Running around like kids in a candy shop, we hit every store. Enjoyed the hell out of it.
The sky shifts to evening when the entire village showers in orange, and we walk out of a clothing store with a new coat; Black, white decals, straight-line stitching, what I would call a robe. A robe that’s surprisingly thin, but cuts off most of the cold. Lyanna gets a dress to match.
The door of the store creaks shut behind us, classical styled music hums through the streets, a band playing something close to country.
The leather textured, full-body height, but dense coat, is a bit heavy on me. I think Lyanna shares the same issue by the way she constantly has to lift it every few minutes.
But Lyanna’s coat is a bit different from mine, not in a way that affects its weight I mean. It’s more gown-like shape wise, I wouldn’t categorize it under anything else for the sake of accuracy.
But it does look good on her…
A second passes while I stand there still.
/-- You know—
…piss off.
“Ar!”
Her voice brings me out of whatever I was slipping into, then it’s her lips tucked to a corner that has me questioning.
“Uh. Ar?”
She shifts her coat again before answering with a deep exhale.
“Well, you
did
call me ‘Ly’ before…”
“I mea—”
“
Aand,
you
did
mention that we shouldn’t ‘spread our names’ here”
I drag a hand through the side of my hair like that'll kick my brain into gear faster. My fingers catch a bump instead; It’s a wound I never noticed that’s already healed over.
My sleep schedule is way too fucked up.
It finally occurs to me what she said.
“Ok good point.”
I feel… weird.
Time feels as if it’s frozen over, prickles of ice poking at the side of my brain. Everything suddenly hurts; Complete pain. But I don’t feel it, recognize, or how to describe it. I’m completely still, she’s completely still. Nothing moves. But it hurts so fucking much.
It fucking hurts.
It fucking hurts.
IT HURTS—
“Ar?”
I’m brought back again, suddenly almost gasping for air, though it’s somewhat hidden as a heave.
“Ar!”
“Ye-Yes?”
What the fuck…
“You ok?”
My eyes swell up with tears for a moment.
“I think”, voice devoid of tone.
What… was that. I remember it clearly… right? Wait why- what, no… fuck.
“You
are
fine with me calling you Ar right?”
…
What really happened?
I make my best attempt at swaying away from my odd reaction.
“’Do what you want, say what you want.’”, I say with both my hands up.
The side-eye she gives me is, for some reason, a bit… how can I say this…
Comforting.
The world seems to settle when I begin to relax.
Not too long ago, she was.. a
complete
stranger. A random kid, who I think didn’t even like me at first. Then probably got fucked up in the head after… that. And now we’re…
Here
.
H... Here.
/-- Here. --/
The static running in my head flickers out the second Lyanna grabs my hand.
“Yeah?”
I wish I was here before you.
/-- Why the sudden thought? --/
…I need some fucking rest. I feel like I’m about to fall.
My body has too much energy driven by a placebo of emotions to let me.
“You good?”, voice cheery in a way I think I’m obligated to reflect.
“Oh yeah”
She turns around, doesn’t look back at me, and grabs me by the hand as she drags me into the open street; My legs nearly don’t catch up when she’s already started moving.
“Are you really okay?”
“Yes yes child, don’t think too deep into it”
Don’t sound flustered you moron. It’s a dead giveaway.
“Ar, are you
really ok?”
/-- WELL I TOLD YOU DIDN’T I?.. NOT HER, YOU. --/
We’re in the street following the line of people heading in a general direction forward, some of them right behind me, or to the sides.
I keep my voice down when I answer.
“Just wondering how we ended up here.”
Her thumb twitches slightly, before she lets it slip by rubbing it down the top of my hand.
“Don’t think too much into it, that’s a question for later!”
I stare at her blankly realizing she’s started to reflect my own thought process. Which I’m
not
really sure how to interpret.
We move through the crowd and there is one thing that clearly stands out; Every single one we pass, every single one that we’re yet to pass, has an allocate. All of them.
This was
not
something I had seen or expected. Well if I remember correctly, I felt a gaping hole in everyone I’ve met here, or at least a similar feeling. For someone to have an allocate, they must have the ability to channel mana into their core, and the people who have the ability to that, are normally people like
me
;
Mana manipulators.
So does this mean—
Maybe a thought for when I’m a tad bit more sane. Maybe I’m hallucinating it, I can’t honestly trust myself in this state.
