Compos Mentis

Neros Exla

"Would you like to pay with cash, credit or debit sir?"

"I'll pay with cash."

The young man hands over a fifty dollar bill that was crammed in his leather wallet. I take it and before putting it into the register I run a marker across the bill to debunk if it was a fake or not. The man raises an eyebrow as I do so, as if I am accusing him of something. It's just our store's policy dude. I cash it in and over his purchase of micsilanuons crystals, inscents and his change.

"Thank you for shopping with us, sir! Have a splendid night!"

"No problem, you too bro."

The man walks out the front double doors and the bells attached to them ring throughout the store. He makes a turn down the sidewalk and as soon as he is out of my view I let out an exasperated groan and let my head fall onto the display desk with a loud glassy thud.

"Geez dude, don't give yourself a freaking brain aneurysm." A voice called from upstairs.

"I'm not smart ass. You didn't have to deal with the 6 O'clock rush or a bratty teen that didn't know what crystal she wanted."I shout back.

"You said you had everything under control!"

"Don't believe everything that comes out of my mouth!"

"I can't read your mind genius. Now, could you give me a hand with dinner up here?"

My partner slowly emerges from the winding staircase with oven mitts on his hands and his hair tied in a bun. He has food stains all over his clothes and looks like a disaster.

"If I knew you were cooking I would have preemptively called the firemen. Considering you burn almost everything you cook with your pyromancy."

"Okay ouch, no need to insult my abilities like that..." He says clutching his heart.

"But who was the one that set our study on fire cause he wanted to 'test a new power'?"

"Okay can you stop insulting me for 10 minutes and come help me?"

"Aww, but I was just getting started, it's time you've gotten a good roasting."

"For that pun, I am officially disowning you as a friend. Bye, see ya in the next life."

"Okay okay! Let me just close the shop and I'll be up there soon enough. JUST DON'T BURN THE BUILDING DOWN!!"

"I WON'T SMART ASS!!"

~

"How the hell did you manage to fuck up the kitchen this badly...?" I ask.

"Stop the bullying already, you well know I can't cook..."

"Yeah, but you could at least said something before you went 'Albert Einstein' in our kitchen. Like you got whatever this is... on the ceiling! How?!"

"Okay I was trying to cook this thing I saw online and it didn't work out so well..." He says tossing the oven mitts to the counter.

"I feel like this isn't the whole story and you are sugar coating it a lot."

"So it was taking a long time to cook and I wanted it to be done before the shop closes so it has time to cool afterward. I may or may not have used my powers to heat it up a bit and some peppercorn may or may not have gotten in my nose...."

"Alright alright...just step out for a moment and I'll fix this right up."

My partner nods and steps outside the kitchen, I reach into my pocket and pull out a rose quartz crystal; I focus my energy into the crystal and it starts to emit a faint yet powerful glow. I close my eyes and envision my will into it, inside my mind I see kitchenware move about the room and sponges scrubbing away the mystery meat from the walls. A few moments pass by and I open my eyes to a crystalline kitchen, without any scorches on the ceiling or food.

My partner peeks his head around the corner and shakes his head.

"I still don't understand how you can do this type of stuff with a freaking rock.." He says.

"Okay look, it's more than that. It takes so much concentration and a positive aura, something that you lack." I reply.

~END OF NEROS EXLA~