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Sam turned over onto his back and exhaled, keeping his eyes closed, the comforting feeling of sleepiness washing over him. As he drifted back into his dreams, a loud bell rang through the silence, startling him awake. His eyes shot open, and he stared up at the unfamiliar ceiling of his unnaturally tall room. Then again, since reptilians were living amongst humans, it made sense for the house to accommodate them in case Sam ever had them over as visitors. Speaking of visitors, who was visiting him at the ungodly hour of … four in the afternoon.
Sam sat up and yawned. Although it was four in the afternoon, and he had practically slept his whole day away, he wasn’t worried or anxious. In fact, he felt great. He might’ve had a comfortable bed in Et Serpentium, but he never knew when he was going to be ambushed at night by one of Ellie’s awareness drills; it felt good to get a full night’s rest on a bed made from monster materials: the fur of a sneaky fox—or some other animal, Sam wasn’t really paying attention to the introduction—the hide of some kind of ox. Whatever the materials, they were of quality, even better than what Sam had slept in when his parents still treated him like a normal person.
Sam rolled out of bed and rummaged through his closet, taking out what he thought was presentable-looking outerwear. He donned his apparel before slipping his feet into a pair of fuzzy slippers; then, he made his way to the entrance of his new home, which was past a living room, kitchen, and dining room, each room fully furnished and spotless, having been cleaned by a group of graylings. Two graylings standing by the front door on either side saluted Sam as he approached. “Open it,” Sam said, and the grayling closest to the doorknob responded to Sam’s request.
As soon as the door opened, the smell of fresh grass and flowers tickled Sam’s nose as a spring-like vibe overwhelmed him. “April,” Sam said, blinking at the arrival of his green-haired personal nurse. Was she still his nurse since he went from employee of Monarch to partner? Well, since she was here, she obviously had business with him. “It’s been a while.” It had been so long, he almost forgot she existed.
“Over two months,” April said. She met Sam’s eyes and froze, the flowers representing her vibe withering. The green-haired woman swallowed and choked out her next words. “You seem different.” After taking a second to stifle her fear, April scanned Sam from head to toe. “It’s like you’re a veteran awakened now.”
“Thanks, I would hope so,” Sam said.
April stood on her tiptoes and dropped back down onto her heels, her white sundress fluttering from the motion. “So, aren’t you going to invite me in?” she asked and held up the basket she was holding in her hands. “I brought you a housewarming gift.”
“Come in,” Sam said. He gestured towards one of the graylings. “You can leave the gift with him.”
April blinked at the grayling before handing it her basket. “Him?” she asked. “I was unaware grayling’s had genders.”
Sam shrugged. “Who knows,” he said. “It’s just easier this way, and it’s not like the grayling is against it or anything.”
“I suppose,” April said and swept her gaze over the walls and ceiling of Sam’s new place. Her eyes lingered on each separate piece of furniture as she looked around the room. “You’re a rich man now, huh? Master of the graylings and all.”
“You’ve heard?” Sam asked, raising an eyebrow.
“I do follow the news,” April said and took a seat on a chair made with materials Sam didn’t even know the names of; it looked soft though. He took a seat across from her, a small coffee table dividing them.
Sam leaned back and stretched his legs out, placing his feet on the table. Why exactly was April here? There was no need for Monarch to monitor him since Wendy was a mind reader; if he was planning on putting the company in a detrimental position, she’d be the first to know. “So, why are you here?” Sam asked. Since he couldn’t puzzle out the reason himself, he’d take the blunt approach.
April smiled at Sam. “Monarch was thinking of removing my role as your personal nurse since you’ve escaped from their artificial-talent program,” she said before looking at the graylings standing by the front door. She whispered at Sam, “They keep secrets, right?”
Sam nodded. They wouldn’t reveal anyone’s secrets—except to himself and Birdbrained.
“Okay,” April said, “just making sure. You never know who’s listening.” She reached forward and grabbed one of the candies in the bowl on the coffee table, ignoring the fact Sam’s feet wasn’t that far away from the treats. “So, since Monarch was thinking of taking my lucrative job away, I came to fight for it.”
Sam blinked. “What do you mean?”
“Are you injured?” April asked, staring at him with hopeful eyes as if she were wishing he’d been maimed on his trip. “Do you need any treatment?” She looked down and peeled open the candy wrapper before making eye contact with Sam. “My talent works on psychological traumas too. If you’ve witnessed anything horrifying, you might have nightmares or flashbacks, and those are things I can help with.”
Sam scratched his head. He didn’t think he had suffered much trauma from his time in Et Serpentium; however, just being around April helped him relax. His muscles—which were normally tense, especially around his shoulders and upper back—didn’t bother him anymore. Also, it didn’t hurt to have someone with a healing ability on standby in case he or someone he knew needed medical assistance. “I’m not injured,” Sam said, “but I’ll hire you. That’s what you want me to do, right?”
“Right!” April said. “I want to work for you directly instead of working with you through Monarch.”
“Will Monarch be fine with that?” Sam asked. Somehow, he didn’t think the queen would take kindly to him poaching her employee.
