Scooter or motorcycle? My arms were crossed as I tried decidin' between the two. My scooter needed gas before it went anywhere, so bike it was. One step was all I got before it dawned on me that there would be a long line for parkin', even this late. Besides, it wouldn't hurt me none to walk. I gave my belly a little pat.

"Be kinder to yourself," I mocked my therapist.

I only started going this year thanks to Mint. We decided to go together. At the time, I thought it was an Internet friend only saying that to be supportive. However, knowin' she was Tetsuo, I knew he really did go. When I was goin' in for my appointments, I noticed Tetsuo sittin' in his beat up pickup truck that everyone could hear comin' a mile away. My guess was he was crying as he hid his face in the steerin' wheel. I kind of wanted to apologize for makin' him go now after seein' him like that.

Less talkin', more walkin'. I needed to go down the same sidewalk I went with Jaynee and Tetsuo the other day, but this time cross the street. Safely, unlike a certain someone. Jaynee later explained that Tetsuo got lost in thought a lot and would go into what she called robot mode; he was still walking but dazed out and not payin' attention where he was goin'.

Speaking of those lost in thought, I had a hunch Shinobu would still be sitting outside the café. Sure enough, there he was typing away on his laptop. He was really into the homebrew campaign we came up with a while ago. We were gonna surprise our players by combining sessions for certain events.

I pulled out my cell phone. "I know you're probably lost in the sauce, but the café is closed. The twin stars' lights are out."

He tilted his phone to check the message. Then, Shinobu did a double take. He hunched over his cell to reply. "Thanks. I thought it was getting colder."

I smiled. I was lucky to have someone that was interested in making stories as much as me. We could talk for hours about mechanics in Caves & Chimeras alone. On top of all that, we ended up being neighbors. I'd ask him to move in with me if his business wasn't makin' soap and candles. Somethin' about the mixtures always made me sneeze so hard, I'd get dizzy. Luckily, the smells didn't linger through the apartment walls.

Shinobu looked up and noticed me under one of the street lamps. He gave a small wave. I nodded back before startin' on my way again.

There weren't as many people as there were on my way home, but there still was a fair amount. It was one of the few times I was happy to be tall to see over everyone.

All the cars came to a halt at the red light. Of course, there was that one that tried to go when they shouldn't, and they were blocking the flow of traffic now. The crowd shifted together to move across the street. I shook my head at the driver as we made eye contact. They didn't seem to take notice, as they were more focused on prayin' they didn't get hit.

The fair still had a couple of hours before they closed, but that was when the teens and adults alike attended the fair to go on dates and such. There were even activities set up for them now. I was told it used to be geared toward kids only, once upon a time. Now there were auctions, contests, and a bunch other stuff.

Most people went to the festival for the vendors from all over the tri-state. It made it easy when everyone was in one spot. I haven't been in a bit, but I usually hit the gaming booths to see if they're salin' any die with interesting designs. Maybe I should check if any had a nice gamin' mat. Mine's on its last leg.

The thought of a mat havin' legs made me shutter. Who made up that sayin'?

People were splitting down the path. My guess was there was probably somethin' on the ground. However, as I got closer, I realized it was due to someone that stopped in the middle of the path. They seemed to be in pain like a migraine just hit. Why wasn't anyone helpin' 'em at least get off to the side?

Red shirt and suspenders? Oh, oh no. It was Tetsuo. Am I allowed to help him, or was me showing up the reason he was in pain? Now I kind of wished I was short, so I wouldn't have noticed and simply followed the crowd.

The shadow suddenly ran right out of Tetsuo. It was in the same, hunched over pose, holdin' its hands over its ears. "SO LOUD!" it called out in an echoing voice.

Then, it took pause. It looked around, slowly moving its hands away. Whatever was going on was only botherin' Tetsuo now. The inky creature turned to him in concern.

"MOVE PLEASE," it cooed softly. "MANY PEOPLE." It tried to reach out, but its hand phased through Tetsuo's body.

Finally, its white eyes landed on me. Even though it didn't act like some sort of monster, I still found myself jumping a bit.

"FRIEND, HELP PLEASE!" the shadow wiggled its hands.

