Chapter Text
"Dear Soul,
I'd like you to meet with someone at the train station for a date! I know you and them get along quite well, and you really need someone at this point. (Not to be rude of course.)
Meet with them at 3pm tomorrow. You and them will be going to the fair, so bring this ticket. You'll know them when you see them.
From
Iris C."
That was the letter Soul had received the night before. He knew Iris was an weird woman - she had one eye for goodness sake - but this was on a whole other level. He probably should've just crumpled up the letter and thrown it away asap...
...But it seemed curiosity has once again killed the cat. (Seriously, how has curiousity not gotten a life sentence yet?)
Nonetheless, he put on his least awful outfit, brushed his hair quickly, and grabbed some monster to drink on the way. This was going to be an interesting day for sure, Soul had his fingers crossed that it would go well, or at least horribly enough that he won't feel bad and can chase Iris around the island for thinking this was a good idea.
When he actually made it to the train station, there wasn't a lot of other residents about. Unsurprising, considering how cold the whole island was today. It seemed there were only four people his 'date' could've been. The - already taken - mayor-guy reading a book, the loud girl headbanging to one of her heavy metal songs (which, he had to admit, was kinda inspiring), that totally inconspicuous blonde person on the bench, or-
Oh.
Oh no.
She wasn't lying when she said he'd know, huh? The only other person on the platform was Mind, and he was the only person here he actually knew, rather than just chatting with once or twice. As soon as he looked over, they glanced his way and audibly groaned before walking over.
"Okay, there is NO way that you and I have to spend a day together." Mind grumbled, barely audible enough for Soul to hear.
"Yeah, no, I'm not excited about this. Let's just get this day over with, shall we?"
An awkward silence formed between them, only broken by distant page-turning and a train on the other platform. Once on the train, Soul had tried to make light conversation to at least pass the time, but Mind - understandably - never said a thing until after the train ride.
They eventually made it to ColourLand a few minutes later. As the two of them stepped off the train, Soul looked up to see the towering Ferris wheel and roller coasters that he had only seen from his window until now. The two made their way to the ticket booths and entered the colourful fairgrounds.
"Alright, so what do you have in Mind?" Soul felt a jab in the arm at that.
"That was a terrible pun. ... Maybe the merry-go-round first? Just looking at the roller coasters is making my head spin."
Soul agreed with that plan, and the two of them hopped onto their respective horses and waited for the ride to start. The two chatted for a little bit until the ride started to turn. As the ride spun, Soul couldn't help but look around at the lights and colours blurring around him. People were passing by all around and- wait, that mascot person looked familiar...
The ride stopped, and the mascot disappeared. Soul would have focused on that thought more, if it wasn't for his companion stumbling over to a nearby bin and hurling. Ah, maybe they should've thought about less spinny rides... Welp, too late now. Once Mind had finished, the two of them talked for a bit and decided to stop by Le Cafe Cafe before heading back, to help settle his weak stomach.
Compared to the chill of the outside air, the cafe's warm atmosphere - and heating - was immediately relaxing. They both decided to get a window seat and ordered some drinks - a black coffee for Mind, and lemonade for Soul - as well as a sandwich for Mind too.
"Huh, usually you don't drink lemonade."
"Well, it's not like I can get energy drinks in a place like this," Soul quipped. "So, how have you been, aside from throwing up in a trash bin?"
Mind rolled their eyes, but answered, "Eh, mostly just been settling in. Oh, and I've been trying new clothes recently. By the way, did you know that they stamped the wrong sign on my resident card?"
"Yeah, I heard about that! Jack was babbling about it a few days ago, said he's gonna look into it and re-stamp it soon." He took a quick sip of the - kinda flat - lemonade before continuing. "I have to say, you're becoming a lot more chatty now that we're here!"
"Hmm? Ah, I guess I am. To be fair, this day is actually going a lot better than I thought it would. You're fun to be around, especially without him here."
For some reason, Soul felt his face become a bit warmer at that remark. The staff probably just turned the heating up or something.
"Fair enough, even I have to admit he's a lot to deal with." They both laughed in agreement, hoping that Heart wasn't around to hear.
They stayed there for a good half-hour or so more, chatting more and more with each minute passing. Even on the train ride back they were chatting quite a lot more, and Soul noticed that the warmth on his face didn't die down once they left the cafe, which he didn't even mind at this point.
In fact, they had made it to the fountain and Soul face still felt like the sun itself. Fitting, considering the 'sun' was almost as red at the shirt Soul had on today.
"So... Uhhhh, today was actually kinda fun."
"Yeah... Yeah it was." Soul glanced at the fountain, choosing to ignore the familiar face looking back through the water, before returning to Mind's gaze. "So, are we doing this again sometime?"
"Sure! Just, maybe not the merry-go-round." They chuckled a little bit.
"Alright, I'll see you around! I'm just gonna wait here for a friend."
"Okay, see you later, Soulmate." Soul couldn't help but groan at the lame pun, as the two of them waved to each other.
Once he knew his new partner was out of view, Soul snapped his head round to the face in the fountain again, causing her to squeak and duck away.
"HAVE YOU BEEN SPYING ON US THE ENTIRE TIME?!"
"I HAD TO MAKE SURE IT WAS GOING WELL!" Iris yelled in response.
"So yeah, that's how that went," A soaked Iris told the familiar lookalike in front of her.
He just... Stared in disbelief. There's no way this was a thing now. He was honestly about to scream. There really were consequences to saying yes to everything, huh?
'...The fanbase was either going to love, or hate this,' he thought, writing down what he could remember of this story.