Chapter 1: World, here I… come?
There are times I truly wish I could remember about common sense and self-control. Yesterday proved once more how I can’t handle even a little glass of alcohol.
I couldn’t even remember what kind of beverage I was offered, nor I could explain why I blacked out so quickly. I groaned, my body feeling terribly sore, tired and… my eyes slowly opened to an unfamiliar ceiling.
A blink, then two.
I was on the couch of some strangers’ house. I flinched as the sensitivity of my entire body kicked quickly up, the waking up process speeding up the moment I realized that there was a strong possibility that I have been kidnapped.
My hands unconsciously drifted near my thighs, trying to spot any hurting spot, anything that could hint at any of the worst scenarios.
I felt at ease moments later after having confirmed the only aching being the overall post-sleep soreness.
This… was a strange situation. I felt my muscles whine a little as I shifted carefully to sit on the couch, gaining a better sight of the whole room.
It looked like a normal living room, maybe a little bit cramped compared to the one I had back home. Nothing special, except for the various things placed on the small table in front of the couch.
The walls were painted in a soft yellow, not bright enough to blind my poor eyes but also not dark enough to give a sense of decay about the whole room.
I had one of the small pieces of paper, something like business cards, sitting atop everything else on my hand, my eyes reading quickly the words there and… I frowned.
‘Las Lindas’
I don’t think I’ve ever heard of something going with that name. There was just some other info, like phone number and email, but there wasn’t anything else that could have helped me understand what was going on.
I was slightly annoyed at being left with little close to nothing from that brief search and I was already considering wandering as nobody seemed to be around to-
Clang
I flinched the moment I saw the plate being put on the table, the suddenness of the action catching me off-guard. “Whoops! Sorry pal, it’s just that the eggs were burning there and-”
“I-It’s alright.” I nodded my stare still fixed on the delicious scrambled eggs with bacon steaming just fine under my needy and hungry eyes. “I just wasn’t expecting to be offered breakfast after-!!”
I looked up, ready to connect the friendly tone of the dude that offered me such a delicious treat to his face and… I ended up freezing up at what I was looking at.
Brown orbs, a lighter shade than mine but still having quite the warmth tone on them.
From the eyes, I turned to the rest of his body. I wasn’t looking to a full-fledged human being, but to someone that was an… anthropomorphic animal.
The animal in question was a dog, at first sight, a Border Collie.
He had shoulder-length white-hair and he was wearing a sleeveless pink shirt and long gym-pants. I blinked again, realizing that I was staring far too long now.
“I-I’m sorry-”
“That’s fine, man.” My half-ass apology was rebuffed politely. “I suppose you are still dizzy because of how you have fallen asleep.”
It was nice that I didn’t have to explain that, while I appeared just shook and nothing else about learning of his figure, inside I was going full-panic at the humanoid nodding my way and gesturing me to dig at the breakfast.
If before I still had some doubts about it, now I can say for sure that I am far from home.
Knowing that it was for the best to avoid asking about the ‘how’ and the ‘what the heck’, I started to tentatively try the food and… it wasn’t half-bad.
While the scrambled eggs had some visible black spot, burned edges, yet I couldn’t help but smile once more at trying it with the bacon. The strip of meat was perfectly cooked in my opinion.
I nodded unconsciously and the young ‘man’ chuckled. “Good. Now if you excuse me, I still have to finish serving the rest of the breakfast and- are you still feeling dizzy?”
Humming, I shook my head. I was still taking in the whole ‘anthro guy’ situation. I wasn’t particularly scared, he seemed to be a good person but I just wanted to know what was going on here.
“I know I shouldn’t be asking this since you have just woken up and you are still recovering from what has happened but...” He pointed at the plate with an uneasy look. “Could you please bring the plate back to the kitchen or you could leave it and-”
“I can do that,” I replied quickly, almost facepalming at how quickly I did. “I mean, I know you are the host and all, but I am not made of paper.”
“Understood and- Actually, I don’t think I introduced myself.” He leaned down, a big smile on his face as he stretched his open palm towards me, waiting for the hand-shake and…
“My name is Randal Hawthorne.” He presented himself, nodding once more and causing me to sigh.
I nodded with a small smiled and went to grasp his waiting hand.
“M-Matt, Matt Newcastle.” I replied with a calm but determined voice.
The texture reminded me of soft fur because it was soft fur, but there was also something that felt… different from petting a cat or a dog. It felt oddly satisfying.
The handshake ended moments later, Randal departed shortly after but not before giving me quickly some directions for the kitchen.
I paused just a moment, letting him leave my sight before returning my attention to the last thoughts before he arrived.
Glancing back at the ceiling, my mind started to compile a limited analysis of my current predicament and… I was completely stomped by several elements.
While Randal was genuinely a good person, I still felt like I needed to know what he ‘was’. I didn’t mean it as an offense, but seriously, I don’t think that animal-like people just appeared from nowhere in a single day-
Actually, how long have I been sleeping?
My mind was quickly saying ‘a day’ but I had to be sure and thus my hand went to my pants’ left pocket. I recognized the familiar weight of my phone moments after waking up, thus I knew that I wasn’t robbed whatsoever.
I turned the device on- when did I turn it off? I never had it to shut down without any formal reason and as the display showed pure, blinding white, a strange notification popped up.
Input Password:
...I don’t have a password on my phone. This was my phone, I was fairly sure of it as the maker and the damaged sections were still there, and-
Maybe someone pranked me. There was no doubt in hell that this wasn’t something I caused but I still started to try and get some passwords in the configuration.
Birthday? Nope.
The day I finished High School? Nyet.
Driving License? Nada.
Classic ‘123’? Niente!
I huffed in annoyance at this new obstacle, knowing that someone somehow got hold of my phone while I was unconscious and placed a password in it. That meant I was further deprived of the chance of getting some concrete data, like my detailed whereabouts and what time it was.
Closing my eyes for a moment, I retained some minor composure as I reminded myself I had things to do. Picking up the plate in both hands, I slowly got up from the couch, back hurting and all, but I managed to get some steps in the right direction.
The kitchen was actually spacious, rather surprising as usually the living room was supposed to be three times the kitchen. This was the case in all the houses I’ve visited.
I placed the plate down in the sink and turned around, eyes glancing all over the place and… I saw some frames with pictures.
Many had Randal smiling in them, and some even when he was younger and looking so adorable.
I was tempted to D’aww at these last ones in particular but I decided against it for both for masculinity’s and silence’s sake.
In the picture there were also three more characters, one actually ‘disappearing’ after a few of those, while two distinct ones persisting together with Randal.
Both bovines with brown-fur complex, the oldest of the two a yellower/lighter-shade fur and with horns more developed compared to the youngest. The two females were mother and daughter.
Does that make Randal… adopted or something?
Just as I continued to fall deeper into these minor revelations, I felt someone’s finger poking at my shoulder. “I see that you got there without issue and- you noticed the photos?”
Oh? An opportunity to tease a little? Who was I to deny myself this duty!
“I did,” I replied, my lips twitching smugly. “You were adorable as a child, Randy.”
I was trying to tease, I was trying to tease the easy-going dog-boy and yet he gave the most confusing, embarrassing and back-firing reaction I could have ever imagined.
He smiled, eyes closed and a light blush somehow visible through the fur on his face. “T-Thank you. Mom used to tease me about it but I guess I-I really was… adorable.”
...This just leaves me embittered and oddly confused.
Dumb Human 0 – 1 Smart Doggo
Dangit…
“S-So, do you have something to do or-”
He nodded wide-eyed, jumping a little at the sudden change of topic. “Yes right, I-I have to leave this plate on the sink and...” He stopped, his smile renewed as he glanced my way. “Mom wants to meet you.”
I blinked. “Your mom? You mean… she is at home right now?”
I kind of expected her to not be there as I heard nobody walking around except Randal… but he did just bring a second plate to another section of the house and returned with it completely ‘cleaned up’.
Another nod. “She is resting a little right now.” He hesitated just a moment, his smile faltering briefly. I frowned as he continued. “She felt a little tired, I bet she will be fully active tomorrow.”
Something was missing in his words, something about his tone was… off. It was a subtle change, but one that made so many differences in his mannerism.
Oddly, it felt familiar.
“Well, if your mom wants to meet me, I don’t think it would be right if we lose time.” I patted his shoulder while moving toward the doorstep. “Let’s not make her wait.” I smiled as I waited for him to react.
He looked surprised but nodded and led me deeper into the house and… we reached a rather dark part of the building. There were few lights, but their intensity was lesser than the others of the corridors.
Randal stopped, a hand lifting to knock at the door in front of him. Two soft knocks and we both waited for a response.
“Come in.” It was muffled, but I felt something was wrong with her voice.
The door was opened and we entered a barely-illuminated bedroom. It had a large queen-sized bed, several decorated pieces of furniture, a full mirror and… the woman that I have seen in the pictures.
She was different, a duller version of the lively mother I’ve learned of from the photos.
Her light-brown hair were now sporting some graying locks in a display of old age; There some small wrinkles present in her still youthful-looking face and she seemed fairly… drained with her current expression.
She was wearing what looked to be a simple set of dull pink-themed Pjs, coming a little tight because of how much time had passed since she had last wore this set, giving me some hints that this pieces of clothes hadn’t been used for a long time… until now at least.
Then I noticed her eyes and I felt even sadder at what I was looking at.
It was just this little detail that got me quite perplexed over this encounter.
Despite the attempt made by her kind smile and lovely expression to try and convey the genuine good-will of this tired woman, there was a glint in her green orbs that left me incredibly confused and melancholic.
I could see defeat in her eyes. Defeat about work, defeat about family and… defeat about life itself.
It started to leave a wrong impression of distress in my core, my mind bringing back some of the recent events I wished to ignore right now and yet I was forced to deal with this.
I took a big and heavy breath before returning to my pressing thoughts.
First I deal with the immediate situation, then I would give some more focus on my own life’s problems.
“Good morning.”
Her voice was soft, but lacking the warmth that should be there to combine with her gentle look.
“Good morning, ma’am,” I replied kindly and politely, her smile widened a fraction at my quiet tone before giving a simple sigh.
“It’s been so long since I have last seen a human in this part of Neo-Earth,” The woman commented quietly. “And I doubt you are here without a particular reason.”
She narrowed her eyes on me and I surprisingly felt some effect from that weak but stern glance trying to push me to talk.
There was a detail in this curious look that reminded me of something I’ve experienced before, the intensity was so strong that I had to look away in shame at how intense it was.
It was an odd reaction coming from me but… I couldn’t do much about it as my body did it without notice, it was all based from an instinct that was currently eluding my capacity to move against it.
I knew for sure why she was feeling threatened by my presence here as I was a possible danger in her house with her son around.
I was an intruder to her and… there wasn’t much I could do to deter her from this proper line of thought.
Randal looked particularly surprised at his mother, then back at me and one last time to the woman.
The woman was waiting for a response from me and… I was feeling very nervous about what I was supposed to say. She looked ready to jump me at any wrong steps I could take and I felt paling the more I waited.
Then I managed to spoke, my throat aching in the dryness caused by the nerve-wracking moment.
“I-I don’t know,” I started to explain, a brief pause as her eyes narrowed even more. “T-The last thing I remember was falling asleep at-”
“At the bar down the path-” She tried to interject but at that point, I snapped back.
“The one near home!” I interrupted with some annoyance blasting in my words, the outburst making them both look in surprise and I knew I was tip-toeing a dangerous edge if I continued to let my emotions rule over that matter. “I-I’m not from around her a-and I certainly didn’t plan to come here.”
There was silence, part of me starting to giving up at the chance of avoiding an escalation and yet-
“I believe you.”
… “W-What?” I asked, eyes blinking at the weird tone the woman adopted.
The other humanoid looked shocked too but didn’t voice it.
“You sound like you mean it,” She explained calmly, her smile once more adorning her face. “So I will believe you for now.”
Then she turned to look at her son and nodded.
“Son, you should go and finish your chores. I think you have yet to wash the dishes and…” She turned her eyes on me. “I will spare some words with our guest before having him return to you.”
He blinked. “B-But mom-”
“He will be fine, Randal.” Her smile turned sickly sweet. “I will make sure he understands a ‘thing or two’, nothing more.”
Randal looked confused and hesitant to go, I noticed his short tail had stopped to waggle for a long time now.
He spared me just a long, hesitant look as if asking me to not do anything wrong and… I found myself nodding back at him.
He smiled a little and returned the gesture before turning around and leaving through the door, closing it behind himself as he left us two alone.
I gulped nervously as her green orbs fixed on my face.
“I almost forgot to tell,” She started with an amicable tone. “I’m Diana Linda, the owner of Las Lindas.”
A blink passed and I nodded. “N-Nice to meet you, Mrs. Linda, my name is Matt Newcastle.”
Diana hummed, her head tilting on one side and then she nodded.
“You are lying,” She remarked without hesitation.
I froze at the words, my eyes slightly widening at the smile still growing.
“W-What?” I tried to wriggle myself out of that situation by faking confusion. “T-That is my name-”
“Wrong, try again.”
I paused just a moment, my eyes narrowing on her smug smile as I tried to make sense of what was going on with her. There was no way in hell that she knew I was lying about my name-
“It’s your accent,” She dropped the hint out with an amused tone. “I’ve traveled around the world and I do know how the Italian accent works. The ‘s’ tend to be emphasized as a ‘z’ in the pronunciation and while you seem to have almost won over this flaw, you still have your moments.”
I- She knew about where I was from by my accent and- Dangit!
“And!” Diana grinned a little as she revealed a very familiar object that should have been in one of my pants’ pockets. “I found your wallet.”
“Why do you even have it?” I asked quickly, making her sigh tiredly at my confusion.
“I was the one that found you while taking a walk around. You were dangling off one of the apple trees of our orchard and I had to check if you were someone trustworthy or not.” She explained in detail. “You have a lot to explain, Mattia Castelnuovo, like how did you exactly end up in Gossamer?”
Gossa-what? What was she talking about- was that a country, a nation or a region-
“I… don’t know?”
Her lips twitched in annoyance and she let out an annoyed huff as she eased on the bed. “You are possibly one of the most enigmatic individuals I’ve ever dealt in the last few months.”
“Oh,” I said intelligently, eyes blinking with some confusion.
Diana sighed. “And I don’t even know what to do about you.”
There was some tension, I felt some shivers go down my spine as I waited silently for something to happen-
“What do you think I should do?” She asked, curiosity swelling in her words. “Do you have any suggestions?”
...She is joking. She has to be joking by asking me ‘what’ she should do to me and…
“You are not kidding, aren’t you?”
The woman shook her head softly, she didn’t give anything verbally, and I sighed in annoyance at the situation I was presented with.
What was I supposed to say? Let myself go free without any prices-
But it wouldn’t then be right!
I know that I was dealing with an ‘out-of-jail card’ scenario but I wasn’t seriously going to leave this place without… some questions answered.
I also felt like I did have some debt to pay to both Diana and Randal as they did provide me some food and shelter, a place to rest too.
I blinked again as my mind provided with an alternative.
Something that could help, something that could give me some time and space to evaluate my possibilities.
My mouth opened.
“What if… I worked for you?” I offered slowly, calmly my eyes gauging anything in her face that could offer me any indication over the wording of the idea. “You have a farm, so I could work for you to repay your kindness and-”
“You genuinely think I helped you expecting to be repaid somehow?” Diana’s rhetorical question and irked tone were enough to make me flinch instantly as she summarized ‘my idea’. “I hope you understand that what you just said sound more like you are trying to offend me.”
I shook my head. “I meant that I can work for you in exchange for food and shelter. The debt thing is… more of a personal objective,” I reiterated in a better light, yet her eyes narrowed suspiciously and I knew she was hardly accepting my perspective.
“So I should hire you, have you live in my house and… and to what end exactly? What are you trying to accomplish by doing so?” The woman pressed on, causing me to look away in embarrassment.
I’m not the smartest diplomat and I knew I was missing something… important.
