One would think that even in a town overrun with couples, finding someone unaffected by the love virus that was going around would be easier.
After all, just look for the single people; it can’t be that hard.
Astra severely underestimated how bad things were in this town.
Now that he was looking, really looking.
All he could see were couples, couples with gummy, too-wide smiles, endless positivity, and relentless public displays of affection.
He really should have noticed something was off sooner.
Exhaustion must have clouded his mind because there is no way he wouldn’t notice something as off-putting as this.
Dodging past another couple, babbling about the upcoming wedding, Astra was starting to feel they’d never find a single person.
A sort of hopelessness settled into his bones, and he debated leaving right then and there.
Whatever effects that had sunk itself into Thalia and were bothering Rubio didn’t seem to be affecting him.
And he didn’t want to stay long enough for it to begin to.
But a single glance at Rubio, his mouth pressed into a thin line, his eyes crinkled at the edges, clearly filled with worry and fear but trying to keep it at bay.
It had him reconsidering.
And anyway, he wasn’t cruel enough to leave an entire town of people at the whim of whatever was causing this.
He wouldn’t wish this fate on anyone, so he’d get over himself and figure it out.
It’s what…they…would’ve wanted him to do.
“There!
I see someone!” Rubio shouts, pulling Astra out of his thoughts.
Sure enough, when he glances at where the man is pointing, he spots someone walking, alone.
Nobody else in sight who could potentially be her partner.
“Excuse me, Miss?” Rubio calls out when they get nearer.
She was a Satyr, with olive skin and short brown hair.
“Ah, yes?
Do you need something?” She asks.
“What are your thoughts on love and the way this town is?” Astra questions.
“Oh, is this an interview?
Well, I absolutely adore love; you could even say I love it.
I positively can’t wait until I find a partner of my own.” She sighs dreamily.
Astra feels his heart sink.
“Maybe she’s pretending?” Rubio whispers.
“Maybe,” Astra whispers back, then he clears his throat and turns to the woman again.
“I’m being completely serious when I say this…have you noticed anything…wrong…with this town?
Anything slightly off, weird in a way you can’t put your finger on?”
“Hmm?
Nope, not that I can think of.
I’m sorry, what is this interview about again?” She asks, her voice and body becoming wary.
“Nothing really, just trying to figure out the quality of life here.
We’ll be going now, have a great day!” Rubio waves, dragging Astra away from the woman.
“Is everyone here infected?
We can’t even trust people running around alone!” He panics, feathers fluffing up as he paces in the street.
“Listen.
Listen!
We’ll be fine; we just need to talk to everybody we can.
Nobody has gotten suspicious yet, so if we need to question the entire damn town, then that’s what we’ll do.
But I can’t have you freaking out on me.
Internalize it and let’s go.” Rubio’s words are harsh, but Astra has to admit they help.
“Alright, alright.” He repeats, forcefully calming his feathers.
In the end, they talked to pretty much every single person in the entire town.
They automatically ruled out couples; even if someone were pretending, there would be too many to check, so narrowing it down to single people was easier.
Despite that, though, it still took a good portion of the day, as even the single people were infected by whatever disease this was.
It was when they were about to give up that they found someone.
By this point, they were famished.
Astra had already finished off his water bottle, and neither of them had eaten since the day before.
They stepped into a tavern, the only other one in town besides the inn.
Nobody was manning the bar; the only person in there was a Tiefling with sunken bags around their eyes, nursing a flask.
They were alone, though, so Astra and Rubio plopped down into the seats across from them.
“Never seen you ’round ‘ere before.” They rasp, taking another swig.
They had dark red skin, ringlets of dark brown hair that fell to their waist, and a massive cloak covering their body.
“We just got to town yesterday,” Astra replies flippantly.
“Hah!
You picked a damn good town to travel to.” They laughed, but their tone was bitter and self-deprecating.
Astra and Rubio shared a glance.
“We wanted to ask…does something in this town feel…off?
To you?” Rubio questioned, eyes scanning them for information.
They paused mid-drink, their posture stiffening.
“I don’t reckon I should talk about that.” They say hurriedly, eyes glancing around.
“You know something.” Astra accuses.
“Who said that?
Certainly not me.” They babble.
“If you know something, then tell us,” Rubio demands, reaching across the table and grasping them by the collar.
Their eyes widen in fear, and they begin to shake.
“Alright, fine, fine!
I’ll tell ya!
Just let me go, don’ hurt me!” They cry out.
Rubio releases them, brushing their collar off as he backs away.
“Ahem.” They clear their throat.
“The name’s Brandy; you two are?”
“Is this a joke?” Rubio questions with a glare.
“No, no, not joking, I wouldn’t dare!
But I at least wanna know your names ‘fore we continue.” Brandy says, waving their arms in a panic.
“…Fine.
I’m Rubio, and this is Astra.
Now tell us what you know.” Rubio orders.
“Right…now I don’ know much.
I haven’t bothered investigating and stuff, just trying to do my best and survive.
Never been the type of person to get involved, y’know?” Brandy glances at them for affirmation, but Rubio makes an aggressive motion for them to continue.
“Ahem, anyway.
All I know is that all this crap started the year the former mayor’s daughter got married, now the current mayor.
After that business, people started falling in love; it was cute at first.
But then…everyone started falling in love.
When people began to notice, it was too late.” Brandy shrugged.
“Then why aren’t you affected?” Astra questions.
“Or better yet, do you know anyone else who isn’t affected?”
“I don’ know anyone else like me, ‘sides you guys, I guess.
No idea where they went; there used to be a group of us but now…I’m all alone.” They burst out laughing.
“As for me, no idea why I’m not affected.
Maybe it has something to do with willpower.
Who knows.” The shrug again.
“Damn it, this doesn’t give us anything!” Astra curses.
“Sorry I couldn’t be of more help, though.
If you do figure out what’s made everyone go love psycho, come find me and I’ll help.” Brandy offers.
“Can a drunk like you really help all that much?” Rubio mutters, then blinks.
“Sorry, that was uncalled for.” He hastily apologizes.
“S’fine, I’m used to worse.
My drinking habits aren’t highly encouraged by the rest of the town, I’ll put it that way.” Brandy chuckles.
“We’ll be seeing you, Brandy.” Astra sighs, pulling Rubio along with him as they exit the tavern.
“What do we do now?” Rubio whispers, completely defeated.
“What happened to all that fire from earlier?
We’ll figure it out; we have a few more hints now.
Maybe we should look into the mayor?” Astra suggested, elbowing the man.
“Yeah, yeah, you’re right.
Okay, let’s g-!” He’s cut off when a couple races past them.
“Come on!
The wedding’s starting!” They cheer.
Astra and Rubio share a glance.
“We can use this as a distraction to investigate the mayor!” Astra grins.
“It’s perfect!” Rubio smirks.
That hope drains, however, when someone locks onto their arms.
“C’mon guys, we can’t miss the wedding!” It was Thalia, her partner walking alongside.
“What?
Oh no, we shouldn’t; we don’t even have a gift prepared.” Rubio denies, struggling to get out of her grip.
Astra tries as well, but she’s strong.
“Don’t be silly, everyone needs to be at the wedding, or else Winny will feel bad.” She chastises, pulling them along.
She drags them to a small clearing a little ways away from the town.
There are chairs set up in rows and a stage.
Winny and his partner, a Goliath man with gray skin and short brown hair, are already on stage.
Thalia leads them to some seats, forcing them to sit down as the rest of the town files in.
They were stuck, for better or for worse.