I ducked a little to avoid the tarp as I entered the bar. The smell of different kinds of pie and cooked meat filled the air.

The bar was full of at least 25 people who were happily chatting with each other and servers almost running around the room to help everyone.

The chairs and round tables were made entirely of rich red wood carved with small patterns of flowers, bunnys, and carrots. The walls were lined with pictures of saints and their families, along with chipped and broken weapons and torn clothing.

The constant murmur of people hurt my ears. Each clink and clatter of silverware made me wince, and the hustle and bustle of the 3 servers made it hard to focus.

"Marri?" I jolted as my focus went to Momona, who talked to me. She seemed slightly concerned about me and glanced over to the bar.

Echo slipped past me and into the room proper, and several people got up to greet her, making more follow suit.

Momona leaned in a bit to speak directly into my ears. "Marri, are you getting overwhelmed?"

"I think?.. no yeah, there's so much going on that I feel like I'm in danger, but not... I know I'm not, but..." Momona looked hurt by what I said. I was about to apologize when it went away, replaced with a strained smile.

"Here, follow me. I have something to help with that in the back." I trailed behind her as she slipped behind the bar and opened a door I didn't see was there.

The constant clatter of metal and searing of meat dominated the kitchen I just entered.

Momona walked over to a filing cabinet and dug through one of the compartments.

My attention shifted to a small green figure cooking a steak over a fire. He flipped the piece of meat onto a plate that already had some mashed potatoes and garnished it with some herbs and garlic.

His long, slightly gnarled ears twitched, and he turned to Me and Momona with a scowl. "Who's the asshole in the... Oh, Bun!"

The green skinned man turned to us, and a part of me felt repulsed by his rugged and wrinkled covered face and pointed nose. I struggled to shove that feeling down without showing it on my face.

He put the plate with steak on a counter that led to the restaurant, and it was immediately taken by a server to be delivered to someone.

He got off of a stool, revealing that he was even shorter than I was and walked over to us. He was wearing brown overalls and a pure white apron that was slightly stained with food and liquids. "I was upset. I saw you for so little for 2 days."

Momona finally got what she was looking for just in time to scoop up the little man and kiss him on the cheek. "I know, I know my Chef, but you also know that I can't leave someone hurt alone. Their up and moving so I can be here more."

"Is this who you mentioned? They seem fine. Are you?" He turned to me and hopped off of Momona to face me. He was a head shorter than me, and the ever-present scowl on his face did little to squash partial distaste for him.

"Pretty much... Umm, I'm Marri." Unsure of what else to do, I stuck my hand out for a handshake despite the part of me that was disgusted by the rough leathery green skin he had.

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He seemed surprised that I offered a hand and took it, giving me a strong handshake. I cringed at the rough feeling of his hand, and it took more willpower than I would have liked to not recoil in disgust. A bubbling self hatred was starting to form when the feeling finally went away. "Kelk, chef of the place and husband to Bun. Why you are still with Bun if you're fine?"

I was thinking over how to say this since we left the bunker, and I think I had the best answer I could give. "I got a concussion in the fracture, and I barely have any memories, so Momona offered to help me adjust."

Kelk nodded slowly before he moved on to a different question. "Ohhhh, where you come from, tho? The sewers? I've never seen you or anyone like you here."

I almost laughed at his question, and it wasn't very wrong either. "As I mentioned, barely any memories, and funnily enough, yes, I woke up in the sewers."

"I'll leave now. The food won't make itself. I hope you get better." Kelk waved as he walked back to his station.

"Ok then." I mumbled as I turned to Momona, who was trying to get my attention. She was holding a pair of foam rectangles and a small remote.

"These are ear plugs I used to use when I was a kid. This remote controls how well they block out sound." Momona handed me the ear plugs and remote. I went to put them in my ears only to slap against the side of my head.

"What are you doing? Your ears are up here." Gently guided my hands to the ears on top of my head and let me put them in.

My hand rubbed my ears, and a pleasant relief spread like I was scratching an itch I didn't know was there.

I got distracted by the feeling and just continued to rub my ears, enjoying the new sensation.

"Marri?" I flinched and finished putting the ear plugs in. The plugs swelled to fit my ear canals and cut off the clattering of metal.

"That better? It's set to block out the rough sounds of the restaurant. You can change it later if you need to." Her voice was surprisingly clear as I nodded to her question.

I immediately felt far better with the reduced noise and relaxed my shoulders a bit.

I fiddled with the remote. It let me adjust how much sound gets blocked and the kinds of sounds as well. "So what do you want to do now?"

A loud grumble came from my belly, and I blushed. The hunger was getting bad now that I was paying attention to it. "Echo said we were here to get breakfast, right?"

"Ah, right, go join Echo at a table while I get the food ready." Momona gave me a smile and a wave as she joined her husband in cooking.

My eyes lingered on Kelk for a moment before I turned away and went to find Echo. Why did I feel so repulsed by him? That's just hypocritical.

I entered the main part of the restaurant and scanned the room for Echo, but I couldn't see her in the mess of people, and my height only made it harder to see past anyone.

"You looking for someone?" I jerked my head to look at the tall man who spoke to me.

"Uh... yeah, Echo." I tried not to freak out at the sudden conversation that he sparked and hoped it would end soon.

"Oh, they are right there!" He pointed to a corner of the room where I couldn't see because of the people in the way.

"Thank you." I said and immediately speed walked away from him as he tried to ask my name.

I weaved through the tables and people until I found Echo on her phone. I took a seat next to her and slumped down on the table. My angel also got off to sit on the table.

"Oh, there you are. Where did you and Momona go?" I lifted my head to meet Echo's gaze and saw she was drinking a dark bubbly liquid.

"We went to the kitchen to get some ear plugs and meet Kelk." I stared at the drink with narrowing eyes. I know what that is, don't I?

"Nice, I hope he wasn't too blunt with you. He doesn't know what restraint is." Echo stopped drinking from the glass and put it down.

Echo moved it a bit and then back. She kept doing it to the point she was moving around the whole table. I couldn't take it moving anymore and snatched it from her. She laughed at me. "Are you that interested in it?"

"My friend gave me something like this, I think. This is soda, right?" I swirled the glass to see the liquid in it move.

"No, but close, it's called crim drip. It's a more caffeinated drink since I wanted to be awake today." Echo reached over to my angel and pet them.

I sniffed the drink and felt a small pang of hunger at the soft scent of strawberries. "...Could I have one of these? It's making me hungry."

"Sure, I still have some left." Echo took a bag out and poured the contents into one of the other glasses.