Sweet as Sugar

"Why would you want to pull some thing's tail? That hurts" Mu frowned

"There's no logic behind it," Melly agreed, before remembering that Mu had a tail himself. "Sometimes people are mean just to be mean I guess."

Mu's frown intensified. "If anyone ever pulls my tail, they'll get hit."

"And you should," replied Melly. "I never said it was nice. I'm just saying it's a weird impulse that makes no sense."

"Okay!" Mu chirped, suddenly all smiles again.

"Hey!" called someone away from them. Melly turned to see a brunette man with a green scarf heading toward them.

"Oh hey Steven!" Melly called back, waving.

Mu's tail wagged. "That's your friend?" He asked

Steven gave Mu an odd look as he came over. "Who's this?"

"Oh, this is my new friend Mu. He got ears and a tail because he's a traveling street performer," Melly explained. "Has to be ready to perform at any time, you know."

"...How's his tail moving?" asked Steven.

"Oh that? Uh..." Melly began, pausing. "How do you do that Mu?"

"Mechanical." Mu replied "To make it seem real." His ears twitched lightly at the sound of people talking a short distance away. "Ears too"

"Cool!" cheered Melly, playing along. "I've never been one for mechanics, so whenever I see something mechanical it amazes me."

"Like that blonde guy, what's-his-name, Voltaire," Steven replied. "How's he doing, by the way?"

"Um...I dunno," Melly admitted, looking away. "He...left. I haven't really seen him around lately."

"Really? He seemed to really enjoy it," remarked Steven, before turning to Mu. "Anyway, that's really impressive. It looks real."

Mu smiled. "Thank you" He chirped. "I try"

"Speaking of impressive, how's your painting going?" Melly asked.

"Oh it varies," Steven answered casually, shrugging. "Sometimes I hardly paint or sell anything, other days I can't paint fast enough to keep up with demand." He laughed.

Melly smiled back. Steven seemed to be doing well. Certainly much better than when she first met him. Lending someone a little artistic talent always seemed to help someone feel better, even if they didn't make money off of it like Steven did.

"Oh? Can we see?" Mu asked

"Sure. My studio's over this way," Steven answered, leading the way. "What about you, Melly? Artist groups going well?"

"Well, you know how it goes," the green-eyed girl answered. "They form, we have fun, then they break up, but most everyone is better for it by the time we leave."

Mu smiled as he listened to the two exchange news about their time apart.

"So is Mu leftover from one of your groups, or is he the first new recruit?" asked Steven.

"Me and Mu just met in the forest a couple days back," Melly answered. "He's more into performing arts than craft arts."

Mu grinned and started walking on his hands as Steven looked back at him. "I was in the cirque~"

"I kind of figured," said Steven, though he seemed impressed by the hand-walk. "Which cirque was it? I think I might have seen it at some point."

"I never knew our name, but it was the only cirque with a mere." Mu replied.

"A mare?" asked Steven, mistaking the word. "Usually there are a lot of female horses in circuses. The males can get too rowdy unless they're gelded."

"No, a Mere. Like a mermaid!" Mu corrected. "Hailen, he was my best friend.

"Oh," Steven replied somewhat stupidly. "But wouldn't it be a merman, if it was a he?"

Mu returned to his feet, looking thoughtful. "I dunno. We always called him a Mere." He stated.

"Guess that works," Steven answered with a shrug. "Did he do tricks or did people just look at him?"

"Both. He had his own tent" Mu smiled. "Or he did until Kail came along. He's a mere too."