Whether due to my mental admonishment or not, the ghost of the hat man did not make a reappearance the last few days. Which I am immensely gratefully for since it meant that I was able to focus on perfecting my craft. Or, more realistically, work on the basics of my craft. If someone had asked me, I could list what felt like 100 different ways that I had managed to improve at harvesting, and my daily haul had gone from what might generously be called half a cart to more like three quarters of a cart. As well, my handiwork looked less like an abstractionist piece and more like an actual slab of tower flesh you'd find in the market. However, if Jae was asked, he would have 1000 ways I still needed to improve. Still, I didn't let his dour outlook bring down my mood. Especially since I now have a handful of credits to spend, as well as basics like soap and clean laundry.
"I feel like the spokesperson for a detergent line right now," I think to myself, as I get ready for another day of harvesting. "'Are you covered in the blood of ancient tower engineered by a dead race of self proclaimed gods? Buy Ostron Soap! It'll clear your stains faster than a Tenno can clear a Corpus cruiser! Ostron Soap! You'll buy us cause there are no other brands!'" As I make my way out of the hotel - whose name I finally learned is 'Goldstone' - I give a wave to Heya, before orienting myself not towards the stairs to my job site, but towards a different staircase closer to the Great Doors. After the night of drinking with Jae, he had walked me up a smaller staircase that basically just connected his floor and mine, since his is directly beneath the main floor. Since then, rather than heading down on my own, I instead take the smaller staircase to Jae's hotel first, and then make the trip with him.
"Not that he's much of a conversationalist anyways," I think to myself. "I might as well be strolling alone, for all that I can get him to open up. You'd think social lubricant would be the key but his drink is already-" but my train of thought is derailed by a tuft of purple hair that I spot through the crowd. Excitement shoots through me, but I do my best to tamp it down, unsure if it's actually Ko-lee. "We never really did plan a return time, but if she was really frugal about it...," I think, as I maneuver my way through the crowd of workers and tourists. My eyes are locked on to the spot of color, and within a few moments, the crowd splits wide enough for me to see who it is. "Ko-lee!" I yell, all considerations of social constructs thrown out the window. Her gaze, which had been clearly searching, locks onto mine at the noise, and her face lights up the hall. I half walk, half jog over to her, and I have the impulse to give her a hug, but she's carrying a huge wooden box stuffed full of clothes.
"To be fair... that box probs actually saved me from some awkward shit. I don't know if she would've appreciated me jumping her like that," I think, as I close the last few feet between us. "Long time no see, stranger!" I say, as I get within speaking distance. "It's only been a few days, Antimony," she says, but the grin on her face shows that she's starting to pick up on my dumb humor. "Damn, you sure? It felt like at least 3 months," I say, sort of vibrating with excitement. "Also, do you want me to take the box?" She just shakes her head at me, walking alongside as I lead us back towards Goldstone, unbidden. "No, it's not that heavy. I would love a chance to set it down though," she says, hiking the box for a better grip. "Well, I have got just the place for you! It's where I am-I'm staying!" I say, as I lead her through the crowd. "It's a bit small, but, it's super cheap. Plus the owner is so nice. They rent daily, weekly and monthly so you can make it work with your budget. There's also an attached restaurant!"
We reach Goldstone, and I open the door, surprising Heya. "Oh, Antimony, you're back? Whose your friend?" she says, as Ko-lee makes her way in. "Lah, Heya, this is Ko-lee. She's my-," I say, before my mind shoots of in a hundred directions.
"FRIEND, JUST SAY FRIEND."
"Or, girlfriend?"
"DON'T DO THAT."
"Best friend?"
"It's just coming on strong!"
"Friend just doesn't feel like enough."
"Yes, but Heya doesn't need to know all that!"
"-best friend," I finish, without any noticeable break. Ko-lee just looks at me bemused, while Heya has the same cheerful expression on as usual. "Great to hear! Is she just helping you with moving in some stuff?" Heya asks, eyeing the box of clothes. "Actually, I was hoping to move in to a room of my own, if at all possible," says Ko-lee. Heya's expression dims slightly at the request, looking somewhat apologetic. "Ah, so... unfortunately we are booked up at the moment. I could give you a recommendation for somewhere else...?" she says, somewhat hopefully. There's a brief moment of silence while we all stand there, Ko-lee clearly thinking over her options. "Are we allowed to share rooms?" she asks. Heya nods, but I can't help but speak up at the question. "Like I said before, the rooms are not the biggest. It's already a bit cramped for me, it will be a squeeze with both of us."
