Chapter 4 - Such a chore I don't adore
Gigi and I are jolted awake by the Smeargle clerk tapping on my shoulder, a quizzical look on his face. "Excuse me sir, the guildmaster is ready to see you now."
"I see, thank you." I reply, standing up and gently shaking Gigi awake.
I lead a sleepy Gigi by the hand up two more flights of stairs, stopping before a pair of large wooden doors, the carpet below us imitating a voracious tongue, ready to swallow us whole. The Smeargle knocks on the door nervously, clearing his throat. "Guildmaster, mister Rangzhemolt and the Heavenly Pink Demon are here to see you."
After a couple of long minutes the clerk awkwardly clears his throat again and with a strained grunt slightly pushes one of the doors ajar.
Stepping into the room we're met by a lavish office, full of rugs and furs as well as a lavish couch strewn about the room. The walls are painted with a light color and an arrangement of blue, yellow and green flowers rests inside a jar on top of the desk. At the end of the room there is a large window overlooking the plains with a slight tint on it, turning the green expanse into calm blue waves.
"Guildmaster, we're here." Gigi says, bowing slightly.
The imposing Empoleon on the other side of the desk says nothing, her back turned to us as she gazes out of the window, sighing wistfully.
"...Guildmaster, are you there?" Gigi asks once again, knocking on the doorframe.
Once again the guildmaster says nothing, as if we weren't here in the first place. I find myself getting more and more irritated. I briskly walk around the desk and put my hand on her shoulder, spinning them around. "Oi Sam, snap out of it." I admonish, snapping my fingers in their face.
Sam slowly blinks a couple of times before their eyes register my face, her eyes lighting up and becoming softer.
"Oh, sorry about that. You know how it is, missing the waves and all that."
"Yeah well, I got you your 'heart of the green sea' or whatever it is." I say, rummaging through my rucksack and pulling out the green ball of mush, holding it in my hand. Sam's eyes light up as she swipes the strange from my hands and sets it on the desk.
"Thank you my friend, I have been craving this for a long time."
"Craving wha-"
I can't even finish as Sam uses the tip of her flippers to cut open the green ball, a soft aroma wafting through the air as she expertly cuts around the rind and digs into the pulpy flesh, removing the seeds with great care and setting them aside. I can't bear to look away at the sight in front of me: the greatest guildmaster in the world, a mere ravenous beast feasting upon this strange lifeform. Gigi looks at Sam with a mixture of awe and disgust, licking her lips at the sight in front of her.
.
After what feels like ages Sam lets out a small burp and pats her belly, her beak still dripping with liquids as she gazes at the mess on top of her desk. She then pats my shoulder with her juice-covered flippers.
"My friend Rags, you are a saint among us." She says, a smile on her eyes that I hadn't seen in quite some time.
"...What the fuck did you send me to get."
"Only the greatest delicacy in the world, my friend. A real-life honest-to-goodness jaca! And with the seeds intact as well!"
"A what now?"
"How do you say it in common…? Ah, a jackfruit." Sam says, a smug grin on her face.
"You made me, in the dead of night, go into a random dungeon in bumfuck nowhere, for days on end, for a fruit?" I ask, disbelief etched on my face as well as the jagged smile creeping upon my lips. "A fucking fruit?"
"You know how it is, sometimes I get homesick. And fruits from Earth are really hard to find." Sam says, shrugging as she tries to act all cute despite her face being sticky from the juice. However, that seemingly innocent act drives me over the edge a bit too fast before I can reel myself back.
"SAMUELA, I WILL GUT YOU LIKE A FISH!" I roar in rage, throwing myself over the desk. However Sam is already on the other side of the desk behind Gigi, a smirk on her beak in mock fear.
"Oh no, save me Gigi, Rags is out of his mind." Sam mocks, dodging and weaving from my lunges.
Eventually I have to catch my breath and we call for a truce. Sitting down on the lavish couch I cough and wheeze, trying to get my bearings in order.
"...Are those fruits at least profitable?"
"To a degree, yes."
"By how much? A fresh apple is about 100 poké a piece so it needs to be higher than that by an amount."
"No worries, it can go for at least 2k per fruit."
"...You drive me up the wall. All of you."
Gigi pipes up, giving me puppy-dog eyes as she climbs up the couch, ready to pounce. "Even me?"
"Especially you."
"Oh phooey."
I give out a long and exasperated sigh as I lean down on the couch, hands on my temples as I feel a throbbing headache forming.
