"Getting to Know You"
Author's Note: This is a companion piece to "Inventing the Future", and it mainly serves to fill in a few time gaps. Jaming and Meredith were just friends for a time before they became a couple, but since I'm writing that other story as it comes to me, I didn't get to explore that as much as I wanted to. Rather than jumping around the timeline, I decided to put these interactions in a separate story.
Small reference to Chapter 22 of WanderingSoulofTime's 'D is for Dark Cloud', specifically Donny's bracelet purchase. Hope you guys enjoy it!
"Chapter 1: New Neighbors"
If there was one thing that Dr. Jaming knew how to do very well, other than inventing, it was tracking down the materials he needed for such endeavors. He was fortunate enough to already have the blueprints of his old garage in his portfolio, so it was simply a matter of gathering the materials and doing what needed to be done.
Getting the building tools he needed, though? That was another story. He was sure he had enough money to buy some of them, but this meant venturing into town. So far, he had only met one person since getting his rear end handed to him at the far-away beach called Shigura Village; a woman named Meredith had shared her lunch with him, probably out of pity, but at the time he had been too hungry to care.
She had been friendly enough, but he hadn't quite considered her a friend, and he hadn't seen her since that day. He did find it curious that she didn't seem to find his facial features as disturbing as most people did.
So far, finding food in Veniccio wasn't all that difficult, but Jaming was getting extremely tired of a straight diet of fruit. And, if he was embarrassingly honest about it, his gut wasn't too fond of it either. Perhaps he could buy some bread or cheese in town, or maybe even some fish.
'It doesn't matter if they stare. Just go in, get what you need, and get out. They won't chase you out of town if you don't actually live in town, so stop being such a coward.'
Jaming stuffed his wallet into one of his many pockets, buttoned the pocket closed so that there would be no danger of losing it either through pickpockets or simple accident, and approached the Veniccio docks.
The first person Jaming saw was a withered old lady sitting outside of one of the metal houses. Unsurprisingly, the old woman did a double-take when she saw him, but he was rather taken aback when she smiled and raised a hand to wave at him.
"Good morning, young man. New in town, are you?" Her voice was hoarse with age, but warm and friendly.
"Er...good morning, ma'am," He bowed, feeling extremely uncomfortable. His eyes darted away from her, then back, almost as if she frightened him. "Would you happen to know where I might buy some supplies?"
"Oh, yes. Young Donny lives in the blue house over there. He will sell you bread, if you need it. And if you'll look over there," She pointed, and he followed the direction of her crooked arthritic finger. "There are two shop boats. The one on the left sells mostly trinkets and such. And the one on the right carries more practical items. As for myself, I sell cheese and amulets. In fact, wait there a minute."
Jaming eyed the old lady mistrustfully as she went inside and came back out with a covered basket. She held it out to him, and he clasped his hands behind his back and shook his head. "I don't understand..."
Chuckling at his shyness, the old lady held the basket further away from herself, clearly wanting him to take it. "It won't bite you, sonny. It's cheese. Normally I would charge you for this, but you may consider it a welcome to the neighborhood present, compliments of Granny Rosa."
"I-I can't accept this..." Jaming took an uncertain step backwards. Why was she just giving this to him? He hadn't done anything to deserve it! "I can pay for it."
"Nonsense, I insist. I do this for every newcomer. You don't want to hurt an old woman's feelings, do you?"
"No, of course not," he mumbled, reluctantly accepting the basket and bowing once again. He wasn't used to the warm feeling that slowly spread through his chest, and he wasn't entirely sure that he liked it. "Thank you very much, ma'am."
"Just call me Granny Rosa. Everyone does."
Jaming definitely wasn't comfortable with calling a stranger 'Granny', so he gave her his name instead. "I'm called Jaming. Thanks again."
He walked quickly away from her without waiting for her to speak again, heading directly for the shop boats. Which one had Granny Rosa told him carried trinkets, and which one carried necessities? Jaming couldn't remember, but he supposed that he might as well check out both of them.
