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The Barton Cherry Festival was, in the usual scheme of things, a little late -- usually it was held near the beginning of the month instead of towards its middle as it was now. As it was explained to him once, this was because of their unusually cold spring -- the cherry blossom trees only started blossoming now, and there was no point in holding the festival before that point -- but Circe couldn't be bothered to pay attention, much less actually remember any of those things.

The only important thing was that there was this huge party, see, out in the middle of West Barton Field, with pretty pink trees showering petals all over him like he was some kind of superstar. The peacock child grinned to himself as he proudly strutted down the path with his guardian, who was currently struggling to map out the best course of action.

"Let's see..." Cerena began as she squinted down at the flyer she had picked up near the entrance gate, where a table had been set up with needed information for newcomers. Circe boredly picked at his spring yukata while he waited for her -- he wasn't quite sure how he felt about wearing a dress but, hey, "if you got it, flaunt it!", right?

"Okay!" The light-haired girl finally caught up to him, paper crinkling in her hands as she attempted to explain to the otherwise disinterested Eden child, "Look, the games are set up over there, okay? Across the field! You can do stuff like... Like scoop up goldfish, I guess, and throw balls at cans and win prizes, so if you want to go... And there are food stands set up all along the way, if you're hungry, or if you need to use the bathroom, there's -- Circe, what are you doing?"

By this time, the attention-span-addled young boy had run off into the grove of trees, humming a random song to himself as he twirled and danced beneath the falling petals. If it had been anyone else, Cerena might've been impressed, but as he seemed to have two left feet and would probably fall over if his tailfeathers hadn't been spread out behind him, it was all she could do to keep from bursting out into laughter.

Circe immediately whirled around on one foot in mid-dance-step and nearly fell over in the process. Tail flailing as he tried to catch his balance, he 'hmph'ed and, drawing himself to his full height, eyed her critically.

Well. Let's see. Messy hair. Pretty clothes though. Nice colors. Pink, though... Oh, wait!

"Hey, Shouko!" He flashed her a bright grin, quickly running his hands through his hair to neaten it and straighten the crown resting on his head. His smile faded (just slightly) though at her question.

"What, you don't remember me?" He 'hmph'ed again, placing his hands on his hips and leaning slightly forward. "Not even a liiiiiiittle bit?" Logically, the best thing was to tell her his name -- but it seemed the young boy would rather taunt her than help her.

Circe continued his dancing, twirling around her in a slow circle before finally stopping in front of her and sweeping an elaborate (and creaky) bow. "Maybe I grew or something." He shrugged, more to himself than to her, and finally turned his attention back to her.

"I'm Prince Circe. ...The first! Of -- well, I'm not sure yet, I don't have a kingdom yet but I will!" And when he did... Everybody would love him! No exceptions! "Remember now?" He added hopefully as an afterthought.

"Yeah, as a leaf!" Pleased that she seemed to remember at last, he promptly plopped himself down on a particularly cushy-looking spot on the grass. "I'm much better-looking now, and can move lots better too -- though I'm too big to play 'baby' now."

What had happened to Tyyne, anyway? He only vaguely remembered the blonde girl. ...And what was all this about 'only crown-princes get kingdoms'?

"Well...!" He began to protest, jumping up again, "I must be a crown-prince! Because... I have a crown, see?" He gestured to it, tilting his head to the side and causing the crown to slip down a little. "It even has my name on it!"

But before he could clarify any further, a loud voice promptly (and rudely!) interrupted him. "CIIIIIRCE! WHERE ARE YOU--oh, there you are!" Cerena sighed, unsure of whether to feel relieved that she found him at last or -- get annoyed that he ran off in the first place.

Well, she was sure this could be resolved after she had had some ice cream.

"'Lo." Circe greeted his guardian airily before gesturing to Shouko. "I was just talkin' with her... Am I a crown-prince?"

"You are anything you want to be!" Cerena said decisively, remembering all the parenting books she'd read about being.. supportive and all that. If he wasn't going around riding motorcycles and drinking six-packs by the dozen, well, it was alright with her. "Hello," She added to the pink-haired girl, offering her a friendly smile. "You must be -- an Eden too, right? Circe hasn't seen any of his friends for so long, so it's nice!..."

"Nice to meet you--I'm Cere!" The elder girl babbled happily as she reached forward and energetically gave Shouko's hand a few good shakes. "I love your hair -- haha -- almost like you match the cherry blossoms!" Grinning to herself at her own apparent wit, she leaned over slightly to see if she could catch any kind of animal characteristics on the girl.

None. Huh. Maybe she was a--well, what was pink? A flamingo? YES. That must be it.

Catching the look on his guardian's face, Circe mentally groaned and tried his best to usher her away before she could start harassing Shouko: "I was talking to her first," he pointed out grumpily.

Cerena blinked at him before realization dawned. "OH! Well, uhm -- why don't you two stay for a bit and continue talking -- and I'll go get some.. ice cream or something, okay? Don't wander off too far!" And humming to herself for such a good job with this whole guardianship-thing, she promptly skipped off to do just that.

Circe watched carefully to make sure that she was truly gone and hadn't scrambled up a tree to watch them or anything before turning back to Shouko. "Don't mind her, she's..." And he shrugged, the universal description for any Cere anywhere. "Where's your guardian?" He asked curiously.

"You're allowed out all by yourself?" Circe tilted his head to the side in a very birdlike way, eyes widening in realization. Well, clearly Shouko was older than he was (taller even, hmph!) so perhaps that made sense but -- still!

...Then again, Cerena always had monies and things, and who'd help him find the bathroom if she wasn't around? So perhaps it wasn't much of anything to be jealous of... BUT STILL. Circe wanted to be allowed out by himself too, like a grownup!

"I think they have games and stuff over there," he began brightly, gesturing vaguely in a random direction. The implication was, of course, "Maybe if we wander off enough, Cerena won't be able to find us," but he wasn't sure Shouko would agree (since grownups were always so sensible.) "Like.. you can win goldfish." He already started wandering off, gesturing to Shouko to follow him.