"You know, Mostima," Lin Ye looked at Mostima who was eating dessert, and couldn't help letting her know what was playing in his mind, "With you appearing out of nowhere, you're a bit weird."
Mostima blinked, and then puffed out a laugh at this.
"That an interesting way to thank someone?"
"Just telling what I am thinking," Lin Ye chuckled with her, "And thanks for the help."
With her help, the three of them could finally find a shelter for the rain.
They were now at a small coffee shop that Mostima showed them. He asked her if she knew a good place to eat. He still wanted to treat Eyja for doing a good job on her presentation.
They were now sitting at the outside part of the shop. Their table was located under a big umbrella outside of the cafe.
As the rain got heavier, the sound raindrops falling on to their umbrella got louder and louder.
The strong wind never stopped, it was as if the entire umbrella was going to be blown away by it at any moment.
This made Lin Ye feel a little worried. He thought that it might be better for them to get inside but it seemed the girl did not really mind it as long as they were dry.
On their table were some treats and cups of hot coffee that they ordered.
Of course, he paid for all of them, even for Mostima as thanks for helping them out.
He glanced at the pouring rain as he ate his donut.
He felt… nostalgic as he took in the scene of the rain pouring in front of him.
The rain just… made him remember about his past life.
He sighed at this.
"Well, it's pretty good here. However, to be safe, let's leave after eating," Lin Ye glanced back at them, "Oh and Mostima. Why did you leave so suddenly? You didn't even attend the seminar."
"Because it felt like it was going to rain," Mostima explained, "So, I went out to buy an umbrella."
Lin Ye was stunned by this.
"That's it?"
"Yep," Mostima popped the "p" as she said that, "I am a messenger. I need to be very keen to see changes in the sky."
Lin Ye really didn't know what to do.
So what she was trying to say was, she thought it would rain, so she left an academic seminar that many people would die for, just to buy an umbrella?
He smiled at this.
What a free soul she is. Remind me of someone.
Then he thought that this might be an answer that Mostima casually made up on the spot. She might have something more important to do and she just did not want them to know about it. He really did not want to force her to tell them so he just let it be.
What he was cautious about was how she knew where they were? She wouldn't have waited for them at the hall?
Maybe it was just a coincidence that they met.
For now, Lin Ye withdrew his question, and continued to eat his donut.
Then he heard the soft voice of Mostima talking to herself, attracting his attention to her.
"The rain is getting heavier."
She was looking out at the pouring rain. Her cyan eyes reflected the Lungmen's rainy sight.
"I like rainy days." Mostima smiled and glanced back at Lin Ye, "Holding an umbrella, walking in the rain, watching as the umbrella separates me from the rain, hearing the sound of wind in my ears. I love it so much."
Hearing how much she loves the rain, no wonder she would pick to eat outside.
And speaking of rain, Lin Ye actually liked rain in a way.
He liked the coziness that came with the rain when he was indoors. The best sleep that he could even get in both of his life was sleeping in the rain with both of his parents and cats by his side.
Nothing could come even close to that feeling.
Nothing.
However, Lin Ye thought that not everyone was like him. He thought that he was the only person that he knew that actually liked the rain.
He could understand why people would not like the rain. With how uncomfortable the feeling of wet clothing sticking to the skin was, it was understandable that people did not enjoy the rain as much as him.
But it seemed he was not alone with how he felt with the rain. He remembered another person aside from them that enjoyed the rain.
She really is just like her.
Lin Ye thought for a while, and then couldn't help laughing at the similarity of both of them.
"What's the matter?" Mostima raised her brow, "Is there something wrong?"
"No, it's nothing." Lin Ye shook his head.
"You're lying. Come one, let's talk about it," Mostima rested her elbow on the table. She rested her head on her hand, tilting her head and looking at Lin Ye, "It looked like you were thinking of something interesting."
"... Well if you must know," Seemed like he was not getting out of this one, "But you are not allowed to be angry."
Mostima shook her head.
"I will never be angry at you."
That's a weird way of saying that.
"Um... it's nothing to be honest. I just thought you were so similar to a silly cat that I raised." Lin Ye said with a smile to her.
"A silly cat?" Mostima smiled at this, "What kind of cat was it? Can you tell me more about it?"
"She loved to run outside in the rain," Lin Ye chuckled, "She was originally a stray cat, but I picked her up and took care of her. She was very restless and always liked to run outside. Never staying at one place. The first time she had her little adventure, I thought she left me. Run away from home. Luckily, she came back every time. She had this habit of bringing some weird things to me."
He leaned into the chair and smiled as he recall all of this
"After a while of her doing this for so many times, I knew that she won't be running away from home any time soon. She was probably on an adventure, " He chuckled, "She was a cat that could not for the love of herself stay at one spot. Maybe when she would sleep on my lap she would stay put."
Lin Ye chuckled at the memories.
"She was so pretty as well. She was one of the prettiest things that I had seen. Although many people said she was ugly, I couldn't understand why. She was beautiful," Lin Ye sighed, "I can still remember how I met my little Angel. I was coming back home from school. It was raining at that time. I saw her just a few blocks away from my home. She was on the side of the road and was trembling from the cold of the rain. She looked like she could fall just by the wind alone. She was trying to find shelter for herself from the rain. She was so soaked from the rain and looked pitiful, but she still looked so pretty. And one time she-"
Lin Ye caught himself. He seemed like he was going overboard with his story.