Lyanna drags me through the curving street while I make up my pace to get beside her.
I let a thought I wanted keep to myself, out onto her.
“I really need some sleep Ly”
I catch her off guard with that when her eyes jolt back to me from something to the front-right of us.
“Mm?”
“Just feel like I need some sleep”
Her eyes subtly stick to what she was tracing before.
“True True. Come to think of—”
Her eyes lock back to mine again for second,
“—I don’t think I’ve seen you sleep in a while”
Then she’s back to it.
I slowly roll my head towards what she’s so intensively been staring at, only to be revealed to a child with her hands grasping the white and black flower on the side of her head, while her mother tugs at the side of her purse.
I’m fairly certain I catch onto her drift.
“You want one?”
She immediately turns her head back to me with a staccato “HM?”.
“What she’s wearing I mean.”
“I mean, if
you
don’t mind!”
She says so sarcastically it almost makes me flinch.
“Since we want to cover all of this before we leave—”
/-- This is the dumbest decision you’ll make --/
“I won’t make it for you, but let’s hope we’ll find a shop on the way around here before anything else. Sounds good?”
She lights up in a blaze of serotonin, burning me with the excitement in her eyes.
“YES!”
I almost knock her on the head with a flat palm when her voice is loud enough to echo off the street.
“O..k..”
Jesus christ Lyanna…
“Thank You!”
I let my hand ruffle through the strands of her hair while she’s practically jumping with joy.
A subtle smile digs its way into my face.
///////////////////////////////////
25 minutes pass. So many stores somehow neatly packed into this dome, a variety of shops lining the streets, yet—
“Nothing”, the expression that’s drowning Lyanna hurts to see.
“Well, at least we tried”
I sort of expected this considering that people probably don’t prioritize décor over survival.
“With that said, tell me the design you want and I’ll make one”
I hand a firm thumbs up before she plummets to my chest.
“Breaking expectation sucks I know”
I try my best at comforting her, already knowing this familiar feeling. Too many times to be exact. It sucks to have all that anticipation broken like a meteor to the face, but that’s life for you.
I sit her next to me, though she refuses to let her face detach from my chest. The slowly growing night becoming enough shadow to mask her face.
I’m not sure why, but I feel weirdly comfortable now. There’s the shorthand explanation of not constantly being on alert, but I’m not sure if that’s even it.
/-- Maybe because we can stare for a bit without
constantly
being aware of everything going on. But that doesn’t mean we can stay here forever --/
And who said that?
/-- You --/
Why the rush..?
The ache in my chest starts to rise again when my breath stutters.
I’m so fucking tired.
Why did I
not
choose the obvious option of getting some rest… Why the hell did I choose to go exploring…
I really am not able to think straight right now.
People are beginning to retreat back to their homes as some stores are beginning to close already; Lyanna started to relax a bit too. And among the array of people my eyes land on, I catch the eye of a man dressed in casual black attire with his face covered by the hoodie of the winter coat he has on; Leaning to the side of a wooden wall, eyes jerking as he tracks a woman passing by.
That signature- I’ve felt it before.
My gaze stays locked on him, he doesn’t acknowledge me in the least, even if he’s been eyeing us for the last few minutes.
This is just a thought, purely hypothetical, but what would happen if a large wooden cart were to spawn inside of a man?
It probably looks something like thi—
But the quiet breathing of Lyanna on my chest, and my blood pressure high enough to get my hands twitching,
Yeah fuck no. I’m not sane enough to deal with this right now.
“Ar?”
Her voice is a bit raspy.
“Yeah?”, my head tilts down to her.
“I think I have an idea”
At least she’s in a better mood now.
Lyanna gets up as she brushes the dust that stuck to her dress, but almost immediately when I try to get a quick glance at the man in black,
He’s gone.
I scan through the crowd one more time to get a general idea of where he might’ve gone, and coincidentally when I trace back to where he was earlier,
Botanical?
A botanical, clearly visible by the arrangement of the store inside and out.
“I think
I
have an idea Ly”
Her face rolls up to face mine, and I signal to my right. She glances to the side, but doesn’t seem to get the hint. This time using my entire head I nod to the right.
Lyanna’s head slides to the side, somehow
still
attached with superglue to my chest, and—
“OH!”
“Yes ‘OH!’”
God this headache really won’t go away will it.
“Can We?!”
