We crash through the door and I 'calmly',
"Uh Jessene, we forgot the flower"
Jessene carrying Lyle on her shoulder almost drops him as we enter.
"Oh! I almost forgot. Let me get that up for you"
"No worries!"
The smell of aged wood sniffles my nose as she opens the door to the back.
"Give me a minute, I'll get back as fast as I can"
"Take your time, we aren't in a rush"
Sliding me a thumbs up, she heads out back to get Lyle in bed before he injures himself, and we patiently wait.
"So, any ideas on what we should do now that we're in the clear"
I say with my arms crossed.
Lyanna letting out a loud breath,
"Literally, just chill. I am so done with sitting in the cart for so long. Not to offend, but after a while of sitting in that thing, my butt feels like it's been on cement for 50 hours."
'Not to offend' huh.
"Yeah, I get that. And I need sleep. So, I'm in agreement"
"Oh! Also, can we get something to eat after this?"
"Obviously, ask and ye shall get"
She gives me a grin, and I remember back to something.
"Your vocabulary is really, Like Really good by the way. I didn't expect someone your age to be talking like that."
"Hehe, my most humble thanks good sir"
The corner of lip perks up,
"Very exquisite indeed"
I pat Lyanna, and Jessene comes with a fresh Morning Dawn from the back.
"Sorry for the holdup" She hands it to me.
"Thank you,"
Lyanna comes in closer to inspect the flower as we converse.
"How much is this by the way? I forgot to ask"
She shakes her head,
"You don't need to worry about that,"
A smirk surfaces,
"It's on the house."
"Sorry what?"
"You sort of are giving Lyle the chance to properly stand up again, so this is the least I can do"
"I mean yeah, but it sort of feels wrong to me."
"No No really, you can just take it." Jessene continues to push.
"I insist Jessene, I'll pay for it"
"Like I said, it's on the house-"
Lyanna interrupts.
"Ma'am, please just take it. Trust me when I say this, he won't give up until you say yes"
Nice save.
"It's just-"
"Please just tell me the price Jessene, I'll cover it."
Jessene pauses for a bit, and sighs,
"Ok fine…"
Her voice goes so low it's silent suddenly,
"25 Silver"
"Eh-"
My brain makes a sudden calculation compared to the stuff I bought here, and it instantly clicks in me like the two sides of a magnet interloping.
"WHAT?"
The soul left my body with those words.
"Yeah… That's sort of why I mentioned, 'they were a bit on the expensive end'"
"But That Much?!"
I did not expect a fucking flower to cost this much.
"So basically uh, I get the flowers from outside of the safe zone. On top of that, this Very specific flower is actually a rare medicinal herb, in a way"
Ok, I see where she's coming from.
"I guess that's fair"
I really don't want to throw the economy off in this dome, but it seems like that's going to be harder to keep true.
"Sooo, you can just keep that. It's fine."
"Damn. If you're sure, then all I have to say is Thank You"
Hesitantly enough, I Am Not risking causing inflation in this place.
A chair creaks from my left as my attention diverts, and Lyanna rests in peace.
"Hm, small question." Jessene questions.
"Yea?"
"How did you end up here?"
My heart spreads a loud thump throughout my body.
"It's… a long story"
With her arms crossed on the table, he hands take the weight of her chin as she asks,
"I don't mind listening" Her gaze glares into mine.
"That's a topic for later." I try to keep composure.
Tilting her head to the side,
"I see"
The fixed gape on me doesn't free, and I interrupt.
"By the way, I'll give you the time to meet up in a bit. We wanna do some more exploring" I say even though I'm exhausted out of my mind.
"Oh yeah, no worries! Like a wise man once said, 'Take your time'"
"Ehe he"
…
The small town bustles with people working, and as I lean on the counter, the world seems to calm down.
I oddly feel stress free. Back then I was continuously working with school and the 'other stuff' Gran had for me, so I really didn't have much time to take a break. But now, the only worry I have is staying alive.
Hm.
I bounce back and stretch my body.
"What's the time Jessene?"
She looks at an instrument on the counter which looks like a reinvented clock and tells me,
"It's 4:58 right now"
Yeah 2 hours would be enough for us to take some rest and get ready afterwards.
"How about 6:50 then?"
"Hm? Oh yeah, I don't have a problem with that."
Jessene tracks her head to nod but instead hits her forehead on the counter.
"That would be perfect"
"You good?"
She wobbles her head as she tries to cover it down,
"Yerp, Totally"
"If you say so" I try to hide my smile.
I release the cavitations in my joints and kneel near Lyanna to try to wake her up.
"Lyanna"
Whispering isn't gonna work dumbass.
"Lyanna!"
She doesn't move.
"Lyanna?"
I poke her nose, and she jolts up.
"YES!?"
"Good morning"
Disheveled, she fixes her hair.
"Are you done?" Her voice is groggy.
"Yep"
Patting herself down, I poke her nose again.
"Stop that.."
"What? I'm bored"
Her eyes barely opened, she gets up yawning.
She gestures something with her hands, and it takes me a second to 'pick up' on it.
Lyanna gets behind me and jumps on my back almost slipping.
"Careful"
Securing her with my arms, I nod to Jessene and she waves as I head for the door.
"I'll be back in a bit"
I pick up the flower, Jessene motions me a nod and before I leave, she halts me to a stop.
"Wait wait! I forgot to give you something."
She hurries out back, and Lyanna's head flops on my shoulder as she falls asleep.
"You're really sleepy aren't you"
Wonder what she went to get.
My attention shifts to carts with equipment passing by and just as fast as she left,
"I almost forgot to give you this"
She passes a container with intricate details and patterns on it.
"Keep the flower in for around 10 minutes. There's a solution in here that stops the aging of the flower. Well not completely, but it'll keep it alive for much longer"
"Ooo, interesting. Thank you Jessene"
"My pleasure" She beams a smile at me.
Jessene gently pats the sleeping Lyanna on my back,
"See in a while!" She quiets herself.
"Ba Byee"
I slowly push the door open, and move out as the evening sky sets in.
//////////////////////////////////////
Making my way into the street, the streets start to calm down a bit.
This definitely wasn't how I was expecting my day to go.
The crowd's mummering fills the streets and try to find a better place to put this damn container.
I get this is a very rare flower and stuff, so the container makes sense, but this… thing is so bulky. I don't have a pocket to put it in.
I create a bag under my coat, and hang it around my neck as I carefully shove the flower container in.
I need some sleep man. Really turned out to be a-
My blood runs cold.
My body locks up.
And I feel it again.
Someone's watching us.