Ko-lee just shrugs, hiking the box up once more. "Well, let me see it and I'll make a decision then," she says, starting towards the hallway. "Oh, sorry, before you do, I'll need to take a look at your badge," says Heya, her arm out in front of the hall. "Antimony, it's in my right hand pocket," says Ko-lee, as she stands in front of the hotel proprietor. "Oh, I... okay," I say, somewhat startled into action. I reach into her pocket, and it only takes me a moment before I find the egg shaped device, handing it over to Heya. Heya examines the tech with practiced motions before handing it back to me, nodding her head. "Alright, you're good to go. If you share the room, the rent won't change, so if you're willing to squeeze, it'll be quite the deal," says Heya, as she steps behind the receptionist desk once more. I just give her a nod, and me and Ko-lee both make our way back into the hallway, heading towards the room.
As we approach, I step in front and open the door, letting Ko-lee into the space, before I shut the door behind us. "Oh," she says, looking around the barely 100 square foot room. "Yea, it's not a lot," I say, standing only a foot behind her. "Had I known, I could have maybe rented out another room or something, because I actually have a few credits to my name now, but... well...," I say, my words trailing off as I give a shrug. "We can call it poor planning, but neither of us really knew when she'd have the cash or that they'd sell out of rooms. Shit, I've only seen one other person so far, so there must not be that many rooms in the first place," I think, standing in silence. "We can make it work. We can squeeze together on that bed no problem," says, Ko-lee, unceremoniously dropping the box of clothes on top of the dresser.
"Sure, okay, yup, that-that'll be fine," I think, as my eyes flick between my friend and what is effectively only slightly bigger than a twin sized mattress. I can feel my face turning red as my mind runs away with the idea, but I just bite my tongue as I start pulling the clothes from the box and placing them into the drawers. "Well... great. Cool. So uhm...," I say, trying my best to move onto a new conversation, "do you have a saw yet?" She just smiles, reaching past me to grab something at the bottom of the box. I try to take a step, but unfortunately my foot is caught up against one of the legs of the bed frame and so I just awkwardly sit down on the bed instead. Ko-lee pulls out a what appears to be a saw not that dissimilar to mine, but clearly of higher quality. "I was able to trade some labor for this, a lot cheaper than if I'd bought it," she says, her face enraptured by the blade. "Oh. Neat," I say, just bobbing my head as if confirming my own words.
"Why I am being so weird right now," I think, still bobbing my head. "We did life or death shit together and then lived in holes for two weeks. What is this 'cat got your tongue' ass behavior?" I clear my throat, before standing back up off the bed, doing my best to appear more socially adept than I currently feel. "So! Looks like you did all the boring stuff already, so you can start today, if you want. I was actually headed downstairs when I ran into you. Interested in getting your hands dirty, or did you want to take a day before getting in the thick of things?" I ask, as I shimmy my way past her and towards the door. "Sure, that's why I showed up early. I knew I'd have enough time to get a badge and maybe find somewhere to stay before you actually woke up," she says, looking at me, her expression completely dry. Without even thinking, I flip her the bird, a smile growing on my face. "If you are going to sleep with me then you get to operate on my schedule, got it princess?"
My words make her face grow a kuva red, and she takes a moment, breathing in and out, before responding. "So... that is actually the wrong term. I know you meant sleeping as in resting... in the bed... together. That was not the term you used." Her eyes are locked on mine, and the small muscle movements of her face belay a complicated mix of emotions. "Wh-" I start to say, before my brain puts two and two together. The sudden realization hits me like a freight train and I can't help but laugh. Without thinking, an internet reference slips out of my mouth, before I'm able to remember that she won't have context. "I'm joking! Unless...," I say, before desperately trying to backtrack. "OR. SO... hold on! HOLD ON! It-"
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
My face feels like what Ko-lee's looks like, and at my panicked half explanations, she starts laughing too. Her laughter ends up being contagious, causing me to double over with a whole new round of laughs, barely able to breathe. "I..." says Ko-lee in between wheezes, as she struggles to say whatever she's thinking. "It... a reference..." I say, gulping air down like someone lost at sea. She just nods, the laughter causing tears to stream down her face, as we both do our best to recover in the tiny space. It takes minutes before we're able to recover any semblance of normality, as every time one of us manages to pull ourselves together, we get set off by the other person. Finally, once fully recovered, I manage to speak up. "I'm glad you are back, Ko-lee. I'm..." I trail off, as I'm not entirely sure what it is that I want to tell her. "I was lonely without you? I couldn't wait to see you? I think I'm falling for you and now that you're back I've got some real complicated feelings to deal with?" I think in frustration. Before I get a chance to pick an appropriate phrase, Ko-lee shoots me a warm smile, giving me butterflies in my stomach. "Yea, I missed you too," she says. "Let's go get started."