“Why else do you think I would very CLEARLY nod towards it?”
She jolts up and the superglue rips off my chest.
“Come on, Come on! It’s probably about to close!”
Once again, I’m being dragged before my legs catch up.
///////////////////////// Part 2 /////////////////////////////
My vision is starting to get a bit distorted again, but I hesitantly hide it using a circle of healing to the back of my head. Low power enough to not glow too much, and powerful enough to feel its effects.
We brake to a stop in front of the door, and Lyanna strolls ahead to read the sign on the door. Her right-hand twitches slightly when she gets close enough to read the text hung on the other side of the glass door. She opens the door right after.
Lyanna enters the store before me and holds the door open while I pass into the dim lit botanical.
The first thing to instantly hit my nose is the sweet smell of flowers; I can almost smell the colors even if I can’t see much.
Lyanna lets the door swing back as she paces a bit to join me and lamps light up when the door hits the frame.
Our eyes slide as we both glance at each other for a sharp second. It leaves a shared smile on us.
Continuing my scan of the botanical, the sight of flowers packed in neat standing fertilizer boxes, alongside the shelves of flowers covered in moss stacked next to each other is a sight to behold in contrast to the dull gray in this bloody maze.
Left eye closed, I glance at the Lyanna to my right gawking at the exact thing I was looking at; White flowers with the same unique straight lining as literally everything in here, light-blue flowers with the same art. Lyanna and I both stare at that specific fertilizer box for a bit before reaching the counter. She’s barely tall enough to see over it.
The smile she’s now inadvertently fueled is kind of hard to let go.
“Is there anyone here?”, Lyanna asks. Not out loud for anyone to hear, just a question for me.
“Not… sure to be honest. I mean this does feel like closing time for most stores here, so it’s not entirely out of the question that
this
is closed— But I’m not that sure”
I gasp after spitting that entire line out in one breath.
Lyanna’s head makes a slow roll to me, lips puckered up, and hands flimsily tapping on the counter.
“Soo, could you… You know”
Her bones come back from being jelly, and now… pointing over the counter and… to the door—
/-- Oh she wants you to ask if someone’s here --/ |
Oh she wants me to ask if someone’s here.
“Uh…”
/-- Just a
friendly
idea this was
your
idea to bring her here and buy
her
something --/
I know…
My entire face becomes a dried grape again for a few seconds.
/-- Think about her for a second—
“Nah- We’ll just wait for a minute or so. If no ones here, then
maybe
we’ll try again”
A quiet but long breath streams out of Lyanna.
“Ok”
///////////////////////////////////
5 quiet minutes. 5 minutes of nothing but the sound of the street is what happens. 5 minutes of absolutely coming over to the counter.
/-- You are a shy bitch --/
“Ar?”
“I know”
My lips fall flat when I realize that I, the older one, the one that proposed this, am going to be the one to do
this.
Come on, you’ve faced worse.
A sigh escapes me as Lyanna stares me down. I clear my head of everything I thought of before, and—
A guy, maybe 24 with long wavy black hair peeks through the door right behind the counter. He almost drops the box he’s practically wrestling with when he sees us.
“Oh- One second please.”
Looks 24, sounds 18.
Lyanna takes a seat near the display of flowers, the man in front of me turns to the right—
“Jessene!”
—then turns left as his entire body sways with the box he’s clinging on to. It’s now that my eyes lock onto his torn left ear…
huh?
Should I ask?
/-- No that would be too forward. --/
I feel like I should.
/-- Just let this play out --/
I take a quick glance back at Lyanna; After a subtle yawn as she peers into me. Then proceeding to flick her tongue in-and-out like a cat.
My brows almost make contact with my lower eyelid when she does because—
“What was that...”, my voice a whisper.
She shakes her head three times, eyes closed with a smothered smile, and then the door on the far-left corner of the store opens. A woman with fair skin and long black hair with curled at the ends, seemingly around the man’s age range, comes through with 2 fertilizer filled flowerpots.
I assume she’s Jessene?
She paces to get over to the man quickly, my eyes pace between the both of them at the time; There’s a small thing I’m wondering whether is true or not.
A ring glints on her finger, and she offers us a smile.
“Welcome! I’m Jessene and this is Lyle.”
My hand twitches a bit when I see the same ring on
his
finger.
Ah so they are married. Fun.
“Anything you have an eye one?”, Jessene voices as she stretches her arms.
