Work Text:
“It’s a shrine festival, so I want everyone to be appropriate and respectful, okay?” Rebecca told the group, hands on her hips. “That means NO starting a fight in the shrine, and NO flirting with the poor girl running the takoyaki stand. Also, please don’t cheat at the games,” she said, looking at Shiki, then Weisz, then Sister.
“So I can flirt with anyone else,” Weisz replied. Rebecca rolled her eyes and sighed.
“Look, just don’t get into any trouble guys, we’re just here to refuel and so I can get a video out of this. Fireworks are tonight, meet back afterwards.”
“From my research it’s a relatively small festival, I don’t think it’ll be hard to meet back up,” Hermit comments.
“I will be remaining on the ship should anyone require to return,” Witch added.
“Okay everyone, come on! Let’s go! I wanna see the parade!” Shiki said, tugging Rebeeca down the ship’s ramp.
“Ready?” Homura asked Weisz quietly.
“Yeah,” Weisz told her. “I heard there’s a haunted house, wanna go? Test of courage?”
“I don’t see why not.”
——
The haunted house was, unfortunately small. And Weisz had managed to forget how unshakable Homura was. So no, he didn’t come out of it with her wrapped around his arm like he’d sort of hoped.
But he hadn’t made a fool of himself, and frankly, watching the few scare actor’s reactions to Homura’s unblinking stare as well as Weisz’s unperturbed gaze, had been really funny. Weisz had actually had more fun than he thought. And plus, because it was short…
“Look! It’s the parade! We must be near the end of the route,” Homura said, her eyes lighting up.
“I guess so,” Weisz said, a little distracted as he watched the procession.
It was… breathtaking. Old men marched down the street in unison, followed by a massive floating pagoda. Around the base, covered by the awning was a group of older woman playing taiko drums, the rhythm pounding in Weisz’s chest.
“Wow, such incredible gilding. I am quite impressed, though I won’t say that aloud.”
“Yeah,” Weisz murmured, just now taking in the golden decoration on the float. The intricate design and the flowers and the lanterns. In taking it all in he noticed the women standing behind the drummers.
They had their hair up, their faces painted white and lips red. Their heads were held too high, backs too straight to be his age, something elegant and strong and proud in their posture. They looked a little stiff, but also so full of joy. He caught the glint in one woman’s eyes and how her lips pressed together and eyes crinkled as she tried not to smile.
They sort of reminded him of Homura.
No! No they didn’t, not like that, it wasn’t at all- I mean Homura wasn’t older than him, he was almost positive they were the same age (ignoring the whole 50 years thing of course). And she wasn’t…
Well her face was never painted white and her lips weren’t red so there. Not the same.
Weisz forced his attention back to the parade. There were people carrying flags, and more musicians, and maikos gracefully dancing on a float, and so many people dancing.
There was a small group dressed as pirates, and a group of men in their early twenties all carried small drums on their shoulders. There were women with big fans and people dressed in vivid yukatas swirling around energetically in a dance that resembled a martial art.
Somewhere in the middle, fueled by the excitement of the parade Weisz glanced over to Homura, only to see her already turning towards him. For a moment, they just grinned at each other before suddenly Homura was laughing, and so was he.
“Sorry,” she said through her giggles. “It just feels so odd. We never had festivals like this back home. This is fun, is it not?”
“Yeah,” Weisz agreed, gaze going to the crowd of grinning kids and couples, along with some slightly bored parents who were probably locals who’d seen it a hundred times. “We didn’t have a lot of celebrations on Norma. Not like this. It’s really neat.”
“I am glad you are enjoying yourself,” Homura said, gently bumping shoulders. He didn’t move away from the touch.
——
The parade ended shortly after, so the pair decided to check out the stalls. It was mostly food. The smell of takoyaki and dango, yakisoba, and syrup (from the shaved ice stall just around the corner) lingered in the air.
“Would you like one?” Homura asked, holding out a skewer of grilled squid. “I bought too many,” she added.
