My Multicolored Cloak

The Jesters, the Soldier, and the Maid

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, this is high-key depressing, and I'm not sure I like it," Adrien complained, crossing his arms. He wasn't against sad stories by any means, but he was having a hard time staying invested with all these bad things constantly happening. On top of that, the only people to make appearances so far were Nastasia and Dimentio. His parents weren't even in it!

"Dude, why are you ALWAYS complaining about these stories?!" Marie huffed. 

"Because people keep dying!" Adrien cried out. "Death is not a necessity for a good story!"

"I know, I know," Fleur teased. "I just like it because it ticks you off."

Adrien rolled his eyes and crossed his arms while everyone else giggled. Fleur just loved to mess with him. He wasn't sure if it was rude, annoying, or silly. Probably all three. Sometimes, he really questioned his choices when it came to his best friends.

Lucky for him, there were lots of good qualities that allowed him to look past Fleur's weird obsession with stories about death. 

Fleur took a deep breath, ready to continue the story when she suddenly heard someone's throat clear from behind her.

"Yeah, I thought you guys were down here," Nastasia huffed, her hands on her hips. She pulled out a pocket watch and looked at it, though Mac could tell she didn't actually need to know what the time was. She usually only checked her watch when she wanted to bring everyone else's attention to the time. It was like she was making a statement. "It's time to come home for the night, K?"

Mac's face fell as he muttered, "Aw, mom," under his breath. He was slightly saddened by the fact that the story was not yet over. That, and he was embarrassed that it was his mother of all people showing up to ruin the fun. 

"Don't 'aw mom' me," Nastasia stated firmly. "I gave you all an extra fifteen minutes, and you've already exceeded that. It's time to call it a night."

There were a few grumbles and complaints from the children, but they chose not to argue too much. They knew that arguments between children and adults were never fair because adults always won, even when they were wrong. It was a fact of life that they had come to accept, even if they didn't like it. Arguing against Nastasia was especially pointless because she was very good at gaslighting and manipulating. On top of that, she was not the kind of woman who was easily persuaded. So, they slowly gathered their things and made their way back up the hill. Nastasia led the way, though she was a good distance in front of the children. Fleur and Marie followed more closely while Mac and Adrien stayed back.

"Say, what's this?" Adrien asked, snatching the small buttercup from behind Mac's back. 

The shorter boy's face immediately heated up as he tried taking the flower back. Unfortunately, Adrien decided to play the game where he held something above Mac's head, just out of his reach. No matter how high Mac jumped, he couldn't seem to get it.

"It's a flower," Mac huffed. "Obviously. Can I have it back now?"

"A flower for...?" Adrien teased. 

"Flowers don't have to always be for someone, you know!" Mac exclaimed, though the anxiety in his voice practically made it impossible not to be caught in the lie.

"Yeah, but if it wasn't, you wouldn't be hiding it behind your back," Adrien pointed out with a triumphant smirk. 

Mac huffed and crossed his arms. Adrien was usually the dumber "pretty boy" of the group, so it was always annoying whenever he made connections and actually acted smart. Especially since the only things he was ever smart about were things like this. The very things Mac happened to be dumb about.