Underground

32

Estelle
The moment I walk through the front door, August was there.
"What the hell?" He says, immediately hugging me.
I sigh. "I saw Titanios."
He pulls away and holds me at arms length, examining me.
"I'm fine." I say, pulling out of his grip and setting the backpack down on the couch.
"Well, what happened?" He asks.
I walk to the bathroom, him in my footsteps. "We talked, apparently I have the Oura konnes."
"That's nice."
I take off the pink bandage, tossing it into the trash, before rewrapping my hand, which was almost comepletely healed.
"I was worried, you weren't returning my texts." He says.
I look over at him. "I silenced my phone."
"Oh." He says.
"I need you help." I murmur, almost inaudibly.
"Hmm?" He hums.
"I need your help." I say, louder.
"With?" He asks.
"I'll show you." I say, walking past him into the living room.
He stops in the middle of the room. "Well?"
I grab the bag and unzip it, dumping all the contents onto the coffee table.
"So you need help with Logan's homework?" He asks.
"No." I say, sitting down on my feet.
"What is it?" He asks.
"Titanios can like see who comes up from Pangaea, and he made a list."
"So this is his list?" He asks, sitting down next to me.
I nod. "He says I should make an army."
"Why?" August asks.
I shrug. "I need to find them, though."
His hand gingerly reaches out to the picture of me. "He saw you?"
"Well, yeah." I answer.
He holds the drawing to my face. "That's scarily similar."
I stick my tongue out at him, reaching for Yeeva and Michoon.
"Who are they?" He asks, plucking one of the peices of paper out of my grasp.
"They're the Jeels." I say.
"I can see that." He says.
We sit in a comfortable silence for a few minutes, sorting through the portraits.
"I know what we need to do." August says.
I look over.
"We have to go to the craft store." He says.
"Why?" I ask.
He smiles. "Trust me, it'll be worth it."
I stand up, helping August up as well.
He pats his pockets, giving a slight nod when he feels his wallet and phone.
We walk over to the door and grab our coats from the rack, then we were off.
***
The craft store is, surprisingly enough, not all crafts.
There was a big section dedicated to books.
We went there first.
I reach up for a book. Z-Type, by Karissa Watts.
"E! Look!" He says, holding up one of his books. It was titled Nefarious.
"Hey, if you look beside that there's another one!" I say.
"We're on a schedule here." He says, all of a sudden, seriously.
"Well, what do we need?" I ask.
"Just follow me." He smirks, turning on his heel.
I follow behind him, walking past all the colorful displays.
"Here we are." He says.
"The bulletin board section?" I ask.
"We'll need a few cork boards." He says.
"Why?" I ask.
His lips twist into a smirk. "You'll see."
"How many?" I ask. "And what kind?"
"Edgeless, and twenty."
"I think were gonna need a cart, or two." August says, before walking off to get some.
I stand there and look at the corkboards.
"Hey, long time no see!" I hear a familiar voice say.
I turn. "Stefan, hey!"
He reaches out and hugs me.
"What happened to Walgreens?" I ask, pulling out of the hug.
"Lost that gig, got this one."
"Does it pay better?" I ask.
"No, I got fired for punching my boss." He says, coping that unsettling smirk.
The sound of squeaky shopping carts breaks through our conversation.
"August." Stefan says.
"Stef." August says. "Didn't know you would be here."
"Same." He says.
"Estelle." August says.
I walk from Stefan to August, letting August's jealous hand grab my own.
"I didn't think you two were still together." Stefan says.
"We are." August says, defensively.
"Cool. Let me know if you need anything." Stefan says, before walking off.
August leans down and places a firm kiss on my head.
"We still need those twenty edgeless corkboards." I point out lightly.
"Yes we do." He says, grabbing some.
I grab some as well, stacking them in the squeaky cart.
After count out twenty, and grab eighteen boxes of tacks. August guides me to the knitting section.
"What colors?" He asks, looking selectively at the yarn.
"I think we need purple." I say. "And grey."
Then, someone grabs onto my wounded hand.
I whip my head around and a group of elderly women stood there.
"You poor baby." Says the front one, patting the bandage. "What happened?"
"I fell on the sidewalk where some teenagers had broken some glass." I say.
"Oh, those teenyboppers!" One of the ladies yell from the back.
"You are so lucky that did not get your wrists, because that would've been the end." The front woman says.
I nod. "That would have been horrendous."
"Oh, she's British." A woman says from the middle of the group. "Which part?"
"Wiltshire." I answer.
"Oh, I was with a thatcher from there." The woman next to the front one says.
"Oh, for how long?" I ask.
She smirks. "Only a night." She winks.
"Good heavens Eunice!" A woman shouts.
I cock my head. "What does that mean?"
"Oh sweetie! Eunice you have ruined her!" The front woman yells.
Eunice clears her throat. "Are you two making a sweater?"
"I don't know." I say.
"Well you two have fun!" Eunice says, before leading the crew away.
I turn to August, who had tears running down his face from laughing so much.
"I am so confused." I say.
"You should have seen your face!" He laughs. "That was amazing."
I pout. "I don't understand!"
"You are so lucky I don't have a camera." He says, his laugh simmering into giggles.
I grab 4 bundles of yarn and throw them in the cart. "Is this all we need?"
August nods, wiping his face. "Let's head out."