fatealteration | (no subject)

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"Hey, looks like there's a town up ahead."

Reigen obviously saw it --- he was the one driving, so he saw just about everything. But Max wasn't sure that the others in the back had. She looked over the shoulder of her seat as she said it, making sure that her voice wasn't drowned out by the sound of the 80s citypop CD they acquired at the last town they ran into.

Max turned back around and squinted her eyes, trying her best to filter out the rays of blinding light that seemed to reflect off of everything.

"I think it might be near a beach, too," she said. "That looks like a seagull, right?" Max pointed at the figure of a bird flying overhead.

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“Don’t let their funny looking eyes fool you. The only thing they like more than food is attention from people,” Father Serra said as he gave a familiar goat a nice rub behind her ears.

Doppio knelt to feed an approaching baby goat a few smaller pieces of potato. As it delicately nibbled at it, he couldn’t help but wonder how many tubers he’d eaten on the road. He had to come up with a million ways to prepare them just to keep the group’s morale up some days when that was all they had to go off of. It was hard, but…it was also kinda fun.

“Gah!” Doppio raised a hand to yank the end of his braid out of the mouth of a goat that approached him from behind. The goat nudged him insistently.

“That’s what happens to folks like us when we let our hair grow out, huh?” Father Serra chuckled, running a hand over his short white slicked back locks. “These goats get jealous quick.”

“Geez, just wait your turn,” Doppio sighed before grabbing another handful from the tub to indulge the pushy animal.

"Don't think I've gotten up close to goats since my last trip to the petting zoo," Max remarked to Reigen, her arms folded. "That was... probably when I was in junior high."

"Junior high, huh?" Reigen knelt down to pet one of the goats nudging him, leaning over to reach into the bucket for some fresh feed. "What was a young Max like, pray tell?"

Max laughed. "A huge nerd. I bet you were a lot cooler."

"Oh. Yeah. Totally."

"What's with that face?" Max teased. "Am I wrong?"

Reigen cleared his throat and winked as the goat he was petting chewed on the bangs that dangled just past his eye. "There were all the seeds of the handsome psychic you see before you now."

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Doppio staring back at them. His smile was just a little too wide. "...What's with that look?"

"Oh. Nothing." Doppio quickly turned back to look forward.

"Nothing, huh?" Max repeated, clearly suspicious. "Just... smiling for nothing."

"You two just make me laugh," Doppio said with a small chuckle - both from their interaction and a goat curling it's tongue around his fingers.

"Well, we try. Gotta find some humor in the situation we're wrapped up in."

Doppio smiled wistfully as he indulged the needy goat with a few good rubs to it's head. "Yeah, but...you're effortless together. I'm a little jealous."

"What? Are you having people-problems, Doppio?"

"Eh? N-No, no." Despite his denial, Doppio glanced at everyone for reassurance. "I just wanted to say...y'know...having a special connection is nice, right?"

"You don't have a special connection with anyone?"

Even if he hid his face, he couldn't hide the tips of his ears turning red. "Oh, you're just teasing me now."

"Reigen and I are definitely not together, by the way," she said, turning to Reigen with a wink.

"Oh, yeah. No." Reigen waved his hand lazily towards Doppio. "It pained me to turn her down, too, but it's a policy of mine not to date van-mates."

"We're not saying you can't date a van-mate if you want to. It's just not for us."

"Oh. Um...okay." Doppio glanced at Hitomi even though he wasn't sure why -- probably just to confirm he wasn't the only one that thought the pair were acting a little weird.

Hitomi was so preoccupied with the goats that she neglected to notice Doppio looking at her.

Max raised a brow. "What are you looking at Hitomi for, huh?"

'Gah!'

"...Corsican swallowtail!" Doppio suddenly announced, pointing at a yellow and black butterfly hanging out on the back of Hitomi's collar. He had no idea how he even remembered the name of it.

"Huh?" Doppio's voice was loud enough to draw Hitomi's attention. She spun her head to look at him, which startled the butterfly from its place on her back. It fluttered skyward in an awkward, S-shaped motion, as if it weren't sure what direction it wanted to fly to.

"That's good luck, Signorina," Father Serra laughed.

"Of course it is!" Doppio rushed a little too quickly to agree. "Hitomi draws everything good in. I haven't met a person or an animal that didn't love her right away."

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