“What if we make a bet?” Diana mused quietly, head reclining to the large pillow behind her. “What if… I give you a long-term objective to complete before the end of a set time-limit.”
I blinked.
“A… long-term objective?” I asked with some curiosity. What was she trying to do here?
“Las Lindas has...” She sighed heavily, there was an annoyed look but… was it directed towards herself?
“Fallen in a bad shape. It would need someone with enough determination to work hard enough and have it back to working shape.”
“How ‘bad’ are we talking about?” I continued to ask my fair share of questions and Diana was more than happy to reply to all of them.
“You would be the only worker,” The woman replied quickly and without hesitation. “Randal can help you here and there, but it has to be you doing the real work.”
I was about to give another question when she continued to talk.
“Tomorrow morning you will be going with my son to the local market to buy some new equipment. I don’t think the ones we have left in the barn can be used after so long since they have last seen some light.”
“So…” I hummed quietly. “We are done here?”
She nodded and relaxed on her big pillow. “I give you a month starting from tomorrow.”
I gave her a wide-eyed stare, realizing that the time I was going to be doing this miracle was going to put no little pressure on my back.
“U-Understood.”
Walking towards the door, Diana spoke once more.
“And before you go, please come closer. Just a moment,”
She gestured me to approach and… I complied, walking right by the left side of the bed. It was with this closeness that I ended up noticing her… curves. She was past her prime but her body still was something quite… heavenly.
“When you are finished undressing me with your eyes, you can return back to the real world,” She huffed slightly annoyed, causing me to blush heavily at being caught in the act.
“S-Sorry.” The apology was a must, the smile that I received wasn’t something I was expecting.
“It’s fine, I know you are still young...” She nodded to herself, smiling a little. “Younger than Randal, I reckon.”
“Younger? I thought he was younger than me?” I gave her a surprised look and she nodded, gesturing me to tilt closer as her hands slowly moved near my face and…
Was she going for head-patting? Why would she do tha-AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHT!
“Nuaaahh!” The pain was unbearable, her hands closed on my poor cheeks and started to pinch these mercilessly. “Pweese, nomowe!”
“Oh, no more?” Her smile twitched with amusement. “Yet you were quite the stubborn brat in thinking I was trying to gain something from helping you out.”
She stopped pinching, relenting the hold just a moment.
“Tell me, what do you think of me?”
This is escalating way too quickly.
“You awe P-Pwetty?”
She blinked. “Pretty? Can’t you think of something a little more… proper for myself?”
… “Dwop-dwead gowgeous?”
“Fair enough.” She nodded, accepting the compliment but… starting to pinch once more. “And what about kindness?”
“W-Wewy kwind?” The pinching intensified even more. “I-I me-an, supah-dupah kwind!”
She let go, this time her hands shifting to cup both cheeks in a soft and calm hold. I blinked, my face burning at the torture it had just endured and… I found myself awed at what I was looking at.
Diana’s face was red, her breathing a little labored as her mouth laid open wide as she was recovering from… laughing?
I did remember hearing her give a quick chuckle, but I was fairly sure that this kind of reaction could only be reached when someone gave a full-blown laugh.
“T-That was… hilarious.” She said as if holding back a giggle, then she sighed. “I-I’m sorry but-”
“It’s fine,” I replied somberly, causing her to give a sheepish look in return.
“Then you may go. I think Randal would need some help and...” She hummed for a brief moment. “Can you please see if there is someone interested in my baby boy in town-”
“I will take my leave,” I said coolly, moving out of her hands as she tried and failed to extort some promise of babysitting the young man.
He was older than me and I was supposed to keep an eye on him?
This place is starting to show some strange crazy.
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Chapter 2: Friendship and Anger
The night was dreamless, just some minor nightmare that wasn’t worthy of much… commentary.
Since I was a complete stranger, my current sleeping arrangements were decided by dinner time by Diana herself and… I was partly confused.
Randal’s room was big enough for a person, but it was easy to see how cramped it was for two people. The first issue was the bed debacle… quick explanation:
Being a polite individual staying over at some kind people’s house, I was keen to immediately decline the Prime’s offer to have his bed.
Being a generous fellow, Randal decided to insist on the matter and pressing me to just accept it for the sake of being well-rested for the following day, a workday too.
The little debate escalated to a strange settlement, not even I was sure how it truly worked.
I got the floor… and my new friend joined in too. The small area fitted well to have the two of us taking some space to sleep, just enough to not push each other all together.
Sleep came after two hours of silent, closed-eyed thinking and I was glad that Randal fell asleep much earlier than I did… offering me the chance of giving some heavy contemplation over my odd situation.
Yes, I learned that the anthropomorphic people living in this new region of the world are called Primes. I was unsure over the ‘why’ they were called so, but I was quick to notice some shocking details from that dinner.
There was a small radio tuned in and some news managed to filter out through it.
I knew that the name of the region where I was currently staying was Gossamer, a small section of a whole new continent that has been developed much less than the rest. Some technology reached out, but I think it wasn’t a push strong enough to kick-start industry here.
Agriculture feasted upon this lack of development, driving several of the oldest families that survived out of this part of the economy to expand and improve. If I have to be honest, I felt this was somehow… planned.
Producing natural products was as good as the normal product-making industry.
People loved ‘vintage’ things and, from my understanding, the differences between a Prime and a simple human being were mostly limited to their biology.
They both reasoned the same way and shared the same pluralistic society.
But the biggest news was furnished by… the date of the whole thing.
Before I left that bar late that night, I was quite sure it was still 2019. When I first heard the date listed by the radio speaker… I had to stop a moment to seriously contemplate.
2217.
That’s… 198 years in the… future? But this couldn’t be just a ‘time travel’ predicament. My highest bet was that I somehow ended up meeting with the legendary… Truck-kun.
The possibility that I was Isekai’d to a parallel dimension wasn’t that much of a strange idea, especially with the Primes as proof that things aren’t the same as it was before that eventful night.
It was something quite heavy to digest and my mind found itself influenced by this dramatic development.
So much that my twisted imagination deemed it right to-
I sighed, eyes glancing out of the window, stare fixed on the small spot where the car was usually parked. It wasn’t there.
They are late.
I blinked as the phone placed close to my ear finally flickered to life, the familiar voice of my mother replying to the call.
Quick words were exchanged, the reason for this occurrence delayed by some minor news, but I could still remember it.
“We will be home very soon. Your father received an important call from his uncle that he needed our presence for some legal complications. Nothing worrying but it was for the best to have this solved before things escalated.”
“Understood,” I muttered calmly. “Just… be careful. The weather.”
“Your father might be getting older but he is still the professional pilot as he was back when I married him. There is nothing to worry about, sonny.”
A sigh and the call ended. I lingered stuck just for a moment, an odd feeling about this all and… I returned to complete my homework. A yawn leaving my lips as I finished the annoying paper in front of my eyes.
Silence reigned, allowing just some frustrated sighing and the scribbling of both my pen and pencil, for hours.
Afternoon became evening… and evening became nighttime.
I yawned again, glancing at the display of the phone with a tired expression and froze at the hour.
00:00
W-What?
I tried to stand up but much to my horror, I found myself stuck to the chair. I pushed, I wobbled and even tried to shatter the simple thing. Nothing worked.
My breathing, the pace intensified and I feared for a moment of going through hyperventilation.
Th-There has to be an explanation and-
“You were too late, sonny.”
L-Late? W-Why would I-
“Your hands are stained, sonny. If only… you were honest. If only… you actually cared.”
I-I did!
“Li-ar~!” A childish giggle, the world turned pitch-black and I felt suffocating.
A-Am I drowning? I- I need help- H-HELP!-
I blinked awake, my entire body being shaken as a furred hand tried to snap me out of the nightmare.
Eyes widening, I realized that I was sweating just a little and… blinked again.
“O-Oh, you are awake.” Randal’s voice further got me back to reality, my mind cementing my connection out of the hell I was suffering moments ago. I glanced back, the Prime giving me a concerned look and I nodded.
“I-I’m fine.” I said with all the calm I could muster.
I was about to repeat, just to emphasize the point, but ended up avoiding doing anything weird now more than anything. The young man to frown at the reply and didn’t seem to budge…
“You sure?” He asked again, visibly relaxing at my following nod.
I needed to change the topic before he could return back to it. “W-What time is it?” I asked swiftly, catching the dude off-guard.
“I-it’s-” His eyes widened in realization. “Oh- I need to prepare breakfast and-!” I booped his nose as I slowly got up from the floor.
“We are preparing some breakfast.” I affirmed with renewed determination, cracking a smile to accentuate my decision. “I might have let go of the fact you decided to sleep on the floor when you have your own bed, but like heck I will let you take that burden there.”
There was some surprise in his eyes and he smiled, nodding back with a grateful expression. “I suppose that would be nice.” And with that he proceeded to put on his shirt-
…
Wait, does that mean that he slept near me without- No! We are… not going to think about that.
Before going to the kitchen, I asked a moment to go to the bathroom.
The cold water of the sink properly brought me out from my sleepiness, from the nightmare’s lingering dread washed away down the sinkhole.
I yawned again as I closed the door of the bathroom behind me, hands over my eyes as I felt them itching a little. I bet I was crying when Randal woke me up, I… bet that it was ruining my whole attempt at seeming fine.
How disappointing.
I managed to reach the kitchen, eyes darting between the two occupants and I nodded back at Diana. The woman was reading a newspaper addressing the new prices of various vegetables and other farming products, seemingly taken by the paper as I reached for Randal while he was cutting some bread.
“Sandwiches.” He hummed quietly as he put down the jar containing some peach jam. “Three for you, two for me and mom.”
There wasn’t a need to explain why I needed the extra sandwich and thus I started to help out spread the jam over the slices of bread I was offered.
Moments later we were quietly enjoying the breakfast, Diana actually putting down the newspaper to enjoy her share of food and I found myself endeared by the small moment we were sharing.
It’s been… a long time now.
It was a good way to start the day… I suppose.
As we all finished the sandwiches, Randal was the one that had to go to the bathroom first, orders from the good lady herself. The female Prime was keen to remind her ‘little boy’ how long he would have to spend to take care of his hair and fur, making her son blush at being called out in front of… someone.
Seriously, what was I to them? A stranger… or maybe an acquaintance?
I sighed, the dude going to take some fresh clothes from his room before going through his ‘morning rituals’. I was alone with Diana, the woman didn’t pick up her newspaper as her emerald eyes fixed on my form, causing me to tense up a little.
“So...” The sound felt so much familiar and somewhat terrifying as I knew that it was the prelude to an unpleasant discussion. “How was your sleep? Did you have any issue or-”
“Peachy.” I replied with faux amusement, her eyes rolling at the dumb pun and I nodded. “It was… fine.”
She blinked. “Fine?” I nodded to answer her and she snorted. “Of course.”
I narrowed my eyes at that but wisely decided against pursuing… whatever she was trying to allude to.
“But how did you manage to sleep with a single bed?” Diana asked with a tiny amount of curiosity. “I would think you both headbutted over the whole sleeping arrangement.”
“We kind of… had some minor debate, nothing strange and…” I paused just a moment, thinking the best way to expose that situation. “We both picked the floor.”
She stared silently and then closed her eyes. “You both… picked the floor?”
“I tried to tell him to go to bed and-”
“Randy was kind enough to share the burden.” The Prime huffed, pout plastered on her face as she crossed her arms close to her… abundant chest. And I was staring a little too much, I reckon.
I sighed. “He was also sleeping shirtless-”
“It was a hot night.” She remarked quickly, eyes narrowing on me and causing me to gulp. “What did you want? That he suffered the unholy heat that is common of this season just because you can’t seem to digest seeing some extra fur-”
“I didn’t mean-” I tried to defend myself, failing as she snorted tiredly.
“Yet you did.” Diana rebuked once more. “And I’m deeply disappointed.”
Silence fell on the room as I lost the need to speak. I did ruin that chance for some amicable conversation and I wasn’t expecting-
“Sorry.”
…What? Why was she apologizing? I was the one that-
“Randal… he never had a paternal figure around while he was under my care.” She slowly admitted. “He is a soft-spoken, strong but… very careful to not offend the others.”
“He is… very nice.” I agreed, making her giggle in the process.
“Very sweet too. A pity he didn’t get any chance to find his love interest yet.” She tilted her head on the side and sighed, a mischievous look directed right at me. “One can only wonder~.”
I sighed. “As much this joke could be funny, I’m not into guys and… I’m fairly sure he isn’t too.”
“Oh, but I know that.” She hummed quietly. “I remember when he had his first crush back in Elementary school, a pity that he decided to back away so suddenly...”
Her green eyes returned to stare at me. “But the reason I asked is that I want to know a little more about you.” A little smile played with her amused features. “My newest worker- my youngest worker yet and I hope one of my good ones too.”
“Really? The youngest?” I asked with some curiosity dripping from my words. “You mean you never hired anyone as young as me?”
“I started to work on the farm with a group of friends.” She told with a nostalgic tone. “They were all good folks that loved the hard-work and the lovely farmer’s life. Sadly they all departed for their own ways and… I started to hire professionals.”
“I saw the photo with you and your children-”
“Good times.” The Prime interrupted with a small smile. “If there is something that I think a mother should prioritize, it is the love and care for her children.”
She tensed a moment, eyes turning to the table and away from any possible confrontation about the matter and I knew she had to have thought of something… painful.
Quickly I went to change the subject for the sake of avoiding the death of this simple chit-chatting.
“So you also have any fun stories about… Randal?” The effect of the question was instantaneous, her eyes almost glowing mirthfully at the memories my words were bringing to her. It was all painted in her face.
“Oh, I sure do and…” A giggle left her lips and she nodded. “Did you notice any ‘particular’ detail about yesterday’s dinner?”
I narrowed my eyes at the table and blinked just once. “You mean with the chicken and the potatoes?”
At her nod, I began humming as cogs in my mind spun quickly to try and understand what could be considered ‘particular’ from her point of view-
“It was spicier than it should have been?” I could remember having some little trouble with the chicken, the spices were stronger than the ones usually used for that kind of dish, and I was glad to have water nearby to save my poor tongue from the burning inferno I glimpsed during the bites.
“Randal loves spicy food since he was a child. One could say that he grew to love hot dishes so much that he decided to specialize in that part of cooking.” She sighed. “Why, there was one time when-”
And thus Diana started to tell the childhood stories of the younger Prime.
Some were incredibly amusing and relatable, like how he would end up breaking some vases while playing around with his younger sibling and their childhood friend; The rest were actually brief ones about some of the discoveries and the growths the boy experienced from being a child and then blooming in a college-bound adult.
I learned that he was done with school life, passing with excellent grades, but tthen ended up spending the last few months at the farm to keep company to his mom.
The confusion was legitimate, especially since I couldn’t fathom why would Randal need to be around the woman.
While she seemed a little tired and she spent some part of her days in her bed, I couldn’t see anything that could hint at some life-threatening illnesses.
Maybe I wasn’t looking at the big picture well enough, but I was fairly sure the woman was mostly fine.
Yet as the stories progressed, I found a name present in all of those that caused Diana to pause more than once.
Mora Linda, from my basic understanding, was Randal’s younger sister and the old woman’s biological daughter.
There were pictures of them being happy, some of them happening possibly recently and… she wasn’t there.
Heck, the female Prime sitting at the opposite side of the table seemed keen to avoid lingering over her name and… maybe something about it had happened?
I remember hearing years ago of parents falling ill when their children left the house after some hasty and heated discussion, but I knew that was a massive stretch.
Knowing so little about this subject and being respectful enough to not ask specific questions to the woman as we weren’t that close, I decided to not press for more and accepted the storm of tales from Randal’s childhood.
Speaking of the Devil, the young man returned to the Kitchen while using a towel to clean up his hair and I was quick to stand up. “I suppose it’s my turn and...” I smiled, nodding at Diana. “I hope that this could continue during lunch.”