It was pure chance that led Janing to the shop boat on the left, and even though he immediately realized that this wasn't the boat he was looking for, he halted at the sight of a familiar face. Unfortunately, he was blocking the gangplank, and someone coming up behind shoved past him with a muttered insult. Jaming turned to glare at the burly man who had pushed him, and the man took a startled step back.
"What are you?"
Jaming bit back an acidic retort and bowed in apology. "Someone who thoughtlessly blocked the way. Excuse me."
He was used to showing submission to rude strangers in order to diffuse a situation and save his own behind, but he hated it every time. Fortunately, the stranger moved off, and Jaming breathed a sigh of relief as he moved to stand well out of the way.
It seemed that Meredith lived in or near Veniccio after all, because she was working at one of the tables that sat nearest to the gangplank. Right now she was arguing with a young boy who wore a rather strange-looking floppy hat with a flower stuck in its brim. Jaming moved on, perusing the other tables without much interest; he had little use for the things he saw there, and it was only the conversation he was eavesdropping on that held his attention.
"You want how much for twenty of those seashell bracelets?" the boy sounded outraged, but something about his tone of voice indicated that he was enjoying himself. "I could just find the shells out on the beach and make 'em myself!"
"You're more than welcome to," Meredith replied, playing her part as well.
It occurred to Jaming that they were engaging in the common market practice of haggling. The seller will quote a rather high price, knowing that the buyer will try to get them to lower the price no matter what it happened to be, and the agreed upon sum would be pretty close to how much the item was actually worth. He didn't understand why people bothered with such nonsense, but like many of the things having to do with socializing, it was a mystery to him.
Meredith continued, "Finding the shells is the easy part. Then you have to drill a hole if one doesn't already exist. You have to do it without breaking the shell, which isn't easy, and sometimes it just happens no matter what. Then you have to thread them onto a string and attach jewelry clasps to the ends. See, you're not just paying for the materials; you're paying for the time it took to make the items."
"I know, I know. But I'm not about to pay fifty Gilda just for twenty of the things!" Donny folded his arms.
"I see," Meredith nodded smoothly, leaning forward and folding her hands on the table. "How much are you willing to pay?"
"Twenty."
"Goodbye, Donny." She began to turn away from him. Jaming found himself fighting off an amused smile as Donny nearly bounced up and down in agitation. The boy really wanted those bracelets! But why?
"Twenty-five."
"For something you're just going to re-sell at twice the price? Not a chance."
Donny groaned, his posture hunched as he buried his face in his hands. Then he straightened up, looking completely unphased after all that, and adjusted his hat. "Thirty."
Meredith's expression gave away nothing as she countered, "Forty-five."
"Forty, final offer!"
She eyed Donny for a few seconds as if considering, then nodded her head in acceptance. "Done."
Jaming snickered as the boy she had called Donny handed over forty Gilda, and he watched her put the bracelets into a paper bag and hand them over. The kid was obviously a shrewd little businessman on the rise, but Meredith seemed to have his number!
"Thank you for your business. Have a nice day."
"Yup, you too!" Donny grinned cheerfully and ran off with his prize.
Jaming drummed his fingers on the boat's thick wooden railing as Meredith picked up something she must have been working on before Donny came by to get his bracelets. A closer look told Jaming that she was making something out of what seemed to be cotton yarn and a metal hook. Another look told him exactly what she was making; in addition to seashell jewelry, she also had a small assortment of mesh tote bags nearby. It wasn't really his style, but he considered purchasing one anyway for easy fruit storage.
"Keep staring," Meredith sang out without looking up, "I might do a trick."
Jaming started guiltily, then ran a hand through his blue spiky hair as he blushed. "My apologies. I was merely curious about what you were making. Sorry if I disturbed you."
He began to move off, but halted when she called after him.
"Sorry, that was rude on my part. I don't always know how to start a conversation, so sometimes I'll just crack a joke to break the ice." She explained.
"Oh," he shrugged, nervously drumming his fingers on the railing again. "No, don't worry about it."
Meredith tucked a lock of auburn hair behind her ear; she was wearing it down today. "I remember you. Jaming, wasn't it?"
