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Well, Cass made sure of their promise and took Gwen to Harbourtown!
Did they tell any of their friends? Maybe not, but Cass wasn't entirely sure they were going to convince Gwen today, so..
Regardless, Cass wasn't entirely planning to involve all of their plans just yet... Just Kayleigh
She went on ahead of them because the boat was small, and told them she's going to go grab some stuff from her house and to come there
So.. That's what they were doing
"What are those flowers that are everywhere? " Gwen asked in a bit of admiration "I wasn't ever aware they could grow in Harbourtown.. "
Cass smiled at the orchids, they planted most of those. They wanted Harbourtownto have a theme, but Kayleigh planted some lavenders and Eugene planted roses
So it ended up being a bit of everything, fitting for Harbourtown, really
"I'm not sure they're from New Warrel" Cass said instead "Me and my friends were just asked to plant the packets"
They can't even remember who asked at the moment... It was someone from the other side? This side?
"Fascinating, " Gwen smiled, but didn't stop going "The colors are even properly distributed in a gradient - I never would have thought of that"
"Well, we didn't either" Cass admitted, sweating a little "We just kind of planted them as we passed by them"
"I could never tell" Gwen was still looking back at the flowers they passed "Your whole town looks lovely, just full of colors! "
"Your place was colorful too" Cass smiled, their Pombomb tail wagging a bit as they went down the stairs "A bit run down, but I could probably clean it! Once the Umbrahella leaves it alone"
"Well, it was from a dead world, " Gwen countered, basically going down the stairs in two big steps "Humans did that too, and all of you have wonderful creativity. I tried to study it, but I could never copy it"
Cass wondered if that's why she has a moon on her form, was she trying to copy that one space attraction?
Regardless, Cass thinks it's fine, so they shrugged "Well, I couldn't either"
"Nonsense, " Gwen frowned "I've seen you and your friends down there at the haunted house, you and Felix spent the time drawing the Blunderbusk in the same patterns that they had on them"
"Well, that was more Felix than me" Cass remembers that, the second their tape evolved Felix had an idea and Cass insisted they help right away. Several Charlequin came to see what he was drawing and just watched
"Still, it's more than my kind could ever hope to do" Gwen stopped moving when Cass did "We're really more like observers than creators, Cass. "
"Not for long! " Cass responded with a tail wag, knocking on Kayleigh's door "You'll make something, just you wait"
"I'm really not sure about that.. " Gwen said quietly
After a moment, Kayleigh opened her door, Barkley running up to them "There you are! Sorry, I forgot Barkley was with me today, but he won't cause trouble"
Barkley gave Gwen a welcome bark "I remember you, Barkley. I'm glad to meet you again"
Barkley just stuck out his tongue for a moment in return, then ran back inside
"So Kayleigh, what did you have in mind? " Cass said, entering last "Letting Gwen try your guitar? "
"Oh, no. " Kayleigh said with a nervous laugh "It barely works for me, but I think I found something more beginner friendly! "
Kayleigh then ceremoniously took out a mostly intact plastic bag with... Something inside, Cass recognized some kind of instructions?
"I.. Don't know what that is" Cass admitted, looking at Gwen
"I'm afraid I don't know either, but if Kayleigh likes it I'm sure it's something wonderful" Gwen smiled
Kayleigh blushed a little "Well.. It's something I used to do with my dad.. "
Barkley barked and Cass agreed, they have to wingman these two at some point, but now isn't the time so they shook their head at him
"Have neither of you made sky lanterns when you were at summer camp? " Kayleigh said, fake squinting
"I didn't go to summer camps" Cass explained "I wanted to, but money wasn't the best"
"What's a summer camp? " Gwen asked instead, thinking "And I haven't seen sky lanterns before.. But I can guess what those are! "
"It's like uh.. " Cass trailed off "A place rich kids go to hang out, sleep in tents and make things? "
"My dad wasn't rich" Kayleigh said with a smile "I helped by selling girl scouts cookies"
"Ooohh, they didn't let me join when I was little, " Cass explained "Something about it being girls only"
Barkley barked, with a little growl at the end, Cass thought it was kinda dumb too
"I'm sure it was for a reason, dear Barkley" Gwen went a bit closer to Kayleigh's bag, but made no move to touch anything "A place where you can just create sounds.. "
Gwen paused for a second, almost as if searching for the word "...just fabulous"
Cass wasn't sure whether to smile or frown at that "Well, you get to do it now too! How do we do this, Kayleigh? "
"Well, The lantern is mostly done, " Kayleigh pulled out a paper like texture "So it's just up to one to decorate! I even managed to steal glitter from Skip"
"Oohh.. " Cass' tail wagged a little bit "Well, that sounds fun! We can do it together, Gwen! "
Gwen paused "... Are you sure, Cass? My last attempts at making things haven't been.. Great"
"I'm sure" Cass said, dragging a chair "You can at least try? "
"You'll always be better than me" Kayleigh looked to the side with a fond smile "I managed to burn a hole through mine"
"How? " Cass stared at Kayleigh in confusion
"You know, I'm not sure either"
Barkley laughed, and Kayleigh smiled "Yeah, you can help too! If Gwen let's you, that is"
"Oh of course! " Gwen moved a little bit in case.. Barkley wanted to jump on the chair?
