Ch 2. Crownberry juice

The streets of Hamelin here were quiet and almost hidden. There were few streetlamps, and even those few had dull lights. Rusty old houses lined these streets as if they haven't been lived in for a good year at least. Esther wondered if her ex-thief friend lived in one of these run-down homes.

"Hey, you may want to watch your step down here. We don't want you to fall down again." Swaine hollered out to his friend.

Esther looked down to see a flight of old stairs. She carefully walked down them as they creaked with age under her weight. Her heels made dull clunks down the road and echoed in the air with the smell of dirt and silence.

Finally they reached their destination; at the end of the street was a door with aged wood and an even older sounding creak as Swaine unlocked it with a dull key. He held the door open for the blonde and gestured for her to come in. "Here we are, come on in."

Esther walked in and was greeted with the scent of dust and musty emptiness. The house was poorly lit by a lamp and coated with dust. There was an unused fireplace in the middle of the living area surrounded by a humble couch and a tired armchair along with a simple coffee table bare of any decorations.

Swaine closed and relocked the door with a click. "Sorry about the mess, I wasn't exactly expecting company." He walked ahead before saying, "I'll go get the first aid kit, just hang tight a minute," and disappeared in a side room.

Esther walked to the couch and sat down. As the furniture gave way to her weight, a puff of dust was released-and this dust reached the woman's nose.

"Ah…Ah…AH-CHOO!"

"Gesundheit," The man came back holding a first aid kit, a grey towel, and a small bucket of water. He sat down next to her and began to clean the cuts on her knees. As he bandaged her scratches, Esther looked around the room, resting her eyes on the fireplace's mantle; it held a picture frame but was layered in dust, making the picture unable to be seen.

"So…" Swaine began as he finished tending to her injuries. "What sort of errand were you doing here?" Esther was snapped out of her trance and faced Swaine.

"Hm? Oh, well, do you remember Derwin, that familiar scientist? Back when we traveled with Oliver?"

"You mean that nutcase with the backpack and glasses?"

"Haha, yes, the very same." Swaine put the kit, bucket, and towel aside as Esther continued. "Well, he and his wife were trying to-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a sec- wife? You mean that nutcase got married?"

Esther crossed her arms, "Well, if you wouldn't interrupt me, I might be able to explain!"

"Sigh…you never change, do you?" Swaine stood up, "Well, hang on a minute…" He walked off to another area with the sound of tile beneath his shoes-the kitchen, Esther presumed. After the squeak of a cabinet door and the clinking of glass, the man returned with two foggy glasses and a bottle of crownberry juice. "Dr. Glasses getting hooked up? This is something I've got to hear."

After Swaine poured them both a glass of the purple refreshment, Esther continued with her story. "Well, as I was saying, Derwin and his wife, Athana, were travelling here in Autumnia to explore and examine some local monsters." She took a sip of the sweet liquid, "While they were in The Pigs Iron Plain, Athana broke her leg. They went to the hospital and got Athana a cast. She couldn't go with her leg injured and Derwin didn't want to leave by himself, so he put up an errand in Swift Solutions." Esther stared at her glass and swirled the juice in the glass. "Being a familiar tamer, I decided to take up the task."

"But how did he get himself a wife, let alone a girlfriend?" Swaine raised an eyebrow, still curious about this issue.

"Well, I don't know the whole story, but according to what Derwin told me, he met her while observing some monsters in Yule about two years ago. She was a scientist like him-and was just as enthusiastic about it as he was-so they became partners, and eventually got married."

"I see. Figures he'd be with another one of his kind." Swaine glanced at his glass before taking a sip of the juice. "So…you've become a fully-fledged familiar tamer now?"

"Yep, people are asking me to help with all sorts of familiar things; how to take care of them, train them, taming them…and there have been a lot of bounty hunts around too, so I do those as well." Esther's eyes got an excited gleam in them as she talked about her life with familiars.

Swaine nodded. "Mm-hmm, seems like familiars are all the rage these days. Even my co-workers use them with their projects."

Esther leaned forward at this, "What, co-workers? You mean you got an actual job?"

Swaine nearly choked on his drink. "What?! Don't tell me you thought I was still a thief this whole time?"

"…Well…"

Swaine refilled their glasses before continuing. "For your information, I've been working as a mechanic at the palace for the past three years."

"Oh? Have you invented anything? What kind of things do you build?"

"Nothing big, just some military equipment." The man shrugged like it wasn't a big deal. "It's a paying job that keeps my hands busy, so I don't have to resort to stealing anymore."

Swaine looked up from his glass to see Esther's face; she wore a peculiar expression and he couldn't read what it meant. "Hm? What?"

The lady looked away for a moment. "Oh, uh, it's nothing."

"Well, if it's nothing, then why don't you spit it out anyway?"

She hunched her petite shoulders slightly, as if she was about to say something that was inappropriate. "…Well, you said you have a paying job, yet you don't look that well."