“I suppose I can help you out,” he said, grinning.
“I bought it for y-“ Homura clapped a hand over her mouth before she could finish her thought but Wiesz’s eyes just widen at the words.
“Uh, wow,” he murmured before quickly adding, “thank you.”
“Yeah,” Homura replied, turning away. Weisz can’t see it, but he has the feeling she’s blushing.
“Aw man!” Shiki’s cry snapped both of them out of the moment, and together they follow the sound of their leader. He’s staring forlornly at a goldfish pond, a broken paper net in hand when they find him.
“Good try Shiki,” Rebecca said as they approached. “Didn’t really need a goldfish anyway, what would you have done with it?”
“Hey guys,” Weisz said, shoving his hands in his pockets.
“Homura! Weisz! Did you see the parade? Oh! Have you seen the monkey yet?” Shiki asked, shooting to his feet.
“The what?” Weisz asked at the same time Homura replied.
“We did see the parade.”
Rebecca and Homura began to chat about the floats and food and games, but Weisz’s attention was focused on Shiki. His friend began to describe a tent with a monkey that would dance to a drumbeat.
“Woah, where? I need to see that!”
“It’s a show,” Happy chimed it. Weisz looked down to find the little robot standing at Rebecca’s side. He guiltily realized he hadn’t even noticed the robot until just then. “They only do it every hour, I think the most recent one is probably just ending.”
“Seriously?” Weisz asked, disappointed.
“There’s one more show after this though!” Happy quickly added.
“We should go,” Homura said, surprising Weisz.
“You’d be interested?” He asked. She nodded.
“Well we’ll leave you two to it, have fun, we’re off to check out the food!” Rebecca said suddenly, dragging Shiki away, Happy following close behind.
“Want to play?” Weisz asked, gesturing to the goldfish game.
“I doubt I’ll be any good but I don’t see the harm.”
——
Homura wasn’t great at goldfish-ing but Weisz was worse. He redeemed himself somewhat in a shooting game they found, winning himself a little pocket knife that was probably the only thing not secretly propped upright.
“Nicely done kid,” the rugged man running the counter said as he handed his prize over.
“I know,” Weisz responded, giving the man a wave.
“I have decided I am in dire need of some shaved ice,” Homura declared as they continued down the long line of stall. The temperature was a bit past its peak as the sun began its slow march down the sky, but it was by no means cool. Poor Homura looked sweaty and a little sunburnt. Not that Weisz wasn’t, but still.
“Me too,” Weisz said, glancing at her, only for their gazes to once again collide. “I’ll pay.”
“You most certainly will not!” Homura argued.
“What? You bought me that grilled squid it’s the least I can do.”
“That was a gift.”
“Well then buying shaved ice is a gift too!”
“I will not allow it,” Homura said stubbornly. Weisz just sighed. He couldn’t win this argument.
“Fine,” he relented as they got in line. Suddenly his eyes caught on a small stall shoved between to big food stalls. “Save my spot? I need a bathroom.”
“Alright,” Homura said with a simple nod. Weisz returned the gesture and sped away, dropping his crossed fingers to his side, a little guilty at the lie.
Well, not that guilty. You’ll see why later.
——
“Man this hits the spot!”
“I agree, it is very cooling,” Homura said with a satisfied sigh.
“What flavor did you get?” Weisz asked as they strode toward the tent Rebecca had described for the monkey show.
“Tangerine, and yourself?”
“Strawberry. Want some?” He asked without thinking. Homura blinked and Weisz cringed.
“Sure. Would you like to try mine?”
“Yeah, okay,” he said, holding his out to her. She took it, for a moment passing him her’s. “Pretty good,” Weisz said around his wooden spoon as he handed it back.
“I enjoyed the strawberry more than I expected,” Homura commented. Weisz raised an eyebrow.
“What, not usually a fan?” Homura just shrugged. She seemed about to say something more but they were cut off by the sounds of drums.
“Oh shoot, that’s the show starting! Come in!” Weisz caught Homura’s hand, gently tugging her down the street in a jog. They pushed their way into the tent, still hand in hand.