"Was that all or do you need anything else?" I ask Sam, who is currently wiping the seeds clean.
"I also want a road from the guild all the way to the nearest beach, and I want it to pass by Paradise."
"Why are you asking me that? Curie's the one to talk to when it comes to infrastructure."
"I did ask her, but she told me to speak to you. If you give the go-ahead she can get started within the week."
"Why my permission? If I recall, you are the guildmaster, not me."
"According to her you are one of the few that actually has a head on your shoulders, whatever that means."
"...That makes so much sense considering it's from her, that I'm ashamed of even asking in the first place."
"So, what do you say?"
"I don't know, give me a week or so to work out the kinks of this balls-to-the-wall plan of yours."
"A week? Why?"
I close my eyes, hissing between gritted teeth. Gigi climbs on top of me and nestles onto my body, gently rocking me back and forth.
"Because we're at the opposite end of the Mist Continent and I'll be damned if I'm going to give the green light to this shit without proper precautions."
"What's there to precautionate about? It's just a road."
"Yeah, a road that will cross an entire continent. That means infrastructure costs, logistics, outposts, scheduled maintenance, topological analysis, weather predictions, contingency upon contingency, and who knows what else. All of that takes time."
I can hear a smile forming on Sam's face as she starts spewing ideas out into the open.
"If we're building a road, maybe we can also build a town at the end, a beach town! Where folks can surfar and relax in the sun, some cocktails with cachaça… Wow, it could be a paradise just like home!"
I, however, do not reply, since I'm too busy whimpering in Gigi's encompassing embrace.
.
After maybe a half an hour or so I finally feel strong enough to open my eyes again, and see Gigi looking at me from above, gently stroking my head.
"Are you feeling better now?" She asks softly, kissing the top of my head.
I can only chuckle at her question, instead snuggling against her.
"...Yeah, thanks." I croak out weakly, a soft smile on my face.
"You're welcome, Rags." She says, hopping off my body and into the floor with a flourish.
"Speaking of which, where is Sam? I don't see her anywhere."
"I kinda went off on her after you fell asleep and she went for some food. Churrasco, I think she called it. What is that anyway?"
"Churrasco is barbecue, from what I remember Sam saying about it."
"Why doesn't she use the common word for it instead?"
"Coping mechanism, I think. Not everyone adapted so well to the fact they're in a different world."
Gigi looks at the window then back to me.
"Out of the five of us, who do you think took to the change better?"
"My guess? From most comfortable to least it would have to be you, Thoron, Curie, Sam and then me."
"Oh? Why would you say that? I think Thoron could be in first place as well."
"I'd think that too, if not for the fact that some of the guild prostitutes told me he cries in his sleep sometimes."
"Ouch. Wait, they tell you those kinds of things?"
"I think I'm up to par with most of the gossip and rumors that float about in the guild. Perks of my position, I suppose."
"What are you going to do now? Go talk to Curie?"
"...Nah, I'm gonna go to sleep. Whatever I need to do can be done tomorrow."
Gigi helps me get up and wraps her arms around my waist.
"Need a hand getting to your room?"
"You sure? It's quite a trek back to it."
"It's fine, don't worry about it. It'll serve as strength training for the day." Gigi replies with a teasing wink.
"I suppose I'll take you up on your offer then."
We leave Sam's office with me lazily hanging over Gigi, her arms stretched upwards as she carries me to my room, down five flights of stairs and into a side corridor in the guild's ground floor. The corridor is dark, with cobblestone walls supported by wooden beams that seemingly stretch infinitely into the darkness in front of us, only lit by fluorescent moss growing in the larger cracks in the stones.
Exiting the tunnel we arrive into a semi-circular room with bookcases from end to end, scrolls, books and orbs filling the shelves with clipboards attached to the walls serving as identifications. I tap Gigi on her side.
"Take a right here, from the records archive to my room."
"Don't worry, I know where it is."
Gigi lets me down softly and I open the door to my personal quarters. Large in size, it resembles more an apartment than a simple room, complete with a small kitchen area, living room, bathroom and bedroom. Gigi helps me to my bed, taking off my blouse and pants and tucking me in, kissing my cheek.
"Goodnight Rags, sweet dreams." Gigi says softly, closing the door gently behind her and leaving me in my dark bedroom.
With a gentle darkness and complete silence around me, it doesn't take long before I fall asleep, letting week-long stress and indisposition melt away amidst the cool bedsheets.
Here's chapter 4, sorry for the wait. Have a good one.