“They will be if you’re willing to pay my termination fee,” April said. “What do you think? I’m worth it, right?”
Sam didn’t know how much the termination fee was, so he couldn’t answer honestly; however, his emotional intelligence grew greatly ever since he unlocked his Sahasrara—mostly because his understanding of people’s vibes had increased, the energy they produced practically revealing everything as if they were an open book. “Whatever the cost,” Sam said. “Which is how much, by the way?”
“Five hundred thousand credits,” April said. “Chump change for an S-ranked awakened like you.”
“I haven’t been awakened that long,” Sam said, raising an eyebrow.
“Yeah,” April said and pointed at the coffee table under Sam’s heels. “But this footrest of yours costs a million credits, so….”
No wonder why the place was so expensive. Sam retrieved his legs and sat up straight. “Are you familiar with expensive furniture?” he asked. The graylings had furnished the place for him. It was much simpler and less stressful to let them make decisions for him.
“No,” April said and pointed at the corner of the coffee table. “The price tag is still on it.”
“Oh,” Sam said. “That makes sense.”
April grinned at Sam. “I heard you visited the six big companies yesterday and made deals with all of them. Your first day back must’ve been quite busy.”
Sam nodded. After renting out the graylings he had brought, the day was practically over. Using the fifty graylings he had kept to serve himself, he managed to furnish the place he had purchased during the train ride; not only that, but the graylings purchased clothes for him and stocked his pantry and fridge. In fact, there were two graylings making his breakfast in the kitchen as he spoke with April. “It was, but it’s over now,” Sam said. “I can finally relax.”
“You’re taking your relaxation seriously, I see,” the green-haired woman said, scanning Sam from head to toe. “Most people don’t wear bathrobes and slippers when they have guests over.”
Sam stared down at his robe and slippers. They were black, glossy, and sleek. Also, they were easy to put on. “But they’re fancy,” Sam said. “They’re practically formal attire because of how swanky they are.”
“And with the right tools and enough patience, you can polish a turd until it shines like a jewel,” April said.
“I’m sure someone out there would pay for a shiny turd to display in their home,” Sam said. “There’s all sorts of weirdos in the world.”
“Right,” April said, “but if we’re going out in public, you should wear something else. Haven’t you heard? Clothes makes the man.”
“Can’t say I have,” Sam said—to be fair, he hadn’t read much. He turned towards one of the graylings on standby. “Bring me an appropriate outfit for appearing out in public.” His gaze landed back on April. “Why are we going out in public?”
“A date?” April asked. Dimples appeared on her cheeks upon seeing Sam’s vacant expression. “I’m joking, but I have to stay by you for my talent to work, and I’m sure you’re curious about exploring the parts of the city you were forbidden from entering as a talentless.”
“Are you going to be my tour guide?” Sam asked. He could get a grayling to draft an itinerary for him, but if April were willing to bring him around her stomping grounds, then there was no reason to turn her down.
“Sure,” April said. “As long as you promise Raindu won’t swipe my belongings again.”
Panties flashed through Sam’s mind as his expression darkened. He had almost forgotten what Raindu had done. “I don’t think I can promise you that,” Sam said and sighed. Raindu should’ve become more obedient as time went on, but instead, the ferret became independent and took Sam’s orders as suggestions rather than commands. It was probably Sam’s fault for not training the ferret diligently, but he had a feeling the ferret would’ve been disobedient no matter what kind of training it had.
April narrowed her eyes at Sam, a wry smile appearing on her lips. “Did you not train him?”
“Raindu!” Sam said, shouting towards the side. “Come here!” A few seconds passed without so much as a sound indicating the ferret was listening to Sam’s order. Sam leaned forward and picked up the bowl of candies, noticing the price tag still attached to the bottom. Maybe because grayling fingers were so much longer than their thumbs, they weren’t good at using scissors. Sam shook the bowl, causing the candy inside of it to rattle.
The sounds of nails clicking on floorboards echoed through the residence, and a scruffy eagle came into view, hobbling towards Sam. It squawked at Sam, causing his expression to darken.
“Raindu’s not coming?” April asked upon seeing Sam’s face. She pointed at the eagle, which was gleaming white, its feathers reflecting the LED lights on the ceiling. “Who’s that?”
Sam exhaled. “That’s Birdbrained,” he said. “It told me to cease the incessant rattling.”
“It?” April asked. “Graylings get a gender, but your pet doesn’t?”
Sam made eye contact with April and crossed his arms over his chest. “I don’t know about you, but I have no clue how to identify a bird’s gender,” he said. “It’s all feathers down there.”
April shook off the chilling sensation she received when making eye contact with Sam. For some reason, it felt like she was communicating with a reptilian. Their eyes always made her hesitate. “Have you tried asking?” the green-haired woman asked. She turned towards the scruffy eagle. “Are you a boy or a girl?”
Birdbrained squawked, the sound like nails scratching against a chalkboard.
“Well?” April asked Sam. “What’d it say?”
“It’s genderless,” Sam said. “It”—before he could say anything else, Birdbrained squawked at Sam, the windows of the residence rattling from the high-pitched cry.
