Penny looked at him with a worried expression adorning her face, looking around, she thought for a moment before expressing her concern.
"Well, if you can't remember what happened, then we'll have to just wait and see if after some time you'll recover your memories. Perhaps if we walk around for awhile, that might help speed things up if you see something familiar. Here, put your arm over my shoulder...That's it, now just follow my lead."
As they staggered away from the epicentre of the blast, one thing came to his mind.
"There's a public restroom just here, you go in and I'll be right here, waiting." Penny gestured as she gave a reassuring smile.
As he ambled into the gents, he took a quick glance of himself in the mirror before entering one of the cubicles.
"URGH!"
In one fluid motion, his legs gave way, bracing himself with his hands as they latched onto the rim of the bowl. As soon as he had a firm grip, the floodgates opened as he emptied his stomachs' contents, the pain he was experiencing before this was all too much, and so the best solution his body could come up with was to eject all food from his gut.
Once it was over, e took a deep breath as he began to stand, and with that he came to the realisation;
I can feel everything, the pain is gone, well except for my throat that is.
Then walking over to the faucet, this time taking a longer look at himself in the mirror.
The face that welcomed him had dark brown eyes, black bushy eye brows and short black hair to match. He had a tanned complexion and appeared to be clean shaven, he gave himself a small smile, although his teeth were a brilliant white, they weren't perfectly straight.
Stepping out, the girl in front of him seemed a little distracted, as if she was eager for him to return so they could continue on with their journey. Promptly changing the expression once she saw him, raising an eyebrow as well as beaming with a smirk.
"Well it's good to see that you have gotten some colour in your cheeks, and it looks like your stance is sturdier than when you entered, as if nothing had happened to you. Are you able to walk on your own, or did you still need me to support you?"
"Um- no, I'm, I'm pretty sure I'll manage now. And your right, I do feel a lot better, if not still confused, at least I don't have to worry about the infuriating pain I felt. Thank you for waiting for me by the way, uhm..."
"Penny"
"Yes, thank you Penny...maybe we can continue to walk... wherever it is we are walking to?"
As they began to gain distance from where they once were. The sound of sirens could be heard in the distance, either approaching towards them, or echoing from the other direction, Penny appearing to be in a vigilant state.
"Hey Penny, is everything alright, what's with the sirens we can hear?"
"Probably emergency teams going to investigate the area of incident." pausing for a moment before finally speaking her mind, "I think it would be wise of us to try and get as far away from the site as possible. Also we need you to blend in with the crowd."
Glancing up and down at him as she spoke.
In all the excitement of everything that had happen to him, only now did he actually focus on what he was wearing, realising what she meant.
Most of what made up his attire was scorched and blackened, what he could make out of it could only be described as pyjama wear, a white short sleeved shirt with blue and grey flannelette pants.
"That store over there looks like we can fix that," Penny said, directing his attention to a green and black painted clothing shop.
Walking in, they were greeted by a woman who appeared to be in her mid twenties, giving them a full hearted greeting.
"Hi, welcome to Off Topic, did you need any assistance with anything in particular?"
"Yes , my friend here needs a new change of clothes, as you can see, there was. a ... little mishap,"
"Sure not a problem, what style where you thinking of sir?"
The woman appeared to keep a straight face, but he could sense that she was a little suspicious as to why he appeared in the state he was in.
But could you not really forgive her for being weirded out by it.
Thinking for a moment, choosing the right words before speaking so as to not bring attention to himself.
"Semi formal, I want to look presentable, but not too casual either, and shoes to match."
Directing them to the opposite end of the shop, she then asked if they needed anything else and that she would be more than happy to help. Penny stated that they should be fine and would do so if need be.
"If you don't mind me asking? What exactly was this mishap that you had?"
Penny remained quiet. Not to alert any suspicion. He instantly replied, almost gasping mid sentence, thinking of the first thing that came to mind.
"Had an incident, with a weed sprayer... turned out to be a flamethrower."
Nice one, she'll definitely find that to be a run of the mill scenario...why did I even think of that?
"Um, all-right. Well like I said, if you need any help you know where I'll be."
Wait, it worked?
