Advent Noion

1

everything shakes. sparks rain from the helix poking its head through the ceiling. sirens wail over her humming tune as she slices and bags noion, walking into the light outside. the shaking stops and the helix falls as she steps into her shoes.

she skips for a while, "la di da-"

and then stops, "di la la la."

pausing to look up, squinting against the brightness, "another drill."

looking down, "rab's little fruit store."

rab's orchard, situated just across the lane.

she looks at the falling above her, laughing, "hahaha!"

she turns away before it impacts, still whirling, digging itself into stone, throwing plumes of rock into the air.

she sighs, opening her parasol, walking away, "not today."

walking for ten minutes through the crowd, some freelancers finally pass her with the necessary equipment in spirit-drawn carts to quell the bright beast. she reaches her destination shortly after, keeping to herself until the top floor.

a guy in blue waves, "hoy, nisida!"

she looks his way, nodding, "hey, kampo."

he watches the helix outside, "we almost lost you there, eh?"

she sighs, "almost."

he spits into his glass, "ya stare long?"

she gets to a desk, falling into a chair, "no-"

she notices the listing board, "anything new?

silence.

she takes stock of the empty desks, "or is there even anyone else here?"

distracted kampo finally answers, "oh, neh. they prolly passed ya in lane. that one was pretty big."

she lays her head down, "wake me up when something happens."

she closes her eyes, "almost. maybe tomorrow?"

-

the glow streaming from the windows facing the helix has died down.

awake, she looks around, "ka... kampo?"

silence.

geting up, she stretches, grabs her noion bag, and walks downstairs. an unfamiliar guy in a black loose shawl is signing paperwork around a crowd of neets. she stops to observe his writing.

a voice to her left, "heh, nisida, right?"

she turns to face a beardy man covered in grease, "yes?"

he works up a sweat in excitement, "that was awfully close to nisida's place, wasn't it? i was worried about-"

she interrupts, "eh, thanks. i'm fine."

she glances back to black-dressed guy, "who is that?"

he growls when looking his way, "he's just some neet we got today. anyway, it's almost one-hundred, do you want to grab some-"

she interrupts again, holding up her noion, smiling, "sorry, on a diet. see ya."

she sits across from the black-dressed guy and waits for the paperwork on his table to end. an hour or so passes by unoticeably, all the while he avoids meeting her eyes.

she speaks to him, grinning, "now what?"

he finally looks up, confused.

she motions to the lane outside, "want to get some food? you just got here, right?"

-

she draws two cigarettes out of her sleeve, handing one out for him, "smoke?"

he spends a moment in thought, "no."

impressed, she slips both between her lips, "eehhh!"

he shakes his head, looking over the selection of food as they walk.

lighting her mouth, she gags on some wispy strands of hair while trying to suck the flame in, "impressive-"

she sighs out smoke, "i thought all neets did."

she points to dugoh cart vendors busily cooking animal-shaped batter on frying pans, "want some of this? it's really good."

he shakes his head, "no."

she puffs smoke out in his face, "are you just saying that because you haven't been paid yet?"

he coughs, looking away, "no."

unimpressed, "say something other than no."

he hesitates, looking at her now, "yes."

she groans, joking, "ughh, you're probably from some weird village, right?"

he looks to his feet, shaking his head.

she laughs, stopping in front of another vendor "ha! what a lame response, you need to work on lying. just split this dugoh with me."

she hands a ten-lak bill from her back pocket to the vendor and receives one-lak plus a phantele dugoh, tearing it in half, "here."

he accepts the greasy rump and she chows down, not planning to wait any longer, "mmm yhghm mmd phandeg."

he finds himself staring at her bag for a moment.

she licks her lips, looking down at her bag, "what?"

she grins, pulling out a slice of crunchy noion from within, "this?"

he almost smiles, "can i?"

she laughs, "ha. really? you want this instead?"

he nods, smiling, as she hands over her bag, "have a good feast."

~crunch~ they enjoy their meals as they ~crunch~ continue walking through the ~crunch~ vendors. the glow from the latest drill has completely died down and everyone begins hoisting ~crunch~ marked lanterns out above the gourmet lane to advertise their services and ~crunch~ wares.

she glances at him, laughing "hurry up and eat that stuff already!"

~crunch, crunch, crunch~

she stops to rest against a spirit tiedown, comparing themselve's for a moment, "you're taller than me, but you act like a little boy. how old are you?"

he stares off into a house of vice, "nineteen."

surprised, she turns, facing him, "really? i guess we are the same."

silence.

she tries to feel his spirit, but confusingly there is nothing, "hey, what's wrong with your spirit-"

he runs off.

startled, she falls over, "ow! hey, what are-"

he is gone.

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aan