Her smile twitched, mostly because Randal looked confused and somewhat suspicious over the mysterious agreement we struck before him and I guess he will start to ask for details once I was out of ear-shot.
Entering the bathroom, I was quick to close the door behind me before starting to undress.
Tuning away from my previous thoughts, I prioritized a quick shower as to not waste any more time.
Thirty minutes should be enough to deal with everything.
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Randal sat down in the chair previously taken by the human, eyes fixed on his mother as the woman smiled mischievously. Something was missing, some discussion that was possibly about him but… what could it be?
He opened his mouth to ask the woman how was she feeling, deciding to focus first on her health rather than pester her with some interrogation. Yet his mother beat him with a giggle.
“Our guest is surely a unique individual.” The woman mused calmly and with a certain tone.
He blinked at the quick comment and slowly nodded. “Truly? How so?”
“You might haven’t noticed it but he is still hesitant to interact with those around him.” She explained, eyes directed at the table. “He is very careful with everyone… except you.”
The younger Prime tilted his head in confusion. Matt trusted him? But he seemed to be treating him mostly politely rather than friendly. There wasn’t much to be said about him if only that he respected him and was thankful for his gestures.
“It’s subtle but he is very guarded over his own emotions. Between the two of us he is more at ease around you.” A nod followed and yet the confusion in Randal’s mind wasn’t satisfied by this.
“B-But why?” It just made no sense.
“Oh, it’s not that he genuinely distrusts me, sweetie.” Another giggle left her lips. “It’s… something a little more complicated. I think it’s because… I’m reminding him of someone.”
…What?
“It can happen, once in a while, that people do get nostalgic and can find some individuals around them familiar to those they know about.” His mother continued to explain. “But the way he was looking at me… I’ve seen just once someone this sad and…” She huffed, eyes closed. “I hope I’m wrong.”
“So… I have to keep an eye for him?”
“Just enough to make sure he doesn’t do anything silly, dear.” The woman giggled softly. “But be careful. I’ve heard that there is a newcomer in town and not much is known about… them.”
“Really? Nothing about them?”
Diana sighed. “This person was very careful to not provide anything to the friends around, I just know that they got a flat near the town’s square.”
“I will be looking around then… anything else?”
She smiled. “Just be polite when needed, same for cautious and...” Her eyes calmly turned to the doorstep of the kitchen. “Same for you, young man.”
Randal’s attention shifted right to… Matt. The human blinked in surprise and nodded, his eyes narrowed in minor confusion but seemed fine with the request.
“I think we should go now.” The younger Prime suggested. “Quicker we deal with the tasks, earlier we will get home-”
“So you can coddle me up like you would like to do right now.” His mother interrupted with a mirthful chuckle. “Just make sure to avoid making any mistakes and then things will be alright.”
Then she turned once more at the human. “You will also need some instructions for the work. I will prepare you something to use as a ‘manual’ of sort.”
“Thanks.” He nodded as he waited for Randal to walk closer, waving at her before turning and going toward the front door. “See you later, Mrs. Linda.”
A snort echoed through the hallway and moments later they were walking out of the farm.
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“You mean the mayor has been the same for… a decade now?” I had to ask, the situation ludicrous to even consider.
Very few people back home could manage to accomplish so many years of being elected to the role, but these were mostly corrupt bureaucrats that knew how to make use of bribery. An odd concept, but it supposedly faded back in the perspective that… this was the ideal place.
While not New York by any mean, the town wasn’t truly bad. Even from the early, less-clear sight I got of it during our walk I knew that it was… respectful. The houses looked all clean, the rustling crowds of Primes eagerly busy with shopping and working as everything resembled the perfect agrarian society.
Randal nodded much to my increasing shock. “Not many understand how but… he is working pretty well from my little understanding of politics. The town… is doing fine.” He ended up replying.
“If he hasn’t caused any mess… I guess that is alright.” I commented quietly, I felt so many eyes on me while we went through the swamp of people around us. I spotted few humans, but those were well past their forties and… I guess I stick out like a sore thing among so many… Primes.
Our first stop was the shop specialized in selling farmer tools, the place was… well-furnished. I think I saw more than fifty different types of the same shovel. I’m impressed by the… competitive brands but this was utterly and completely-
“And I think we are done here,” Randal muttered happily while holding a bucket with several instruments inside. I blinked in awe and nodded silently, I guess he was acknowledged over the kind of shopping we were doing and thus we went to pay for the whole arsenal.
The money was like dollars, the paper-kind at least looked like that, but instead of presidents and other important politicians, there were… monuments and important places. Just like the Euro paper-money.
After we left the shop, we stopped a moment by the entrance of the building to see what was next.
“We need to get some new seeds and then to pick the groceries-”
But before he could finish, I was pushed down by someone. Being that I was holding a few of the new instruments on me, I came down hard.
Groaning, I tried to identify my attacker and- “S-Sorry! I-I’m late-!”
She skipped away quickly, papers in her hands as she rushed through the street in a hurry. Randal helped me up, my body ‘appreciating’ the wake-up call and-
Is something missing?
I glanced back at the bucket and then… at the retreating figure. She was wearing a cloak of sort, her head and back hidden but I could see- something twitching in one of her pockets, a little trowel dangling in there.
“S-She got one of the instruments- I can catch her-”
“Matt, we can buy another one- Wait!”
A waste of money, one the farm couldn’t afford. Every penny was essential-
You could consider me mad for being this considerate of a simple gardening trowel, but I while leaving out to go to town, I saw the shape of the farm and the situation wasn’t even decent. Losing money wasn’t an acceptable option right now.
I started giving chase, my breath growing ragged as I pushed my legs to the very limit to meet up the female Prime. She was incredibly fast, faster than me but I discovered a little advantage in the form of the sea of people that walked in the opposite direction.
The girl was swift in going through the ‘walls’ but she would have to slow down every once in a while, giving me time to catch up the more time I spent on the chase.
Yet as she turned the corner and I followed closely, my advantage vanished in the form of the massive crowd covering the whole square. I could see some smiling fellow and a- is that a hologram? - spinning some wheel with several clear words on it. More work, more housing and-
Wait, is that the mayor-
Dangit! Not the moment to distract myself with…
I stopped, my eyes widening as I lost her in the crowd. I felt close to fall on my knees, feeling like my efforts were all spent in a fruitless chase.
I glanced back at the mayor and that blasted wheel as it continued to spun… and spun and spun.
A blink, then two, finally I noticed the silent gust of wind reach all over the area, some shivering, some forced to get closer to their friends and- a familiar cloak was forced down, revealing a pair of bunny ears and-
Pink hair.
She was standing out among the locals and I was quick to capitalize over the blessing I received. Politely making my way through the crowd, I managed to reach the nearby clear zone and gave once more chase.
This time the pursuit ended in a very anti-climatic way as she suddenly stopped, took a brief sight and… entered inside the bar-saloon.
I didn’t enter inside quickly, confused as to why she just stopped there of all places and… I finally ventured in, ignoring the strain.
The place was humongous, but not as oppressing as I expected a saloon to be. Silently, I locked my stare over the girl.
A bunny Prime, she was chatting with the older and wrinklier man behind the counter who possibly was the owner of this whole place.
Her fur was a soft gray, her hair a light-pink and she was letting it all flow freely. A kind smile, green eyes attentively staring at the bartender while I slowly approached the counter-
“Oh hello young man, do you need something?”
I almost jumped at the owner’s voice, kind of expecting some extra steps in but… I decided to wing it.
“Two questions, does this place accept Euros?” The bulldog Prime frowned but nodded slowly.
“And two, how much for a glass of water?” I pressed on and the manager this time answer a little faster.
“Fifty cents.” He said and I nodded. Pulling out my wallet, I was about to hand over the little coin but a bigger hand proceeded to beat me to that.
“I will pay for him.” A deep voice explained curtly and I turned slowly to greet this individual… only to have to stare up and look at an unfamiliar face. I was looking at… a Bull Prime?
His fur was a tone lighter than his dark-brown hair, red eyes staring back at me and a curious smile on his face.
“Please, take a seat.”
I blinked and slowly nodded but- stopped a moment to glance at the Bunny Prime. “L-Lady? Just one word.”
She looked surprised at being addressed but nodded, a curious frown on her face. “S-Sure, how can I help you?”
“Something hanging from one of the pockets of your cloak.” Her frown deepened but she checked on it and… her eyes widened.
“O-Oh, a trowel?”
Then her attention snapped at me.
“Y-You are the one I tripped into back then- but that means you chased me to the saloon?”
“You… you are very fast, I hope you understand that.”
She smiled hesitantly at my words, handing over the gardening instrument as I nodded and turned to take a seat near the man that paid for my glass of water.
“W-Wait, you aren’t going to ask for an apology-”
I waved at her. “I understand it was for work and… I kind of understand. There is no need to apologize.” I interrupted quickly and then turned my focus to the Bull Prime.
“So… any particular reason to offer me a drink or-”
“Just found it odd for a human as young as you are to be in this part of the continent. Many teens prefer Prism to this quiet town.” The man said with an intrigued tone.
The bartender huffed. “But you are a newcomer yourself, kind stranger. Why, I think you are but just years older than this young man.”
The brunet sighed and downed the content of his glass slowly. Somehow I felt like that sigh was hiding everything… yet nothing.
Who was this dude?
“B-By the way, I’m Matt Newcastle.” I offered a hand and he grasped it moments later, joining for the handshake.
“Minos.”
No surname, how… odd. Primes still had surnames, Diana and Randal being the best example for the case. I wonder what’s up with this guy…
“So you are one of the newest farmhands, lad?” The manager asked out of curiosity. “Pray tell, where are you working exactly, there just so many places one could find work nowadays.”
I blinked, sipping from my glass. “Oh, I work at Las Lindas.”
Suddenly the saloon seemed to freeze in time as most of the people there ceased with their activity to stare directly at me. Once more I was regretting answering people’s questions.
“So you work for that fiery gal Diana?” There was a fond smile on the elder’s face. “That woman is one of the greatest hard-workers I’ve seen around. A pity she fell ill a few months ago- by the way, how is she?”
“She looked… fine this morning.” I frowned at the sad voice in which the bartender addressed the sickness afflicting the owner of the farm.
“That’s good news then and- oh sorry.” He nodded apologetically at Minos. “I forgot you wished to talk to him-”
“No need to apologize.” The man answered with a polite tone. “I think the topics were interesting and… so you work on a farm?”
“I will start today once I’m back there.” I nodded. “Do you-”
“I planned to spend my stay here to rest actually, I’ve not considered picking a job.” He interrupted calmly and nodding my way.
I blinked at his explanation. “You have to be rich enough to allow yourself to just… rest here. Life expenses are still… expenses.” I said with a curious tone.
“A friend has offered a convenient place with comfortable prices and offering two months of free stay.” He continued and I whistled a little.
“Has to be a very good friend to give you this much,” I commented a little shocked. “Quite close to.”
He nodded. “She is very stubborn and annoying, but she is quite a good person.”
I nodded once more and finished the drink and some stupid realization finally manifested.
Oh God, I forgot about Randal!
Panicking just a little, I pushed the glass out of my hands and back to the counter.
“I enjoyed this nice talk, Minos, but sadly I’ve to go-”
“Don’t worry, I understand that with a job you have little free time.” I smiled a little at his understanding comment, then I proceed stood up from my stool and move towards the entrance.
But before I could push the small doors open, I was stopped by a soft hand grasping my shoulder.
“A-Actually sir, I think I’ve to apologize.” I turned to see the bunny waitress bowing her head a little. “I should’ve been more careful and-”
“Look, as I said before, it’s fine. Just… next time keep an eye open to avoid possible tripping.”
“U-understood and-.” She sighed, her green eyes gaining a determined glint as she stared right into mines. “I-I’m Taffy.”
I frowned, a little confused by the sudden introduction, but still managed a little smile. “Matt, Matt Newcastle.”
Her smile increased and I nodded, waving as I left the bar and found myself staring at a very annoyed, possibly angry Randal Hawthorne. Brown eyes narrowed on me, I could see the hurt in those and I flinched.
“I got-”
“We are going to the farm.” I flinched again at the calm tone and I knew I messed up big time.
The walk back home was… awkwardly silent. I preferred to not tempt my fate with how furious the Dog Prime looked and thus I spent the whole moment looking around at the various trees and… trees.
Greeting his mother as we reached the porch, Randal entered the house in a hurry, causing Diana to look at me accusingly. I looked at the floor and… approached her slowly as I knew that a lecture was now unavoidable.
I was truthful while narrating how the shopping went and how things ended up escalating. She looked annoyed, not truly that much angry, but she still deemed it right to have my cheeks pinched painfully and mercilessly.
Five minutes of constant pinching passed and I was given a simple order.
Plant some seed and pick the fruits that were ripe for the harvest. She handed over a small notebook with some notes and returned inside, leaving me alone in the vastness of this farm.
I sighed, mind weighed by guilt as I picked a hoe and started to walk towards the empty area where the cabbages were growing, my intention being of planting two new lines of cabbages.
And with that my first day of work at Las Lindas begin, a silent but well-done job that did nothing to soothe the little issue between me and Randal.
After seven hours of strenuous labor, I accepted dinner without hesitation.
Night came and I was left alone in the floor as the legitimate owner of the room picked the bed for this ‘occasion’, I found sleep easier than usual, maybe for tiredness at the new work or… maybe I just wanted to sleep and do nothing else.
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Chapter 3: Shopping and Reconciliation
It was morning.
Birds were chirping, some sunlight was passing through the curtains of the room’s window… and there was no human lying on the floor.
Randal had to blink once, then twice to finally grasp the fact Matt wasn’t in the room.
Brown eyes glinting confusion as the Collie Prime got up from the bed and started to give a proper look around, further cementing the idea that the human wasn’t there in his room.
Ears twitched, he noticed that the house was oddly silent at that hour.
If the young man wasn’t sleeping, then he was either in the bathroom going through his usual routine or he was staying by the kitchen while doing… something.
Putting on a shirt and slowly walking by the door, the Prime peeked by the hallway, with his attention mostly directed at the area where the closest bathroom was.
There was silence. He couldn’t even see any light from there, and his confusion and unknown dread started to intensify even more.
The kitchen was the only place where the human could have gone and… the Prime went to check there.
He was calm, yet while his mind contemplated the events of the day from before, he found it quite difficult to properly judge the rash behavior Matt displayed.
It was legitimate for the young man to show dedication to his new job, to be cautious with the tools and making sure to not lose them, but the way he rushed to the ‘rescue’ of a simple trowel?
There was devotion and then there was desperation.
Randal was surprised by the interest the human showed in making a good job, something that was mirrored by how he proceeded with his first work-shifts.
He didn’t need any major advice, his knowledge regarding the ‘simple’ tasks proved that he was capable in accomplishing the duties at Las Lindas.
Yet it was his mother’s way to address Matt’s intents that made the whole watch incredibly… difficult.
There were praises, some comments about improvements required in some of his actions, but what truly turned things against Randal was…
“What do you think about it?”
The ‘innocent’ question about his personal input over the various topics regarding Matt proved to be a very complicated mess. He was honest, bluntly so, but most of his comments were positive.
It didn’t help, much to his subsiding anger over what had happened back to the town.
He was ditched by someone he was trusting to follow his words. He was left to deal with the other tools while also trying to find the elusive human wherever he went.
The folks all around were kind enough to give him some directions, and it took him fifteen minutes to track down the young man to the local bar.
Just as Randal was about to enter the building, the small saloon-like doors were opened by the very individual he was seeking, Matt freezing instantly, eyes going wide open, at seeing his infuriated expression.
But anger was something of strange emotion Collie Prime to experience.
It was rare for him to hold a grudge for too long, sleep generally helped to cool down his fiery self and give him some clarity to his mind so he could study better the matter.
After an eight-hours long sleep, Randal was certain that they were both at fault over the predicament.
Matt could have been a little more understanding of the fact he was literally leaving someone to burden the entire arsenal of tools, while the Prime could have dealt with the situation in a less childish manner.