"Yes... will do, t-thank you. "
With that she returned to the front desk. Leaving the two almost lost for words, before fixing their sights on the racks that were in front of them.
"That shirt is too large for you, try the next size down." Penny remarked, grabbing several hangers worth of clothes and taking him by the hand to a nearby fitting room.
"I judge your height to be 5'2 and since you appear to have a slim build, you'll either have to get shorts or roll up the trousers as well as putting a few extra holes in your belt. Also judging your foot size, a size 9 will definitely work."
Just as Penny had predicted, everything was a perfect fit, no second attempts needed. Once he was sure on the style he was going with, they returned the front. Penny happily paying the cost of the clothes. As she did, he had another look at himself at a nearby mirror.
He still wore his old clothes underneath, much to Penny's reluctance, and over them he had a white long sleeve shirt, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. His trousers were jet black denim with the back nearly sweeping the ground. His shoes looked like formal shoes that had nearly pointed tips, Penny assured him they would be suited for running or 'combat'.
Leaving the shop they continued to walk along the street, as they did, Penny thought to herself.
Now he has a new set of clothes, hopefully that makes him inconspicuous, another face in the crowd, no one would ask questions.
Perhaps I made it in time. It looked like the street was empty when I arrived, hopefully due to it being quiet rather than out of shear panic from the locals.
Perhaps if there were no witnesses the police would write it off as a miss timed explosive, intended to go off during the busier part of the afternoon.
All she hoped was that no one found him or realise he was the cause of the explosion. She took another look at him, having a feeling that whatever did happen,he had no intention of doing the damage he could.
He doesn't look like someone who would want to harm others , he was also suffering from amnesia, he was lost to this world.
Not to mention that only a few weeks ago when the Grimm invasion from undergroun-.
Penny's thoughts were caught off guard when she heard the sound of her companion's stomach growl. Seeing how it had been nearly two hours since she first found him, and the fact that he expelled what he had previously consumed, she wasn't surprised.
No wonder it was so audible.
Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a small cafe, grabbing his hand she yanked him towards it. Penny went in while he remained at one of the many outdoor tables, a few minutes later she returned with a selection of various baked goods.
"I didn't know what you liked, so I asked the owner and he gave me a few choices so I hope at least you'll like one of these." she spoke as she lay the desserts on the table while seating herself opposite him.
"Penny, you shouldn't have done this, you've already bought me this entire look and now this, I can't pay you right now. But I will try to repay you, eventually, I promise."
"It's alright, the most important thing right now is not to let these pastries go to waste, and you need to replenish your energy."
With that he began to wolf down a chocolate muffin ( as politely as he could). She was right however, he did feel pretty drained from everything he had done thus far.
As he was about to pick up an apple and cinnamon muffin he notice that Penny just sat there watching , smiling back at him. Sensing his confusion she spoke up before he could open his mouth.
"I don't really eat sweets at all, and if you feel guilty about eating alone. Don't be, its perfectly fine, I don't eat anything really."
Staring at her for a minute or two, he gave a slight nod and proceeded to enjoy the rest of the sweet treats. A new thought popped into his head, since it had been slightly quiet, he proceeded to ask, to kill the silence that had befallen the two.
'Hey Penny, can I ask you something?"
"Sure I'm all ears."
"How did you know my height and foot size, as well as the clothes fitting me perfectly, without second guessing?"
Her eyes widened slightly, he could see that she was caught off guard by the question and was mentally scrambling for a response.
"Well... I have a friend, well one of my only friends really. She is the exact same height as you and so I guessed what would be the equivalent sizing for men's attire, you would roughly have the same dimensions as her, plus or minus a few places. As for your shoes, well my friend's worn shoes similar to what you have on so I figure that it differed by one or two sizes."
"Well all I can say is you are quite perceptive Penny, a mind like a computer if you have that much attention to detail."
"..."
"But do you really only have the one friend? You're so kind, generous and thoughtful, anyone would be lucky to call you a friend."
"Oh, her teammates are friendly enough to me, but I'm not sure if you would call us all friends. And well, the other thing is, my father is really strict with who I can and can't see.
He even told me that I couldn't really spend much time with my only friend, I'm lucky enough today to visit the city and explore it with freedom. Which I guess you could call it a miracle I found you as I haven't had this type of alone time in a long while."
