Wiping her eyes, Lyric began collecting herself. Now that she'd cooled down, Kyoya sighed and leaned back once more.

"I was hoping we were the first to see that trap, but I guess something like this was inevitable... At least we were able to help." This day, he felt, had drawn on long enough; the peace and quiet of the evening couldn't possibly have seemed any farther away.

"Heard. Maybe we should get headed back, then; I'm sure Alex and Altar are just dying to pick your brain again," agreed the Seraph. She stood herself up and glanced around. Kyoya following suit.

Though, the cat was quick to its feet after them.

It walked circles around the Miscreant for a moment, before jumping onto his back.

"Whoa!" He stumbled in brief from the surprise but caught his footing afterward. From there, it rung its front around the back of his neck, laying comfortably with one end on either of his shoulders. Its tail dangled freely by his left arm. "...Okay, I guess?"

"Hells yeah!" Lyric cheered, twirling over to him to pet their newfound accomplice. "Who'd have known you were a cat guy!"

"Funny you say that, 'cause I'm really not—" He began, though a shush from Lyric put a hard stop on his rebuttal.

"Lying is rude, Blue. Now c'mon, I've had my end of the deal fulfilled, so next on our to-do list is... well, to do nothing," she asserted. Without any complaints, Kyoya looked to the cat, whose idle glances to and fro answered his question.

"You think they'll let us bring her in?"

"No problem there. Ace and Alex both crumble when it comes to animals. Altar has his own feelings about it, but he can't really compete with either of them… See, he always wove these animals out of yarn; he'd fuse 'em with his magic to seem alive, and unintentionally got his kids hooked on nature."

"Huh... right on."

Lyric led them in a cruising stride back through the grove, either of them silently anxious until finally merging back onto the main path that guided their return to Altaire's gate. While the momentary nature break was a blessing in itself, he sighed at the thought that they'd done plenty of adventuring for one day.

Stepping into an unfamiliar city had never felt so safe.

The day had matured into a brisk evening-afternoon. The sun began to take the descent of its arch over Takera's skies and bid them a violet-hued farewell, which blazed orange further from the horizon.

As such, the vibrant, joyous gleam of lanterns and fireworks began their own parting gift to the lone star. They ensured that the presence of light never truly left them.

Rather than pink and blue, the colors of this show were much more varied. They ranged from reds to greens, with additional sparks of purple, gold, and icy white flaring every few shots. "You think the tournament's over by now?"

"They usually fire those off when semi-finals start. We were only gone for a few hours, so it'd make sense that they're only just getting there," Lyric answered.

"In that case, wanna just stay and watch?" he asked, the cat pawing absentmindedly at his coat's fur trim.

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"Nah. You were probably right to think we need a break: this whole thing's been going a mile a minute since we started, so it wouldn’t hurt to let the dust settle a little. Let's just head back."

Kyoya voiced no objection. Instead, he turned away from the arena and stood to Lyric's left as they continued down the path they'd raced on earlier. The road's traffic grew denser, presumably due to a great many merchants and travelers having only just arrived for the sake of the Remembrance Ceremony tomorrow. At the very least, it made walking feel less empty.

It didn't take long before the congestion grew enough that they had to take a sidewalk instead. Neither of them raised any grievances over the matter.

The pair maintained an equal pace with idle chatter for the majority of the walk. However, Kyoya caught a couple of glances from his partner after a short while. He made nothing of it until she spoke up. "So, Kyoya..."

Brushing the cat's tail out of his view, he looked at her.

"What's up?"

"Well," she began, her signature amber glint suggesting deep thought. "Whaddya' think we should call her?"

He thought on that for a bit.

At least, he did until he actually considered what she was asking.

"What, like we're gonna keep her?"

"I mean, if she likes tagging around so much, I figure—"

Kyoya tilted his head at her. In return, the Seraph shrunk back a bit. "Right, it was dumb to think—"

"Hey, c'mon, I didn't say no. I was gonna ask if you were serious, is all." He smiled back and bumped her shoulder, to which she huffed and crossed her arms.

"...Bully."

Following a bout of laughter, the Miscreant cast another glance to the cat, who stared him back with a bowed head. In dimmer light, its eyes glistened in response to blazing sparks far above, reflecting them down to the pair as though it were their own personal show.

"You're a whole lot more riled up about it than I am... Why don't you give her a handle?"

"As in, no matter what I choose, you won't have any problem?"

"Why would I? She's entitled to a title, and you're the one who fixed her shoulder situation; she just happened to jump onto mine."

"Yeah, that's fair..." Lyric returned her gaze forward. By now, they'd passed through the last of the plains that filtered back into the market district. "Then, how about...—"

The tail end of that statement came a full minute after she'd started brainstorming, but its return came with a purpose. "Brynn!"

Kyoya's flinch was clue enough that her delight remained absolute.

"Jeez, don't yell like that outta' nowhere!"

The Seraph laughed it off and stood up next to the newly named Brynn, eyeing her gleefully. "How about it? Does it suit you, Brynn?"

Their accomplice, as Kyoya mostly expected, simply offered a tilted head to her. Though, it was followed by an excited mewl, which he'd initially thought came from his partner. "That's what I'm talkin' about!"

"If that's not a seal of approval, I dunno what is," concluded Kyoya. He and Lyric exchanged warm glances before returning their stares forward—just in time for Altaire's castle to march into view.