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"Jae, this is Ko-lee. She is a good friend of mine. Ko-lee this is Jae. He has been helping me with harvesting, and I also sell to him," I say, introducing the two as we walk away from Jae's hotel. Jae just nods, his expression betraying little, as usual. Ko-lee smiles and nods her head at my words, taking the initiative in the conversation. "It's nice to meet you Jae," she says, getting another nod from the man. There's a moment of silence between the three of us, and I can't help but mentally roll my eyes. "Whatever man, don't use any words on our account," I think sarcastically. "So, Ko-lee," I say, drawing her attention towards me. "Anything interesting happen while you were in Cetus?" She just shrugs, her eyes unfocusing as she thinks back on her past few days. "Not really. Just worked with Nakak, and a few others. That was basically all I did, really. I didn't want to spend too much time in Cetus by myself, and I didn't have money to spend on any distractions, so I just worked the whole time."
I nod at her words as we approach the Vox. "Well, I have been stumbling my way through learning things, since I'm incapable of asking people for help. Luckily help seems to falls into my lap," I say, handing over my badge to the religious figure. He takes a look at it, muttering under his breath while he checks his pad. "Heya was super helpful in getting my feet underneath me. I had-I'd not planned on how to actually sell the meat once harvesting it, so I actually would have been in trouble had she not told me about the city program. I only needed to use it for a day though, before Jae showed up," I say, as the Vox hands me back my badge and looks over Ko-lee's. "I wouldn't be much of an adherent if I allowed you to continue tearing up the Unum the way you were doing," says Jae, speaking up for the first time in nearly 10 minutes. "Hey, we all start somewhere!" I say in response, but Jae's expression doesn't shift an iota. "Miss, you'll be in Oro B. I'm assuming you are with these two?" says the Vox, interrupting our back and forth. "Yes, I am," says Ko-lee, taking her badge back from the man. "Then by her will you may harvest there," says the Vox, bowing his head.
All three of us bow back, Jae the deepest of all. Once finished, we start off towards the hall, and I pick up the conversation from where we left off. "Yea, so my first cut was so bad, and then I slipped while harvesting. Then, once I was finished, I realized I didn't not... didn't even have a cart, so I had to head back out again! It was a whole thing," I say, as we reach the closet for carts. Me and Jae grab one, but I stay Ko-lee's hand as she reaches out for one herself. "We'll just share my cart," I say, and she takes a moment, before nodding. We head out of the closet and approach the tunnel, and I keep an eye on her out of the corner of my eye. There isn't any hitch in her movement at all though, and we enter straight into the tunnel without fanfare. "Damn, she didn't react at all! And she didn't even slip when entering the tunnel. I think Ko-lee might actually be the main character and I'm just the plucky sidekick," I think, half joking, half despondent. "Well, anyways," I say, as I start making my way towards the job site. "I've learned a bunch from Jae. Probably the first thing I would say is that when you're cutting, you..."
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"Alright, I see what you're talking about," says Ko-lee, as we carry the cart towards the elevator. For once, it's actually full to the brim, and then some, as I was able to distill down a crash course for Ko-lee, so that we could get her started on making clean, usable cuts without needing to take a few days. Her cuts are definitely smaller than mine, but she was also able to make more of them, and so our combined effort meant that filling it up was more than feasible. "I thought maybe it was just because you were out of shape because we had stopped training, but that really was hard work," Ko-lee continues. I just scoff at her words. "Please, we may have stopped formal training, but we have been working hard since... we have been working hard. I'm not that soft girl you found in the woods," I say, flexing the muscle in one of my arms.