I point at Lyanna.
“Something you’d recommend? For her I mean.”
Jessene leans in over the counter as she inspects Lyanna with her hands anchored on the counter, keeping her body propped up.
Pinching up the bridge of my nose out of habit after that god awful interaction, Jessene interrupts.
“What are you looking to get exactly?”
“Hm?”
“Something like that”, Lyanna answers before me, pointing to the flower Jessene has on the side of her head.
/-- God you are pathetic—
Will you genuinely just shut the fuck up. Kindly fuck off. Why do you keep talking you little—
Jessene throws herself back behind the counter and signals us to come as she strolls over to a compositor.
Lyanna joins me as we make our way there, then Jessene stops right in front of standing fertilizer box with 4 flowers in it; All of them alike. Same white petaled flower with a black ridge and straight lines running down to the center; A center that is pure black. Right next to it is a similar sized box with the same flower, but with every color inverted.
Lines and straight decals are definitely an aesthetic here.
“I don’t really
have an actual name for this, but I call it the [
Morning Dawn
].”
,
She says it so cheerfully that the pride in her tone skims over my ears.
What?
I’m left in a stun lock for about a second when I, and surprisingly Lyanna, click back.
“How come?” | “What?”
My right hand
somehow
ends up on Lyanna’s shoulder as my entire upper body shifts forward in question. Jessene giggles a bit before getting to the answer we’re both asking for.
“To be honest, I’m not that sure. But I can confirm that it does actually last far longer than anything else here. I found these flowers when I was pathfinding with Lyle—”
Our heads slide to the counter as Lyle waves at us, “Hey”.
“We were sort of going a long course when we found a huge cluster of these things past the exit of this dome. There wasn’t any soil whatsoever, these flowers were just growing
out
of the wall. I won’t tell you my dating methods, but some of these flowers were over 8- No 12 years old. I only collected the new ones and am now trying to find a way to cultivate these things. But I don’t seem to be able to get how… yet. But that is a technique I shall one day acquire!”
Man- she looks 24, sounds 18, talks 15-
“I- T- Damn”
A wide smile on Jessene’s face lights up the entire room, and judging by how Lyanna’s slowly been dragging my coat down, I can pretty much guess how excited she must be. Jessene, you are fueling a dopamine drowned tank that won’t stop burning.
“Anyways—”, she clears her throat. “The other one is what I call the [
Night’s Dawn
]. It’s basically the exact opposite of the Morning Dawn. That is in two aspects. One is obviously colour, and the other is in bloom”
/-- Bloom --/
What?
/-- Bloom --/
What.
/-- Bloom --/
…
/-- C B --/
Oh…
“You ok?”
My eyes detach from the flower we were talking about.
“Hm?”
“Ar?”
“Oh yeah yeah. Sorry I’m just a bit tired. What were you saying?"
I nearly forgot about my skill. And that’s
my
skill.
“What do you mean bloom?”
I can feel my body cringing when Lyanna has to fill in after I zoned out.
“Simply when the flower blooms. These flowers are sample placeholders to show you the flower in its prime, because they are actually folded in during the day. Basically, a budding.”
“Wait, so what does that mean for the Morning Dawn? Does it only bloom during the day?”
Jessene nods, “Yes. Sorry I actually forgot to mention that- My bad.”
That’s peculiar. Mana doesn’t exist here, so anything related to that is out of the question…
“Any idea on how? I mean I’ve heard of flowers that only bloom during the night, but.. You know what never mind. This is literally a dumb question to ask judging by the nature of this flower. At first I thought it might’ve been because the flower is in static-stasis of some source, but if the flower can do…
that
, then it’s not possible. So, I won’t even question it.”
So I may or may not have said a bit too much.
/-- Ya think? --/
“That was pretty much my entire thought process to be honest, though there was a bit more too it. But anyhow, let’s get back to the flower.”
Jessene’s gleeful attitude settles below something else in her.
“Now onto prices. In complete honesty, what is your budget?”
I can
feel
Lyanna guessing what I’m going to say next.
What do I tell her? I can’t say anything too odd…
“How much will they be? That’s one flower which is either the Morning Dawn or Night’s Dawn.”
“At the maximum 10 silvers”
My eyes bulge out seeing how fucking expensive this ‘flower’ is, and a chocked heave is what I hear from Lyanna.