She looked away from him as she said this, head down, he couldn't tell if she was crying or trying to. He then looked away, thought what he would say next and turned back to her.
"Well you know what Penny, here I am, someone who has a case of amnesia, lost confused and alone, alone until you found me, kept me company, gave me new clothes, paid for this food I've eaten.
You've shown me so much kindness, I doubt that such kindness would happen to me if you weren't at the right place at the right time. And you know what Penny, I owe you and here is where I can start . You can consider me another friend, I can't force you to be my friend, but, I would be honoured to be called your friend."
She looked up eyes gleaming and a large smile adorned her face, she quickly got up and ran to his side enveloping him in a hug.
She's got a grip like a vice.
While still being held in her embrace, he heard a small audible gasp from her as she then promptly pushed him away from her.
" Um, we... we should go... now, it isn't wise for us to stay here!"
"Penny what are you talking ab-"
Click
"HANDS IN THE AIR AND STEP AWAY FROM THE GIRL!"
Six lightly armoured guards bearing assault rifles appeared out from the nearby street, guns all trained towards the two of them. As they got close one of them grabbed Penny and pulled her to his side, shielding her, like she needed protection.
Protection from me? "Wait, what, stop, don't hurt her, Penny what's going o-"
With that his body began to glow a bright purple, it felt like he was encased in amber, only having the freedom to turn his head side to side.
"All of you stand down. Honestly, I find it hard any of you actually accomplishing something when all you do is charge into a given situation directly head on."
"With all due respect ma'am, we did have the situation under control."
"Yes, I'm sure that you did. And let's suppose if he did run, you and your men would have no problem in gunning him down, whilst there could be civilians in the nearby area."
Still frozen in place he turned as far as he neck allowed him to, trying to get a glimpse at who the feminine voice belonged to. It was only until she was in his line of sight did he see who it was.
She was a tall slender woman with blonde hair and bright green eyes which sat behind a pair of spectacles , she had a long sweeping purple cloak which was attached to a white pleated top and a black high-waisted skirt. Her weapon of choice if that's what you could call it was a riding crop, which she began to lower it after her little quarrel with the soldier.
"Now what exactly do you think you are doing Miss Polendina, going directly to the source of danger, putting yourself at risk and possibly nearly getting hurt, could you imagine what would have happened if we didn't find you. Think of how your father would feel if anything did happen to you, his only daughter, gone, all because you were just too curious and disobedient in following orders from your superiors"
"But Miss Goodwitch, I wasn't in any real danger, my friend here doesn't appear to be the type of person to be fearful of.
If anything, on closer inspection, I'd say he is the one that is fearful of us, especially with the presence of armed guards, plus he can't re-"
"That's quite enough from you young lady. You'll have plenty of time to explain yourself to general Ironwood, once we are back at Beacon.
I'd imagine he won't be so lenient as he was the first time when you drew attention to yourself in the city streets. You really shouldn't be spending so much time with Miss Rose, I feel she is the reason for your new fondness for seeking danger..."
Griping her ridging crop tightly, now glaring to her right, making eye contact with him, nearly startling him, he would have stepped back and fallen over, albeit he was fixed in place.
"And as for you. Do you have any idea the damage you have done? The panic that ensued from the nearby streets around the blast . Not to mention the entire block now without power. Now, once I lower this barrier I expect you to come with us without any restraint, resistance or retaliation. I take it that myself and these six armed guards are enough to convince you of the gravity of the situation. Do I make my myself clear young man?"
"Crystal." he said with teeth partially gritted, not in anger or resentment, but more of general confusion , the whole scenario playing out before him.
Going to be leaving this one there, next chapter to come in a week (or less). My story is going along, I hope you like it. Will mention that the chapter lengths will differ depending on where i choose to stop it. But all the same liking it thus far, and there will be definitely several occasions I may clarify something in a chapter if need be,/ have an Easter egg or something like that in here.
Like for example: Glynda knew about Ruby being with Penny, explanation: Ironwood talked to her about one of the two guards that found Penny giving him a description that fitted Ruby to a T.
Anyway that's it for now, until the next chapter.