s o l o m o n

s e v e n

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"Hey."

The thin glass vials clinked together gently as Yusa transferred them from the wooden tray in her arms and into the shelves on the wall behind the apothecary's counter. The noise was hypnotic, she was lost in the movement of the delicate, tinted glass vials that she had not registered the voice speaking to her.

"You, girl!" Iyato raised his voice, quickly losing patience with his employee, as evident by his sudden rise in volume.

Sharply, Yusa turned around from her spot behind the cluttered counter, meeting the harsh gaze of the apothecary. She bowed her head carefully. "I'm sorry, I didn't hear you."

An exasperated sigh left the older gentleman while he watched her raise her head once again to meet his gaze. He glanced at the tray she carried through his small, circular lensed spectacles; the golden metal of the frames was so thin that it looked as though two circles of glass simply floated in front of his eyes. The older man's dark hair was thinning on top though he still had enough for it to look messy, haphazardly tousled over his scalp. He wore a dulling, brown patterned button up and white slacks that hung loosely off his aged frame, on top of which he sported a thin white frock that hung open. The sleeves of the white garment stopped ¾ of the way down his arms to expose a glimpse of the swirling dark ink that ornamented his tanned skin.

"Perhaps-y you take break now." Iyato slipped his hands into the pockets of his white frock that had been sewn in at an angle.

She gave a slow once over at the array of items strewn across the lavender marble countertop just in front of her. "Um..." She adjusted her hold on the tray. "I haven't finished yet and I still need to sort two more boxes and make some—"

"Yusa. Take a break, I'm tell-y you now." Iyato reaffirmed his order to the girl without hesitation. The subtle accent of the western districts of Soledad was clearer now in the apothecary's voice. It was clear to Yusa her own reasoning was not enough for him as much as it was for her.

She was confused, unwilling to accept the offer that she would have jumped at had it been any other day. She did not need a break, she felt fine and she was working normally. "Why?"

"Take break or I fire you." His voice was still calm, concern for the young woman whispered over his expression for a brief moment, despite his harsh promise.

A surge of irritation bubbled within her. She did not need a break and he had never demanded her to rest before. In fact, it was always the opposite. She thought her grandfather was a stickler for productivity, yet Iyato always had something for her to do in the shop as it seemed he no longer felt the need to clean up or organize since he'd hired her. He could focus more on his practice and studies as his employee would take care of the list of basic duties to make sure the shop was functional and up to his standards.

She wanted to slam the box of vials onto the countertop as hard as she could and break every last piece all at once but, somehow, she refrained from doing. "I am-y sorry. You work too hard. Ciro is-y proud of you," he began. Iyato was not a man of emotion, he did not typically express sentiments such as the one he was expressing in this moment and it caught Yusa by surprise. "But you must not-y work yourself away. Take break, half hour. Then you may come back and finish."

Her anger quickly diminished at the mention of her grandfather. It was obvious why Iyato was uncharacteristically pushing for her to take a break. It was the same reason behind the looks thrown her way each day moving in with the Rokas.

It had been a little over a week since Yusa had seen her grandfather and everyone had caught up to the news posthaste. There was not a soul in Odessus who did not know of Ciro Yokazi, whether they were fond of him or not, and his sudden disappearance meant Yusa was awash in somber symphonies of pity from nearly everyone she had the displeasure of interacting with.