“Excuse me..?”
“Yeah... Sorry if you had better expectations, but unfortunately, I have to compensate for the effort it takes to collect these with their worth. That side of the dome is… not an enjoyable place.”
“Oh no I get that.”
Fuck it.
I nod towards Lyanna.
“But I think we’re ready to make our choice”
A sigh leaves Jessene as she shoves her hands in the thermal coat she has on.
“Well, that’s relieving to know. I seriously didn’t want to leave you in an uncomfortable situation, so I’m glad this worked”, she chuckles slightly with a wide smile curving in her face.
Hm.
My chest feels empty for a second, like a hole tore through taking my heart into the floor. I guess I’ve gone long enough without talking to someone other than Lyanna, that… A voice, or expression like…
her’s
hits close to home. Close to someone I
knew… And that’s just fun, because—
It just hurts.
“So”, I turn to Lyanna. The girl with black curly hair and brown eyes I happened to meet when I got here. A meeting so coincidentally I’m struggling to believe it was real. To be honest every part of this feels like a fever dream. But calling it a dream wouldn’t do it justice, now would it. Because most of this dream feels like a fucking nightmare, doesn’t it. I guess it’s a dream I won’t be waking up from, in my own bed, in my own home. In my own world, in
our
world.
“What do
you
think?”
But I’m here. Fucking here. I don’t really know where I am, what I’m doing here,
why
I’m here, and why the hell I
wanted
to recreate that circle dad so desperately tried to fucking hide. I can’t remember why I wanted to recreate that circle… I can’t… wait.
Why can’t I remember—
“How about the bla- no, the Morning Dawn”, Lyanna says.
“What she said”, I struggle to my tone to flow as I clear my throat.
Holy fuck why can’t I remember…
Jessene glances back at Lyle as she leans onto the wall next to us.
“Lyle?”
He responds though his voice is a bit strained.
“Yeah?”
Why can’t I remember?!
Her arms cross,
“Could you grab me a Morning Dawn from storage?”
“On it”
His body flies up from the seat as he basically throws himself up. But he doesn’t seem to be prepared for the consequence of not having an ear open. His body suddenly banks left. Way too much. Jessene jolts the second she sees Lyle going down.
Thought perception decides to kick in after being idle for so long.
Shit, should I act? I don’t want to expose myself, so I can’t do anything directly. But Jessene’s here, and she’s the closest. Maybe she’ll be able to do something.
Analysis fires up.
She’s physically fit enough to do something— But fuck she’s a bit too far.
I try Analysis again in the small window I have to think, and an idea seems to surface. I design a circle in my head and immediately, somehow, almost instantly map a full circle base. I fill it with enhancers, but link them all into one consumption group.
Normally if these circles go unquestioned and made with this skill, they somehow work without needing mana; That’s what I’ve very clearly seen. But if you explicitly state a mana source, that infinity goes away, and that’s what I’m planning to use right now.
If I give her a buff that’s permanent, she’ll know something’s up, so I’ll link the trigger to a dummy, which will be a section of my core. And as soon Jessene catches Lyle, I flip the trigger, and the circle won’t have a source of mana, thus ending its cycle. Only issue is my actual name will be on the circle, but that’s not much of an issue.
Now comes the next stage;
Soul Walker.
This skill has a small detail where time almost ‘lags’ for about a few milliseconds. It’s not that noticeable on the first few tries, but after you get used to dealing with it, you really start to see it every activation or so.
Thus—
Activation.
The skill flips on like a hard lever, and as soon as my astral form detaches, I kill the skill. The very instant I enter either one of the states, I toggle it. At nearly 3 times a second, then 5 times a second, then 6, then 8, then 10, then 15.
At this rate, I’m about to throw up, but I’ll deal with that when I’m done.
Only 0.6 seconds have passed in the time I entered the state of Perception, and only 0.1 seconds pass when I’m able to segregate my consciousness into two equal halves using ‘Split’. This gives me the conscious window to materialize the circle designed.
It embeds into the back of Jessene, right on her skin. And from her perspective, the enhancers are effective enough to give her the acting window 20% activation of Thought Perception gives you. Only with the additional strength as a bonus.
I switch back and with the blink of an eye Jessene catches Lyle with the ‘nudge’ I gave her.
“Lyle- Are you ok!?”
My stomach lurches like the floor dropped a foot down, but I keep calm.
