18 Sudden Interest

Waze stared at the person in front of her. What the hell was Marco doing here? No, even worse, was Marco this chick's brother? The atmosphere was heavy and awkward as Marco stared down at Waze, an equally perplexed expression on his face. Waze spoke first.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Might as well be blunt. They weren't exactly the nicest to each other during training, so why start now? It's not that they hated each other, their personalities just clashed. Marco was all fake smiles and sly insults, while Waze was blunt comments and bright laughter.

"Looking for books, obviously. What about you? This situation right here doesn't exactly seem to be any of your business." Marco gestured to the scene unfolding between Minnie and Alec.

"How would you know? I'm a good friend of this guy and I need to talk to him. Not my fault your sister was harassing him when I came in."

"Harassing is a bold way to put it. Though, I do admit, Minnie can get carried away sometimes." Marco turned to look down at Minnie with a scowl before swatting her on the forehead. "Didn't I tell you not to start flirting when we're doing something important?"

"Yeah but he's cute! You know I can't help myself..." Mine gave Marco a pouting look, which only made him all the more furious.

"Shut it. Come on, we've got work to do." Marco turned to walk away before Alec spoke.

"If you need any assistance finding anything, I'd be glad to help!" Damn his persistently dedicated attitude. He really wouldn't hesitate to help a customer, huh? Even in a situation like this? Either he hadn't read the atmosphere or he just didn't care. Marco attempted to reply before he was cut off.

"No thank-"

"Of course! We're actually doing some research on gift-lessness, a sudden interest of my brother's for some reason. Anyway, do you think you could give us a hand?" Minnie batted her eyelashes up at Alec, but his mind was elsewhere. Minnie seemed to have no idea what she had just said.

"Gift-lessnesss... huh? And what might you need to know about that?" Alec looked deadly. Waze had never seen him like that, was he being... protective?

"Well... haha... you see..." Marco laughed awkwardly as he attempted to come up with a reasonable explanation, although there was none other than the one at hand. The only possible reason he would've been researching gift-lessness would be Waze. Was he that curious? Or something else?

"Theres nothing in the front of the store, but we've got a bunch of books about it in the back. If I give you one, will you go away? I've got business I need to tend to." Waze looked at Marco with a matter of fact expression. In all honesty, she didn't care if he researched gift-lessness. It's not like he would find something she didn't already know. If he wanted to educate himself, he was free to do so.

"No, it's fine. It doesn't matter anymore. Thank you for your assistance, though." He shot Alec and Waze his trademark smile before turning to Minnie. "We're leaving. Now."

"Huh? What happened? Wait hold on-" Marco dragged Minnie out of the store mid sentence. She seemed genuinely confused. Once they were gone, Alec turned to Waze.

"How do you know that guy? He was... weird. And why was he researching gift-lessness? Does he know?"

"Yeah, obviously he knows. Why else would he be researching it?" Waze was quite annoyed at the moment, and was still scowling in the direction Marco had left in. "He's from the cultivation center."

"Eh?! That Norris place?" A few heads turned at Alec's loud exclamation, so Waze waved at him to quiet down.

"Yeah that 'Norris' place. We're not exactly on good terms, if you couldn't tell. I can't help but wonder why he would research gift-lessness, though."

"Maybe he's more interested than you thought. I mean, your situation is fairly unique. A gift-less kid walks in and then takes down a high-step and claims to be possessed by a god? I think it would leave anyone with some questions."

"I guess... it's just, Marco doesn't seem like the type to go out of his way on his day off to research something like that." Waze frowned, deep in thought.

"Maybe you don't know him as well as you thought." Alec said it matter-of-factly, but it left Waze slightly disturbed. Sure, she was aware she didn't know him that well. Sure, they didn't talk much, and when they did it was mostly petty insults. But it was a side of him she hadn't seen, especially around his sister. There was so much more for her to learn about him, it almost frustrated her. Well, that was a turmoil for another time. Right now, she had more important things to worry about.

"Anyway, forget all that." Waze waved her hand in the air as if shooing away the previous event. "I've been doing meditation, right? And I finally did something. I ended up talking to that god, but it said some pretty cryptic stuff and I need help deciphering it. You're the best person I can think to come to." Alec looked slightly surprised, and then beamed at Waze.

"That's great! You're finally making progress! I can't promise anything, but I'll help you to the best of my abilities." Alec raised his hand for a fist bump and Waze returned it.

"First things first though, you need help managing this store." Waze glanced around as she spoke; a worker named Jayce was struggling to keep up with the steady stream of customers at the register. Waze waved to Alec before jogging to the back.

"I'll go throw on a uniform and give you a hand!"

"You don't ha-" Before Alec could finish his sentence, Waze was already ducking into the back room. She didn't work for money, mostly just for fun. She liked helping Alec out at the bookstore.

Waze worked for about five hours before the customers thinned out. It was about 6:00pm now. She had fun helping stock books and check out customers, it was somehow soothing. It was a good break for her aching muscles. Abbus waved Alec and Waze to go on break while he and Jayce took care of the store. The two ducked into the back and plopped down on the couch.

"Okay. So, what'd the god tell you?"

"Well, I'll start from the beginning."