A/N: My drawing of Mairi Cabanila.

***

"So, do you still wanna do more challenges?"

They were barely exiting the stage, but Mairi seemed to have craved for more, as well as jabbing Abel for his hapless loss. However, the fact she still held the same glazed look and monotonous voice as she casually robbed his fame poked the heck out of his nerves. She practically won a landslide victory... Why wasn't she giddy at all?

Well, forget that question. What did he expect from an apathetic cosplayer? The time where he would eventually understand her was when a millennium had passed. One thing he managed to grasp though, was that she was definitely throwing shades at him.

"Heh, guess you really like humiliating me." Abel sneered, exasperatedly crossing his arms over his chest. His narrowed eyes cast Mairi a side glance, before they trailed away. "Fine, I admit my loss. Your cosplay..." He rubbed his hair. "... it's pretty appealing, and you did some great poses." He peered at her once more. "There, I said everything you wanna hear. Happy?"

Mairi's lips subtly drew back, as if she was holding back something. "That's rich coming from a conceited man, but that's cute of you."

"And when will you stop mocking me?!" Abel promptly barked and thankfully, there were no high temperature anomalies swirling in his face. "God, what is it with you calling me cute? Do you have anything else to say about me?" he groused, huffing out loudly.

"I do," she answered fervently. "Your massive ego might have blocked your eyes from seeing reality, but that makes you extremely passionate and heartfelt. I saw that well when you were explaining your cosplay."

Looks like she's being chatty again.

"Heh, those insincere compliments won't work on me anymore. Nice try," he scowled, tossing all of that flattery bullshit from setting foot in his heart. Nevertheless, that didn't stop them from affecting his stiffening body. "Gotta step up your game, Mairi."

"Sure, if that's what you want." The not-so-quiet cosplayer nodded before she pointed out, "You're actually good-looking, so that's a bonus point for your cosplay. You're also a pretty sportive and fiery guy with an extremely competitive spirit."

"Damn right I am," he snickered and placed his arms on his hips.

Wait a sec. Those compliments... they were all straight up from Mairi. The moment realization struck him like a truck, he instantly retreated from dousing in her fakery. And to add fuel to the fire, the radiating hotness in his cheeks made a swift return. "Actually, why the fuck are you throwing in more?!"

"You said I should step up my game," Mairi explained as she innocently cocked her head once again. "So I'm trying to follow what you want."

"Idiot, that's not what I meant!" Abel cried.

Even until now, he couldn't get a grip on why Mairi kept provoking him all over the place. She could just be stupidly oblivious, but she... looked a little too genius for that case. The only sensible reason was that she was condescending him, trying to drag his confidence to the slumps. The nerve of this woman. She's really playing this game...

"You might be victorious, but that's for now. One day, I'll show you who's the one dominating here," Abel vowed between his teeth. "And as promised... the winner gets to do one thing to the loser. What do you want?"

"Friends," Mairi responded without hesitation as she shuffled closer towards him. "It's the easiest thing I had ever asked."

Guess she's still sticking with her original plan.

Abel laughed derisively, but it was not like he had power to turn down her request. No other choices were present for the losers. "Yeah, yeah, whatever you like. We'll be the bestest of friends, alright?" He emphasized.

She merely bobbed.

On the flip side, Charlotte and Adrian had been standing on the sidelines, quietly listening to the couple's ordeal. While the latter threw Abel a rascal - that fool better be wary of his phone - grin, the former shrugged, although she slipped in a smile.

Despite everything that had occurred today, the sight of these two people lifted his spirits. Joy then came scurrying in, tugging the corners of his stretching mouth.

Being friends with Mairi... huh?

***

As Abel stretched his arms and stepped outside of the convention, a mob of crows in front of him briskly flew off. Their cacophonous caws rang against his eardrums as they soared away into the burning horizon. The sun kissed the town goodbye as it buried itself behind the mountains. A ghost of a smile made its way to his face as evening slowly loomed in.

Ah... what a day.

He might have wasted much of his energy on that dense cosplayer, but every inch of his body loosened completely. Being around his fans alongside an outing with Lotte and Adrian... those were the things he craved for so badly, especially after all of that unnecessary stuff happening back home.

Just hang on, Abel. You'll be fine with Rocky.

As the trio made their way to the train station, Charlotte and Adrian were chattering about some Netflix shows. Abel chose to remain silent; there was nothing worthy to contribute to the conversation. Seeing their glittering expressions alleviated him, but his chest tightened when Charlotte pulled out her phone from her bag.

"God, my father's such a worrywart!" She complained as she ogled at the screen. "Look, it's not 8 pm yet and he's already making so much wuss."

Adrian chuckled and nudged her. "Aw, he's just being a concerned dad. We've been out for the entire day, after all."

Just a concerned father... At those lingering words, Abel abruptly stopped in his tracks, staring at the darkening skies in the distance. He clenched both of his fists in the pockets of his pants. Charlotte might have had beef with her father, but judging from the times Abel met him when he came over, he was nothing but a young man too wise beyond his years. His father, on the other hand...

"You're supposed to be studying right now. Don't be an embarrassment to your family."

If only Abel could express all of his thoughts, then he wouldn't bother piercing the empty air with his screams. If only he could get away without any bruises and protests, then he would have been able to unleash his fury on some objects, giving them repeated blows and kicks.

"The setting sun's beautiful, isn't it?"