I feel like tripping over the pacing of my heart, and when I take a glance at Lyanna, she gestures between them and me with her index. Questioning me with the answer she quite obviously has.
I give her shaky nod as I feel my entire body swaying back and forth. She only acknowledges it by her arms raised up, forearms parallel to her chest.
I already know she will, but I signal her to stay the fuck silent anyways.
We rush over to check on them, but I almost, quite literally trip.
“Had fun?”, Lyanna whispers as she catches me on the side.
“Haven’t heard
you
give me sass before..”, my voice is definitely as quiet as hers, but my tone is a bit rough when I make the words come out. Not my stomach juices.
“Heh.”, there’s a certain smug in her face I know
how the hell
is justified or become of. But the support she gives my body, before I hug the floor and go to sleep, is enough excuse to ignore that.
We reach them and Jessene’s on the floor with Lyle ending up in her lap, disoriented, with his face covered under his arm.
“You good?”, I’m not ready to form words yet it seems.
His reply is quick,
“Yeah. Don’t worry, I’m fine”
Jessene’s mouth opens, about to say something, but abruptly turns to a stuttered sigh.
“I’m… sorry. I shouldn’t have made you-”
“Nah Nah-”, He chuckles a bit, though the pain in his voice is obvious. “
I
didn’t even know that was about to happen”
/- But you knew -/
I know.
/- Yet you didn’t do anything? -/
The hell do you expect
me to do?
/- You already know. You’re already thinking of it. -/
The idea I have is dumb move for us. Because if she, or he finds out what I can do, then I don’t think it’ll be in our best interest. Whether that’s socially, or because I’m just not sure. These people have their own lifestyle, their own world—
/- But what if you could change that. -/
What are you—
/- What if you be the one to change their future. You know what you can do. For a place like this, You Are
Priceless.
You can be their savior. You can be the one that leads them out. Hell, with them,
you’ll
be able to get out. -/
I’m not… I…
/- Show
them
what you can do. More accurately,
let them find out.
If you do this, you’ll plant the seed needed to grow this tree. The tree of realization. And if you do this right—
The corners of my lips lift without my discretion, shaping a grin I’m trying my best to hide,
—this tree will bear fruits. Fruits of hope. People here, above all, will hunger for hope. Hope to escape. Hope for a new life away from all of this. And in the center of it all, will be
you.
-/
“Did you have a severe head injury recently?”
Lyle’s arm falls back, and his gaze tears right into my grey eyes.
“Yeah, I got caught up in an accident a few months ago. An
Amasser
got to me; You know, the one with all those animal and…
human
body parts?”
So that’s what it’s called.
“It’s likely there was damage done to the inner ear, well quite obviously your entire ear, but I’m sure I can do something for you”
But ‘I’, I mean a circle of regeneration.
/- The seed -/
Lyanna’s glare from the side is all I need to know she’s not sure of my play yet.
My left arm ends up wrapping behind Lyanna as I bring her in closer, meanwhile Jessene and Lyle simply stay as frozen as ice. Only melting when their eyes make contact.
Lyle’s head makes a quick roll to me, “You mean you can—
“Yes”
I wash my entire face clean of emotions before plating it with a gentle smile.
“Who are you.”, their expressions take a turn. Jessene’s lost her entire tone, almost as if she’s threatening me. I can’t say the same for Lyle who’s starstruck on her lap. There’s obvious fear in her, I can understand why, and that’s fueling her worry.
“Just a person who’s touched on medicine.”
I haven’t.
Jessene takes a heavy breath in an attempt to calm down. Her heart’s racing too fast for her to think, her body’s shivering with every breath though she can’t see it.
My eyes don’t stray either; Completely locked on them as they were. I’m not entirely sure how my body hasn’t even moved.
“Are you sure?”
Adrenaline shoots through me, sending a wave of pleasure down my body. From the top of my head, over my eyes, to my hands, then to my feet, every part of me feels high suddenly.
“You can trust me. If I end up doing something to him, I’ll gladly let you kill me.—”
Lyanna shoots an eye at me, her mouth unknowingly opened. Whether that’s because she wanted to say something or not.
“—And if that’s not enough for you, I’ll do this entire thing for free”
Jessene’s pupils blow wide for a second, eyes slowly trailing down me, landing at Lyle. She takes a few seconds there, meanwhile the entire botanical is silent. Not a word from Lyle or Lyanna, only the muffled noise from the street.
