"Rei," Seveth had said. She had known that it was Seveth, because he was smiling, and San never smiled wide and beaming the way that Seveth did. It looked strange on his face, and Rei was still not sure how to feel about it.
The corners of Seveth's eyes crinkled with the beginnings of mischief. "Want to help me with something?"
Her first answer was 'no'. Seveth often did things that San didn't like. But Roku didn't always rebuke him, which confused her. She knew that they were no longer with the Watchful Ones, and that many of the rules they had been living under no longer applied. But it still felt strange that Roku was letting this stranger have so much free reign.
Seeing that he wasn't getting an immediate assent, Seveth switched tactics, putting on a pout instead. It really was exceedingly strange to watch him do it with San's face; or rather, to watch San's face do that at all. "Come on, please? It'll be fun! Oh, I know, what if I got you a hair ribbon? A really nice one."
"I have ribbons," she pointed out. San had bought some a few weeks ago, and she had been using them ever since.
"Yes, but
nicer ones. And we can make money. How about that? We always need more money, right?"
The way Seveth's eyes shone was very distracting. Rei shook her head slowly. Seveth's habit was losing money, not earning it. She couldn't imagine what he must have planned.
She shouldn't bite. She knew this. And yet, curiosity gnawed at her. "... What do you need me to do?" she said.
She hadn't said yes. Yet.
"Great! Fantastic! I knew I could count on you. You're the pillar of this family, a real saint, a--- Okay, okay, stop looking at me like that. Sheesh, you probably have the exact same flat look that he does, huh?" Seveth sighed dramatically, then brightened again almost immediately. "Okay, so, there's this contest in town, right, and you know lots of tricks from your time in the whatever army," he began. Rei, generously, did not correct him, though mostly because she thought it was for the best that he forgot the specific details of where she and San had come from. "You just have to show off what you can do, you know? Just... pretend it's a really fancy training routine! Yeah! But, you know, one that we get dressed up all nicely for, I guess. I'll do it, since I know San wouldn't be caught dead wearing anything that actually looked nice."
"He can look nice," Rei said.
"Can he though?" said Seveth, his features creasing into something that was half grimace and half patronizing smile. "Well, but anyway, he has no sense of showmanship, so I still think it's much better if you go with me. Actually, don't tell him about this, okay? He really doesn't have to know."
Rei considered Seveth for a long moment while he prattled on at length about what he was going to wear. He hadn't given her nearly enough details; she sensed that he was hiding something more than the fact that he didn't want San to know, and frankly she didn't know if she believed his scheme would do what he wanted it to do.
... And yet, it was starting to feel like her participation was inevitable. She was sure he would whine a great deal if she refused now. The pouting would reach new, exaggerated heights. And as interesting as it was to see San's face do all these new things lately... she really, really did not want to see
that.
Which was how they ended up at the contest hall a week later, with Rei in a clean dress and her hair tied up with a modest black ribbon, and Seveth dressed in a set of flashy clothes that definitely had not come from their closet at home. He had tried to convince her to wear the rainbow one, or at least the pink, but she had refused. Now, Seveth was cajoling the staff at the table to let him squeak in, because they had shown up barely before the registration closed.
Rei took in the scene around them, with other entrants and their... companions.
None of them were Harachiu. In fact, most of them looked like large reptiles of some sort.
She was being entered in a pet show.
She should never have heard him out.