“I don’t speak bird, but that didn’t sound like a shriek of agreement,” April said and tugged on her earlobes in an attempt to alleviate the ringing left behind by Birdbrained’s protest.
Sam exhaled. “Fine,” he said, “just stop being so loud, okay?” A defeated expression appeared on Sam’s face as he met April’s gaze. “Birdbrained wants to be addressed as … milord.”
“Then, why’d you name”—April gestured towards the eagle, which was puffing out its chest—“Birdbrained instead of Milord?”
“Milord likes the name Birdbrained,” Sam said, respecting the eagle’s wishes lest it decide to test how durable his eardrums were. “Don’t look at me like that, please.”
A smile appeared on April’s face, and she waved at Birdbrained. “Well, milord, my name is April,” she said. “I’ll be taking your owner outside today. Do you want to come with us?”
Birdbrained squawked and flapped its wings, wobbling through the air like a drunken bat before landing on the coffee table. Not long after, a grayling walked into the room with the outfit Sam had requested. “How is it?” Sam asked as he accepted the clothes before showing them off to April. “Acceptable for an outing?”
“Very fashionable,” April said.
“It’s all the same color,” Sam said, looking at—what he thought was—an overly large green jacket, a too-tight green shirt, green shorts that probably wouldn’t even cover his knees, green socks that looked more metallic than cloth, and green shoes with holes punched throughout its surface. “You really think this is fashionable?” He had left the clothes shopping up to the graylings, and evidently, their sense of style was superior to Sam’s—not that he’d agree.
“They’re green, but they’re all different shades of green,” April said. “When you piece them all together”—
“No one will ever spot me in a jungle,” Sam said, finishing April’s sentence for her.
“It’ll be pretty hard to miss your pale knees,” April said. “You’ve spent too long in Et Serpentium. I heard there’s no sunlight there; is that true?”
“Yeah,” Sam said. “It’s underground, and the ceiling produces light, but it’s not like the sun at all.” A frown appeared on Sam’s face. “How’d you know I was in Et Serpentium?” Monarch’s missions were supposed to be confidential.
“Do you not read the newspaper?” April asked. “Then again, it does look like you just woke up, so….”
“I’m in the news?” Sam asked.
“You thought you wouldn’t be in the news?” April asked. “There’s nothing journalists love more than the appearance of a new S-ranked awakened, especially one that visited the six big companies all in one day. Monarch even published a piece on you, claiming you’ve forged an alliance with the graylings and a faction of the reptilians. Is it true?”
Sam scratched his head. “Yes,” he said. “I suppose you could say that.” He hadn’t expected Monarch to push him into the public spotlight since his talent wasn’t exactly obtained by normal means. Perhaps they were using him as an advertisement for their artificial-talent program. Sign your life away to Monarch to become an S-ranked awakened, Sam could envision the ads being placed where the talentless lived.
April turned towards the grayling that had delivered Sam’s clothes. “Do you happen to have a pair of sunglasses?” she asked. “I have a feeling Sam will need to wear them in public.” Her eyes drifted onto Sam’s outfit still on his seat. “Make sure the lenses are green.”
“I don’t think I have a pair of green sunglasses….” Sam’s voice trailed off as the grayling handed him a small box, one the perfect size for storing glasses in. He opened the box and sighed. “Never mind, guess I do.”
“Great,” April said. “Birdbrained and I will wait for you to get changed.”
Sam took in a deep breath and scooped up all the clothes before heading back to his bedroom. It took him a minute to change, but he didn’t come out of the room for a while because he was examining himself in the mirror. For some reason, he felt like a fool. As a talentless, he tried to avoid standing out, and even though he was allegedly a famous awakened now, he didn’t feel comfortable wearing clothes that demanded people’s attentions.
“You look great!” April said when she spotted Sam entering the room.
“Really?” Sam asked. He was glad his sunglasses were reflective; at least part of his face would be hidden. “My knees aren’t too pale?” He didn’t know why it was considered fashionable to hide every part of his body save for his knees, but fashion was always changing—and to some people, weird.
“You have nothing to worry about,” April said before looking up at Sam’s head. “But what’s with the hat?”
Birdbrained flapped its wings and struggled to climb through the air before landing atop Sam’s wide-brimmed hat.
Sam pointed at the eagle’s sharp talons. “It’s to prevent those knives from scalping me.”
“I see,” April said and nodded her head. Something soft pressed against her ankle, and she looked down at her feet just in time to see a black ferret scamper away towards Sam with a very familiar pair of purple, laced panties. “Sam….”
“Again? Really?” Sam asked, his expression darkening as he looked down at Raindu, who had stored its prize away into its fur. “Where did you even come from?”
The ferret ignored Sam’s question and climbed up his legs, entering his shirt from below to hide itself from view.
“Sorry,” Sam said to April. He turned towards one of the graylings nearby. “Bring her something to wear.”
“No need,” April said and reached into her pocket. She pulled out a pair of panties. “I came prepared.”
Sam wasn’t quite sure how to feel about that, but he was sure he needed to redouble his efforts on Raindu’s training. At the very least, the ferret had to learn to stop putting him in awkward situations.