The Restoration Protocol

19 || homesick

There were just a few more conditions regarding their arrangement that Kasey made sure to go over before he and Mariko could begin their date.

One: under no circumstances are any of the others — meaning Sebastian, Boey, and even Soleil — allowed to follow them around. And I would know if you tried, Kasey told them, as the self-proclaimed master of tailing people. As a respectful and honest citizen of Arumathia as well as its honored Keyholder, he expects an equivalent measure of respect on their behalf in the form of giving him some space. Sebastian protested, naturally, as suspicious as that particular comment sounded to him, he was beginning to trust the kid less and less. Boey could agree on that front. But Soleil protested on Kasey's behalf, insisting that she knew the Keyholder well enough to say with confidence that Mariko would be safe with him.

The second condition for their agreement was proposed by Soleil, and was simply to ensure that Kasey kept this all a secret from Madam Servalia for the time being. At least about the borrowing of Arumathia's key — she admitted she didn't care if he told her Mariko had agreed to a date. Although for his own sake, Kasey confessed he would probably keep that a secret, too.

And lastly, the third and final condition was a very solemnly made one by Boey, that Kasey was not to force Mariko to do anything she didn't want to — of course, in a sense, this tied in with Soleil's claim that Kasey could be trusted with her wellbeing, that there was no need to worry as long as the two stayed together. Yet Boey felt the need to say it anyway. Now where he, Sebastian, and Soleil would be spending their evening in the meantime, Mariko has no idea. She doesn't even know where she and Kasey are going yet, only that they would be going there together.

He insists he wants to keep it a secret. 'I'll tell you when we get there,' he says to her shortly after the two leave the observatory together. The others went off in some other direction — rather awkwardly, Mariko couldn't help but notice. Like a bunch of NPCs with nothing to fill their time until she came back to pick up their mission again. She does still have the three keys, after all, and a potential fourth in the wing if this 'date' goes well — in a sense, they really are relying on her.

She may be the tiniest bit nervous about it. And again, it's not that Kasey intimidates her or makes her uncomfortable in the slightest. He's a ball of sunshine, if anything, even if it comes off in a different way than it did for Prince Lotus. Unlike the prince, Kasey doesn't seem to have a care in the world. Walking away from the observatory together, Mariko watches him, and it would almost appear as though the boy's shoulders grow lighter and lighter by the second. Even if he didn't have wings, he may grow so light he could drift off into the clouds at any moment. And it starts to rub off on her. The brief feeling of anxiety fades like dust as she looks over and catches the light of a nearby lantern flickering in Kasey's golden eyes. It puts her at ease somehow.

He is pretty. Very pretty, to an unrealistic and almost unbelievable extent. He can't be much older than her, Mariko assumes, as she tries to sneak glances during their surprisingly quiet walk. Yet the innocence which hovers over him like a veil reminds her of a child. One shielded by elders from the ugliness and unpleasant things of life all around him — or perhaps, he had learned to shield himself.

"Sorry if you didn't actually wanna do this."

Putting a sudden halt to the unspoken questions in Mariko's mind, Kasey turns to her with his smile unwavering. He waits until she makes eye contact again, but looks away himself just as a glowing insect floats past them. He sweeps a lightning-fast hand through the air and snatches it.

"I just saw those pictures of you that Wynsmith's peacekeepers shared with us, and I thought you looked so cool," Kasey goes on. He uncurls his fingers to watch the insect crawl over his palm. "I never thought you would come here, though — here, wanna hold the bug?" Mariko holds her own hand out without thinking. "There. Anyway, when Madam Servalia showed me those pictures, I thought maybe you just really wanted Alias's autograph or something, not that you had anything to do with whatever weird incident happened at the concert. And to be honest, Madam Servalia doubted you were really a criminal either, but like, she's also got a lot more expectations to 'uphold peace' here, so she's kinda supposed to be suspicious of people who might be causing trouble for the Keyholders. It's nothing personal."