Downs and ups.

What can I say? It was going great so far. We were both getting more comfortable with each other, playing, joking and teasing while sitting very close to one another. Those ice cream kisses in particular had been doubly sweet. But then…

“God, kids these days…! Acting like that in public. So inconsiderate!”

“Right? It’s like they have no shame! Horribly raised…”

Both Fern and I flinched at the not-so-subtle comments of two older ladies walking past us. My face began to heat up and my chest tightened. But if I suddenly felt ashamed of what we were doing, it went double for Fern. Her face went fully red and she looked down to hide from the humiliation, as the loud ladies had drawn more eyes to us.

And you know what? Seeing Fern like that made the shame slip right past me. Instead I got pissed that those women felt the need to humiliate Fern, my girlfriend, for indulging in some, admittedly spicy, displays of affection after years of yearning for it. Like a bucket of ice water on someone’s happiness. Or perhaps a bucket of boiling water considering how much it burned.

Fern’s hand on top of mine brought me back, and the worried look in her eyes sobered me up.

“You’re not gonna yell at them, are you?” she asked me softly.

I let out a heavy sigh. She had likely felt my anger rise, and that was a reminder to keep myself cool. “No, though I want to.”

Fern grimaced. “It’s true that we might be making others uncomfortable. I wasn’t… thinking straight.”

I groaned. “Yeah, that’s true. Honestly, I’m generally uncomfortable with PDA, too, for the same reason that I don’t want to be a bother to others. I used to hate seeing couples in public.”

That got a small smile out of Fern, especially since she was now sure I wasn’t gonna have a stupid outburst. “Me too. It made me jealous seeing people… having what I didn’t.”

I nodded. “But you know… I get it now. I understand that urge to show affection no matter the time or place, regardless of who is or isn’t watching.”

“...” Fern swallowed and nodded in agreement. “Still…”

I clicked my tongue. “It’s not that those ladies were wrong. They were just awful. It’s really easy to just say your piece and run away, like ruining someone’s mood on your way home just because you can.”

Fern smiled, then I caught her eyes widening as she looked at the ice cream cone I was holding. “Oliver, it’s starting to drip!”

“Oh, crap!”

Fern gave me a napkin to wipe my hand and I began to lick the edges of the cone.

“...” I sighed. “You know… There’s something we could do, if you’re interested.”

“Eh?”

“It’s… magic related,” I said, lowering my voice. “If I write something on your clothes and mine, somewhere it won’t be seen, people won’t even notice if we kiss and stuff.”

Fern’s eyes went wide again. “Y-You can do that?”

I nodded. “We call them Normality runes. They make shows of public affection seem like normal and people ignore it. There’s… a limit to what’s considered normal, but we’ve tested them and they work fairly well.”

Fern swallowed. “You’ve tested them?” I nodded but didn’t elaborate. “And… we could kiss and do stuff… and people wouldn’t notice?” I nodded again. “...” Fern sighed, then smiled at me. “No, it’s fine. Maybe some other time, but right now… I’m fine just spending time with you. Let me get used to the magic stuff bit by bit, okay?

“Yeah, of course. I just figured I’d let you know it’s… an option.”

She chuckled. “And I admit it sounds like a fun option to have. Tempting, too. Say… Maybe… Maybe later we could… go someplace else?”

Her intent wasn’t lost on me, mental connection or not. I smiled. “If that’s what you want, I’d be more than happy to.”

I could feel her arousal rising. Arousal and nerves. I remember being too confused to process what was happening when I had my first time. Fern, though, was right in the middle of realizing that, holy shit, it could happen and it was all up to her.

My ears perked up when I heard something interesting that drew my attention away from Fern for a moment. It sounded like… a violin. Just some quick notes. Then a keyboard. Curious, I turned my head back and saw it in the distance. Two people were setting up their instruments in a corner of the mall.

Fern chuckled. “Wanna go see?”

“Ah. Um… Yeah. Sorry.”

“No, I wanna check it out, too.”

We finished the last of our ice cream and walked over to the performers, hand in hand. We stood some distance away, letting them set up their amps and mics.

They were two girls about our age. One, the girl holding the violin, had long, straight brown hair and a slender figure. The other had thicker legs, wider hips and larger boobs, and her shoulder-length hair was dyed dark red with her black roots showing at the top of her head. Both were pretty cute, I had to admit, and I have to admit I felt some relief at… not feeling anything in particular towards them beyond that. No immediate rejection like I had with some people nor that strong intuition that we’d be good together like I had felt with Diana and Fern.

“Violin and keyboard… Is that normal?” Fern asked me.

“I don’t know much about violin, though I want to. My best guess would be they’ll play something classical.”

The last thing they set up was a camera. Not a phone, but a dedicated camera on a tripod. That made me even more curious.

They didn’t have an into or anything, which I suppose made sense since they didn’t exactly have an audience. Fern and I were standing somewhat far away and most others were walking past. Instead, the two girls looked at each other, nodded and they began.

I was wrong about it being something classical, and judging by how hyped Fern got when she heard the keyboard, my second guess was anime.

The melody was fast, yet with an air of melancholy to it. I closed my eyes and took it in. The violin joined soon after, from the looks of it taking the place of the lyrics. That was really interesting, too. I’d always been curious about the violin from game soundtracks that made good use of it, but it seemed so far away from my area of hard rock and power metal that I never delved too deep into learning more. I was beginning to reconsider. The keyboard, though, had been on my list of instruments to learn for a long while because of how versatile it is, but I hadn’t gotten around to it yet.

I opened my eyes and turned to look at Fern. She was grinning from ear to ear, humming along with the melodi. We both clapped for them when they were done, along with three other people.

“What was that from?” I asked Fern.

“The opening of an anime I love. FMA. It’s old but super well known.”

The girls played four more songs, all from anime and all songs Fern recognized, so she absolutely loved the show. I didn’t know any of them, but I did like how they played. It was kind of enlightening.

“Fern? Thanks for bringing me here,” I told her, smiling. “I feel like I learned something new again.”

She giggled. “It was really good. They were recording, too. Do you think they have a channel?”

Oh. Right. “Wanna ask them?”

“Um… Only if you come with me.”

I chuckled. “Fine.”

We approached the two girls as they were unplugging their stuff and putting everything away. Fern walked up to the brunette with **** confidence and asked, “H-Hey, that was amazing. You’re both really good.”

The girl smiled. “Oh, thank you.” Her tone was quiet, subdued, but she seemed genuine. Her eyes looked tired, but I didn’t think she actually was. Must’ve been her natural look, kind of like how Diana usually looks like she’s angry.

“So… You were recording, right? Do you have a channel?” Fern asked.

“Yes. It’s called Luna and Ruby. I’m Luna, she’s Ruby.”

The redhead, Ruby, waved at us from the back as she put her keyboard in its bag and zipped it.

Fern looked the channel up and found it. “Thank you. You’ve got another viewer here! Oh, and my… um… my b-boyfriend said he learned something new from listening to you.”

“Oh, really? Is he…?” The brunette, Luna, turned to look at me, but when her eyes landed on me, her expression changed. She went quiet… and frowned.

Um… Oh-uh?

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