Anger was fine, but being partially enraged by this situation? It was a little beyond him.
He sighed, his nerves weren’t certainly enjoying the minor stress of bickering with his very mother over the fact she needed to take her medicines.
Diana Linda had been quite a wall when either he or her other children tried to avoid to take the needed medicines when they were sick, so dealing with this situation where the roles had somehow inverted… was draining.
The woman was strong but not as she was just a few years ago. She was waning, ever so slowly as the sudden disappearance of Mora led to a worryingly increased pace of the illness.
It was an unknown one, something that doctors from all around were unable to truly understand the causes nor the proper medications to counter it.
The medicines she was supposed to take were meant to slow down the pace but…
He shouldn’t be thinking about this!
He turned the corner that led to the kitchen, the only occupant there smiling warmly as she folded the newspaper and turned her full attention to her son.
“Good morning, Randy.”
He returned the smile, nodding as he took the seat by the table and… noticed the two sandwiches lying over a simple tissue. He frowned, the woman sighing as she started to tap by the table. “You know, you could at least greet your mother before focusing on other people.”
Her disappointed scoff was relayed in such a joking tone that the Collie Prime merely nodded with a tiny embarrassed smile.
“Sorry mom, and good morning to you too,” He replied with a soft tone. “Just trying to understand where-”
“Oh, he isn’t at the farm right now,” The Bovine Prime mused calmly, far too calmly for Randal’s paranoia. “He should be back in two hours from now.”
The young male frowned and slowly nodded as he took the first sandwich in his hands. It was slightly cold, making him question how long has passed since it was made.
“Matt was rather considerate in making sure that you too had your breakfast ready,” Diana commented her sight once more directed at the paper she had forgotten for just a moment. “The young man hopefully will deal with the farmer’s market well.”
Randal froze mid-bite, a strong effort required to avoid chocking on the small piece of toast. “Y-You sent him alone?!”
“As far as I’m concerned, he is old enough to be able to deal with selling the fruits and vegetables that have flourished just recently. He did mention that he had some first-hand experience on the matter, and if I have to base his truthfulness by his more recent works, then I will put my trust over it,” The woman huffed in some annoyance.
“H-He- B-But there was so much that needed to be brought to town-” The Collie Prime reasoned, only to be caught silent by the amused snort of his mother.
“The cart was completely filled, very heavy… and you should have seen how many times he did slip on the mud while trying to pull it away from the starting point.”
A brief giggle left her lips, then Diana sighed.
“He was rather lucky that one of his newest friends, the newcomer is… rather fascinating. Quite strong, reminds me much of… Nevermind.”
Now that was a first, Randal thought silently. There were just a handful of things that got the woman to suddenly change topic nowadays and… he hoped that it wasn’t anything to worry about.
There was enough placed in his plate to keep up with other developments and…
What was he supposed to do now? With Matt already in town and with his mother needing her medicines, there was little he could do to soothe the tension he had with the human.
He sighed tiredly taking a small bite at his toast and deciding to wait for the young man to return.
Hopefully, Matt really knew what he was doing…
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I should have asked for some directions.
The town nearby Las Lindas might be small compared to the city where I grew up, but the map of the place was still something that I had yet to fully memorize and…
Minos was also clueless about the place where I was supposed to commit myself for some… negotiations. I had gone to a Farmer’s Market before, but I’ve never took part in a transaction as important like this one.
It took almost an hour to finally get to the small square purposed for the Market and, since it was still fairly early in the morning, finding an empty spot to convert into the ‘Las Lindas’ corner proved to be quite the easy task.
Once the cart was settled on the side, the Bull Prime decided to also help in placing down the products in a proper order. I was keen to avoid being overly-zealous over this matter, knowing that I was already stretching this ‘new’ friendship with the man by having him do this much already.
I was indebted to him to a certain degree… and yet I felt like he was actually having little issue over the situation. Actually, he looked very… interesting over the work itself.
It reminded me of when I would be-
Bored.
Once this second step was done and completed, I picked two of the chairs I brought to peacefully wait and endure the full day at the market. Setting them a few instances behind the products, causing Minos to look… intrigued.
“You wouldn’t mind if I decided to join you for… this?” He looked partly surprised, maybe a tiny bit hesitant and… curious at the same time.
“I mean, you did say that you don’t have much to do here and...” I shrugged, giving him a genuine smile. “I think we can spare some time chatting.”
He raised a curious brow. “Only chatting?”
I was quick to perceive the fact he was referring to the… job itself. I didn’t have the necessity, nor the intention of bringing the man in some… difficult business.
I could see a quick flinch at that prospect and, frankly enough, I couldn’t help but understand him.
I guess he wasn’t much of the… social guy.
“Only chatting.” I replied calmly, getting a small nod from him as he sat down on the offered chair and… I almost snorted at how ‘tiny’ it was compared to his size. Seriously, I wonder how self-conscious is he about the particular frame he had compared to the rest of the people in this quiet town.
The discussion wasn’t… as exhaustive as I did expect it to be. The issue that limited my capacity to learn a little ‘more’ about the Bull Prime was a similar personal bit we found each other sharing.
We were both unwilling of giving too much about ourselves to the other. It was either shyness or motivated secrecy, which drew a fine line about the topics that were allowed to those that were easily ignored or twisted with their different meanings.
It was a clever way to pass the little time before the beginning of the opening hour at the Market.
Minos was immensely acculturated in Primes’ civilization, while I was keen to give snippets of Mankind the man was still unaware of.
It was a fair exchange that was soon derailed multiple times as the potential clients started to arrive.
People were drawn to the new section of the market. Some were farmers themselves that wished to gauge the crops from Las Lindas.
Some were open to recognize the care put on the growth of the products, while a small minority was quick to keep quiet while giving greedy looks at the vegetables presented to be sold.
Minos’ presence did also increase for a time the number of ‘clients’ as many young women decided to ‘storm’ the stand. I could only guess that those were the kind of girls that were ready to wed and had their minds ensnared by the idea of ‘the prince’ kind of guy to marry.
If the Bull Prime actually noticed the collective attention he was receiving from the women, he was making some effort to not show it or at least had his sight directed to other ‘interesting’ stuff.
People started to buy, the prices I had set were slightly higher than a good part of the other farmers, but the quality seemed to be gaining the interest of a good chunk of the clients in the Market.
It was a lively section of the city, I realized fairly quickly.
It wasn’t certainly the Market back home and… I was glad that I was receiving this much attention.
The more products I continued to sell through hard-work and careful pricing, the more the chances of restoring Las Lindas to its original glory were going to get higher.
Business was going smoothly and I think Minos was starting to get a little fascinated in the work itself too.
Not enough to ask to join, but enough to actually place some minor criticisms about the price of some of the available vegetables, pointing out either that a slight reduction or increase of the prices in some of the circumstances by evaluating the attention the specific edible food was getting.
Four hours went by without any issue, almost lifting my hopes about ending this first session without any annoyance and… I was proved wrong when I had to deal with… her.
The Mouse Prime had blonde hair and gray fur, her violet orbs were boring onto my brown ones. She was quiet and engaging in that strange staring competition, a sore figure standing out from the other folks channeling by the stand.
She stood there for forty minutes, waiting for the stand to get a little more deserted before finally speaking.
“So you work for… the old farm?” She mused quietly, her tone restrained to not show too much emotion but… I did feel some curiosity. A steel-like kind of curiosity to boot!
“There are many ‘old farms’ here, miss. But if you mean Las Lindas, then yes-”
“You are quite young,” The girl continued with her sharp tone, slowly giving out the reason of her presence right now. “And you don’t seem to have much hope to develop in this situation.”
Suddenly I found myself staring at a business card and frowned at its words.
‘Alexandria Dairy’?
“The largest company in Gossamer,” The girl continued to explain with a confident smirk plastered on her face. “I’m Tootsie Roswell and I’m a close confident to the current CEO, Alejandra Coldthorn.”
Oh… boy. This was an attempt to recruit me and… in broad daylight?
I was slightly irritated by the fact it was happening right when I was ‘starting’ with my job but I found myself unable to truly blame Tootsie for trying this. I can only suppose but… I think companies this big were quick to fall if a certain pace wasn’t used. An aggressive pattern that allowed the containment and the weakening of potential rivals.
In a normal situation, I would have asked for more details and, if the proposal was that attractive, I would have accepted after some pondering. Yet, with a pending promise that had to be maintained, I found myself shaking my head.
“I wish to humbly apologize, Ms. Roswell, but I find myself unable to truly to consider this kind and generous proposal.”
My words caused her to tense, a surprised look painting her face, but I decided to continue and give a proper explanation before assumptions were given and… animosity born from this situation.
“Right now, I find myself morally obliged to continue my work at Las Lindas. I’ve a duty of sort about making sure the farm recovers to a good shape so that it can be entrusted to the children of the current owner.”
The Mouse Prime blinked, looking less tense than before and… a little annoyed. It wasn’t anger at least…
“And I suppose I can’t ask about those ‘moral obligations’, can I?” Tootsie pressed on with a curious tone.
“Sadly no,” I replied curtly before giving another lengthy speech. “As a matter of fact, I can say that from the way you describe both ‘Alexandria Dairy’ and the CEO, the workplace seems to be rather well-planned and very respectful of its workers. I can’t promise anything at the moment, but I will contact in case I find myself free from those obligations… if you can extend this offer at that point, that is.”
She sighed and hummed, seemingly thinking about the last bit of my explanation. “You are asking… a lot from me but-”
A smile adorned her face.
“You have been quite polite, and I think you aren’t that bad.” Her hands reached for the very pocket where she took the business card and… handed me another. This one about… Tootsie herself.
‘Tootsie Roswell, Head of the Scientific Department at Alexandria Dairy.’
She was specialized in… Engineering and Development? Now that is… actually a surprise.
“Contact me personally if you find yourself freed by the ‘obligations’, I will see if we can find a place for you by then.” She giggled and nodded. “Thanks for sparing some words, Mr. Newcastle.”
I nodded and then… my eyes snapped wide open.
How the- How the heck does she know my name?!
Before I could even ask about this, the Mouse Prime was seen retreating away from the Market, disappearing in the still substantial crowd of people filling the town’s square. I blinked, shocked by what just happened and-
“That was quite the stimulating speech.” Minos commented, reminding me of his presence and making me glance at him. “And… ‘moral obligations’?”
I blinked again, momentarily contemplating if it would have been the right thing to do if I told him or not about… the ‘why’ of my current predicament. The Bull Prime looked extremely genuine, I would even dare to say he was as genuine as Randal was.
I had to hold back a flinch at remembering how things had turned out with the Collie Prime but… no, I had other things to focus on.
“I… I suppose I can tell you,” I muttered quietly. There were just a few of people now wandering, the closing hour was getting close and there were barely few products left to sell so it was the best moment to have this kind of chatting.
“I’m… not from the Gossamer region.” I said in the calmest tone possible. “I’m not even from the continent.”
He blinked, tilting his head to the side and sporting a confused but interested expression on his face.
“That sounds… like it has more to it.” He commented rightfully and I nodded.
“A few days ago I was… in Europe. I was spending a night by the pub and… enjoying some time alone.” I narrated, getting an understanding nod as a gesture to continue. “The following morning I… woke up in Mrs. Linda’s orchard.”
Minos frowned. “You mean that you don’t remember how you got there? I think the timing would also be quite weird.”
“That is one of the reasons why I prefer to keep by Las Lindas.” I replied quietly. “I think there is something… going on that caused my ‘sudden re-appearance’. And then there is also the bet.”
There was a pause, one that was exploited by the Prime as he went for the appropriate query.
“A bet? Can you indulge some more details?” He did ask about it, yet the slight seriousness starting to develop in his features about the curious case I was the main element.
“Mrs. Linda was kind enough to offer me food and shelter for now, but we ended up agreeing that I can’t just live at the farm without doing something productive… I’m now a worker at the farm and I’ve a month to bring Las Lindas to good conditions.”
I stopped, sighing only once and then went to see what reaction Minos had.
He was silent, his red eyes showing none of the previous emotions as he thought well about the circumstance presented and… then he nodded.
“You are… an interesting individual, Matt.” The Prime commented cautiously. “And I appreciate you decided to tell me this important thing. I think it shows that you-”
“You are a good friend, Minos.” I interrupted with a tired voice. “Like… I didn’t tell you this just to show that I trust you- it’s more about the fact I can’t hold things up for… for too long.” I admitted with a sigh.
He blinked, a smile slowly appearing on his face as he nodded. “You are a good friend too, Matt. And while I don’t think I should tell you this so soon… I understand the need of telling someone about your troubles.”
I looked up at him. “Did you have your own mess?”
He merely nodded and I sighed. “I guess that we have more than a few things.”
There was some silence, but it wasn’t anything close to oppressive or awkward. It took me a while to recover from the heart-felt discussion and I started to think it was a good time to pack what was left on the cart and get going.
I opened my mouth, ready to call the ‘day’ and-
“W-Wait!” We both stopped and turned to the origin of the voice directed at us-
My sight was quickly drawn to the approaching… pink-haired bunny.
“Oh? Hi Taffy.” The girl stopped by the stand, pausing a moment to catch her own breath and then… smiled.
“Sorry, I know it’s closing hour but… can I browse a little?”
I blinked, glancing at Minos and nodding. “I guess we can spare some time for a last client.”
She nodded happily and started to look around with a soft humming building in her throat.
“Do you have any apples left?” She asked while her eyes scanned for that specific product.
“I think we have some the-there.” I pointed at the small wooden cage with the last dozen of red apples, my face getting a darker shade of pink as I noticed now that her… clothes was fairly revealing.
It was a simple, normal yellow sundress. It was her size and all, the issue being that-
Actually… it wasn’t the dress. I did remember seeing the cream-white fluff coming by her cleavage back when I first met her in the saloon-bar. But now that there wasn’t that much attention to any ‘important’ object like in that situation, I found my stare wandering to that fluff and… I noticed her bosom.
The fluff will be the cause of an early demise...
I tried to act as if nothing had happened, sure that the young bunny Prime hadn’t noticed my stare… but I soon realized that someone still noticed.
Minos was giving me a teasing smirk, which caused the pink stain to become red.
He didn’t speak, he didn’t give any other reaction other than that smirk and-
“I will get six of those.” Taffy’s soft voice reached my ears, causing me to turn and nod quickly.
“I-I see.” I gulped nervously as I gave her the proper pricing. Nodding, she picked up the rightful amount of money from her money pouch and… stopped a moment after giving the coins to me.
I blinked, panicking at her concerned look. “Is something wrong?”
Her question was… partly expected. But that doesn’t exactly mean I was by any means prepared to answer it.
“I- uhhhh-”
“He finds your sundress lovely.” Minos intervened… to save me? The comment caused the girl’s green eyes to go wide and… then she blushed at the compliment.
“O-Oh?” She nodded to herself. “I-I suppose- I mean, thank you for th-the compliment, Mr. Newca- Matt!”
Her blush worsened at the brief outburst at the end but she seemed to be capable of picking the bag now containing the apple.
“S-Sorry, I think I should be going- bye!” Without hesitation the girl turned around and started to skip away from the square… but not before revealing her small and fluffy tail-
Dangit! Brain-
I’m trying to work something here, boss!
With my face burning fiercely at this unexpected encounter, I slowly turned my eyes to the Bull Prime and… frowned at the twitching smile in his face.
“I bet you are going to laugh, aren’t you?” I dared him, sporting an angry look and-
He chuckled loudly. He chuckled so hard that moments later I found myself joining that laugh j-just because of how infectious it was-
Nothing else!
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Returning to Las Lindas was easier compared to the effort I had to put in getting Minos to accept some money for helping me with the cart.
As much as I wanted to save up on expenses, I couldn’t seriously even think of not giving people their dues. The man had helped me with an essential bit of the job and it was only true of me to give him his rightful pay.
He left by the entrance with a minor pout, but soon smiled a little and waved as to salute before truly leaving. I waved back with a big smile and, once I was left alone and away from his sight, resumed a gloomier look.
