Leape

In which Person A falls for Person B, but Person B's too oblivious to realize it

8

Dawnward was a seaside city, with bridges and shops in all the right places, people crowding the dirty, cobbled, streets. Women rushed by, their dresses reaching their shins, at least, children either trailing behind them or with their hands grasped tightly. Men sometimes passed by, their arms hooked with a lady's, their heads usually crowned with a top hat.

It took a whole day of walking to get into the inner city, with how big it was, and by then, Penn just wanted to sit down. His feet hurt. And he was tired of walking. He kept glancing around at the city with awe, but awe was not something that would make your feet feel un-sore from walking all day in uncomfortable shoes.

Most of their outfits looked like what Penn imagined men and women would wear in the late 1800s, but some nearly made him take a step back in surprise. Two young people— a brother and sister, twins, if Penn thought right, were on the side of the road, each doing acrobatics. The boy, looking to be around eighteen, was expertly strumming a quick tune on a ukulele, a grin on his face, black suit only a shade darker than his hair. He looked completely content with playing his instrument while his sister—also in a tuxedo, a top hat atop of her head, both red— juggled several balls up in the air. A showman smile was across her face as she casually juggled balls in the air, moving about as if it were nothing.

Quite a few people glared at the duo as they walked by, but a small crowd was gathered around them, cheering every time the girl did an impossible trick with the juggling balls, a collective laugh rippling across the group when the boy headed them back into a cloth bag.

The two were quite content with their business, and Penn found himself almost drawn to their show, instinctively, to see what happened next. Suddenly, Lethia grabbed his arm and threw herself into a shop, plastering herself against one of the many bookshelves in it.

Gasping for air, her eyes darted about wildly as she took in her surroundings, firmly having pushed Penn against one of the sturdy bookshelves in the shop. Penn opened his mouth to ask what was happening, but she put her finger to her mouth and gave him a stern look.

"Oh— my— word—" Lethia huffed, still gasping for air, trying to calm herself down. She ran her hands over her long hair, trying to flatten it out, as it'd gotten quite staticky in the run over. Lowering her finger, she cast an annoyed look behind her and out the window. "I HATE those guys," she furiously whispered at Penn, who felt sorry for whomever those guys were.

"Who are... 'those guys'?" Penn whispered back, brows furrowing, more questions already crowding his mind.

Lethia gave a sigh as if Penn knew nothing. "Those guys are—" she cut herself off as low voices came from the counter on which sat the cash register. Stealthily moving back, she motioned for Penn to follow, until they were out of whomever was speaking's view.

"I'm serious, Theophilus! We can do something about it! You know I'm no environmentalist, but... I mean, seriously!"

The person who had spoken was short and stocky, with curly brown hair and dark brown eyes. Freckles covered his face and partially up his arms, and when he spoke, he was fully animated, as if he were from a cartoon. The person he was speaking to shook his head, a frown tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"Marcus, that simply won't work. We can't risk it. You know how they are," said he with a wary look around, voice low as he spoke, although Penn got the feeling he was usually quite soft-spoken most of the time. From his close-cropped dark hair and his umber skin to his lanky form, he looked like a volleyball player, the only thing ruining the image being his late nineteenth century clothing he wore.