“Hey!” Something grabs her shoulder. Fresh is jostled around. “Goo-brain. Wake up.”

Fresh groggily opens her eyes, lifting her arms to yawn as she looks at the small figure standing above herself.

“There’s a bed here, you know?” asks Jubilee, placing their hands back onto their hips, as they stare down at the girl sitting on the floor.

“I was waiting for you to come back,” says Fresh, rubbing her eyes. “I didn’t want to go outside without you~” she yawns.

“Huh?” asks Jubilee somewhat disbelievingly. “You know? You sound really clingy and desperate sometimes,” they explain, shaking their head and sighing.

“Sorry,” says Fresh. She laughs and rubs her fingers through her hair.

Jubilee tilts their head, staring down at her strange expression, but then seems to relent, shrugging. “Look. Go downstairs and get that mushroom gunk off of you before anyone sees it. The guild is empty now.” They turn around and go back to the door. “Come meet me at my place. Make it snappy, we have work to do.” With that, they pull the door back open and leave.

Fresh stares after them curiously, wondering what's going on. She gets up and stretches, bending forward to unsuccessfully try to touch her own toes. Something pops in her lower back again and she winces, wondering if she didn’t actually inherit the body of some old woman. Though, she had slept on the floor twice in a row now. Fresh sighs and slaps her cheeks, waking herself up. She heads to the door to go downstairs and wash up.

Half an hour later, Fresh emerges from the adventurers’ guild and steps into another bright, sunny day. She smiles, closing her eyes to let the sun touch her face for a while. Spring really is lovely here, there hasn’t been a single bad day yet, weather-wise. Lucky for her, she realizes. Opening her eyes again, Fresh looks down at herself, at the same dress that she’s been wearing every day for almost a week now. It still appears manageable, but she definitely needs to find something more robust and more… obscuring. Jubilee knows about tailoring, maybe they can make her something? A shawl at least. She thinks for a moment, but then shakes her head, as she walks with crossed arms to cover the wet spots on her front. She’s not going to ask anything else of Jubilee, until she’s paid everything else back first.

Smiling to seal that promise into her heart anew, Fresh walks down the bustling hive of the city, heading down towards the dungeon and ignoring the sensation of any watching eyes that might happen to find their way towards her. Soon enough, she finds herself at Jubilee’s house and knocks on the front door. It opens a few seconds later and Jubilee nods to her, beckoning her inside. An old, worn out broom is held in their hands.

“Hi!” says Fresh energetically, stepping into the dusty downstairs room.

“It took you long enough,” is all that Jubilee says with a very snarky tone, before they toss her the broom. Fresh fumbles, the broomstick tumbling between her hands, as she just barely manages to catch it. Jubilee rolls their eyes and turns around to head back inside.

“What’s this for?” asks Fresh, confused.

“It’s a broom, dumb-ass. You can either shove the handle up yourself or you can use the other end to start sweeping,” explains Jubilee, waving her off in frustration. Fresh looks at the broom then back to them.

“Why?”

“Because the merchants’ guild representative is going to be here tonight with the admission paperwork,” explains Jubilee, shrugging. “If your hair-brained plan is going to work, then we need to set-up somewhere and we can’t make a shop in the adventurers’ guild. So -“ Jubilee holds their arms out wide, gesturing to the open space and doesn’t say anything further.

Fresh stares at them for a while, processing. Not quite sure what they’re getting at.

The obscured figure’s vibrant eyes seem to die just a little more, as nothing comes back from Fresh. The fact that the wheels in her head are clearly still turning is visible in her vacant gaze, which stares down towards the broomstick in her own hands. Jubilee sighs in defeat and lowers their arms, shaking their head once again.

“AH!” Fresh’s eyes light up and her fingers clench the broom tightly. “You want to do it here!” Her eyes grow dewy as she realizes the weight of this new gesture. “Th-that’s a great idea!” She drops the broom to the floor, running towards Jubilee with open arms, her emotions overwhelming her. “Thank yooou~” The figure darts to the side, quickly avoiding Fresh’s lumbering grasp as they duck out and away from her arms, just in time.

The obscured person glares up at the confused girl with wary eyes. “If you try to hug me again, I’ll cut you,” they threaten sharply, waving a piece of glass at Fresh, who chuckles meekly at the threat, not sure if it's serious or not. “- I’ll cut you deep,” they promise, the eyes behind their mask going wide. It’s serious.

“You’re such a good friend, Jubilee!” laughs Fresh, smiling brightly, taking a moment to wipe the wet out from her eyes.

They twitch as she utters the statement. Their body tenses up for a moment. But then they once again relent with a final, long and protracted noise that is somewhere between a groan and a sigh. Lowering their arms, they tuck the piece of glass back into a tattered pocket and avert their gaze. “I know I am. Get to work, goo-brain.”

[(Jubilee) has accepted your friend request!]

[Friends]{It takes two}

“Huh?” Fresh looks at the little window, then back to Jubilee who has already turned their back to her and has begun to walk up the stairs.

“You do down here. I’ll do the upstairs.” With that, they leave, leaving Fresh standing alone down in the dusty ground-floor room. Her eyes slowly go wide as the events run through her mind, as she realizes that she just officially made her very first friend. For real.

Her fists clench tightly together and she finds herself bobbing up on her heels in joy as she makes a quiet, but excited squeak. This is it! This is what she’s been trying to work for! Something feels warm inside of her chest. Sure, it isn’t ideal. But that doesn’t matter. She’s going to make it become ideal.

Determined, Fresh reaches down to grab the broom from the floor and with a steeled gaze, sets to work. Promising that she’s going to make this place perfect. The bristles of the broom scratch against the boards as she sweeps. Fresh narrows her eyes. She’s going to do it right this time. She takes a step forward. She’s going to work hard, to feel this feeling that she’s feeling right now every day. The bristles scratch against the boards again.

She’s going to do her best every day, from now on.

Her friend is counting on her.