"Are you sure its ok if we stay for awhile? I understand if you cant" Guqqie said, as she helped Aimsey dry dishes from breakfast. "Oh no it's no trouble at all! Jack and I love the company, I do have some errands today if you'd like to join!" Guqqie eagerly nodded and as they finished with dishes the pair got ready and headed out the door.
***
"Hi grandma!" The bell above the door could be heard through the whole building, alerting an older tall woman with long black and slightly grey hair to the front. "Aimsey my dear its been to long! You need to come visit more often- oh! Who's this with you?" Kristin walked up to Guqqie, Tidying her long black dress in the process. "Hi! Im Guqqie Im just visiting from my hometown".
The woman smiled and shook Guqqie's hand daintely, "well anyone Aimsey brings to meet Grandma Kristin is a friend! now tell me what are we looking for today?" Kristin was a very nice woman, she was married to Phil and the two had adopted and given birth to many succesful children. The thrift shop Kristin owned was practically overflowing with charm, she took pride in a clean establishment. "just looking around today but we'll let you know if we need help!" Kristin smiled and continued working on whatever art project she had stored in her archive of craft bins. Guqqie marvelled at the rows of neatly organized clothes, shoes and nicknacks that filled the walls of the shop. Aimsey on the other hand went straight to work, sifting through clothes from isle to isle filling up a small basket with anything he thought to be of use. "what are you doing?" Asked Guqqie who found herself behind the pile of Aimsey's findings. "I'm going to upcycle all this stuff! One man's trash is another man's treasure after all!" Guqqie didnt totally understand what the man was doing but she did her best to follow along, picking up clothes she liked and pairing them with others. soon enough the two had a plethera of new outfits to style and upcycle into brand new clothes. "wonderful choices you two! Ill bag these up and then you're all set to go", Kristin said cheerfully as Aimsey handed her the shopping money. "thanks grandma! I'll see you in two weeks", and with that Aimsey and Guqqie waved goodbye to Kristin and headed on their way to the next destination.
Aimsey walked a bit faster while Guqqie trailed behind him, taking in the smell of fresh spring rain and the slight hint of floral undertones that wafted through the crisp morning air. Guqqie did travel quite a lot, but she spent her time mostly in winter climates, she had gotten so used to the alpine and snow wastelands that she almost forgot what a hot summer day, warn spring morning or wet fall even looked liked. Guqqie was shaken from her thoughts as she bumped directly into Aimsey who had stopped right infront of the general store. "oof! we really need to stop bumping into eachother like this!" The pair laughed at the ode to when they first met, Aimsey opened the door for Guqqie and the walked inside. "Aimsey! Aimsey its so awesome to see you!" Micheal rushed out from behind the counter and gave aimsey the biggest hug. "hey Micheal! Im here for my gorceries and I brought someone, this is Guqqie". Micheal looked up and smiled at guqqie who waved at the pink haired boy, "its very nice to meet you, Aimsey should bring me more friends more often!" Micheal was clearly very excited to have a new person to talk to, he really only conversed with Aimsey, his dad and his Pa. Micheal begun leading Guqqie around the store, telling her anything and everything he could while picking up Aimsey's gorceries and placing them in a basket. Meanwhile, Aimsey found Tubbo who was sitting behind the counter. "Hello there... Aimsey, how are you?" Aimsey looked at Tubbo with many questions and not quite enough answers, "You're forgeting things Tubbo, you should really go see the village doctor maybe they could help?" Tubbo sighed and stood up, he pulled out a drawer filled with assorted bottles of medication all from one 'Doctor Ponk' whom had been treating and taking care of the village people for years now. "I have gone to see Ponk, each time we continue to search for something that could help with my memory but we come up short every visit." Aimsey continued to stare at the bottles and bottles of empty or half filled meds, in them he saw Micheal growing up with a dad who didnt remember him and a Pa who he barely saw let alone spent much time with, in those bottles he saw himself when he was only just imortalized, desperate for his Mother's approval and even more desperate to disobey her. "Micheal will be okay, I can promise you that because he will have me if anything happens" Aimsey closed the drawer and gave Tubbo a long hug. "we're all done shopping Aimsey, Guqqie and I are best friends now!" Micheal happily placed the basket of Aimsey's groceries onto the checkout counter, smiling up at his dad who was still pondering the conversation he had with Aimsey.
"I'll see you later Micheal! bye Tubbo take care!" Guqqie and Aimsey walked out with their shopping bags and hands quite full, "anywhere else you need to go?" Guqqie asked as she adjusted her grip on the bag of clothes from the prior thrifting trip, "nope! we can now go home to Jack and Snow, thanks for helping me with all this", Aimsey smiled and it made Guqqie blush the colour of her hair. Without warning, raindrops started falling quicker and quicker almost as if the sky was having a meltdown. Wind blew the two's hair back and almost blew Aimsey's bags out of his hands. "sounds like there's a really bad-"
the sirens could be heard through the whole village, then came the hurricane.
