Drim came home to their mansion one day to find it completely empty. Phon was still out on her own mission, and apparently the others had all gone off together, dragging Jaid along with them, to deal with some sort of cheese supervillain that Rusa had been tracking—or so their message had said at least.
Since he didn’t have anything else on his docket for the day, maybe for once he could enjoy a quiet afternoon to himself, at least until Mallea would come fetch him for dinner. It was the perfect time to crack open a new book, so he randomly selected one from his ‘to read’ bookshelf that felt like it grew by the day. Maybe if he speedread, he could finish the whole book before something else pulled away his attention.
Just as he was starting to get hooked, the book slipped out of his hands in surprise, but at least he managed to remain seated and calm otherwise. “I’ve completed the job.” A dull figure appeared before him.
“Asset?!” Drim looked around in confusion, ignoring the man for a moment. “How in the hell did you get in here?” His windows weren’t open, and the door was locked. Had he been in the room already and just waiting for his moment to appear? Drim hadn’t noticed him at all.
“And how’d you make it pass the barrier?” As far as the leader was aware, Asset certainly wasn’t on the member list with full reign of the compound. At best, he should be allowed in the public areas but stopped from proceeding any further. Drim would definitely need to check into that later.
“I walked inside,” Asset answered. It didn’t sound like a lie, so Drim would just have to take his intrusion at face value for now.
“And the job I gave you…” the boy racked his brain for a moment, trying to remember. “Ah, right, to find a reason to live. So, did you find one?”
“Per the others’ suggestions, I tried my hand at needlework,” the man responded, so empty and passionless for someone talking about their alleged biggest joy. “It started out with basic stitching but quickly devolved into needlepoint art. Now, I believe that I have mastered it and am ready for a new assignment.”
The man pulled out a canvas and unfurled it. Stitched into it, meticulously, painstakingly to the point that it looked like it was done by a machine, was a beautiful landscape. It was a cliff overlooking a dense forest during sunset. Oddly, though, it didn’t look like anywhere that Drim had ever been on Rathe, and he’d been everywhere. Not to mention that the trees looked unlike any he’d ever seen. Maybe this drab man had some imagination after all.
“So what’s this bit?” the art critic pointed to the void figure that was sitting on the edge of the cliff. It’s not that the person didn’t have many details, but rather that area of the canvas was completely blank, outlined by the landscape around them.
“That is- That is me,” the artist’s voice wavered for a moment before he answered. “So what is next?”
“Hold on, I’ve got a few more questions about this,” Drim tried to stifle the man’s impatience. “It’s not exactly a reason to live if you throw it away the moment you think you’ve finished it. Do you think you’ll continue to perform needlepoint after this?”
“I have some ideas for a few more pieces,” he was quick to answer. “But we will see how it fits into the schedule of the new work you give me.”
“And what are you going to do with that piece?” Drim figured he’d probably just throw it in a closet or… wherever Asset lived. Frankly, it could be a mansion or under a bridge. He really had no read on the type of lifestyle Asset lived outside of work.
“You may have it.” The boy found the canvas suddenly thrust into his own arms.
“Really?” Drim held it up again to admire it once more. “Then let me ask you this. If I were to throw this away, or toss it in some box, or even burn it, how would that make you feel?”
This question stumped Asset more than the others. He had to genuinely stop and think about it for a moment. “I would feel like my time has been wasted.”
“Well, that’s something at least,” Drim had to recognize it as at least a modicum of attachment. “Alright, for your next assignment. You need to make a friend and bring back proof. Whether it’s a picture, or texts from them, or a receipt from something you did together. Anything along those lines. And I’ll go ahead and send your payment.”
Asset looked distraught for a moment, likely trying to wrap his head around how to accomplish the task. “Understood,” was all he said before he rushed out of the room.
◆◆◆
The following morning, Drim, still half asleep, opened his bedroom door to head down to breakfast—only to leap back a few good feet like a startled cat when he found Asset standing an inch away from the frame. That really just went to prove that Drim really couldn’t sense the man at all—not an ounce of morality in any direction coming from him, and he also didn’t trigger Drim’s hunter instinct, which was even more alarming.
“Last time, you seemed disturbed by me invading your personal space, so I decided to wait outside of it,” Asset tried to justify his actions. “It seems this tactic has failed, but I have completed the mission.”
“Uhhh, really?” Drim’s brain had to force itself to wake enough so he could remember what the job was. “Huh, friends aren’t usually made overnight, except for very rare occasions where people click instantly. Did you go to a tavern or something and find a really friendly drunk?”
“Hmm, I had not considered that,” the blank man looked disappointed in himself. “I’ve heard inebriation does make one more social. Perhaps I will try it if I am ever in need of finding a friend again. But regardless, the task is complete. I have the proof you asked for.” He brought up a picture on his phone.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
“From the research I did, I found many people often making this pose as proof of their friendship.” Asset was next to a rather scantily-clad woman, with unbridled confusion scrawled across her face. The two of them were standing shoulder to shoulder, holding their hands together and making a heart.
“Uhuh…” Drim looked at the photo in disbelief. “So how exactly did you meet this woman and convince her to be your friend?”
“Well, I began walking down the street and asking everyone I met if they would be my friend,” his story was off to a great start. “I was ignored by most. A few gave me aggressive looks. Three tried to fight me. They lost. Finally, this woman said she would be my friend for some currency. This seemed like a fair arrangement.”
Drim squeezed the bridge of his nose, perplexed and frustrated. “Asset, you can’t just pay people to be your friend. And did you… with her…? Nevermind, I don’t want to know. But it’s clear that I didn’t explain the assignment well enough.”
