Mountains and Buffalo.

Chapter 24: It's Cruel.

I couldn't even grant the thing the credit for being inconspicuous. At the very least, one of the dozen kindred houses lining the city streets would deter suspicion. But a flower shop?

"It may look silly," Dave started, "But don't let its exterior deceive you. This is likely the safest building in the city."

"How?"

I asked the natural question. Dave didn't turn to reply, nor did he reply at all. He lowered his stance and scanned the street before bolting with Pars to the shop's doors. They made it halfway across before I even thought to follow them.

I did a quick inspection of my own, and when I found the streets to be clear I ran across the road as well. The two entered the shop immediately. Pars motioned Juke and I to hurry on in, and so we did.

"Are ya sure we ain't gonna get caught in here?"

Pars turned to answer Juke.

"Honestly, with how little numbers Hard-Bringer seems to have brought here, we could be in broad daylight without being found out. But we aren't so stupid, of course. There's a reason why we picked this shop in particular."

"That so, eh?"

Pars nodded with a strangely satisfied smile before shutting the door and venturing deeper into the shop. I followed him, watching my steps and arms to not topple any products over, quietly observing the shop.

The nature of the store reminded me of myself. It was a flower shop, so of course, there were several flowers, potted and not, set for display on shelves, tables, and vases. I could tell that none of the plants were magical, but it wasn't too disappointing. The colors of the flowers made me uneasy. They were darkened shades of blue, green, and red, and a few of them were flecked shades of brown. It seemed like even the flora in this city was despondent.

My browsing was cut short by our lead coming to a stop. Pars stood before the register, and I peeked around him to see a creature with a scowl so foul I could smell it. I nearly flinched in surprise but collected myself when I realized that I was looking at a human being. Pars leaned on the countertop and began to speak.

"Hey Becker, how's the–"

"Go and hole up with all the other pissy prairie dogs."

Pars remained silent for a moment before straightening himself and simply nodding. Perplexed, I didn't follow him, and my fixed gaze gave way to direct eye contact with the grouchy man. My attention shifted to the dozens of protruding blackheads on his face. His scowl became more scrunched, yet I didn't have the will to look away.

"Are you a kid?"

"H-Huh!?"

An innocent question like that was the last thing I expected to leave from his mouth.

"I said, are you a kid?"

"I-I, yes, I am."

He scoffed and scratched his chubby chin.

"But you're standing here with all these adults. You're pretending like you're not a kid."

He turned his eyes away from me and narrowed them. I didn't say anything. I couldn't begin thinking of a response.

"Go on, follow that idiot, he'll lead you to the others."

The man raised his hand to brush me away, then returned to reading a paper. Though I was still shell-shocked, I followed his orders as if it was the only thing I knew how to do. When I arrived by Pars, Juke was already with him, and Pars gave me a concerned look.

"Did he give you a hard time?"

"I'm, not sure. He said something that stumped me."

Pars' eyes widened a little.

"I'm surprised he didn't chew you out. It's that rotten attitude of his that makes him such a good deterrent for unwelcome visitors."

"Is that so?"

He nodded and put his hand on the door.

"Down here, you'll find the basement. That's where everyone else is."

Pars went downstairs, and Juke followed him down. He looked at me before he committed to descending.

"The hell did that old fart tell ya?"

I blankly stared at him and pondered. It hurt to think about his words. I decided to set it aside and worry about it later.

I've been doing that a lot as of late.