"Ah, I seem to have said too much." Lin Ye realized this and immediately apologized, "Sorry. I might loved my cats too much"
Telling others about his cats was a habit that he had in his previous life, because they were amongst the most important things that he had in that life. However, most people weren't that interested in them.
However, when he was given the chance to talk about them, he seemed to not be able to stop himself from talking about them. He would talk about them endlessly, like now.
When he realized this, he had already said a lot to Mostima. He didn't know if she was interested in this at all. He could only apologize to her. He thought he had annoyed Mostima.
But to his surprise, Mostima did not look like she was annoyed.
She smiled at him, and her cyan eyes were filled with so much joy it almost blinded him.
"It's okay," She smiled at him, "I'm quite interested, just keep talking."
This made Lin Ye quite surprised.
"...There was nothing more to say really. She was just a silly cat. She had this habit of bringing some weird things to me." Lin Ye smiled, "For example, mice that she killed, lizards, and so on. She was probably showing them off to me."
"Maybe she just wanted to share them with you." Mostima said and handed him something, a donut, "Here."
"...Thank you," Lin Ye watched Mostima as she put it into his plate and immediately thanked her. "Sharing food?"
"Yup," Mostima said with a smile, "Whether it's a human or a cat, when you see good things, you always want to share them with people you love."
"That does make sense," Lin Ye smiled and said, "You do have a point."
It was probably just less than two days since he met Mostima, but he was surprised that he could feel so comfortable talking to her.
Then he remembered a certain cute junior.
When he noticed who hadn't spoken for a long time, Lin Ye asked her quickly.
"Eyja, do you want something else?"
"No need, Senpai." She shook her head, "I'm full and the desserts here are delicious."
"Alright then, I'll call Ranger and let him pick us up." Lin Ye took out his mobile phone, dialed Ranger's phone.
After he finished calling him, he turned off his phone and smiled at Eyja.
"Ranger said he was already on the road. However with how bad the rain is now, he is now in traffic. We probably had to wait for a while. Sorry."
"I understand," Eyja nodded and said obediently, "Don't worry about me, Senpai. You and Miss Mostima can keep on talking."
Lin Ye sighed at how kind this person was so he petted her on her head.
"Thank you for understanding."
Eyja blushed at his touch but nonetheless nodded at him.
He then heard Mostima talking.
"Lin Ye, what do you think of Lungmen?"
Lin Ye looked at Mostima surprisingly.
This was already the second person in the same day that had asked him this question.
First it was Wei Yenwu when he was trying to recruit Lin Ye into the Lungmen side.
Did Mostima also have the same plan? Wanting him to join Penguin Logistics?
... No, Lin Ye truly felt that Mostima was just curious about his thoughts of this city.
However, no matter how much he thinks about it, there was only one answer he could give him.
"Lungmen is a very good city." Lin Ye could only say this.
"Is it?" Mostima looked at the rain and said softly, "But this is just the surface."
Lin Ye sighed and nodded at this. He stared at the rain with her.
Then Mostima turned her head and looked at Lin Ye again. He glanced back at her too.
"Lin Ye, this is my advice to you. Don't think about staying in this city for too long."
Lin Ye raised his brow at this..
"Why do you say that?"
"On the surface, this city is full of light and colours. But deep inside its core, it is far from that."
"So what you want to say is that Lungmen is like an apple that looks good, but it has worms in it?" Lin Ye asked.
Mostima couldn't help laughing at this, "Your metaphor is really an image."
"Heh, I was taught this in middle school."
Both of them chuckled at this.
"Your metaphor holds some truth to it," Then Mostima quickly took back her smile, and then said softly, "However, the city should be the bug instead."
"... Do tell me why you think so."
"The Lungmen is the bug that eats anything she can get her hands on to live. This place is very dangerous," She told him, "If you don't want to be eaten by it as food, you have to stay away from it."
For Lin Ye, this was the first time he had heard someone saying about Lungmen like this.
This made him feel a little doubtful, but he quickly thought that Mostima was a messenger. A messenger's perspective in this world was different from that of ordinary people, right?
They could see more things than ordinary people could.
So Lin Ye memorized Mostima's warning.
"I understand, thank you for telling me this." Lin Ye said.
"That's good, but don't worry too much," Mostima smiled at him, "As long as you don't live in this city and just think of this place as a passing, then Lungmen is really a very good city."
"Yes." Lin Ye nodded and said with a smile, "Compared with Longmen, Rhode Island is not that great."
Wait, if he said Rhode Island was a bad place, wouldn't Mostima think badly about it? He can't have that.
Lin Ye thought about it for a while and thought up on something.
"Rhodes Island is much simpler than Lungmen."
"Is it?" Mostima said with a smile, "You really know how to say things to me in a way that makes me interested."
Mostima's smile had never left her face for even a moment while talking with Lin Ye.
"By the way," Mostima started a new topic for them, "I have one more question that I want to ask you."
"Hmm?" Lin Ye titled his head, "What is it?"
"Can you use Arts?"
Lin Ye was a little surprised by this.
"... Why are you asking this?"
"Just curious." She smiled and played with her cup.
"... Okay." Lin Ye just followed along with her, "I can't."
"Is that so? In that case..." Mostima took one of her staff, the black one, behind her and showed it to Lin Ye, "Do you want to try?"
{Rhodes Island's Psychologist}
Draft: Jaq
Proofread: Jaq
Edit: Jaq