lady yurin and i took over
a scout mission today
(but really, i'd like to believe
she just wanted to go
sight-seeing without anyone
hot on her trails).

not that i'm complaining.

lady yurin makes such
an enjoyable companion
and, by extension,
that includes her
destinations as well.

now that i've thought about it,

it has been a while since
i have felt so festive.

something about the colorful
streaks of light parading
on the streets, as well as
the noise drowned out by
the music remind me of the times
we used to sneak unto
the neighboring territory midday.

non-wavecontroller baangs
could manifest in different ways—
whoever knew that?
(i certainly didn't.)

one produced
lush pink flower petals
from their fingertips.

another's flowed
like ocean waves.

if mine were as pure
and as beautiful
as theirs, perhaps...
i̶ m̶i̶g̶h̶t̶ h̶a̶v̶e̶ l̶e̶a̶r̶n̶t̶
t̶o̶ l̶o̶v̶e̶ i̶t̶ a̶s̶ m̶y̶ o̶w̶n̶.̶

what else— oh!
i almost bought a manual.

but didn't because khun-ssi
(who just appeared
out of nowhere, might i add)
stopped me and profusely cussed
out the vendor for almost
scamming me out of my money.

(how embarrassing.)

he could teach me himself—
how to command shinsu.

years worth of expectations
to be a jack-of-all-trades,
he said.

how thoughtful.

though, in the end,
i declined.

l̶a̶d̶y̶ ̶a̶r̶l̶e̶n̶e̶ ̶w̶o̶u̶l̶d̶n̶'̶t̶ ̶w̶a̶n̶t̶ ̶i̶t̶.̶

, V.