As he made his way back towards the diner he scanned the crowds for Ezra. He didn’t know how he’d kill him, or what he’d do afterwards, but those things could be figured out later. Now he just had to find the bastard. Nobody near the shops had the curly black hair. Andrew thought for a moment that he had spotted him near the tents, but it turned out to be somebody else. It seemed he’d need to ask someone to find out, but who would know? And how could he not make it obvious what he was going to do? Maybe if he said he wanted to talk to him and figure out what was going on with this place he’d get some information. He ignored the stares of the people idling by The Diner as he worked his way up the steps and inside.

The recovered guns were spread out on the counter, with Dragon variously examining and tweaking parts. Andrew’s carefully packed bag had been dumped out on the floor. He took a mental inventory of all the figurines he could see, confirming his suspicion that one had gone missing.

“Where’s the figurine?” He walked up to the counter. Dragon and the Merchant looked up at him simultaneously.

“What?” Dragon asked.

“The one with the green skirt and the movable arms. Where is it?” He heard an audible cough from the other side of the room and turned his head. Sam was sitting down at a booth with the figurine on the table in front of him.

“I was just having a look, you can have your toy back.”

“Sam, it’s not a toy, it’s-” The Merchant interrupted him.

“How was your visit with The Doctor?”

“He told me I’m not concussed and cleaned my wounds.”

“Anything else I should know about?” Andrew got down on his knees and started putting his things back in the bag.

“No.” He replied without looking at him.

“You have a lot of pills there. I don’t think you could possibly need all of them.”

“You said I could keep whatever I brought back.”

“I’m not saying that you can’t keep them. The whole concept of property rights is very important to me as a trader. What I’m suggesting is that you sell them to me. I’ll credit you for a very reasonable amount of MP.”

“I think my salary’s fine for now. I don’t need to buy much of anything.”

“Your woman sounded like she needed things. You should treat her. Give me some of those cholesterol pills and take her shopping, buy her chocolates or new clothes.”

“I’ll think about it, okay?” Andrew checked the labels on all the pill bottles and found the Oxycontin was missing. “Anyone decide to ‘look at’ my pain killers?”

“Sylph took those,” Dragon said, “She said you gave her the okay.” He didn’t, but saying that wouldn’t help anything.

“Oh right, I forgot,” He lied. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Have any of you guys seen Ezra? I wanted to talk to him, try and figure out how we got here and all.”

“Considering your last talk with him, I’m keeping you two strictly separated.”

“What?”

“It’d be very bad for morale if you two were to fight again.”

“I don’t want to fight, just talk.”

“Somehow I find that hard to believe.” Andrew was quiet, then let out a deep sigh.

“Can I load up on food and water for the next day or three? I really think I need to take some R and R time by myself for a bit.”

“You going to go cry to the girl you don’t even fuck?” Dragon asked with a smirk.

“Fried hand or not, I’ll fucking-” The Merchant waved his hand, silencing both of them.

“You may leave.” He said calmly. Andrew zipped his sack completely shut and looked over to Sam. From his spot at the table he gave him a thumbs up and a smile. Andrew weakly returned it and left.

“Is this where you want it?” Yui held the poster up to the top of the door.

“A little more to the left, yeah, now apply glue.” Andrew was laying supine on his bed, with half his collection arranged on the floor. The other half was stuck to the walls with Elmer’s Glue or perched on the edge of book shelves. He had always wanted to build a collection like this on the outside, but never could justify spending the money on it. His wish had been answered, though at a greater cost than a pay check. He sipped from his bottle, trying his best not to spit out the cave vodka.

“Why did you bring all this stuff back?”

“Because I like Japanese things.”

“And I’m...”

“A Japanese girl.”

“Right, but uh...”

“What?”

“Well...”

“Yes, I’m a weeb.”

“It’s fine, I guess it’s just what you like.” Andrew sighed and closed his eyes. He had everything he needed to stay in for a few days. Amelia still had his pills; he would need to visit her about that soon. It was probably for the best he didn’t see Ezra yet. Killing him now would probably cost everything. When he did end him, he’d have to plan it out. It couldn’t be obvious that he did it, so witnesses were completely out of the question. He’d either have to get to him when he was alone, or leave nobody to tell the tale. Maybe that’s what Amelia was doing when she killed the whole patrol. Murdered them all. That’s what he wanted to do, murder another person. He was already a murderer, so why not do it again?

He opened his eyes for a moment. Yui was rearranging books to make room for figurines. All those animes with their over the top fights and dramatic victories… How many of the characters felt like this afterwards? At least some of them. There was a market for drama. How odd was it to stay with Yui, with him a murderer and her so innocent. Amelia was like him. She wasn’t afraid of him. With her he felt wanted, but now with Yui he had her pity at best. Someone knocked on the door. Yui turned to face the sound, Andrew sat up.

“Who is it?” He asked.

“Just a porter.” A young female voice replied. Andrew perked up, then got to his feet.

