire generation of rude machines. From washing machines to radios."

"Kick me again and I'll shred your clothes." The washing machine growled, the noise it created making it seem as though it would blow up any minute now. Daniel wasn't entirely sure she should be angry at it.

"Thank you." He said, the two words held enough weight to make her feel as though she'd done something great.

Thoughts of abandoning him still travelled through her brain. She'd even considered making a run for it out the door leading into the cottage's backyard. "For what?"

"For helping me." He said.

Ah, but she was really considering not doing anything at all. "I did it by impulse." She said, not wanting to lie. "My sister suggested it and I said yes by impulse. That's all. Nothing to thank me for."

"You're moving to a different country with a person you don't know by impulse?"

"Yes." She said, folding her sleeves up to her elbows. Preparing herself to wash a few garments against the rock sink. "Some of the best decisions in the world happen on impulse."

"Many would argue otherwise."

Rykar sighed. "And the world has gone simple again. Your world and mine don't work the same." She tapped her finger against the sink and clicked her tongue. "Then again maybe yes. There was that time when my sister, Caldera, chose to eat salmon on impulse. She's allergic to salmon."

Their conversation got cut off by Deanna Li calling him over. All alone Rykar worked on the laundry, hanging the clothes up and taking a moment to herself once she had finished. The world had recovered from Daniel. She could see the detail in the sky, the sun lowering in shades of purple, blue, orange, yellow, and grey. There was red somewhere there. She could imagine what it looked like but at the same time had a hard time remembering what shade would be best to suit the sky. There was no missing the colour, grey looked nice as well.

Out of boredom she made dinner. Placing potatoes inside a pot filled with boiling water, preparing the meat and leaving it to marinate. She sliced up the lime, squeezing them into a jar of water filled with sugar. By then Daniel had been forced to set on fire the shirt and underwear he'd been wearing for the past three days and made to wear a hoodie so black it appeared to swallow its surroundings whole. A nice simply black one with more space on the inside than one would think of it. It was only then that she remembered, "Oh. That reminds me. We need to get to Piria but he doesn't have any paperwork. Caldera's fiancé sent me."

Deanna Li knew instantly who it was that Rykar talked about. "You've come to the right place."

"Is it easy?"

"Getting off Altlan? Not as hard as you'd think." Deanna Li said, taking a bite out of the meat. "Do you have papers?" Rykar nodded. "It should be fine then. I can get you there in two days."

Daniel didn't know whether to smile in relief or not. At most he knew that once he got to Piria, he'd walk into the Crown Office, hand the prince's letter, and hope for the best. Afterwards he didn't know what else to do other than hope Rykar felt it reasonable to guide him. "You're on a trip." He said, the comment aimed at her and ignoring Deanna Li, who was excitedly showing off the salt and pepper shakers they'd gained in a bet against a gnome. "Where are you going?"

The pepper shaker in Rykar's hand was turned upside down, testing its capabilities and creating a small mountain of pepper on the table. "To find love."

"I've got something for that." Deanni Li immediately chimed in, pulling out from their pocket a card. "It'll turn red when you meet the one."

"Can't it turn pink? I like pink more." Rykar said, looking at the card. The drawing on it being that of a man and a woman, lying together on the ground. A beating heart pulling them together. It was the kind of scene that made your heart yearn for a love you've never felt before. The detail on it was intricate. The trees, the branches, all too real. It wouldn't be at all surprising if the characters on it were actually alive. For its beauty, despite it not turning pink, Rykar bought it off Deanna Li and placed it in her phone case, where it would be safe.

"You want to fall in love?" Daniel asked.

Rykar nodded. "I'm curious about it. Have you ever fallen in love?" Daniel shook his head and Deanna Li smiled, "Once. When I was a bit younger than you are now. She was beautiful."

"What happened?"

"I don't know. She went into school one day and boom. A forest appeared on the fourth floor. Haven't seen her since, or anyone else on the floor for that matter."

"OH!" Rykar said, clicking her fingers. She'd read about it before, on the news, before it was scrapped and removed, as if it had never existed. "The one in Fake Countrylandia."

Daniel began to cough, choking on the bite he'd chosen to take at the wrong time. "You're joking." He looked around the table, waiting for either of them to speak. "There's no way that's an actual place."

Deanna Li turned to Rykar, "Is he not from-" Their finger circled in the air a couple of times and, upon receiving her answer, they gave a knowing look. "'Fake Countrylandia' is the current official name. Before, the name changed practically daily so people got annoyed. The ruler at the time asked for the people's input and that's how Fake Countrylandia came to be." Deanna Li then smiled brightly, proud of what she said next. "It's also where I was born."

An awkward smile crawled onto Daniel's lips. "I think that's pretty… normal?" He eventually said.