Now it was time for another awkward lunch and… then work again. Sighing, I started to walk towards the house and… I was greeted by some loud giggling from the kitchen?
I blinked, the noise of my soft steps reinforced by the creaking wood planks making the hallway’s floor. I was partly confused as to… why Diana would be out of bed right now?
The woman was generally stuck in her room at this hour, tuckered in her heavy but warm blankets and I then peeked by the entrance of the room, only to stop fixed on a specific character of the two here.
Randy looked incredibly nervous, sitting on the soft-blue carpet near the living room section of the kitchen. The reason for this attitude was related to the state of his… clothing. The shirt had been ditched, same for his pants and he was wearing only his underwear.
“It would seem like you have just a try, sweetie. You sure you want to continue?” Diana asked mirthfully from her little throne made by pillows as she was still wearing all of her clothes and looking smug.
What the heck?
Green eyes ended up spotting my peeking head and the woman’s smile widened.
“Oh my, it would seem that Matt is back from his task.” The announcement caused Randal to turn his attention to me, face burning a soft red as he was indeed in quite the precarious situation. “I hope the day went well.”
I slowly nodded, my brain trying to catch up with the madness before my eyes. “I- We made more than planned.” I replied calmly.
She blinked, looking fairly surprised. “Is that so? That’s some good news.” She smiled a genuine smile, breaking from the act. “Can you leave the money by the table and… come here and join Randy?” She ended up dema- requesting.
I tensed a little but nodded as I went to comply to her words and… went to sit close to the Collie Prime. He didn’t greet me, and thus I didn’t greet him as I focused on Diana.
His mother stared at me with a mischievous glint and I felt like I did the worst mistake ever in accepting this predicament without other hints about… what was going on.
“I can see you are wondering what is going on with my son and…” She giggled. “The answer would be quite amusing.”
I don’t think I will be laughing, whatever she is planning to do-
“You see, I decided to make a… game with Randy to solve the current sleeping situation. The winner will decide where you will be sleeping for the rest of your stay.”
...What the fuck?
“And I was thinking about the barn.” She added with a small smile. “Or the porch.”
Both terrible choices as the barn had a hole in its roof and was impossible to sleep in if it started to rain, while the porch’s floor was sturdy and creaky.
Why the heck was this even happening?
“It’s about picking or adding clothes… or passing the turn. Randy is ‘for some reason’ passing all the time...”
The young man stared down, embarrassment evident in his face and… I can see the issue. Being that he was her son, of course he wouldn’t go as far as have his sickly mother remove clothes to keep her warm.
It was a sensible reaction and… why was I here now?
“And, I’m here because-” I tried to ask, only to be interrupted by Diana.
“Since Randy is at his last try, I want to know if you are willing to make a little change to the game.”
…I have a bad feeling about this…
“What if you picked my son’s place and we switch the reward? What if the one we are deciding where he should sleep is… Randy?”
My eyes widened at where this was going and I find myself in quite the dilemma.
As much as I didn’t want to sleep outdoors for… the reasons previously brought up, I wouldn’t certainly do this to Randal.
We were at odds, sure, but to have him to sleep outside until… I left?
That would be cruel… but it would give me a chance to win all...
“So you want me to… play this game about-”
“Removing, adding or… do nothing about clothes.” She answered quickly, starting to get annoyed by the delay. “Do you accept or not?”
I glanced once more at Randal and he stared up at me with some hesitation.
…This is gonna suck. Like really!
I sighed heavily and nodded. “I accept.”
A giggle and the game began with Diana being the one beginning with the ‘game’. Was this even a game to begin with?
“C’mon! Remove a piece of clothing.” She demanded and I nodded by… removing one of my socks. She paused and pouted a little at the choice but… it was a legitimate pick.
Now it was my turn and I had to think quickly. I can’t remove any clothes from her, nor I can pass the turn like Randy did-
Adding clothes was the only choice but… using my own clothes? It would be detrimental at best. But what-
I glanced at Randal’s clothes and… I had an idea. A smile surged from my lips and I glanced back at the Collie Prime.
“Randy, I need you to… tell me if you showered yet.” My request caused some frowns from both the son and his mother, but the young man replied.
“I… I didn’t not. Not yet. Why?” He was so clueless…
“Pass me your shirt?” His frown deepened just as his confusion did but I ended up receiving the sweat-filled shirt and… I think I should explain what is going on.
Two days ago, I discovered from Randal himself that the reason why he showered so frequently was related to the fact he had… tons of fur. Compared to many Primes that have just a layer of fur, someone like Randal developed much more and… sweated a lot.
Thus, to avoid causing any issue with the smell, the man has to shower a lot, something that was annoying when he hit puberty but he soon learned to master in the following years.
Right now in my hands as my nose scrunched up at the smell, I was holding the key to victory!
I stood up and made just a step towards the woman and… Diana realized what was going on, dread spreading in her face.
“Y-You wouldn’t-!”
My smile widened. “I do~!”
I took another step.
“It wouldn’t f-fit!”
“You never said it had to be properly wore so…” I prepared a scarf-like cloth with it and her eyes widened even more. “Here is your new scarf!”
“M-Maybe w-we can talk about this-”
“Do you surrender?” I finally asked, raising an eyebrow and… waiting.
She blinked, thinking about those and… smiled. “Nope~.”
“Good then~!” I replied with the same happy tone and put the ‘scarf’ on the proper place.
The effect was instantaneous and Diana flinched at the ‘torture’ she was supposed to endure for the rest of the situation.
“P-Please- We can- We can play nude monopoly?”
I frowned. “No. You wanted to play this game and-”
“N-Now you enjoy it.”
Both the woman and me turned to glance at Randal in surprise, the Dog Prime blushing once more at the attention.
“W-What?”
The older Prime blinked and then- “I… I concede.”
It was… expected actually. From both the Collie and me as we both didn’t show any particular surprise at the announcement, causing the woman to look at us with a surprised look.
“W-What?” She asked and I sighed.
“Diana, I think Randal and I are old enough to recognize an attempt to get a grudge mended and… I admit I should be apologizing for-”
“I am at fault too, Matt.” The younger Prime interrupted with a small smile. “I shouldn’t have reacted that badly.”
“Bu-But it was a correct reaction, I did mess up by ditching you like that-”
“Because you were doing it for the farm.” He stated with a serious tone. “I understand that you are putting yourself on the line to bring Las Lindas up but- but you are a little over-zealous over it.”
“Just a bit.” I admitted with a sorry tone. “I should haven’t jumped in action without thinking and… I’m sorry.”
“I’m sorry too and… I forgive you.”
A terribly awkward hug ensued as I noticed fairly quickly how sweaty his fur was right now. The giggles from Diana didn’t help at all in enduring this all and-
“By the way, Matt, can I ask you about something?” The woman intruded in the moment, the embrace ending as I graced her with my attention.
“Did you perhaps get a… female acquaintance while you were at the Market~?” She asked teasingly, causing me to frown at first. “I saw you smiling when you entered through the gates.”
“How did you-”
“She did stare a lot by the window.” Randy pointed at the window by the end of the couch and the perspective it gave over the entrance.
Nodding at that reply, I returned to the main issue.
“I didn’t get a female a-” I froze, my face went pale as I realized at what she was alluding to. My mind went back at Taffy and… the fluff.
The blush was unavoidable and some stuttering followed. “I might have- I mean, I know of someone- but I mean-”
More giggles ensued, followed by Randal smiling at the light teasing happening.
After trying and failing miserably to explain what really happened at the Farmer’s Market, Randal and I went to prepare some lunch while the woman rested for a while in the couch, removing from herself her son’s shirt from her neck.
The lunch turned in an even funnier event as poor Randy was now the subject of his mother’s teasing and… a few laughs happened.
Overall, maybe this situation at the farm wasn’t as terrible as expected…
If only I had been careful to not jinx it and confound the calm before the storm for an everlasting peace!
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Chapter 4: Plans and Acceptance
It was still early in the morning but she couldn’t care any less.
The trusty light that had been with her for years now re-lit after the late hours spent working the previous night.
Time was money and… Alejandra Coldthorn was not going to let any opportunity to be wasted, especially with the recent developments in the Gossamer region.
A thought that had been present with her ever since Tootsie had returned from the scout mission to see who was this curious new worker at the decaying but somehow still profitable Las Lindas farm.
Said oddity garnered even more interest from the CEO as the Mouse Prime was keen to point out an interesting detail from this very individual.
Matt Newcastle was a human, quite peculiar to find one in this region of all places as only a handful preferred the Prime-dominated continent to the Older and the Old World, and he had kindly and politely declined the offer given to him by Ms. Roswell.
It wasn’t the first time the young woman had to deal with some possible new additions to the company that weren’t that attracted by the wealth and power the rising Alexandra Dairy was showing all around.
Sentimentalism, a fond attachment to the current workplace that denied her a logical chance to recruit those specialists.
Saddening situations that were barely got her annoyed, not even remotely. Yet what had happened with Mr. Newcastle had left her quite… restless.
It wasn’t like Alejandra found the refusal itself irritating, but rather the woman perceived it as an ‘unplanned’ jab on her way… because of the context it was connected too.
It’s been a full year now since she had that discussion with Diana, the kind lady that had been there for the then-little Coldthorn had been adamant to not even consider the proposal of giving Las Lindas’ lands to the new businesswoman to try and bring it up to modernity.
Maybe it was how she had worded it, her tone, or maybe even the subject itself but… that day, Alejandra saw the patient mother showing the angriest bit within herself. It was a brief but fiery reply, one that still left her unnerved and also terrifying.
Her former caretaker had always been… quite blunt with her mindset, but to see the predicament explode in her face? It was one of the few times since she left High School that the CEO felt… small and helpless.
Like little Alej, a small and afraid girl that would barely socialize with those around her…
But while back then there would have been Randy and Mora to help her get up and deal with an obstacle along her way to become an adult, now Alejandra had just the experts she had hand-picked from a lengthy list and… Tootsie.
The secretary has been around for two years now, being incredibly supportive and capable of helping her with the paperwork/meetings. An Ace of All Trades, she would have considered the Mouse Prime if… not for the very quirky attitude the younger female would have when dealing with complex devices.
It was her hobby and also her work since she was the leader of the Development Section of the company, having more than legitimately claimed such a position within Alexandra Dairy with her innate ‘Mad Scientist’ intelligence.
Her innovative mind was attached to an amusing but sometime worrying streak of insanity here and there, but Tootsie was cautious enough to not create mess… rather helping Alejandra to not make one along the way…
She sighed as the screen of her PC came to life, her trusty machine immediately revealing her well-ordered desktop hidden behind a two-keys security system. Folders within folders, and files containing sensible information about the company’s status and planned program.
Her cursor moved swiftly, opening the folder containing the ‘Future’ details and soon hovering over the file named after the human working at Las Lindas.
A quick research prior to make first contact had been made and the results were quite… average.
Matt Newcastle was actually ‘Mattia Castlenuovo’, a decision to switch to a more English-attuned name that sounded rightful since he had been living for a long time out of his native country and all around the United States to work as a Journalist.
Well-praised for his hard-work by his previous bosses, the young man had only a handful of details that eluded her first search, mostly about his educational level.
She could remember having been rather surprised by the fact the human had gone for almost four years of Economy, having obtained a master’s degree from the faculty, but having seen nothing that could have even alluded to him having made use of the ‘powerful paper’ in his hands.
Her confusion intensified when she ended up finding a decade-old newspaper headline.
‘Grave Accident! Car crash takes couple’s lives.’
The article would then go in details as it added more on Matt’s personal life within the whole familiar picture.
A lone child that lived a safe but not easy childhood, moving all over his hometown in various cheap houses as to keep up with the father’s work, the man having devolved his entire life to hard-work as a simple bureaucratic clerk.
A miser pay that conditioned the young man’s lifestyle but didn’t deter him from pursuing higher education, the degree having been obtained… just as his parents were taken away in that accident.
Alejandra could remember how her own father had passed away just mere months from her completion of her studies, the memory being burned in her brain as she had to endure the worst three hours of her life.
Three hours of empty hope that the conditions of her sole parent would have recovered from that heart-attack… but it was all in vain and she had knew that even back then.
Painful memories that weren’t very suppressed as those served to remind her that someone that cared for her had sacrificed his life to make sure she would get the perfect life, a deign life.
And here she was, building the future for her legacy and making a name while at it.
But while the Cow Prime didn’t back away from the challenge, the human did by denying himself the chance of being in a high position.
It was odd, but also understandable from a deeper perspective.
The rest of his life was blurred after the accident, having little to no friends in his temporary jobs and making his own presence as a lone worker rather than a social butterfly… like he was before any of that happened.
Alejandra hummed as her blue eyes lazily stared at his photo for some time, as if trying to get him to ‘tell more’ about himself. Childish, she knew that, but something born from boredom couldn’t be any mature nor interesting to anyone.
She closed her eyes, a sigh leaving her lips as she patted her cheek, trying to get herself out from the post-sleep state her mind was. Her focus rekindled as the young woman scrolled down to study once more the known info about him and… she decided that this couldn’t do.
The profits recently made by the farm showed a 250% increase compared to the previous months and if this trend continued to last… well, things were going to become quite interesting with her board.
An idea popped up and was almost shot down by her own mind as she first thought of it. She couldn’t approach Diana Linda, it’s been a full year now since she had seen her and… the Coldthorn was far too prideful to concede an apology just yet.
It wasn’t pettiness speaking, but the woman had been building up a strong personality that couldn’t be brought down not even for a moment as her company continued to rise through the polls.
Thus that idea was partly discarded as only the ‘visit’ part remained.
Tootsie had also gone to ask around about the ‘newcomer’ of the town and the locals were keen to point out how the youth would be walking around early in the morning and then would return to the farm just before lunch.
Today was going to be a busy day with appointments that couldn’t be delay as of now, but tomorrow… was an easier day.
Just as he nodded to herself, a cup of steaming coffee landed carefully on her desk, making her almost jump in surprise as she turned to see her smiling assistant. The Mouse Prime looked incredibly happy, holding cup of chocolate milk in her other hand.
“Good morning, boss.” She chirped mirthfully, causing Alejandra to sigh and nod with a smile.
“Good morning, Tootsie.” The CEO replied with a less-tired tone, quickly sipping at the hot but delicious coffee. “I see that you’re already up and working. Good.”
The blonde nodded and took one of the two seats in front of the desk.
“I just wanted to finish some of yesterday’s work.” She admitted with an uneasy smile. “Had little trouble with some of the more annoying paperwork about the product-placement efforts. People are going rabid with this stuff and-”
“If it’s draining time and offering little profit, you are allowed to cut their budget and ask for a simplification of the planning.” Alejandra interrupted, sighing as felt the coffee starting to make effect. “If there are complains, please bring it to me and I will see that they remember the contracts they signed for me.”
Tootsie nodded, her smile revitalized and sporting that genuine liveliness that the CEO had learned to appreciated after so much time spent wit her.
“By the way,” The woman continued, blinking as she glanced momentarily at the monitor of her PC. “Tomorrow I should have some normal check-up routine for the production sector planned to happen just an hour or two before lunch. Push it to after the pause.”
The Mouse Prime looked partly surprise at this request. “New plans- and what about the Board’s meeting that is supposed to happen after lunch?” The girl asked, getting a nod from her boss.
“We shall mix the meeting with the check-up. I think it’s time to show how productive we are being right now as to boost the morale.” She replied with a determined tone. “I think some are once more doubting my plans and, while there have been no complain, I think it’s better to prevent it from happening.”
The assistant nodded and saluted.
“Understood, chief!” Her cheerfulness dragged around for another thirty minutes, the blonde leaving the office once both mugs had been emptied.
Alejandra sighed as she opened the folder containing her unfinished work for the month, humming carefully as she started compile the various reports with the newly-acquired data from the Statistics Section.
Blue eyes were looking quickly at letters and numbers, while her mind continued to partly analyze the matter at hand.