“What’re you porting?” He asked as he made his way to the door.

“Two buckets of water, then some soap and washrags.” Andrew opened the door. On the other side was a short and skinny blonde girl carrying a bucket in each hand. She shrunk back slightly as Andrew looked her over. He put on a friendly smile.

“Thanks! I guess the boss sent you?”

“Y-yeah.” She set her cargo down on the ground beside her and started to back away.

“Why don’t you stay a while, have a bite to eat with me?”

“Sorry I have another deliver make!” She exclaimed before jogging away from him. He shook his head and picked up the delivery. Yui stared at him once he got back inside.

“What?” He asked.

“Are you trying to replace me?”

“Well, thanks for being on the nose for once.” He set down the things, then examined a bar of soap. “I want you to clean yourself up.”

“Don’t ignore the question.”

“Oh Yui, I suppose I should take it as a good sign that you’re starting to get jealous.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to go visit Amelia. While I’m doing that, wash yourself. Tell you what, after I’m done seeing her I’ll drop back by.”

“Please come back.” Andrew nodded at her as he slipped back into his shoes. Amelia never told him where her room was, but he knew which direction it was in. After a brief walk he came to a door. He tried the knob and it swung open. Inside Amelia was curled up in a ball on the bed, holding the pill bottle in front of her face. His heart jumped to his throat and he dashed over to her. She had been alone with the bottle for so long, how many had she taken? He grabbed her by the shoulder and shook her. She was quickly roused.

“Wha… what are you doing, Andrew?”

“How many did you have!?”

“”None. What’re you so,” she yawned, “Concerned about?” Andrew started to relax.

“I thought you OD’d.”

“Me? Hah, you had nothing to worry about.” That was debatable. He noticed that her broken arm was now in a sling.

“Can you let me have the bottle?”

“Sure.” she yawned again, covering her mouth with her hand, then offering him the container. He snatched it up. “Well, now that we’re in here together… Join me?” Andrew sat down on the bed next to her. “No, I mean lay with me.”

“Okay” He said with a half smile forming on his face. He laid on his side against her back, wrapping an arm around her midsection.

“So you got bored of Mia?”

“Her name’s Yui.”

“Mia, Yui, whatever. I’m sure I can hold your interest for much longer.” She took his hand in her own and started feeling his fingers. Andrew glanced around the room as much as he could without turning his head. All along the shelves were rings, necklaces, and other bits of jewelry.

“You have lots of shiny things.”

“I used to be a thief, ya know?”

“Well, that explains how you stole my heart.”

“That’s the cringiest fucking thing I’ve heard all month, but the thought’s sweet.” Andrew nuzzled his nose into her hair and inhaled.

“You smell nice.”

“I wish I could say the same for you. Haven’t you gotten a bucket yet?”

“Yeah, didn’t use it yet though.”

“Hmmm,” She let go of his hand and put a finger on her lips, “How about you see me again after you do, and I’ll give you something.”

“Does it rhyme with ‘a kiss’?”

“I’m not sure rhymes work like that, but maybe.”

“Well that’s a jolly good incentive.” He chuckled. “Say, you wouldn’t happen to know where Ezra is, would you?”

“Who’s that?”

“Some low level Jew working for The Merchant.”

“Does he have curly black hair?”

“Yeah.”

“I think he got sent out on a border patrol type thing. People are usually gone for a few days when they go on those.”

“Any idea where he’s patrolling?”

“Not a clue. Why you want to find him? So you can gas him or something?”

“I was thinking more along the lines of giving him an Easy Bake oven as a gift.”

“That’s hilarious!” She giggled.

“Glad we’re on the same page. Any idea how I can find out where he is to give it to him?”

“Well, The Merchant and his secretaries keep track of all deployments, so you’d want to ask there.”

“All deployments?”

“Yeah. He’s got people doing patrols, running raids, guarding caravans, and doing other stuff. He’s pretty into organization, so he keeps track of them all on a big spreadsheet.” Bingo.

“Huh.” He gave her a light squeeze.

“Now that you’re here, can I have something for my arm?”

“How about we try half a pill each this time?”

“Half, a quarter, a whole one, I don’t care. I just need something to make the damn pain stop.” Andrew opened up the lid of the bottle with his mouth, then withdrew a single pill. He got out of bed and went over to her desk, where she had a steak knife resting. Using the edge, he cut the pill in half, then found a water bottle.

“No more dry swallowing, it’s bad for your health.” He offered the half pill to her, then the water. She took it, then he had his.

“Back in bed!” She gleefully commanded. Andrew grinned and did as she said. She was so warm, especially once they went under the covers.

“Cozy?” He asked.

“Definitely.”

“Can I ask you another question?”

“Shoot.”

“What’s it feel like for you to kill somebody?”

“Like something digging into my finger, then recoil in my left hand.” Andrew frowned against the back of her neck. They may both be killers, but she was a lot further along than he was.