"Well, you do look less like a corpo princess," she says, smirking at me from her side of the cart. "But I'm pretty sure you're still soft." I gasp in faux shock, putting my hand over my chest, before quickly smiling. "Yea, you are right, I'm soft. The world has plenty of hard, I think," I say, as we reach the lift. Her expression softens slightly, but it's quickly overtaken by one of focus as I explain to her the flag system. I take out one of the flags that Jae had lent me, placing it on the cart, before making my way over to the controls, explaining the operation of it. A few minutes later, and the two of us find our way back on the main floor, headed back towards Goldstone. "I'm excited for the food. You make it sound really good," she says, as we walk shoulder to shoulder, moving with the flow of the crowd. "No, it is really good, I just describe things well," I say, opening the door to the restaurant proper.
"Hey, Antimony! Whose this?" says the chef, as we walk in. "Hey Cook, this is Ko-lee," I say, introducing her to the man. "Nominative determinism strikes again," I think, as I continue speaking. "It was her first day today!" Cook's face lights up, and in a repeat of only a few days prior, shouts to the back, "CAN I GET A FIIIIIIRST DAY?" "YEEUUUPP," sounds off the kid, whose name I still haven't learned. "Sit on down here, we'll get this out to you in just a minute!" says Cook, before he dissapears in the back. Me and Ko-lee sit at the bar, and I stretch out my on the chair, taking a moment to just soak in the sounds of the kitchen and the presence of my friend. "So," says Ko-lee, giving a quizzical look from beside me, "Konzu told me that you were hearing the voice of the Unum?" I just sigh, as my gaze drifts over to hers. "Yea, he told you about that?" I ask, and she nods. "Yea, I guess. I was definitely hearing a faint woman's voice, and Konzu seems convinced that it's the Unum."
I just shrug in my seat, my shoulders rubbing against the rough wood of the chair. "I don't know if he's right. I need to talk to someone of the faith. A priest. It's been low priority, compared to making rent. I mean, I'm already here, in her. That is like, 70% of the work done, I think," I say, smiling. Ko-lee just chuckles once, before following up. "Who do you think it is, if not the Unum?" she asks. "God. Uhm, Wally, maybe. The Lotus? I dunno, I don't think she can do that. It could be the Unum for sure for sure, but like, there's so many other people it could be too. Ugh. I really need to just lay it all out for her," I think. Our food arrives before I have an opportunity to respond, and our conversation is quickly tabled. "Woah, you were right, this is pretty good," says Ko-lee, as she eats her stew. "What can I say, I like food," I mumble, in between bites of mine. We trade a few more words about nothing in particular as we eat our meal, and before long, we're both finished.
I stretch before standing, and leave pay for Cook on the counter, giving him a shout as we leave. I show Ko-lee the connected door, and it only takes a minute or two before we find ourselves in the bedroom once again. I feel the impulse to get ready for bed, but I suddenly realize something. "Oh, shit, I sleep naked," I think, the tips of my ears growing hot. "Hey, uhm, Ko-lee? I don't not... do not... have... like, sleepwear?" I say, as we both stand in the tiny space. "What do you normally wear?" she says, digging through the drawer for her own clothes. "Oh, I... I don't," I say. There's a moment where her search is slowed, and I'm unable to see her expression. "Oh, I... I didn't know that," she says, as she continues grabbing a few items of clothing.
"You... would... do you have some? Extras?" I ask, suddenly feeling hyper aware of every part of myself. I put my hands in my pockets, before pulling them back out again, desperately looking for something to fidget with. "Yea, I have some that... well, maybe they'll fit you. Better than you being naked. Not... I'm not saying that you're-not that-I was just saying," she stutters, her words flowing out faster and faster. "No, no no no I get it. I get what you mean, like you don't want me naked, not that I look bad," I say, trying to fill in the gaps between her awkward phrasing. "Right, I... I don't," she says. "What the fuck is happening right now," I think, before she shoves an outfit in my hands. "So, yea. I will...I will go change in the bathroom, I guess," I say, making my way towards the door. "Well, I mean, there's space," says Ko-lee, her voice jumping an octave. "Oh my god I'm so fucking stupid," I realize, a bolt of clarity striking me. "Sorry, Ko-lee, hold on. We need to talk before we climb into this bed, I think."