Buds of Despair

31. Back To Work

Back To Work

Noctis stood outside waiting for Isabella to change since she was healthy enough to challenge she was healthy enough for missions. Luka and Kuro had both come at him almost back to back as if it were his fault, he had held her back for as long as he could. She came out in a simple soft yellow summer dress with white frills at the bottom, short white lace gloves, a white lace large brimmed sun hat and white wedge lace up sandals. Kuro was constantly adding things to her closet at random, she had to admit he had great taste in womens clothing. He also showed her an app to order clothes on, she had become slightly addicted. Noctis was dressed much more casual in a white t-shirt and black shorts with white tennis shoes.

They were already finishing up their mission, they were shutting down a lab, they were close to finding it. The further away from the ocean the more attacks came their way so they knew they were heading in the right direction. They were passing through a village in the middle of the desert and decided to shop for a little bit, it was unique so even he wanted to buy things. There were rumored Hougan or high priests and voodoo was practiced here so of course it caught their attention, you could buy things here that you couldn't find anywhere else in the world. Isabella was captivated by a stone, it was milky blue and white the woman picked it up and held it out to her.

"This will look beautiful against such fair skin." she held the stone against her arm "I can cut and set it in anything you see here. These are the precious stones of our land aren't they beautiful" she waved her hand over designs of twisted silver and gold, rings, bracelets, charms.

"Everything here is beautiful. Could I ask for something special by chance? I would of course compensate for the custom order." the woman flashed a beautiful smile her way, her teeth were so white against her dark skin, she had full lips, high cheekbones and almond shaped dark eyes, her hair was black and dreaded with charms tied in it. She had on colorful skirts and a black tank, she was stunningly beautiful in a way she had never seen. Isabella left her with the request and she roughly drew up the design for approval before she went to find Noctis, he was looking at vials filled with different colors of dust and liquids. "What are those?"

"Potions." he pulled one off of the shelf tossing it to her and posed with his elbow resting on his arm and chin on hand "here drink this and fall in love with me." 

She laughed as she read the love potion label and put it back. She picked up ones that leaned towards stress relief and health, to her it was more believable than love potions. Just like tea many herbs, plants and stones held healing powers, she was a firm believer that any living thing had a spirit. Stones canceled out electronic and magnetic frequencies so she didn't doubt they could repel negative energy and cleanse the spirit as well. She grabbed a lot of vials as did Noctis and cashed out both paying more than they were rang up for just because they felt bad clearing out half of his supply. The seller was very happy and offered them a few other things to try, lotions, oils and lip balms that were made with similar herbs and plants.

They both grabbed food from street vendors, it was one of her favorite ways to try local dishes, Griot and banan peze was delicious as they sat at the table enjoying their food. It had been a while since it had been just them, ever since Kuro came back he had totally monopolized her, he knew his time was limited so he was hogging it all. Noctis didn't have insecurities about Isabella, she was his partner they would be together for their whole careers even if he did something she hated she couldn't leave him. Kuro had to leave her at the end of the year and never look back so he had to be much more delicate around her, he didn't want to do anything to upset her.

A tall dark man sat at their table and took a piece of Isabella's banan peze eating it as he smiled at her setting two white stones on the table. "That is some good banan peze but you should try putting the meat with it and using the sauce." he pointed to the center of the table. His accent was thick but his words were clear.