Barkley barked happily
Cass doodled some hearts and flowers on the corner while they waited for Gwen to start
Expect she didn't, she just.. Sat there, frozen looking at the paint and glitter like they were going to attack her
"It doesn't have to be perfect" Cass prompted
Gwen frowned "I'm not sure this was the right idea... I don't even know where to start"
"You can start with a color! That's what I always did" Kayleigh said with a smile
"But which color? "
"Which do you like? " Cass said pointing at them "Do you have a favourite? "
Gwen quieted down, glancing over the colors and the names "I do like purple the most.. But what if it doesn't fit? "
"It doesn't have to fit, that's the fun of it! " Cass grabbed it and pushed it closer to Gwen "Just do whatever with it"
Gwen still sat there, looking at it with a slight frown
"You can do it! " Kayleigh encouraged "If it's bad, Cass can cover over it"
Both of them knew they would not cover over it.
Gwen slowly, hesitantly, picked up the purple and just kinda held it in her hand... Before dumping it all over the paper material
She immediately grimaced "I'm sorry, Kayleigh, I really didn't mean to ruin your lantern"
"That's good so far! " Kayleigh said with a smile "I like the splashy look of it"
Gwen frowned "Are.. You sure? It doesn't look like anything"
Barkley barked, and Cass smiled "It looks good to Barkley! "
Gwen still hesitated, so Cass gave Barkley the yellow, carefully, and he held it in his mouth "There, Barkley will go after you, just do whatever you want! "
Gwen with a frown and a minute or two of not moving picked up a different purple and splashed it too
Then a green, and a teal, and..
"I'm.. Not sure about this" Gwen said, looking at her complete little lantern "Barkley's paw prints are wonderful, and your dark lines really pop, Cass, but mine is more of a.. mess"
"Nonsense! " Kayleigh said, picking it up, then smiled "I think it's nice! Very colorful"
"But the colors don't really follow any set pattern - they're just thrown about. " Gwen tried to argue
"Not every artwork follows a pattern" Cass said with a smile "I just drew squiggles"
"They are very nice squiggles! " Gwen countered
"So are yours! " Cass smiled, and Barkley barked "Barkley agrees! "
"Oh, Brilliant, it's night time already! " Kayleigh said looking out the window "Come on Gwen, we have to set it outside"
Gwen frowned ".. Are you really sure you want to leave Barkley's and Cass' work outside to wander off? "
"It's your work too! " Kayleigh smiled "And yeah! I'll ask Skip to fish it out later, it's part of the fun, come on! "
Barkley started scratching the door the second he heard the word 'outside' , and when Kayleigh opened the door he bolted
"Come on Gwen! " Cass smiled "I want to see it, too! "
They felt a bit guilty saying that, but they wanted Gwen to see it somehow
"... If you insist" Gwen slowly got up
Cass themselves didn't expect the mostly purple lantern to shine as brightly as it did
It was slowly crossing the sky, the soft somewhat muted yellow popped out again the sky and reflected on the water
It looked...
Really beautiful, it was making Cass a bit homesick, for some reason
Gwen was quietly watching, with a small smile
"Well, what do you think, Gwen? " Kayleigh said with an audible smile
".. It's.. " Gwen said that so much softer than what Cass was used to "It's beautiful"
Cass thought it was, too "See, you can create something! "
Gwen didn't respond, but her expression relaxed a little bit
The four of them watched that lantern until it disappeared on the horizon