“First of all, you seem to lack a basic understanding of what a friend is. It is someone you hang out and enjoy spending time with. Someone you make a connection with and can rely on. And most importantly, someone who makes your life better, and you feel like you’d be worse off without them if they were to suddenly disappear. That’s the kind of relationship you need to make.”
“My life would be worse without you in it,” Asset stated boldly. “Does that make us friends?”
“Huh, you really think so?” Drim was caught off-guard by the surprisingly touching confession.
“Yes, you provide me with work.” the man nodded sincerely.
“Then that doesn’t quite make us friends,” Drim had to refuse. “While you can be friends in a boss/employee relationship—to which I admittedly have several—the nature of that relationship alone is not a friendship. If, after you accomplish this assignment, you wanted to be friends, we could work on that. But for now, you’ll have to find a friend entirely on your own, and probably not by just asking them.”
“Well, I see that I will need to research it further,” Asset understood at least that much. “The friendship with that woman was shallow, and I suppose could not be called a friend by your definition. It was just to meet an end. But if asking people to be my friend is not the best way to obtain friends, are you suggesting that I use force?”
“I have no Rathely idea how you came to that conclusion,” Drim was unfathomably baffled. “But no, definitely not. That’s the exact opposite line of thinking you should have. Friendships cannot be forced. They have to happen naturally, or they’ll fail.”
“I suppose the best way would be to bond over common interests. Since you’re now proficient at needlepoint, maybe find a club to join or an online group that discusses it. The more hobbies and interests you have yourself, the easier it will be to make friends. I’d say make friends in a similar line of work as you, but that may not be the best thing. I hope that’s enough to give you some ideas.”
“It’s a start,” Asset didn’t look hopeful. “I will return when I have made a real, proper friend.”
“Oh, one last thing before you go,” Drim stopped him. “Since you have a phone—for some reason I assumed you wouldn’t—text me next time before you come over. Here’s my number.”
◆◆◆
『I am coming over.』It had been many months since Drim had last heard from Asset, so he stared at the ominous text for several minutes before he finally remembered. He’d been downstairs at the mansion—somehow Asset always knew when he was at home—so he decided to head up to his room and await the man’s arrival, doubting that he’d knock at the front door.
But when Drim opened the door to his room, he found Asset sitting and waiting in his reading chair. “I hope the notice of my intention was sufficient.” It wasn’t, but at least Drim hadn’t felt like he’d been stalked by a predator, so it would have to do.
“I had a feeling you were still alive and out there somewhere,” Drim started with the best pleasantry he could come up with. “But since it had been so long, I figured that you had just given up on the job and moved on to different prospects.”
“I would never abandon a job. That would be unprofessional,” Asset’s voice turned stern, as if his personal beliefs had been attacked directly. “But this job was… is… very difficult for me. I have spent the past months desperately trying to make a friend, following any and all advice I could find on the subject. Now, I believe I have completed it.”
“However, I am unsure if it will fit the criteria that you have laid out. If it does not, I must fight my pride and ask for reassignment, because I will have to accept that this task is something that I cannot complete.” The inexpressive man had a slight glimpse of worry as he pulled at a box from behind him.
“This is my pet Snurtle,” Asset introduced the small little monster, a snail turtle. “I have named her Snurtley, as it seemed commonplace to add an -y after their species as a name for a pet.”
For a child, maybe, Drim’s mind couldn’t help but interject.
“After all of my effort, this is the only friend I could make. We spend a lot of time together, and I make sure she gets fed properly. She likes to wedge her shell under my ankle every night when we go to bed. I think it brings her comfort.”
“May I see her for a moment,” Drim held out his hands expectantly. Asset actually seemed to give it a pause for thought before handing the monster over. “I honestly have a lot of questions, but I only need to ask one to see if you’re being genuine. What will you do?”
He hoisted the mini-monster above his head and feigned as if he was going to smash her to the ground. Asset bolted at him, sheer panic in his eyes, and attempted to tackle Drim to save his Snurtle friend.
But all Drim could do was smile, launching vines from his feet to constrict Asset and him in place. This was what he had expected to happen, or at least he’d been holding out hope. “You’ve realized what you’ve just done, don’t you, Asset?” Drim handed the pet back to her bewildered owner. “You just attacked your client.”
Asset’s eyes grew wide and distraught, dropping to his knees as he started to stammer, finally showing some real emotion for possibly the first time in his life. “N-No… I didn’t mean to. I’d never… Just, I had to.”
“You don’t need to explain it,” Drim shushed him. “Because that is exactly what a friend should do. I hope you can now understand why we couldn’t accept you back when you tried to kill our koala fox.”
“I think so…” Asset still looked unsure, but he gave his Snurtle a tight squeeze. The monster poked her head out of her shell, and pressed her face against her owner to console him.
“Well, you’ve worked hard, and have come a long way,” the man’s boss had to admit. “So, I think it’s time for a well earned vacation.”
Now Asset was back to looking offended. “If you think that my capability to perform—”
“No, it’s nothing like that,” Drim stifled a laugh. “Vacation isn’t a bad word. It’s something everyone needs and everyone deserves. All those under my employ get paid time off, so I’m insisting that you use yours. Take your friend and go somewhere fun, somewhere that you’ve always wanted to go. If there’s nowhere you want to go, then do some research until you find one. And bring me back a souvenir as proof.”
“Understood,” Asset packed Snurtley back into her box, which Drim now realized had a bed, food and watering dish, and a small heater.