Drifting (2)

You spend some time questioning her about the world; trying to figure out what makes it different from yours. There turns out to be quite a lot, so you spend a good while talking to her.

And… Lily seems quite confused that you don’t know these things, but is willing to go along with your barrage of questions. Whenever she’s answering you eat, and vice versa. The food’s pretty good, at least.

Eventually, you’ve ran out of things to ask, primarily due to not knowing what else to query about. The world… is something you’ll have to learn about yourself as well.

A - More questions (write-in)

B - Order her to kill you

C - Move on

You decide to move on, but… aren’t really sure what to do. Lily suggests that you come to her place if you need somewhere to sleep, but… at the same time seems surprised that she’d suggest such a thing. You hesitate, though. Even if… it’d be fine, you somewhat feel you’d be overstepping boundaries. Then again… she’s under your control as far as you can tell, even if she… tries to resist sometimes.

She then offers to get you a room at a hotel, and this time you pretty much have to accept. She also offers to take you shopping tomorrow, since you’ve got no clothes, and no belongings. “It’s the least I could do, Rune.” She then blinks, sighs, and nods.

You tilt your head. “I… thank you, Lily.” A blush covers her cheeks as she turns away, heading for the door to hide it.

She speaks when at the door, looking back at you. “Someone else’ll clean this up. Come on, let’s go.”

You smile softly and get up, following her out of the room, then the building. And to a vehicle which she drives to the hotel. A… strange vehicle which moves of its own power, with no obvious engine or such; you’d seen some steam-powered contraptions but they’d never hit the market like this vehicle would’ve.

Idly, you admire the world passing by as you’re driven. It’s all… so very new to you, yet you feel at peace here. You do realize your life won’t be… too easy; given the fact that her guild leader will find out, and… well, you do seem to be a hunter. Someone who, according to Lily, has to sign up with the government lest they suffer fines and potential jailtime. It’s… a strange thing to regulate; people with powers. Surely the governments have better things to do than try to micromanage the populace. A minority of the populace, even.

Getting to the hotel, she takes you inside, to the front desk. Using a strange plastic card, she pays for a room, then takes you upstairs after being handed another plastic card. This second one opens the door to the room after being presented to a device on the wall, and after being placed into a receptacle inside, also powers on the room. Which… you suppose is a way to save on magi– energy. Whatever energy they use here. Electricity, but… it sounds just as magical.

“I’ll be here tomorrow around 10.” She points to a clock on the wall. This you at least recognize in form and function. “Be in the lobby by then or…” She pauses with a flinch, then sighs. “… I’ll be waiting for you.”

You nod. “Thank you again, Lily.” You tell her, then head for the bed. Naturally, you start to strip after she leaves the room, since sleeping clothed while in town has never been… something you’d do. Mostly due to comfort. When out camping it was safer to sleep clothed, but it was never comfortable.

With your skin bare to the world again, you sit down and stare at the wall for a bit. Then… slowly lay down in bed. It feels… so much nicer than anything you’ve ever felt. Even when working at a noble’s manor, the servant beds weren’t nearly this nice. Hell, even the nobles‘ beds weren’t this nice. You fall asleep in minutes.

The morning wakes you up early, though. Still, you mange around 7 hours of sleep which feels like more than enough. The world outside seems to be quite busy already, as you can see lights moving around on the streets, from your bed. Distant, but there; you’re up quite high.

You get out of bed, glancing at the clock. It shows the time to be 9:02, so you’ve got about an hour before Lily’ll be here, you reckon. So you head to the window, standing there and watching the world go by. Being so high… is another thing you’ve never done. You must be at least 20 or more floors above ground.

After a bit, you put your clothes back on, and head out of the room. You remember to grab the plastic card, and head downstairs (using an ‘elevator’, she showed you how yesterday). Lily’s already there, seemingly having just arrived around 5 minutes early. You approach her, smiling. “Good morning.”

Lily nods and smiles softly. “Good morning, Rune.” She seems happier today. “Let’s go to the mall; first we’ll eat, then get you some new clothes, and a few other things you’ll need.”

The food is great, but you’re not here for the food. Today, at least. You’re here for clothes and things. Whatever those things may be.

What kind of clothes do you want?