s o l o m o n

e i g h t

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"What are you doing here?"

"Look who decided to show up!" Hyx stood behind the counter, sorting various glass flasks and small jars. It was obvious by the manner in which he seemed to stall his work that he wasn't entirely certain how to sort the apothecary's inventory. One by one, he precariously inspected each vial for a moment longer than necessary before finally deciding to set it somewhere arbitrarily. "I came to visit my friend on my break and Iyato said you were gone."

"You take-y too long." Iyato was leaned against the opposite counter, watching Hyx with eagle eyes, his arms folded across his chest, as the boy he didn't hire tried poorly to do Yusa's job.

"I'm–" Yusa bowed quickly. "I'm sorry, Iyato. I lost track of time. It won't happen again."

"Hmm," he grumbled. "I forgive-y if you take over from him. He is-y not good." With that, Iyato retreated toward the back of his shop, where his office was located. The door was propped open just enough to reveal the scatter of papers and books, grinding stones, mortar and pestles, and various plants strewn around.

"I don't even work here!" Hyx cried out toward Iyato, but he had already disappeared from sight. With a huff, he walked out from around the counter as Yusa replaced his spot, once again clad in her white apothecary's robe.

"So," Hyx said, leaning his elbows on the lavender countertop nearest to Yusa, watching as she sorted through the strange inventory. "Where did you go?"

"Just for a walk." She grasped a short jar in her hand, the mouth of it was wide and closed with a large cork. She held the jar up to interpret what was inside before setting it on the counter behind her, making it clear to Hyx how poor of a job he'd done in attempting to do the same.

"Mmm." He nodded. It was clear he was not buying her answer.

Yusa turned around. "What?"

"So, where did you go?"

"I just went for a walk!" She couldn't help the rise in her voice as she defended herself, turning back around to continue her sorting inventory. "Why did you ask me twice?"

"You don't go for walks. You wouldn't have lost track of time unless you were doing something. Where did you go?"

She let out a harsh breath, recognizing that it was difficult to find any fault in her friend's worrying.

"I didn't– I went to the shop," she said with a shrug. Despite her cool tone, she avoided turning around to look him in the face.

"Oh." His voice was cool, calm, though Yusa could hear the concern that he tried to pretend wasn't there. As time went on, she found it increasingly troublesome to try and hide things from Hyx. "Well, did you find anything?"

"No, I..." She cleared her throat, the soft clattering of the glass filling the silence around them for a few moments. "I have some stuff to tell you later, that's all."

Thinking about the shop now, Yusa remembered her grandfather's cane, still resting behind the register. Her mind had been too scrambled, and her blood had run cold with how shaky and anxious she was. She'd had no strength to think of anything else except leaving the shop as quickly as she could, and the cane had completely slipped her mind.

"Hmm, you know I hate waiting," he whined, drooping his head down toward the counter. Silence fell between them once again, save for the gentle tinks and clinks of the glass in Yusa's possession. It was rare, the lack of words that seemed to plague the two of them. Rarely ever did they come across times that felt like this, as though it were difficult for them to find the right words to say.