Curiosity, wonder and… interest. It’s been a while since she had personally visited Gossamer and… while she was sure that not much had changed since her last visit, she sure wouldn’t mind to rediscover the rare breath of air coming from such a calm town that she had once lived in.
She also wondered if her old ‘country’ clothes would still fit after last time but… t-that was a fleeting thought of course!
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The bar wasn’t bustling as last time.
I guess the early hour managed to get people either still sleeping or going to their usual jobs rather than spending time in that place. Since there were just too little to bring to the Farmer’s Market today, I was granted a few hours to go around town before lunch and beginning to work.
Diana had set some simple rules that I had no reason to disrespect, mostly because…
Who would drink alcohol this early in the morning?!
It was slightly saddening that Randal had to be around his mother to make sure she would get her medications.
It was something that was funny to see once or twice in a while… but the woman made the instances some lengthy battles, childishly refuting the ‘need’ of having to get these medicines but… she needed to.
There wasn’t an alternative to that in my mind as the Collie Prime showed me the list of medicals and… I knew some of those by name and effects.
I took a quick sip from my mug, water keeping my throat hydrated as I continued to engage in the discussion I was sharing with Minos. The man was surprised that I was allowed some free time from the work, but he seemed to accept it as soon as I mentioned my willingness to spend the time by the bar.
While this freedom was essential to further understand the world around me, I didn’t have the means to gather this information. Why? The only thing remotely close to a computer were Nanozell spirits, beings born from pure Quantum energy and based by… Nanozell itself.
I head of this from the small radio announcing this… new energy that allowed the connection of organic to machine. The concept was absurd on itself, and yet it was… reality.
The hologram-like being the mayor was always with? One of those spirits.
This one in particular being responsible for the electric grid covering the entire town, which made the insane price and requirements strapped to the buying one of them being… very modest.
The local library was also very obsolete, having been around since the formation of Neo-Earth and its list of books being very limited to old tomes and… non-modern texts.
“-By the way, did you hear about what happened in Tolas?” The Bull Prime asked with a curious glint in his red eyes. “A group of Necromancers were spotted trying to create some skeleton army. Thankfully the nearby Knight Clan provided support and the situation was resolved without any issue.”
I blinked, sipping a little from my mug as my brain wrapped around the concepts of ‘Necromancers’ and ‘Knights’.
...What the heck is going on?!
“Forgive me if I ask but… can you elaborate on Necromancers and… Knights?” I asked as calmly as possible, my mind failing to grasp what I just heard and… he sighed.
“I guess humans know little about the story behind Crests.” Minos reasoned, glancing at his glass with a blank tone. “Well, I suppose I can explain it to you.”
I nodded, completely intrigued by the matter… which hinted to some magical scenario which I had not foreseen. I can understand futuristic and bullshitty technology but… magic is not something I can truly accept without a proper motivation.
“Centuries ago, a galaxy-wide war occurred.” He narrated with a quiet tone. “At first it was limited between Primes, a civil war that was born out of greed, ambitions and… religion.”
He paused, downing completely the content of the glass.
“An Empire seeking the full-control of the gifts left by the Gods, the Crests, and that wanted tyranny over my people.” He blinked, nodding as the bartender refilled his glass with new water. “A united form created by the Crest of Light herself, a faction that served to defend the weak and the innocent.”
…
“The war… reached Earth, didn’t it?” I guessed, grimacing a little at his nod.
“The Emperor himself wouldn’t have cared for mankind. Daring people, strong ones, but terribly weaker in technology, biology and intelligence to the Primes.” The Bull Prime replied. “Yet… one of the Crests was taught on Earth. She grew from a mere child to a dangerous warrior and… Earth was pulled in the conflict.”
Why I felt like I heard this… in some movie? Like… this sounded so much fictional and yet I knew very well that Minos wasn’t the kind of guy that delivered lies, or at least not so blatantly.
The lack of confusion or any other telling signs from the nearby bartender further legitimized his words.
“The battle turned gruesome for a time, with soldiers either dying or changing their views about… the Empire.”
He stopped just a moment, a brief… nostalgia present in his glance. “The endgame was tiring, the armies all fighting at once within the humans’ homeworld and… the Emperor was beaten, at the price of the planet being condemned to death.”
“So… Earth was lost like that?” I sighed at his following nod. “That would explain some minor confusion I had over… history.” I managed a brief smile, causing him to snort and shake his head, a tiny smile present in his own face as we both spent some time in silence.
The Prime was the one that rekindled the talking, bringing up his… phone? I didn’t expect him of all people to have one around and it looked quite expensive too.
“Do you remember when I mentioned about my friend? The one that was allowing me to live nearby?” Minos questioned with a curious tone, making me frown and nod back.
“I… I do remember.” I replied slowly, trying to understand why it was important.
He started to digit some of the keys and… began the call. “I mentioned about your ‘situation’ to this friend. She is trustworthy and believes your words.”
I glanced back in surprise and nodded as I waited for him to continue with the device.
He brought it close to his ear and… someone answered. There was silence from the Prime for some time and… then he sighed tiredly.
“Sorry. I didn’t know she was- I understand. I should have seen her doing something like… that.” Minos talked to the unknown receiver, glancing briefly my way before returning his attention back to the call.
“Are you sure?” He asked at the unknown individual. “I understand that it was your mother that- I see. Well… I will pass the phone to him. Say hi to your mother for me then...”
I was given the device and… I put it near my ear. “Hello?”
“Hello.” The woman on the other side replied with a blank tone. “From what I was told, I’m speaking with Matt Newcastle?”
I blinked, surprised that her tone was so… calm and emotionless.
“That’s me. Yes.” I replied curtly, feeling rather uncertain about the tone I was supposed to use while speaking with her.
“Good. Then from what my mother told me, there is a slight chance that you might have been kidnapped and placed in a different continent in the span of time of… just a sole day.” She paused a moment, keeping quiet just for a few seconds. “Mr. Newcastle, I don’t wish to sound disrespectful but your story sounds… quite far-fetched.”
“I understand that… it sounds unbelievable but I’m quite sure that I wasn’t in Gossamer before blanking out in a bar in New York.” I nodded my head. “I know drunk people can do some… interesting stuff left unattended but-”
“There are limits even to that. I understand.” Yet her tone hardly ‘showed’ that. “Still, I hope you understand that I will have to ask you more about… the situation.”
“Yes.” I said back, waiting a few moments as she seemed to be… moving some papers?
“Your birthplace is… Florence. Correct?”
“Yes.”
“And you were born to… Paolo and Carla Castlenuovo. Correct?”
I flinched just a moment, turning as to not show this to Minos.
“Yes.” I replied with a tighter tone.
“You were a student in a University in Milan and you passed with a Master’s Degree. Correct?”
“Yes. If I have to be specific, in Economy.” I pointed out, regretting instants later as I did breach the politeness and-
“This is reported too, yes.”
Wait what? I was… registered? I thought that-
“Your parents died four years ago because of a car accident. Correct?”
I froze, eyes widened a little before I closed them and tried to calm myself a little. A little too sudden that one…
“Yes.” My tone spared none of the turmoil happening momentarily within my mind but soon… I was surprised by the caller once more.
“Mr. Newcastle, I wish you understand that… it’s not my intention to bring back any of the bad memories. I’m just trying to help you with this situation and, if my tone might have betrayed any foul intention, I wish to apologize already.”
I blinked in surprised, glancing at the device in silence and… then I sighed.
“I… suppose you are correct. I’m sorry myself if I did sound too angry with my tone-”
“It was my fault for bringing that up in such a mechanical manner.” She interrupted curtly and I understood that… we were both at fault for that little predicament.
“Look, how about I forgive you and you forgive me? We both are responsible so… we cool?”
… ‘We cool’? Really brain?!
Sorry boss!
There was once more silence and then… she sighed too. “I suppose that could work. We are cool.”
I grinned a little, feeling that the affirmation sounded ‘fun odd’ coming from such a blank voice.
“And I think we are also done for today.” The young woman concluded.
I frowned. “I thought that-”
“This questioning was to verify the authenticity of the data mother got from yesterday. Now we will see if we can find any clue about what happened that specific night and… Minos will be our mutual contact.” She explained, interrupting my question.
“So… next time it will be your… mother?” I asked before the call ended, hearing a... hum on the other side?
“It will depend on my mother’s schedule… but I think it’s for the best if I am the one taking care of the questioning. I don’t think she would be… keen to keep things professional or at least decent.”
I blinked in surprise at that. “I see.” I replied quickly.
“I will contact you once more if something surfaces and… I suppose I should be introducing myself since we will talk again.” She mused calmly. “My name is Naerie and… it was a pleasure talking with you, Mr. Newcastle.”
“Matt. Please call me Matt, Naerie,” I smiled a little, happy to know who I was talking to. “And it was a pleasure for me too.”
The call ended and I passed the phone back to the Bull Prime.
“It sounds like some progress was made.” Minos commented with a small smile. “And… ‘We cool’?”
I huffed, bringing my hands close to my chest. “It was a particular situation and… can I ask you something actually?”
He nodded and I went ahead.
“So, Naerie said that it was best for her to be the one reporting for any new info but… why not her mother?” I asked out of curiosity, only for the man to down once more his previously full glass.
“There are things that are best understood personally and… I hope you keep blissfully unaware as it’s all about your sanity at that point.” He replied with a serious tone, making me worry a little.
“T-That bad?” I shot back with confused wide eyes.
“Even worse...” He said, leaning a little on his stool as he glanced around the place.
The bar was starting to get filled with people and noises from the various other clients started to get louder than before. It was almost time for me to return back to Las Lindas, I noticed as I turned my sight at my watch and… I thought that maybe it was good time to cut the discussion here for tomorrow.
Just as I was about to return my attention back to Minos, I felt someone poking at my shoulder.
I turned around and saw Taffy waiting there.
She was smiling, the girl donning her work uniform and holding what looked like to be a confection holding something sweet. Her smile widened as she noticed that my eyes were aimed at the possible sweet gift.
“Matt, I know that you were busy with Minos but… I just finished my shift, do you… want to eat outside?” She lifted a little the lid of the confection and…
It was an apple pie.
I glanced at back at the Bull Prime and the man sighed with a knowing smile nodding and waving as I got up, paid the bartender and followed Taffy outside the bar.
I guess I could spare some time for an apple pie.
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Finding a spot that would leave them undisturbed proved to be a quick thing as they decided to stand by the unused outdoor section of he establishment. They picked the central chairs in it, the table clean enough to allow them to place the food without risking any damage to it.
Preparing the pie had been quite an easy task after having done this particular food a lot when she lived with her grandfather, just a few years before coming to this country-side piece of Gossamer.
Taffy had never stopped feeling embarrassed about causing quite a ruckus with her quick rush through the town, the day when she met the only human inhabitant and also got quite confused about his curious attitude.
She would have expected anger from the young man and… yet he had been quite understanding about the reasons behind her panicked run to reach the bar. Overly-so, if she had to be honest with herself, the Bunny Prime feeling that the behavior shown by Matt was far from… alright.
There was a hint of sadness squeezing along the lines of happiness flowing from his tone. A persisting and lingering sour taste that characterized him far from truly happy.
It was instinctive, something her grandfather had praised back when he was still alive and that she had learned to respect for its importance. It was something Taffy herself couldn’t understand for sure but… she knew when someone was hiding something important from others.
This little talent, coupled with her affectionate manners and caring tones made it possible for her to relate with those that had some issues about themselves or others.
But while this gift had rarely failed her, the young woman had to admit that it was still strange how she could feel so little from Matt himself.
The human was bursting with some pent-up energy, prepared to deal with a long day of work back at the farm where he was part of. A humble job done with even humbler reasons.
She was aware of the reasons behind his refusal to deny Las Lindas’s failure, his drive was something that was as inspiring as worrying.
He was growing attached to Mrs. Linda, the woman being known for her motherly ways, and if her boss was right… then the young man was going to suffer a lot very soon if the declining conditions of the farm’s owner were a reality.
And while Taffy continued to understand what was going on within Matt, the bunny’s green eyes were giving a mirthful glint back to the human as he delightfully enjoyed the first slice of the pie.
“This is… so good, Taffy.” He glanced back, cleaning his mouth with a tissue. “Like really, you are some deity of food or-”
She blushed, shaking her head nervously. “N-None of that. It’s just that I love cooking and… that’s it.” The girl replied with a twitchy smile.
That comment came out of nowhere! She thought still feeling rather flattered by his words.
It’s been a while since she had cooked for someone and… it felt nice to know that she didn’t lost her ‘golden’ touch over the kitchen. Just as the human concluded the first slice, he stopped and glanced once more at her.
“By the way, Taffy,” He started with an interested tone. “Why aren’t you eating this too?”
...What?
“I made the pie for you-” She explained quietly, only to stop at his huff.
“But the apples were from the farm I work in and… I don’t think it would be right if I was the only one eating this heavenly food.” He pressed on, getting another blush from the poor bunny.
Was there even a limit to his… capacity to compliment her food and her?
The Prime hesitated a little, glancing down on the pie she had created with tender love and genuine affection.
Would it be right if… she actually wanted to try its taste?
Her hand slowly scooped one of the cut slices and… she brought it near her mouth. Her lips were graced with the sweet flavor of the apple, the crust of the cake being crispy enough to add some stability in that sensible emotion building from her happy belly.
A smile adorned her face as she was glad to know herself that her hand-made creation was really good. Her green eyes opened back to find a teasing grin on the young man’s face, her cheeks reddening just a little.
“Is it good right?” He poked with his words, her cheeks puffing at the tone he was using. “C’mon, Taffy, it’s not like I’m trying to extort some arcane secret out of you-”
“It’s delicious.” She replied quickly and suddenly, looking away from him. “I admit I did a good job.”
He nodded. “A really good job.” He reiterated, taking a bite out of his second slice. “But I’ve to ask this little pressing thought of mine.”
She paused mid-bite, a curious look appearing on her face. “Sure, go ahead.”
“Taffy,” He said with a calm tone. “Why did you prepare a pie for me?”
…
Raspberries!
To think that she would end up caught like this and… so suddenly. Really, he was just that much… quick-thinking. She hummed quietly, trying to appear outwardly calm while chaos erupted from her panicking mind.
What was she supposed to reply to that?
Then, she got an idea.
“I-I thought that it would be nice that… I made something for my new friend.” She replied with a convinced tone, smiling even as to try and get him to accept the excuse.
He merely blinked.
“Taffy, I’m going to be very honest with you.” Matt replied, his free hand patting on her shoulder, causing her to tense just a little.
Was he going to tell her something about himself? Did he buy her-
“You might be an excellent chef, but you are a terrible liar.” He stated flatly, the Bunny Prime freezing instantly at that direct comment and she… deflated.
“...Was it that bad?” She asked with a low tone, the human sighing.
“I’ve seen worse but… you truly shouldn’t try to lie like that, you get caught pretty easily.” He admitted without hesitation. “But seriously, is it something that could potentially get me angry or-”
“Possibly.” She blurted out nervously. “Maybe?”
Matt sighed and nodded. “Look, how about… I promise you that I will not be angry if you tell me already what is it?”
…
What?
“Y-You mean that-”
“Whatever ‘terrible’ motivation got you to make me an apple pie, I will overlook it because I promised you that I will not get angry.” He interrupted with a soft tone. “C’mon, I swear I will not be angry and-”
“I think you are unhappy!” Taffy’s eyes widened instantly as she realized that the tension had taken over her mind and… she had let out the real issue. She sighed and decided to explain properly, seeing the confused but still calm expression on the young man’s face.
“I-I can… see when someone is showing sadness and trying to cope with it and… I think you are that.” Her eyes squinted. “I’m sorry if I sound too condescending but I just wanted to help and-”
She flinched as he stood up from his chair, his face now blank and emotionless as… he started to walk towards her.
D-Didn’t she go overboard with it? M-Maybe he is just walking away rather than-UH!?