"Eh? How do you mean?"

"I know it's been three years since we've last met, but you still look the same. Thin, messy hair, bags under your eyes…you don't look like your taking proper care of yourself."

Swaine scratched the stubble on his chin. He never cared about his appearance much, so he never really bothered with the looks department; however, he had been feeling a bit tired lately. His job wasn't usually that straining, but for the past several weeks, he and his co-workers had been-and still were-hard at work making a grand new machine, meaning longer hours. Which meant less time for sleep or keeping his house clean. (Not that he ever had company or bothered to clean it in the first place…) He also had the strange habit of forgetting to eat. Often, and lately, he would be so focused on tinkering with a machine part or blueprint that a whole day would pass without a break for lunch… and would return home straight to bed with little-if any-dinner because of his tiredness. And his job wasn't the only thing troubling him these days…

"Swaine? Are you okay?"

He looked up to Esther's worried eyes. "Hm? O-Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Just think-"

Brrring! Brrring!

The cries of a telephone interrupted Swaine. "Eh? 'scuse me for a moment…" The man walked over to the ringing phone, its high pitched whine becoming silent as Swaine picked up the receiver to his ear.

"Hello, who's callin'?...What, you again? Don't tell me…Again? …Now? Look, I've got some company this time," He looked at Esther as he spoke to the other caller but his eyes suddenly grew wide. "…Wait, what? No, no it's not a girlfriend! For your information, I don't have one!" The man looked away from his guest to hide the embarrassment in his ruby red cheeks. "Anyway, can't this wait until tomorrow?...Okay, an hour maybe?...Really?...Uugh, your impossible." He slapped his face in frustration, "Alright, alright, fine, I'm coming, sheesh."

Swaine hung up, sighing in annoyance. "Sorry about this Esther, but that was one of my persistent co-workers. He says he's made 'another breakthrough' that needs my attention this very minute." He reached into his coat and pulled out some keys. "Here, Tin-Tin." With that command, a Beam-Man hopped out of his chest. Electricity sparked from its head as the heaving of its machinery worked its way to Swaine. His master slipped his keys into the familiar's large hands. "Keep an eye on Esther and walk her out of here. Lock the door on your way out and when you get back, 'kay?" The robot buzzed and nodded its metallic head up and down the best it could, understanding his task.

"Good. Esther, you can stick around. Finish your juice or whatever. Tin-Tin here will keep you company." Swaine opened the front door, but paused mid-way out. "I'm sorry we couldn't talk more, but my co-worker can be pretty demanding. Take it easy on your way out, and try not to fall down again." He gave his trademark smirk over his shoulder and out the door he went.

Esther was now alone with the Beam-Man and a half empty glass of crownberry juice. The air was stiff with silence and dust. Curious, she stood up and explored the house. The room where Swaine had gotten the first aid kit was a bathroom-a filthy bathroom. The shower had a coat of scum on the sides and the floor. The sink was in a similar state with a measly bar of cheap soap along with a dirty mirror.

She walked to the back of the home to find a bedroom with an unmade bed and worn out sheets. The closet was wide open and bare of any extra clothes. There was a small desk to the side that was littered with tools and screws along with a layer of dust. Old curtains covered the window and had looked like they had not been moved for more than a good while.

Her final destination was the kitchen that doubled as a dining area-but it did not look that inviting. A dark wooden table stood boasting a good coat of-yep, you guessed it-dust. The counters didn't look that sanitary and the sink was so ancient Esther wondered if it still worked. Her question was answered as she turned the faucet, allowing water to pour from the sink-thank goodness, it at least looked clean enough to drink. She opened a cupboard, finding a lonely loaf of bread. She explored the contents of the entire kitchen-all she found were a few dumpty eggs and a couple of apples. In a nutshell, the kitchen was almost bare of food.

Esther held her head to think; his house was covered in dirt, he probably wasn't eating properly, and for all she knew, he might not be even getting enough sleep! After all, he did have some pretty bad rings under his puffy eyes. She wanted to help him, but the question was how? "I doubt Swaine would willingly let me help…But his home is a mess, he needs proper food…There's no way he would allow me to give his house a spring cleaning or make sure he remembered to eat…"

Tin-Tin watched his master's guest the whole time, not sure what to do-he actually wanted to help her, but how? His orders were to walk her home and lock the door, but she didn't look like she would be leaving any time soon.

The familiar tamer sat back down on the couch and rested her elbows on her thighs, and her head on her hands. "Hmmm…There's gotta be some way for me to help him…" She stared off into space as her brain tried to formulate a plan to help her old friend. She reached for her glass of crownberry juice and drank the sweet beverage. She drank it the wrong way and began to cough out purple liquid with her spit. A little spatter of this purple mixture accidentally found its way on the coffee table.

The woman looked at the splash of dull purple and her blue eyed widened. The Beam-Man looked at the human before him, unsure of what this person was thinking-or plotting.