Her mouth catches up before her teary eyes make contact with mine. This time her gaze is softer than what she was glaring at me earlier.
“I… No… no, are you sure?”
“I’m certain”
My heart is pounding so hard, yet this situation is getting rather exciting. Maybe that’s why.
A wheezy cough is what’s next from Jessene as clears her throat. The next thing she says makes my heart pound even faster.
“Then… yes- Yes. Please, if there’s something you can do for him… That’d be the world to me”
A tear trickles down her face, and I can see Lyanna tighten from my side. Arms tucked behind her, grip itself tightening, when she looks towards me, the one thing she very clearly sees is the wide grin covered by my hand. I’m struggling to contain how… relieved I am? No, that’s not it. I’m not sure what this feeling is, but it’s got me so high right now. I feel like melting.
The grin wipes when my hand falls back.
“So then, we—”
I flip my head at Lyanna before turning back to her, eyes to Lyle, then back to Her.
“—have some of own things to do here, but once we’re done, I’ll get to you.”
My body still hasn’t calmed down.
“Now, would you mind telling what the time is?”, I ask Jessene gesturing over my wrist.
She gives me a quick nod, then hurries to lay Lyle head down, but he gets up on his own, slowly but carefully making his way to the seat behind the counter. He opens the drawer on top of the counter, then takes out the miniature clock inside.
“It’s 4:53 right now”
I take a second to process that.
“Ok then. I’ll give you a location in about 10 minutes from now, which’ll probably be around 5:03. Then when I’m ready to begin, I’ll come get you in around 1 to 2 hours, so please try to be available.”
Jessene gets to voice before Lyle.
“Yes- Yes. We won’t probably till around 8 today.”
“Wonderful. Then—”
I turn to Lyanna who’s fixed her eyes onto the floor, about to pass out from exhaustion.
“—We’ll be on our way”
I pat Lyanna on the back, and she comes back from the dream she was about to fall into.
“Hm?”, Lyanna’s voice is a bit straight but clears out after a bit.
“Let’s go”
She responds with quiet, “Ok.”
I turn to Jessene, still with the same smile as before, and give her nod. She stumbles over her own words,
“Yeah… You- You have a nice day then.”
“See you in about 10 minutes”
“Right, sorry.”
I don’t think she interpreted that right.
/-- No shit. --/
We make our way to the door, and Jessene can’t seem to get her eyes off me. I open the door letting Lyanna head out first, and when I get ready to join her, Jessene calls out behind me.
“Hm?”
“Thank You.”
The smile that was beginning to sink, makes its way back to the surface one more time. Then, Index and middle out, I wave her goodbye even if I’ll be coming back soon.
“Seeya in a bit”, I close the door behind us. Jessene still can’t get her eyes off.
Warm, yet so oddly cold air brushes my skin like a firm comb. It makes a shiver run down my body, but the adrenaline I was, and still am running on, really won’t let me feel it too much.
I feel a weight on my left as we make our way through the curved street, and when I look it’s Lyanna who’s pulling up her coat with what I’d recognize as a confused expression. I might be wrong here, but it’s something similar.
“What was that?”, she chuckles a bit.
“Well I get bored sometimes, you know?”
An exasperated gasp is what I get from her.
“I guess… Fair is fair”
Heh.
“And besides, I have something to test with this”
Her head turns to me, and she almost trips over a rock, avoided by the fact I still have a grip on her hand.
“Careful there”, I share her a smug smile.
“Yeah yeah.”
I bring up the map, trying to search for a hotel or somethi—
No, that won’t work with what I just set up.
“Ly, could you find a place that’s a bit free and open maybe? I’m way too mentally drained for this.”
She lets go of my hand, though I still maintain contact on her shoulder as I hand her the map.
“What do you mean?”
“Someplace that’s… well free from buildings, stalls, etc etc. I just need a free and open place away from people to use to build us a small thing”
“What’s the small thing?”
“You’ll see”
“Ok then”
She begins tracing the map with her eyes, and coincidentally I think back to the botanical again.
Wait a minute…
Botanical… Flower—
“Oh shit…”
Lyanna’s head shifts back a bit, then turns to me.
“Eh?”
“We forgot the flower didn’t we…”
We stop right then and there, staring at ourselves for the matter of second.
“Oh come on—” | “Fu—"