The Art Of Us

19 • Like Myself Again

Charles and Alice made their way towards the Wyrm, planning another day of cleaning. With how slow they were going to felt like it would take weeks before they could even start renovating.

Before they could even let themselves think about that, there was another problem— money. She tried not to think about it, but at some point she needed to face this obstacle that was keeping her up at night.

"What about a fundraiser? A bake sale? A car wash?" Charles summed up, trying to brainstorm ideas to earn some money.

"I might help for some little renovations, but we're going to need a couple of thousands." Alice said, looking defeated. She didn't want to turn down his ideas, but they needed too much to cover easily.

"Serpents still aren't really loved in town, and Southsiders aren't particularly rich. I don't want to ask them for money." Alice said, already feeling guilty of having to ask her own to fix things. She didn't want to see that as an option.

"It might just be the end." She said sadly, taking her keys out of her pocket.

"No, it can't be! It's our home!" Charles said emotionally, stopping in his tracks. Alice swallowed. She hated seeing him like this.

"I know sweetie, but if I don't find a solution soon, we might have to close." Alice placed her hand on his shoulder and tried to remain strong, while she actually wanted to burst out in tears.

She tried to put the keys into the lock, but to her surprise the door was already open. They walked in curiously, and their eyes grew wide when she saw a bunch of people working in her bar.

Some were sweeping, some were cleaning, and other were trying to examine the damage before taking their tools to make the best of it. Everything reeked like paint and fresh wood instead of ashes, which was a nice change.

"What is going on in here?" Alice looked her eyes out, totally confused.

"We're fixing the Wyrm." FP said, as he noticed Alice and walked her way.

"But.... how...." Alice began to stutter.

"Sold my Rolex. It was the only solution until my cards are open again. I didn't like wearing it anyway and I figured that I could use the money to help fix the home of the Serpents. It was once my home too, so I know that this is way more than just a bar. It felt like it was my duty to help out." FP said, giving her a soft smile.

"So, I got the Serpents together to start fixing it together. I thought it'd be a nice way to bond, you know?" He grinned, as he looked around to the others who were working their ass off to surprise Alice with this renovation.

"You did that for me?" Alice said emotionally, tearing up as she looked right at him.

"Yeah, of course. It's you, Alice." FP said softly.

Alice smiled a little, but then suddenly she got a good look at him. The dress shirts and perfectly tailors pants were gone. Instead, he was wearing denim jeans, a cotton shirt and a flannel over it. But the one thing that she never thought she'd see again was him in a Serpent Jacket. He looked so different, and yet the same as he used to.

"Al?" He asked carefully, not sure why her face had suddenly changed.

"Your jacket..." She took another step towards him and let her fingers slide of the leather.

"You're wearing your jacket, and your flannel." She said, gripping onto it.

"You look..."

"Like myself again?" FP finished softly.