His arms wrapped around her neck as he pulled her head onto his chest. There wasn’t any fur so… the contact felt rather smooth.
“That was... the cutest and kindest reason to try to make me a pie, Taffy.” He replied with a happy tone. “Like really, if you wanted to be ‘condescending’ you would have just barged in and asked without any care about it-”
“T-That would have been horribly mean.” She interrupted with a surprised tone and… some tears falling. “L-Like why- why would-”
The human frowned as the girl pressed her face on his shirt, sobbing loudly as she let out all that tension at once. He patted her head softly, minding her bunny ears and… surprisingly enough enjoying the softness of her pink hair.
It was fluffy and-
Drat, now he was thinking about ‘that’ fluff.
“Taffy, what’s wrong? I don’t think I have said anything terrible or-”
“I-It’s not that.” The Prime sniffled, looking up with her teary green eyes. “Y-You- T-That was the first time i-in a while I hugged s-someone since-” She cried a little more and Matt continued to caress her head.
“Hey now,” He sighed calmly. “No need to cry right now, Taffy. Look, how about… we share tales?”
She tensed a little but her crying reduced as she once more glanced up. “Wh-what?”
“I tell you the reason why I’m sad and… you tell me yours.” He explained while patting her shoulders.
“R-Really?” She asked, getting a bright smile from him in response.
“Yes.” He replied with a nod.
They both returned to their original seats, Taffy making use of some tissue to clean off the tears while the young man sighed and prepared to… open up to his new friend.
“This happened… four years ago.” The human spoke, his tone soft but loud enough for the girl to listen. “I was studying to get a degree in Economics, the plan being… going for a high-level job that would have allowed me to finally help my parents with the expenses back at home. I had poured blood, sweat and soul to make sure that finally we could have all had a… good life.”
The young man sighed, a brief pause as he stared up at the cloudy sky as he tried to keep himself detached from the painful memory.
“It was raining when I first received a phone call from my mother. They, my parents, were both going to deal with some situation happening to my cousin and my uncle, they would have returned later than usual and… then the rain turned in a storm.”
His throat turned sore, his mind burning as he went through the process of remembering the exact moments the phone rang once more.
“Another call… this time it was the police and… the car had crashed during a curve, the impact was… enough to kill them instantly.”
His breath itched, Matt blinked as his sight blurred for a moment as tears tried and failed to form as his mind strongly resisted the strong emotion bringing him down.
“When I graduated, I… I found myself unwilling to make use of that degree.” The human admitted with a quiet voice. “It felt wrong. It felt so horrible to even think that… that I could use something that would remind me of them, something that now was but a stupid paper and… I decided to search normal jobs as a journalist, wandering around and… never stopping for too long.”
“O-Oh.” was the only word that could leave Taffy’s mouth, her stare now directed at the table as she knew it was her turn.
“I-If I have to come clean… then I guess I should properly present myself.” She stated with a long sigh. “My name… my name is Ria Rudiger and… and I’ve been living with my grandfather ever since… my mother’s abuse took a more violent turn.”
Taffy drowned a sob as she gulped it down, keeping a strong face at the memories.
“I-I’ve been trying to make things work for my… former family, making sure that they would have gotten all their needs satisfied and… it didn’t work.”
There was a pause, then the Bunny Prime resumed with less stuttering.
“My grandfather… he had always been kind to me. When he learned about my mother’s latest attack, he demanded the cession of my guardianship to him promising hefty charges if his request wasn’t satisfied. Mother didn’t even flinch to hand over the legal documents and… I lived with him for several years, enjoying a… normal childhood.”
She finally lifted her stare up to the human.
“I loved my grandfather and he cared for me a lot as well.” The girl smiled a little. “He said that… my name was Taffy because ‘I reminded all of the good things in his life’.
Taffy blinked, glancing down to the table once more. “He passed away a few years ago. It was a natural death and… he died in his sleep, looking happy and content when he was found…”
She went silent, a sign for Matt to move as he stood out of his chair and went to pull her in another embrace. She didn’t tense like last time, rather leaning on his chest and nuzzling as she sought comfort in silence.
“Do you want to… be accompanied back home?”
The girl glanced up quietly with a stern green-eyed look. “Already trying to… avoid judgment?”
He blinked in surprise as he felt her arms wrapping around his chest and pulling him close.
“My grandfather, I know he died knowing that I was going to keep up his good work, to make sure that I would never shy away from helping others.” She sighed calmly. “And you, Mr. Newcastle, you are in dire need of help.”
“I don’t think that-”
“Shush!” The Bunny Prime interrupted with a tiny smile. “I think- no, I know that your parents would have wanted you to become the best person possible, an outstanding young man and… you are almost there.”
…
“Matt, will you allow me… to help you?” She asked with a soft voice. “It wouldn’t be too much of a hassle, just talking and-”
“Taffy.” The girl squeaked in surprise as her cheeks were cupped by his hands. “I will do that… but seriously, I’m going to be late if I don’t return to the farm right now. But I want to do this, really.”
He pulled out of the embrace and started to walk out but-
“W-Wait.” The young woman exclaimed, pulling at his arm and yanking him close enough to…
Smooch
Plant a little kiss on his cheek. “That is for… being a kind soul yourself, Matt.” She smiled as she let him go. “But remember that you should also mind the emotional moment.” Her final huff caused the young man to chuckle as he rushed out of the bar’s outdoor section and in the path back to Las Lindas, ignoring the bright and genuine smile glowing from Taffy’s face.
She sighed, tears drying up and her mood lifting up as…
…
Wait, did I just kiss him like that and- Oh, raspberry!
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Chapter 5: Discoveries and Returns
Surprisingly enough, there was something off about that breakfast setup.
Even though it’s been just four days since I’ve been living at Las Lindas, I knew for a thing that the presence of both Diana and Randal by the kitchen was something common, if not always happening.
The woman would be reading quietly her newspaper while asking some questions either to me or to her son, engaging in mostly simple topics about the happenings at the farm or what was going on in town.
It certainly didn’t help when the conversation would shift to a very curious interest of the lady, Minos having caught her interest from the first time he came to help me up with the crates I had to take back to the nearby settlement.
She would question some of his physical attributes, never lingering ‘too much’ over more-scandalous elements, but also inquire over his personality and the reasons that brought him to town.
This last one was kind of a routinely asked one, the woman showing palpable intrigue about the incredibly simple motivation that had the Bull Prime to come of this ‘forsaken’ bit of the Gossamer Region.
I wasn’t adept in ‘current’ Geography, but I was skeptical over this almost-rabid curiosity of ‘unraveling this mystery’. Since my knowledge of of Minos was limited to the interactions I had from our first encounter to now, I kind of failed to see why one wouldn’t want to pick this place to spend some time to ‘rest and think’.
I could only guess that the man had important connections, the strongest hints being how he managed to get a place to live in and all the expenses to pay all ‘solved’ by this enigmatic friend of his, and how this new individual he was somehow connected to, Naerie, had access over people’s information and was legally capable of truly research on my strange predicament.
But while I had my fair share of questions regarding the Bull Prime, I wasn’t that much threatened by his personality and character.
At least not as much as Diana was.
It wasn’t something she had said, but rather something I had seen in her eyes and face while we were chatting over this particular topic.
Randy would be silent most of the time this argument was brought up but… he would always be the one to break the conversation when things would end up turning odd for the woman.
She would adopt this aimless expression, her green eyes blankly at the table or at the paper in her hands as if in deep thoughts.
The Collie was crafty in the derailing attempt, either pointing out her interest was more physical than else. The accusation would be met with a bright smile as her cheeks would sport a proper blush in that cheerful turnaround.
What would follow would be a brief mirthful exchange between the two, in which I would throw a minor comeback or two, preferring to let the two banter in that friendly matter… as I analyzed what had happened.
It was an odd situation that… I had trouble to pinpoint its cause. Maybe it had to do with her daughter? Or could it be her husband?
While Randy was adopted, Mora wasn’t and there had been not even a single mention of the young woman’s paternal parent. It was a big possibility, but I held myself from asking as I knew that the ill effects it could cause to ask about this so suddenly wouldn’t… be pleasant to deal with.
My distracted mind finally snapped back to reality as a particularly-spicy slice of bacon entered my mouth. My hand quickly went to the nearby glass of water and I took a sip or two from it.
Sighing, I noticed that Randal was now cleaning his own plate and Diana’s share of the breakfast had yet to be touched. I frowned and tried to recollect if the older Prime had come to even greet that morning but...
I’ve yet to see her around the house.
“Randy?” I called out quietly, the Collie pausing just a moment as he cleaned his fork and knife, only an eye directed at me. “Where is Mrs. Linda?”
My question was met with a sheepish smile before the young man returned to the chore.
“Oh? Mom had to go to the bathroom.” He hummed calmly. “I guess she decided to have a bath.” He finished, his attention now fully taken by his plate.
I stood up from my seat. “Her breakfast is going to get cold. I can pass and tell her that.” I suggested, getting only a distracted nod from the Collie.
Blinking, I walked out of the kitchen and started to make my way to the door that led to the bathroom. My ears caught water running, but it wasn’t… the bathtub.
I paused, eyes narrowing at the door as I pressed my ear over the surface and then knocked. “Mrs. Linda, breakfast is turn-ing cold?”
The door opened slightly as I softly knocked at it, hand retreating as my eyes widened at the water rushing out of the room. Without hesitation, I opened the door with a worried expression as I did recognize that the noise really wasn’t from the tub, but from the sink.
It was over-flowing, water slowly dripping from its edges. Then my sight turned at Diana and panic exploded outwardly at what I was looking at.
The woman was crouching with her back pressing on the nearest wall, trembling in complete pain as she held her right arm close with her left one. Her teeth were gritting, holding back any noise trying to dignify the excruciating torture she looked to be in that moment.
I moved before speaking, but my lips managed to call erratically for Randy as I rushed to help the Cow Prime. I was hesitant in getting her up, unsure where exactly the pain was coming from and then… I noticed the strange marks in her right arm.
At first sight, I would have taken these as simple tattoos, something quite odd to find the woman to have, but then I noticed that those were… too prominent to be a product of mere ink.
My hand went to unroll the partially moved sleeve and… I touched the furred skin. I went still as I felt a sudden wave of cold grip at my chest, my entire body suddenly having trouble to actually move from that pose.
Green eyes widened a little more as her sight locked onto my frame, Diana seemingly noticing my presence now and she slowly calmed down, her trembling starting to subside and… she fell forward.
I was quick enough to catch her before she could have dragged us both down but I soon realized that I felt a little winded from what had just happened. My breathing was a little labored but I still managed to get her up from the floor while helping her to stand up.
I heard a quick gasp as Randal had finally arrived, the Collie went to quickly help me up with his mother, going to one of her sides as I went to another, pulling her arms over our necks as we slowly took her back to her bedroom.
Diana was still unconscious as she was put back in her bed, incredibly tired from the look plastered on her face.
And while I was giving my greatest effort to keep the utter confusion running in my mind, I couldn’t help but blink quickly and still appear a little tense.
The marks- Why those reacted like… that?!
Before I could think more about it, maybe as I slowly started to relax once again, I felt a hand patting my shoulder and I glanced at the uneasy look on Randal’s face.
“I think we need to talk about this...” He said with a nervous tone.
Moments later, we were sitting by the kitchen’s table once more, the Collie looking quite somber for whatever revelation he was trying to give me. I didn’t pressure him to talk, knowing that it had to do with what had just happened.
And since it was his mother we were going to talk about, I decided to let him have the time to think before explaining.
He sighed calmly and nodded to himself. “There is a reason why I’ve decided to not tell you what was mom’s sickness.” The Prime began, his tone quite soft and slow. “Her conditions could be seen as a taboo for our culture, the Prime culture.” He paused, glancing at the table as he tapped once the edge.
“The marks?” I pointed out with some hesitation, making him tense just a little.
“A telling sign of her unique situation.” The young man answered. “The traits of a failed attempt to be turned in a Narakhan.” Another pause, more confusion for me as I didn’t recognized the term used.
Narakhan, why did it feel so… wrong to even think about it?
“Mom never said when did this happen, nor who tried to turn her into that, but she has been suffering for the negative effects of the failed attempt for a long time now.” Randal admitted with a frown. “The symptoms aren’t a novelty for these cases but… there isn’t a clear cure to it.”
...What?
“No cure-”
“People either recover from it with time or by sheer luck.” The Collie interjected, almost hissing at the interruption. “But the chances are good only when treatment is started by the time the first signs are noticed and… mom’s treatment has been going just for six months now.”
He stopped to talk, possibly to give me time to fully understand his words.
The illness was… unexpectedly worse than I had thought it to be early on. Certainly not something from ‘my’ world, but possibly one of the worst I’ve heard about.
“Randy-”
“The moment I learned about mom’s conditions, I was there to help where I could.” He pointed at the sink behind him. “House chores, working at the farm and even keeping a cautious watch over mom’s situation.”
He blinked, eyes half-closed. “I’ve even tried to call Mora, tried to at least get some more help but- I couldn’t find her anywhere. Always moving, hardly stopping more than once and she has my phone number blocked.” His voice cracking a little and sighed at the plight Randal had to endure.
I had expected some stress by the incredibly tiring situation, but to this extent? I admit I should have given a little more attention to it. He was giving his hardest to make sure that everything was fine but…
Nothing was going to be fine forever.
Yet I couldn’t certainly let this predicament continue now that I was aware of it and… I nodded.
“Then I guess you will have to tell me how to help you.” I replied quietly, my words trailing a little in the silence as his brown eyes widened just a little at the suggestion and he started to shake his head negatively.
“No- Look Matt, I know that you want to help and all but-” He tried to deter me but I was already interrupting him with a sigh.
“I know that you don’t want to cause problems to me, Randy, but I can’t certainly let you deal with the burden alone.” I said with a stern tone. “I understand your politeness, but I can’t just have you deal with this without some proper help. Once I’m back from the Market, I will help you around before I have to do my job for the farm.”
There was some visible hesitation at my determined words, but the Collie was quick to concede and… he asked just for some ‘minor help’ rather than a full-fledged equal distribution of chores for this case.
I would have asked for more burden, which was quite contrasting with my need to rest, but doing this for Diana was but just a little sacrifice.
With that situation settled and with more questions to ask to Minos himself, I went to prepare myself for my usual walk to work with the Bull Prime.
In the mean time, Randy spent half of his time keeping an eye on the still-sleeping woman while the rest was devolved in the remaining chores around the house.
Closing the entrance door behind me, I greeted the ever-punctual Minos with a nod as we both walked towards the small carriage, ready to start another day at the Farmer’s Market.
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If there is something that Minos always found quite interesting about humans, it was their capacity to display a vast array of emotions in a single expression oh their faces.
In fact, it was something that was quietly entertaining him as both he and Matt walked to the local town from the farm where he was currently working for.
The young man was showing confusion, sadness and minor distress, something that was born from something that had happened prior to their meet-up.
It wasn’t just in the way he was looking at the road in front of them, but also in the slow but good pace he had taken, the way his shoulders were sagging a little lower than usual and how he was distracted from the path forward multiple times.
Matt was still attentive enough to give his own to pull the carriage, maybe a solid 30% of their combined efforts, and that was more than enough for him to not call out this strange behavior.
The human was odd, very trustworthy but also genuine in his ways. Something that made Minos glad to have him actually found someone like the young man.
Very polite, but also informal when possible with those he deemed his friends, the Prime was more interested on him because of his personality rather than because of his unique situation.
The circumstances that led him to suddenly appear in Gossamer were indeed worth of looking for and with Naerie taking the lead for the investigation, a speedy process was the only conclusion to this curious situation.
Ambar’s daughter was quite the hard-worker, having been responsible for a majority of improvements to her mother’s flawed designs.
Even the High Prime was keen to leave mistakes around, mostly willingly as she knew that someone capable, like her eldest child, was going to fix masterfully.
Still, the former member of the Empire had a simpler reason to stick around the normal and incredibly calm individual and that was his overall social attractiveness.