Well, there was no goin' back now. I hurried over to Tetsuo. One hand went to the small of his back, the other gently taking hold of his bicep. "Easy, now. Come on," I whispered.

Tetsuo let me guide him without much resistance. We went at a slow pace. 'Cross the road was Vaughan Glass, so I knew my way 'round pretty well. I took him to the bend where a bench was. Luckily, a family had finished tying the kid's shoe and were leavin'.

I sat Tetsuo down gently. Was I allowed to wait until I knew he was good, or would he suddenly get shiny eyes like before? Maybe the shadow knew more.

"Where'd you go?" I called out to it.

The creature was making its way to us, taking its time as it walked by different people to mimic their walking. Well, I guess if it ain't hurtin' nothin', it's fine. I won't be getting any answers though.

"It acts like the twins when they were little," Tetsuo said in a hoarse voice.

"You good?"

He hum softly. Glancing down, I noticed his nose was bleedin'. I reached in my back pocket and took out my handkerchief. "You got a little somethin' on your nose," I said as I offered it.

"Please say it's not a booger," Tetsuo whimpered. He took the handkerchief with a bit of a disgusted face, mortified at the thought.

I shook my head. "Blood."

His eyes grew wide, and he quickly covered his lower face with the cloth. Tetsuo's dark eyes looked off to the side. I wasn’t sure if it was the neurodivergent avoidant of eye contact, as he read many signs of at least ADHD, or if Tetsuo wanted to simply watch the shadow.

Both.

"Thanks," he finally said.

I wasn't really sure how to reply back, so I didn't. Maybe I could mention he could keep the handkerchief. There's plenty in the top drawer back at home.

"Are you going to the fair too?"

It took me longer than I'd like to admit to process what Tetsuo had said. I had to shake my head to get out of my head space. "Yeah. I saw a bear in a stall I wanted to try to win."

Tetsuo moved the handkerchief away to reveal a smile. I was jealous of how natural it looked. Whenever I tried smiling, it felt forced and generally weird. "After you win, I'll treat you to some Toast 'n Oats for helping me out!"

"I appreciate it, but I already ate."

"Oh, right. Most people eat around 6."

Seein' his disappointment hurt a bit, so I was quick to add, "I didn't know it was parked here. It's my favorite food truck, so I wouldn't mind takin' back some chili and grilled cheese for the raid tonight."

"The raid is why the twins didn't come with me! It can't take that long to prep for it!" He leaned back with a long whine.

"They're already set up for the raid. Everyone has been rerunning it for the loot." I shrugged as Tetsuo's eyes slid over to me. "The Flowers guild are known as roleplayers."

He made a deep frown, "They lied to me to hang out with their friends. The curse of being the not cool anymore big brother."

We both let out a yell as the shadow suddenly appeared on the bench next to Tetsuo. It was leaning on the back, facing the fairground as it growled. I crossed my arms to scan the festival for anything unusual.

Tetsuo twisted around to see as well, "What is it?"

It took off from there. As it skittered away, it slowly faded into nothing.

"Huh," I grunted to break the silence between Tetsuo and I. "Should we go after it?"

"Honestly, I don't know." Tetsuo stood up slowly, making sure he had his balance. Then, he looked up to me and smiled. "We can at least start toward the festival. Maybe we'll—"

I saw the shadow too late as it seemed to rubberband into Tetsuo's back. It was gone by the time Tetsuo faceplated into the ground.

"How long do I get to waller around in self-pity before people begin to stare?" Tetsuo called out.

I looked up to check. "Negative 3 seconds," I replied as people were already giving weird glances in our direction. I wondered why no one else saw it.

Tetsuo got up with a sigh. He dusted himself off quickly. "You can't stop me from having second dinner… or would it be supper?"

Immediately, I squinted my eyes. "Is that a reference?"

"Did you get it?" he asked with such joy, it was as if he was asking me to forget about the shadow all together. If that was how he handled things, then I won't be apologizin' for asking him to join me in therapy.

"I think so." I gave a tilt of my head. "If it's what I think it is, you're a bigger nerd than me. That's sayin' something comin' from a C&C player."