That unmistakable flat voice pried him back to reality, preventing him from drowning to his angst. With no second thoughts, he glanced over his shoulders, and as expected, Princess Charming revealed her presence. Her purple eyes inevitably jolted Abel and made him gulp, but thankfully, he collected himself together this time.

"Why are you here?" he interrogated.

"Why? Am I not allowed to use the SkyTrain?" She countered nonchalantly. "Thought it was public transportation."

Smartass. There was literally no perfect statement to rebut her words, so Abel ended up saying nothing. She then shifted her attention back to the sunset as the surrounding clouds caught on fire. While zoning out into the distance, her facial features... somewhat softened.

"It's been cloudy for these past few days, so the sunset's something I don't want to miss," said Abel, breathing silently as he jumped back to the original topic. While they marvelled at the perks of nature, a balmy breeze gently swept through their bodies, fluttering their hair and clothes. Mairi's mantle, particularly, smoothly rippled in a wave.

"My father used to admire sunsets. He usually took me to the beaches or mountains just to see them. He also had some paintings back home," she went on. "He said sunsets are a good symbolism, but honestly... I still don't get what it means."

Symbolism...? Abel snickered mentally. It was just a sunset. There was nothing special about it. I'm more confused about people and their obsession with symbolism...

Charlotte and Adrian, ultimately noticing their friend had company, cast their grins and waved their hands at Mairi. She nodded in acknowledgement as they properly introduced themselves, but subsequently never uttered a single word. She trailed behind Abel, staring at the floor.

As the quartet reached the station, they tapped their cards, then boarded the perfectly-timed train. While Abel and Mairi settled down on the seats, Charlotte leaned against the glass near the doors, and Adrian settled on the pole beside her.

The metallic noises of the train wheels and growls of the crowd rang through Abel's ears, but other than that, awkward silence joined the group and relished its time. Sighing, he found himself looking at Mairi - who was digging dirt out of her nails - particularly gazing at her prince costume.

Now that I look closely... It looks so well made. The texture of her mantle looked soft and neat, the overall ornaments blended well with the rest of the clothes. The compl-

"I made these myself, but it's kinda inspired by a game I played." Mairi spoke out of the blue, and the next thing Abel knew, he came across her violet eyes... up close. "Glad you like it."

"I... I didn't ask..." Abel murmured, breaking his stare almost instantly. Seriously, those eyes never failed to take a toll on him. Don't be too relaxed around her.

"Welp." His ears perked up as Adrian started up a convo. "Abs usually bragged whenever we got home from conventions, but this time, Mairi really silenced him."

"Gotta give credit to her," Charlotte giggled. "It's been hard coping with Abel lately. She straight up shot him down, although he's not giving up just yet."

"Not just that. He's so flustered and goes all bonkers on her!" remarked his friend.

"Mairi really needs to open his eyes and break more of his ego."

"And just so you know, the person with the broken ego can hear you loud and clear," Abel called out, interrupting their gossipy talk, his eyes slitted. God, did they just think the background noises would help cover up their conversations?

As the train exited the tunnel and entered the outside world, buildings and cars zoomed past below, with burning clouds in the distance. Abel slouched himself against his seat, but when in his peripheral vision, he noticed Adrian showing something to Charlotte on his phone, and she promptly bit her lips in a poor attempt not to laugh.

What are they doing?

"You better sleep with one eye open from now on." She beamed slyly.

"Duh, been planning just that." He slipped his gadget back to his pocket. The two continued guffawing their asses off, oblivious of the intense glare Abel had been giving them. He rested his chin on his hand and bounced one of his legs, his brows furrowed. It's probably that stupid photo...

Ugh, screw my body... Why was he even blushing, anyway?

Abel reverted back to Mairi, and currently, she was playing something in her hands. She swung it back and forth rapidly, so it was difficult to inspect. She looked so immersed with it that she took no heed of her surroundings. Well, there can only be one way to find out.

"What's that thing you had?" As soon as Abel questioned her, Mairi quickly clasped whatever the object was. There was a strange pause midway, but she ultimately opened her fingers, revealing what she was holding: a small, colored disc.

Huh, a poker chip?

Where did she get that from? Theories began seeping into Abel's brain, trying to appease the popping questions. There was no way Mairi... gambled. Her vibes were far from a gambler or anything similar. Perhaps she must have bought it over Amazon and kept it as a toy. She looks too young for that shit.

"My mother gave this to me," Mairi disclosed as her bangs hid her eyes. "It was like some sort of a gift."

"Huh?" Abel frowned and scrunched his face, struggling to register and process what she had just replied. He blinked a few times, gawking at her as if she was the most peculiar human being he had ever encountered. Well, frankly, Mairi was already peculiar herself... and learning about her idiosyncrasies continued to leave Abel with more mysteries rather than solutions.

What kind of parent gives their child a poker chip as a gift?

Not a word left Mairi in spite of everything. She resumed throwing the poker chip from her hand to the other. Left with no more clues to feed his starving curiosity, Abel faintly grunted at her inaction and sat up straight. Interrogating her more would definitely produce no results.

"Well, go play with it then," he mumbled. After all, I'm supposed not to be interested in her background.

"I've been planning just that," Mairi retorted. "Thanks for your concern."

Regardless of his claims, Abel swallowed his breath as he couldn't stop stealing glances at his new friend, especially at the poker chip, no matter how much he tried focusing on something else. She was extremely dexterous with the small object, as if... it had become some habit of hers.

Maybe, I'm just... a little curious.

***

A/N: Thanks for reading, and this is the first published chapter of the new year! Hope you have a great start to 2022!