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River spotted Lily braiding a little girl's hair, chatting happily with her. Damien was playing with the group of kids River saw before.
Everything feels so perfect here, River thought, feeling worried. Something bad's bound to happen soon, right?
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Celeste gasped and pointed at a puppy, which was wandering after River's heels.
She picked him up and her nipped her thumb and she smiled.
"He's adorable!" River exclaimed, petting the puppy's soft head with a smile. He glanced at Celeste. "Does he belong to you or one of the townsfolk?"
Aspen nodded.
"Can we keep him?" She asked excitedly.
River looked at Maya hopefully, who hesitated slightly.
"I don't see why not," she said. "But Mrs. Finch might be reluctant. And even if she does let you keep it, you need to never let it go near Alastor. It's very ironic, but animals frighten him to death ever since he was attacked by a dog."
Aspen smiled.
"Let's take him back with us when we leave and see what Mrs. Finch says about it." She suggested and stroked the puppies head. He was a boxer, all brown and with a black colored nose.
"If he's part of the loop, won't he just reset and come back here? Or even if he does stay then won't he forget who we are?" River asked.
Aspen frowned and turned to him, gently sitting the puppy down.
"I guess you're right," she said sadly. "Bye, bye Arlo."
The puppy licked her nose and waddled away, lying in front of the fountain.
"You already named it?" River asked, feeling a bit guilty.
Aspen stood up, from scratching the top of the puppies head and nodded sadly.
"Yes, but to be fair I usually name everything, even my stuffed animals." She commented.
It took a second for River to remember what a stuffed animal was, given that he'd only glanced at one once in his life, but he nodded. "Well, on the bright side, we'll be able to see Arlo everyday since he's in the loop."
Aspen nodded and gave him a sad smile.
"But he won't remember me." She stated and walked away, making her way to the rose petal covered fountain.
I screwed up again, River thought, feeling angry with himself.
"We've all met someone in this loop that we want to be with," Maya said, walking up to River. "There's this girl that is the florist's daughter over there, you see her?"
She looked over and pointed to a beautiful girl that was putting a flower behind a little kid's ear. The girl glanced up and gave Maya and River a friendly wave, and Maya waved back with a small smile.
"Her name's Daphne. I've been in love with her every day for longer than I can remember," Maya said quietly. "I've flirted with her, took her on dates, showed her illusion tricks that she absolutely adored; I made sure that every day for her is a day that she would never forget." She let out a small laugh, but there was no humor behind it. "But obviously the loop never allows that to happen."
River stayed silent. He felt like saying 'Sorry' wouldn't help her at all.
"I wasn't trying to lament my tragic love life to you," Maya grinned to him, looking more like her old self again. "My point was that everyone at the Chateau has friends here who don't remember them the next day. It's part of life here, and it's just something you got to get used to."
Aspen got on her knees, leaning over the edge of the fountain and swirled the rose petals on top with her hand. Arlo woke up and began licking her arm, she used one arm to pet him and the other to keep swirling, finally she stopped and placed a wet petal on the top of Arlo's head.
Celeste spoke up from behind Maya, he voice had that dreamy quality, but now she sounded a bit saddened. "It's always been this way." She said softly "Jason never remembers me either."
River watched as Maya walked off and started chatting with Daphne, and he started to walk around the square, looking around at the happy crowd thoughtfully.
Celeste went off, talking to some tanned boy with golden blonde hair and a scar on his chin and smiled as she did.
Aspen got up, carrying Arlo and walked over to River.
"Say hi to Arlo, River." She commanded.
(The boy Celeste met sounds a little bit like Jason Grace-)
River laughed when the dog gave a little bark to him.
"Hello again, Arlo," River said fondly, petting the puppy gently on the head.
( oh—)
Aspen let Arlo wriggle from her arms to Rivers and smiled brightly.
"Awwww," she said "you guys are so cute."
(Idk, that was just the first thing that came to my mind)
Arlo licked River's face, making him grimace a little bit at the texture of his tongue.
"Yes, very cute," River smirked, still holding the puppy but keeping him away from his face.
(you're right tho—)
Aspen took him back from River and sat him down.
"They have a couples dance every night," she told him, looking at Maya and Daphne wistfully. "Do you think someone will ask me to dance with them?"
"Without a doubt," River smiled. He had a small urge to ask Aspen if she wanted to dance with him, except for the fact that he had no idea how to dance. At all.
Aspen nodded with a tight lipped smile and gave him a small wave of goodbye, part of her had been hoping River would ask her to dance later, when the time came.
She trailed her way around the fountain, plucking a plump velvety rose from the hand of a flower vendor and trailed back to River, making sure all the thorns were off before sticking it behind his right ear and smiling.
"Thanks," he said, touching the rose gingerly.
"So, um, just fair warning before you answer, I have no idea how to dance. But, uh…" he looked at her, feeling a bit embarrassed by admitting that. "Would you like to go to the dance tonight with me? As friends?"
Aspen looked at him with round eyes, her face framed by the lilac colored rose sitting behind her left ear and the light green one behind her right ear.
"Sure." She agreed quickly, blushing furiously but hoping it didn't show too much. "As friends."
"Great," River said before frowning in concern. "Your face got really red all of a sudden. Are you sick? Sunburned?"