He nodded uncertainly, wearing his best poker face as he approached her table. "That's right. Um...how much for one of those bags, Meredith?"
She grinned. Most people didn't remember her name until they had heard it a few times. "Five Gilda is the going rate, but they aren't selling so well at the moment. You can just take one, if you like."
Jaming resolutely took five Gilda from his wallet and laid it on the table, reluctant to risk accidentally touching her hand. Or, to be more accurate, he was reluctant to let her touch him. It was rare for a person to treat him like a human being before they really got to know him, and he didn't want to ruin it by causing her any kind of disgust. He tried not to notice that she raised her eyebrow at this; she had put out her hand to accept his payment, and he wondered if his refusal to allow physical contact had insulted her. He cleared his throat as he grabbed a random tote bag. "Um...sorry. I..."
She dropped the money in her cash box, and she was smiling gently. "Please, stop apologizing so much. You're fine."
"Well...thank you." He stuffed the tote bag into one of his pockets, feeling very awkward. He would have left then, but there were people standing directly in the way of his escape route. He couldn't help but notice that nobody shoved them out of the way.
"Thank you. So, tell me, are you living in Veniccio now? I haven't seen you around, so I thought you'd left the area."
"I live in one of the abandoned tree houses for now. I just came into town to buy supplies. Speaking of which, does anyone around here sell tools?" More and more people came on board, and Jaming began to feel like he wasn't getting enough air.
"Ah, we're neighbors, then. I live in the tree house closest to the beach. What kind of tools are you looking for? Could you be more specific?"
Jaming stepped aside as a group of people came by to peruse the shell jewelry. He was no longer a customer, so he should really be going. "For construction. I'm building a garage..." The people took one look at him and moved off again. Damn. Meredith was trying to help him out, and in return he had cost her some potential business!
Meredith didn't seem to notice this, though. "I don't think there's anyone here in town who sells that kind of thing. But if you don't need them right this minute, I could lend you mine after work."
"What would you be doing with something like that?" Jaming asked, curious. Then he realized that he was prying, and he looked away. "Not that it's any of my business..."
"I'm from a family of carpenters. I inherited a bunch of tools, but I'm not a carpenter myself, so they're just collecting dust these days. It'll be nice to see them getting some use for once."
Jaming finally allowed himself a little smile. "That is most appreciated. Thank you."
'Thirty Gilda for one loaf of bread? That Donny person is no mere boy. He's a shark!'
Jaming had spent the day familiarizing himself with the town so that he wouldn't get lost the next time he needed to buy something, and the other shop boat had a lot more to offer, at least in terms of things that he could actually use. He now knew where to obtain scrap metal, hunks of copper, lumber, and anything else he would need for his garage. In fact, he had gotten so caught up in what he was doing that by the time he remembered he was supposed to meet Meredith under her tree house to pick up those tools, it was nearly dark.
Loaded down with groceries, Jaming sprinted for the cover of the palm trees, earning many a curious glance from the tourists and townsfolk, but he was too late. Meredith had long since closed her table and gone home, and the windows of her tree house were dark. Jaming was both disappointed and ashamed, and rather than bother her now, he trudged the rest of the way home.
It was so dark that he didn't see the tool box sitting underneath his tree house until he was almost right on top of it. In addition to this, there was a hand saw, several boxes of various-sized nails, and a note weighted down by a tape measure.
"Hm?" Jaming picked up the note and unfolded it, but he couldn't read it out there. He climbed the ladder, planning to make use of the small pulley system he had rigged up to lift heavy or large objects into the tree house. Before he retrieved the tools, he turned on the light and sat down to read the note.
'Dear Jaming,
Guess who? I'm sorry I couldn't wait for you, but here are the tools I promised. You can hold on to these indefinitely. If I ever need them back, I'll know where to look. By the way, I've also returned your five Gilda to you. Please don't be offended, but I don't feel right about keeping it.
Anyway, welcome to Veniccio! I hope you like it here.
-Meredith'
Jaming folded the note once more, a completely open and honest smile coming to his face for the first time in what felt like years.
'I could be mistaken, but I think I actually have a friend!'