Homura, to Weisz’s surprise, didn’t pull away. Weisz didn’t drop her hand, even as they settled on a bench.
——
“I found that creature to be very cute,” Homura said as they left. Her fingers had somehow found themselves pushed between Weisz’s, but as the show ended she’d gave him a little squeeze before letting go.
“I don’t think that was a monkey,” Weisz said carefully. The creature had been cute, with big eyes and a big curly tail. But it also had a weird pouch thing and he was pretty sure that wasn’t a usual thing monkeys had. Who knows, maybe evolution had done a lot in 50 years.. or it was some monkey-like creature native to the planet.
“I am not entirely sure either,” Homura admitted. “But I had lots of fun.”
“Yeah,” Weisz breathed, glancing down at her. “I had a lot of fun too.”
She smiled up at him, her face cast in gold as the sun finally set. There was something about the soft smile on her lips and the way she squinted a little up at the sky. Something that made his heart leap into his throat and butterflies fill his stomach.
“We should go try to find the other and get some food. I think the fireworks will start soon,” Homura said.
“Right!” Weisz said, blinking himself out of the daze. “Let’s go! I’m thinking yakisoba.”
Weisz started his way through the crowd, weaving through people until he made it to the yakisoba line. A moment later Homura popped out of the crowd, panting a little.
“You are very fast when hungry,” she commented.
“Nah, I just see the gaps in a crowd. Makes it seem like there’s nobody here. I kinda don’t realize I’m doing it,” he said scratching the back of his neck. “Sorry. It’s an old habit from my thieving days. It’s meant to loose people in a crowd but uh, I don’t want to loose you.”
Weisz winced internally. He had not meant it to come out like that.
“Loose you in the crowd, I mean,” he corrected. Homura nodded.
——
The pasta was hot, but filling, and Weisz was glad the moved fast-ish. Fast enough that the sky was darkening but not quite dark yet. So they still had a little bit of time before fireworks.
“Weisz?” Homura asked, stepping away from the stall with her food. She held out her hand to him. “So you don’t loose me?”
He took it, intertwined their fingers.
——
“They’re beautiful,” Homura murmured twenty five minutes later. They sat on a small grassy hill Rebecca had found. Shiki, Rebecca, Happy, and Pino sprawled in front of them, and Hermit, Sister, and Witch (Shiki had insisted she join), sat on a blanket a little ways away.
“Yeah,” Weisz replied. But we all know he wasn’t looking at the fireworks. Homura turned at the reverence in his voice. He blinked, realizing just how close they were. The hill was full of people and chatter, but their little spot seemed suddenly very quiet.
“Weisz?” Homura whispered. Heat rose in his cheeks and a shiver danced its way over his spine. They both leaned just a little bit closer.
“Oh!” He croaked out, breaking eye contact, suddenly a little sweaty. He pulled a little box from his pocket. “I uh, got you something. Close your eyes.”
’Close your eyes?’ What are you doing Weisz come on, be cool. Weisz cleared his throat and after a tilted smile from him Homura sighed and looked up into the sky instead.
“Does this count?” She asked.
“Yeah,” he said quietly. “Just don’t move,” he murmured. Gently he reached over and pulled the ribbon out of her hair. She moved to look but he stopped her.
“Hold on just like one more second okay?” He pulled the ribbon he’s bought out of its box and tied Homura’s hair up with it before dropping his hands. “Okay, done!”
Homura turned, and in between booms of fireworks, her hair jingled. Homura froze, raising an eyebrow at Weisz, fighting a smile on her face.
“Really? A bell?”
“It’s a ribbon with a little bell, it’s for good luck! The lady who sold it to me said it was blessed,” he said defensively. Homura laughed, and oh god did he love that laugh. And then, when she regained her composure, her hand caught his cheek.
And then, suddenly, she was pulling him down, and her lips were meeting his. The festival fireworks were nothing but a pale comparison to the ones exploding in his chest.