Teddie wandered through the streets of the safe zone alone. Most people were asleep at this point, but he didn’t mind the quieter parts of the day. In fact, he generally preferred it that way.

  He liked sleeping, but it’s not like he hasn’t stayed up before. Animals don’t always share common time with humans, which means certain animals were up when humans weren’t. So, sometimes Teddie stayed up to talk to them. They always had quite a different perspective on things too, it was almost like a completely different ecosystem.

  Maybe, the people who stayed up during this night had a different perspective too. If something needed love, then maybe they just needed to look at it through a new angle.

  It’s not like he had much of a choice anyways, given the deadline and all. But, he did feel a little bit aimless wandering about. There was something he hadn’t done in quite a while, however.

  A pair of critters were foraging through a nearby trashcan. Teddie had only really been considering the Lovebird at this point, but the animals were all a part of this city too. He wondered what they thought.

  Teddie quietly stepped behind the two, with Mr. Bear in his hand. He spoke out to them.

  “Hello, Mr. and Ms.”

  The two of them looked back at him, as if he was interrupting something.

  “Chitter, chitter.”

  “Tch… chitter…”

  Then, they partially discussed as Teddie politely waited to be addressed. Soon after, they looked back at Teddie and gave him their full attention.

  “So. How long have you all been in the City of Love? Since you were born?” Teddie asked.

  “Chitter… chitter…”

  “A few years, right? So you’ve seen the previous governor?”

  “Chitter…”

  “I understand. Things were a lot better for you here as well back then. This affects everyone, not just us people.”

  The conversation they had continued, which Teddie considered pretty insightful. He heard the story about how the previous governor was ousted after a trip from the capital, but nobody could tell the reason why. They also brought up the bandits, and how they weren’t good for the animals either.

  But, the most intriguing thing that Teddie wanted to know was, how the previous governor made things better for the animals. A perspective that wasn’t normally considered, but it wasn’t one that she forgot.

  People discussed with animals in Loura, though it wasn’t as common as in a city like Verdant. Critters had relatively short lifespans, so obviously the city couldn’t completely shift their priorities to accommodate them entirely. But the city itself being breathing, and alive allowed them the same love as everyone else.

  The previous governor’s love spread throughout everything, down to the core of the city. That was something that Phiona would have to nail down. Teddie sighed, though he gave a thumbs up. Before they departed, Teddie wanted to tell them one more thing.

  “Things might get messy around here. I think… you two should find a safe spot away from the fighting… and you should tell the other animals about it too.”

  The raccoons gratefully nodded before scurrying off, leaving Teddie back to wandering the streets once again. It wouldn’t be too long after until he noticed two squails, chirping about on the trees in some kind of discussion. Perhaps, as fellow birds, they would be familiar with the Lovebird as well.

  “Hey there…” Teddie called out to the two of them, and they looked back at him. Two delightful chirps spawned back, like without a care in the world. Unlike the raccoons, these birds seemed to have a more positive and cheerful view. Perhaps it was because they could simply fly away if things became troubled.

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  “Are you two familiar with Mr. Lovebird?” Teddie asked. “He’s putting us in a real… pickle… and we need to know what to do for the future.”

  The two rather chatty birds immediately chirped back. They began chirping their beaks off, even. They did in fact know the Lovebird, as squails did constantly fly over to its territory in order to discuss assistance and food matters. This resulted in a pretty detailed explanation as to why the Lovebird does what it does.

  It was not trying to make things difficult, but it sees the power it grants as potentially leading to ruin, misery, or destruction if the person does not have the right heart or mind for the job. It also needed perfect compatibility, as a result, or else it cannot grant this power at all. This also explained why it was so quick to oust the previous governor. Apparently, it felt like she did not have the right state of mind.

  But that didn’t fully explain it. Phiona seemed like she had the mentality to work as a governor for many more years to come. So, why was the bird being so picky? Does it just not feel confident in Phiona’s long term success?

  Teddie talked to these two birds for a while, as they kept on chirping until there was no tomorrow. A lot of information about the Lovebird’s life that wasn’t super relevant to what exactly he wanted. The problem was that, there might not be a tomorrow if they could not keep up with these demands. What does the Lovebird see in long-term stability? How is one supposed to prove that in under a day, like Phiona had promised.

  “I understand your talks, Mrs. Birdie, but… we need something by tomorrow. We’re really, really desperate, and it doesn’t help that Mr. Lovebird’s ability is so… fickle.”

  With one last pair of chirps, the two squails thought they had spoken enough. They apologized for not being of more help, but they also said that it sounded like Phiona had a lot of strong qualities the Lovebird liked. It might simply take a crisis for those to shine. Perhaps the date she called was a way to follow that idea?

  Teddie watched as the two birds flew off. A crisis was incoming, but Teddie was certain that they couldn’t leave anything to chance. Tired from hearing all of the talking earlier, Teddie quietly sat down on a nearby bench to contemplate. The best times to think were in the quiet of the woods, but the city itself would have to do in the meantime.

  “Hey kid. What are you doing here?”

  A familiar guard sat down on the bench next to him. It was Max, who was also seemingly out and about.

  “Oh… hello, Mr. Max… um, what are you doing here too? I was just… talking to some animals… trying to get some new perspectives…” Teddie muttered.

  “A new perspective huh. I suppose we could all use that. Heck, your friend Cozy gave me a good dose of that too.”

  Teddie looked back in curiosity. “Hm? What did she say?”

  “Well, it was just how she was talking to Phiona, right? The idea that Loura is a living being, and right now it’s currently struggling to live,” Max answered. “I think I took a liking to that idea, and since you’ve been talking to animals, I dunno. It might resonate with you too.”

  “I understand the idea…” Teddie looked down. “Though if it was an animal, then I would’ve loved to just… look at it and ask what it needs. That would make things a lot easier, wouldn’t it?”

  “I guess you’re right, but I think it still has merit. I used to butt heads with Junice all the time on how this city should run, you already know about that. I still think I’m right on a lot of things, even.”

  “Okay…?”

  “Well. If we’re the body, then you know that sometimes the body does things that seem kind of counterintuitive right? Like, you get a really bad itch and it just tells you to itch more even though you know that you shouldn’t. Well, maybe Loura is like that, right now.”

  Teddie paused to think a bit more about Max’s analogy. It was an interesting thought, especially with how Phiona was being treated right now. “So. Are you saying that the body doesn’t always say the right thing?”

  “I guess. I dunno, it’s just what got me thinking. Maybe what Phiona needs has to do with that, but I’m no love philosopher, despite my job.”

  “Well…” Teddie said. “Living things have to do a lot of things to survive, but that is different from loving themselves. What makes a living thing love itself, if even it sometimes doesn’t know what it wants?”

  The two of them sat down in silence for a long while. Neither of them really knew the answer to that question.

  “Is love about making things better?” Max asked.

  “I dunno. Phiona obviously wants to make things better, so it can’t just be that simple. The birds told me that a crisis might be the way to show her resolve. But, it’s just not all coming to me.”

  “Well. We have a crisis on our hands right now,” Max scoffed. “So, in a messy, contradictory city, this might be the last chance we have.”

  “Messy… contradictory…” Teddie repeated those words again. “Let's try to understand this mess, then.”

  “You got it,” Max gave Teddie’s hair a quick ruffle. “We’ve got a day. We have to make it count. I’m gonna go to the border and see how everything is holding up. You keep on thinking, I think you and your friends have a good head on your shoulders.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Max,” Teddie said as Max got up. He and Mr. Bear both waved Max goodbye, as they sat there. Finally, completely alone. They still had a lot to think about.