Not of the romantic kind, but rather connected to the fact that the young man was unconsciously a magnet for lonely people like the Bull Prime.
Minos being the first and Taffy, the waitress at the bar, being the latest.
It wouldn’t be shocking to him that more people were going to tag along this quiet train, just for the sake of escaping the endless madness happening all around them.
A calm sea within a turbulent ocean of trouble, developments and (un)lucky happenings.
Yet it wasn’t that much of a surprise to see why they were both hovering around him. He was ‘unique’ enough to stand out from the usual crowd of people in the town, but also relatively quieter and more soothing than anyone there.
Matt was relatively harmless, very perceptive and a good talker to have around just for the sake of living an entertaining but safe day.
There was no particular reason to be worried of being pulled in some crazy situation with him around, differently from his previous experiences with Geecku, Ambar, Kayin and the other members of the former crew.
Not that he disliked having them around but… even Minos had some limits to the insanity that ensued with the ‘fun’ bunch.
Only Grace proved to be the only one able to give him that kind peace, to a degree far higher than anything Matt could provide to him.
The woman had been his light to shed some of the confusing bits of Neo-Earth, but now that she had a family it wouldn’t have been proper to disturb her for little things.
It’s been three weeks now since she had last spoken to her.
The kind woman was now married and dealing with her growing children, two lovely daughters that were going through two different yet similar path of lives and it was high time for someone like him to stop to pester her around with his own insecurities over the world’s unknown elements.
That’s possibly why Matt managed to get him interested in his conversations. It was just so peaceful and lacking the slightly annoying quirks of some of his friends.
It was a little breath of air away from the craziness he was so accustomed too.
But much to his blissful ignorance, that calm was going to abruptly end moments later as the young man was going to ask him quite the… explanation from him.
“Minos, can I ask you something about… what you told me yesterday?” The human suddenly asked, his tone being rather… nervous. “It’s a term I caught in a book I was reading this morning and… it didn’t expand much on the book itself. I think it’s kind of a bad word but-”
“Just ask.” Minos sighed calmly, a tiny smile on his face. There wasn’t much that could seriously get him that scandalized and even then he-
“What are… Narakhans?” Matt’s tone was quiet, yet Minos could discern some minor nervousness about it. And for good reasons.
The Prime flinched at the unpleasantly familiar term, having been aware of it for most of his first two decades of his life. How could he forget about a problem still hurting the world even now?
It was good enough for him that Gossamer was void of scums of that kind.
He sighed. “The still-present scourge of humanity and the Prime race.” His voice was sporting just a glimpse of uneasiness, unwilling to give up too much information about this specific issue because of the risk of offering hints about his real nature. “Descendants of the last loyal servants of the Emperor, still living with the hope of bringing him and his rule back.”
His mind was bringing up some unwanted memories of his past and thus he cut the explanation short.
The human blinked, a confused look now dominating on his face. “But how does one discern a Narakhan from a Prime?”
The maniacal sense of devotion and faith to the Emperor? A penchant to commit the most heinous crimes for the sake of a laugh?
“Black marks.” The Bull Prime replied quickly. “The natural evidence of their corruption by the taint of those defying the Gods’ gifts and turning to the darkest depths of their souls.”
He could still remember when he would lead squadrons of loyalists against the Knights, against the Crests.
He could still remember being butchered by Ambar in their first encounter.
Minos hoped that this topic was going to be shelved now, the edge in his voice hopefully being more than enough to discourage any-
“So they are just born from other Narakhans? Shouldn’t they have died out if their community was limited to that-”
“Matt.” The Bull interrupted with a stern tone. “Explaining this already requires an immense amount of trust and effort, this isn’t a pleasant subject.” His red eyes stared strongly at the young man. “Do you wish to voice the real reason behind this sudden interest of yours?”
At the fierce request, the human tensed a little, his eyes turning away for a brief moment before giving a wide-eyed surprised look.
“W-What?” He asked weakly, trying to appear clueless to the fact he hadn’t hidden that well the intrigue over the Narakhan’s culture.
“You aren’t the kind of person that linger over these topics.” Minos pressed on. “There is something that urges you to know more about this and… Matt, I hope this isn’t anything dangerous-”
“N-No, no.” He shook his head furiously, a panicked look on his face. “It’s just that...”
A sigh left his lips and he nodded. “This is… something I wish that stays quiet. So if I tell you-”
“Nobody will know.” Minos assured quickly. “I can promise you that.”
Another nod and then Matt started to explain about the conditions afflicting the owner of Las Lindas.
At first the Prime was surprised to learn about the fact that the sickness the woman was suffering from was ‘that’ one, especially since he knew full-well that botching that dangerous transformation was an incredibly rare feat.
In the past it was easy to ignore those things, people hardly trying to turn to the Narakhan, especially with how extreme their culture was back then…
But now the process was more common than before the end of the Empire as the newer generations had taken a more moderate approach about everything, especially the integration of ‘newcomers’.
Yet there was something off about the story he had just listened to… and about lack of clues regarding the possible culprit behind the sickness.
“I’m sorry to ask but are you aware of the main requirement that a turning needs to truly happen?” Minos inquired calmly, the town was nearby and thus it was good to conclude this conversation quickly.
“That you need to be a… Prime?” The young man guessed, getting a ‘no’ from the Bull Prime much to his annoyance. “Okay no, I don’t.”
“The process requires that the unturned partner… to be willing to take part in the attempt.” The man replied calmly. “Their souls need to be laid willingly for the taint to take over. Will and determination for the process to happen are a must for this to truly happen.”
He almost tripped at hearing this, his eyes shooting wide open at the discovery and… then he sobered up quite swiftly.
“I-Is that so?”
Oddly even.
“Yes.” Minos confirmed quietly. “But I advise you to keep silent about this with the other people in town. Even Taffy.” He specified the Bunny Prime, unsure that the girl knew or not about that specific and ‘antiquate’ subject of their culture.
The human nodded slowly and soon they were walking through the settlement’s gates. And while his curiosity had been satisfied, the Bull Prime knew that the young man was now going to deal with the newly-acquired knowledge, to struggle and doubt about what he had until now.
But knowing that Matt wasn’t the usual man was more than enough to put Minos at ease. If there was something that the human was good at, was fighting himself while searching for his truth.
Still, with this little opening to the day, there was something that was sure to the Bull Prime now.
This wasn’t going to be the usual day, it would seem.
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This wasn’t-
This couldn’t be possible. Maybe she had been hypnotized to willingly lay out her soul? Maybe there is some spell that could force people to compliance and do this but-
What if there wasn’t truly an excuse? What if Diana had tried to be turned in a Narakhan and… she couldn’t for some reason?
It was surreal to even consider the woman willingly go and become one of the most hated aspects of Prime society. She was just too genuinely kind to be truly capable of this and… there has to be another reason!
My inner struggles were safely kept away from Minos as we started to prepare the stand with the products from the farm. My worries lingered for a long time, even while I focused on selling the vegetables I still felt that nagging sensation of something missing from the context.
Something important, something that… could really help me with proving her innocence before my eyes-
But what if she wasn’t? What if she was ‘guilty’?
Would it truly matter if sometime in the past she tried to do that horrible- actually, was it truly terrible?
My knowledge regarding this taboo part of their culture was incredibly biased, because no matter how impartial Minos could sound he couldn’t be that much experienced about those to the extended degree I required, and without a more objective point of view I was left to deal with some troubled judging before he returned back home.
Would she be angry if she learned that now he knew too? Would she yell, would she scowl, or would she just shrug at it?
The last one oddly enough felt fitting for the woman he knew but… did he knew her that well?
Randal trusted her, she was his mother, but what was she to me?
Your savior?
I felt my brain reply with sass and with a reasonable motivation too. She did take me inside her house, gave me a place where to sleep, to eat and… where to live.
If Diana had truly wanted to cause harm to me, she would have had enough opportunities to do so. In fact, these examples actually ended in the best outcome for me… always.
She actually lost some of her peace by ‘hiring’ me to her farm and I knew that such a decision was driven by heart rather than any shady plot-twist around the corner.
The woman looked just too tired to be really hiding something about her mannerism and slowly I was seeing how the Bull Prime’s words were influencing me in the worst way possible. Not that Minos was meaning it, but I was seriously letting his depiction of the ‘clan’ get to my head a little too easily.
Diana wasn’t a Narakhan, thus that shouldn’t be a problem to begin with. She was a lovely lady that had the heart to pick someone like me, a complete stranger, and give me a chance at life.
It felt so… impossible, yet I was granted another try at things. Was it the best? No, but this was the real world, not certainly a Game where people could just do whatever they wished to do at a mere snap of fingers.
And having issues about trust? The only problem was that she was giving me too much of hers, if I have to be honest. Almost five days here and I was like some worker that had been here for decades and… I felt like it was just so unbelievable.
Any secondary purposes behind her kindness? Nothing that could work better than blackmailing me.
She knew what my real name was and she had been very secretive about it around Randy. Nobody in town considered me with my original name, those that knew me addressing me with just ‘Matt’ or ‘Mr. Newcastle’, thus the woman didn’t tell any of her ‘friends’ there about my situation, or at least to that extent.
It took me twenty minutes or so to finally give my fullest attention to the shop process and… I managed to avoid getting entangled by those thoughts while at the job.
People were buying, the crowd of clients was a little bigger than last time and thus the work-day ended an hour earlier than last time.
Everyone was satisfied, the money gained was going to help a lot in the careful budget of rebuilding the farm and fix the debts still lurking from the bank’s deep pockets.
Minos had been quite happy to accept my attempt to divert the topic to the usual calm and normal series of things that had been happening around town and I was mostly out from my inner conflict… when I tall woman making her way to the stand.
She was a Cow Prime, but differently from Diana her fur was white with black spots. Even some of her locks were black compared to the rest made by white hair. She was wearing a sleeveless pink shirt that showed part of her cleavage, not too much thankfully, and a pair of yellow short pants.
A pair of sunglasses rested on her head as she went to greet us both. “Good morning and… I see that you are already closing up?” She paused, blue eyes noticing that we were indeed starting to pack the stand up.
“Yes, today we sold everything quickly and we are closing because… we don’t have anything else to offer.” I replied with a small smile. “I’m sorry if you-”
“I am not here to buy anything.” She admitted with a sigh. “Only trying to see how this little stand was faring today and… I see it’s doing more than two days ago.” She commented with a strange tone.
“Thanks. It’s mostly the good quality of the products and the trust of the clients to those rising.” I hummed quietly while picking two more crates and setting them on the chariot.
The woman blinked and then stared quietly… at me?
She leaned on the stand, her head tilting a little on the side as a small playful smile was on her face.
“It has to be quite difficult to go at this pace.” Her voice was soothing. “I can only guess that you work really hard to bring those results in.” Her eyes narrowed lovingly at me and… I sighed.
“Look, I know what you are trying to do and… I’m not that kind of guy.” I interrupted with a flat tone, making her unbalance a little and almost lose her focus on standing by the wooden structure. Her eyes widened but I continued before she could speak back at this.
“I don’t know for whom you work for, but I can tell you that I have to decline whatever offer you have.” I said quickly. “I don’t wish to lift any senseless hopes as I’ve obligations to-”
“Diana Linda.” She interjected calmly, then she sighed. “Yes, I know about your commitment to Las Lindas, Mr. Newcastle, but I wish to address the fact that I’m not here to recruit you… rather I wish to know what kind of person you are.” The woman revealed with a small smile.
I blinked. “What?”
“Your Curriculum Vitae can offer just so much about your true self, Matt.” The woman continued, her tone shifting to something a little… serious, business-like. “So I decided to see by myself if there was truly a ‘moral obligation’ you hold toward Las Lindas.” She sighed at the end of the explanation, her hand stretching towards me.
“I think I should properly introduce myself. I’m Alejandra Coldthorn, CEO of Alexandria Dairy.” She greeted again and… I recognized the name from the last few days.
“I’m Tootsie Roswell and I’m a close confident to the current CEO, Alejandra Coldthorn.”
I blinked, my hand slowly going to shake hers. “Matt Newcastle- and you are Tootsie’s Boss?”
The blunt question was more than enough to have her composure stumble once more, this time an annoyed sigh was followed by some words. “She did present me too, didn’t she?”
From her tone and her groan, I knew that this was a common situation with the blonde Mouse Prime.
“Only as a mean to better recruit me.” I admitted with a nod. “But she was fairly convincing-”
“But her efforts were wasted if you are truly inclined to continue to work for Las Lindas.” She pointed out with a sigh. “She can be very persuasive but-”
“She didn’t go overboard, if that’s what you are alluding at, Ms. Coldthorn.” I interjected with a smile. “Still, I don’t understand why you of all people would come here and-”
“Just wanted to visit Gossamer.” Her tone was tense as she interrupted me while I was making that question. “This place… I grew up here for most of my childhood.” She assumed a nostalgic edge to her words. “It’s impressive how things hardly change here compared to the urban life.”
“It’s part of its charm.” I replied happily, a smile plastered on my face. “I guess that there isn’t any of the quick pace that only cities know about.”
Alejandra nodded. “I can see that...”
“Still, if you want, I can give you a tour of-” I tried to offer but I was interrupted by her.
“N-No.” The woman waved dismissively, her blush reappearing. “I’m merely visiting. I will back to work by lunch and… thank you for offering.” A small smile appeared on her face as she nodded.
“You are welcome.” I said cheerfully while placing the last of the empty crates on the chariot. “Is there anything else or…?”
She sighed again then she sported a strangely sad look. “I know I shouldn’t ask this so suddenly but… is it true that Diana is sick?” There was some minor concern in her voice and… I felt my face clenching at the reminder of the conversation I had a few hours ago. “I understand if you don’t wish to say-”
“She is.” I nodded quietly, interrupting her. “She has been for months now.” I concluded with a simple sigh.
There was some sad silence from the Cow Prime and… then Alejandra nodded back with a soft pace. “I see...” She replied, her eyes wandering to the small envelope that was now in her hold. “If it isn’t too much to ask, could you please give this to her? It’s… important.” She held the paper towards me and I looked at the letter.
Why I feel like I’m forgetting something… something important about her of all people.
Slowly, I nodded as I went to pick it up from her hands, mind still struggling to understand the sudden sensation. “I will make sure she reads it...” She smiled and nodded.
“Then I bid you a good day, Mr. Newcastle-”
“Matt.” I interjected with a smile. “You may call me Matt.”
She blinked, her smile widening a little. “Alej.” The woman said in response. “And I bid you a proper good day, Matt.”
“Likewise, Alej.” I replied mirthfully and saw her slowly retreat away from the stand.
It was like a snap, but the moment she turned around and started to walk away… I remembered why she looked this familiar.
The pictures back at Las Lindas, the one with Randal, Mora, Diana and-
“W-Wait!” I lifted my hand towards her, but she seemed to ignore me because of the noise coming from the still-active crowd. “Y-You are Patches-”
The woman stopped instantly as I said that nickname, her entire body going still and tense as her head turned to grace me with a wide-eyed look of surprise.
“Aren’t you?” I ended the question, waiting for her to answer and… then she merely turned around returned back on her path, but not before giving a little almost-unheard reply.
“I was.”
The two words left me stumped as the woman disappeared from my sight and… I blinked while turning to Minos.
“Quite the interesting individual.” The Bull Prime commented. “Pa-”
“No.” I interrupted him, causing him to lift a surprise eyebrow. “That is sadly not a story for me to tells. And please, don’t use that nickname with her.” I explained, gaining a slow and unsure nod from him.
There was any further interest in continuing that little topic, but soon my mind was forced back to deal with the fact I… had mistrusted so easily Diana.
The woman was far too kind for… someone like me.
I was glad that I found Randy and her…
I blinked, turning to stare at Minos and then… smiled. “Before we got back, I have something to buy… nothing too pricey.”
My words got a frown from him and… we spent the next ten minutes in town trying to find a flower shop and then I found what I was looking for.
I returned to Las Lindas with a bouquet of Heather flowers.
