Shopping

"You were kept away from the rest of the world, weren't you?" She frowns in sympathy, Nox sense that she can relate.

"Something like that."

"What else do you not know of this world?" She grins, copying Nox accent.

"Everything."

"Well, we should probably get you something to wear first, then I can show you the world like Aladdin," she chuckles.

"Is this Aladdin famous?"

Selena nods. "Oh, yes he is. I know him like the back of my hand."

There is a cup in front of Nox, a dark liquid held within. "What is this…liquid?"

"It's coffee, you don't like it?"

"What does it give?"

"Well, aside from keeping you awake, it can sometimes cause you to…sh*t your pants," she chuckles.

"And yet, you continue to drink this…coffee?"

"Absolutely, I need to be awake in order to do my job."

"Do you value your wakefulness more than your pants?"

She bursts into a fit of laughter, slamming her hands on the table. Nox tilt his head, it's a very curious reaction.

She wipes a tear from her eye. "Oh, I think I'm falling in love," she laughs again.

Today's humans have a strange sense of humor. He only asked genuinely, and yet, she somehow found it funny.

The rest of the morning goes on, after finishing his breakfast, he continue to ask Selena about this world.

Meanwhile...

A man leans against his car, under the dim illumination of a streetlight. He presses a button on his ear piece. He sighs, trying to calm his nerves.

"Do you have him?" Says a deep voice coming from the other end.

"No, we lost him," he says while trying to hide the nervousness of his voice.

"How could you lose someone that easily? I told you to hire Grim. You just proved to me that you're incompetent, the Queen will hear of this"

"No! Wait, he can't get out of the city, the mayor recently increased the patrols. I can still fix this, just give me a chance".

"You have three months."

"You won't regre—". The call ends, the beeping sound cuts him off. He looks around, before entering his car.

The very next day...

Nox consciousness creeps back as light enters from behind the curtain and hits his eyes, he tries to twist and turn on the couch but the grumbling of his stomach convinces him to wake up, he get up annoyed and hungry.

Heading to the dining table, Nox find Selena nursing a cup of coffee. She nods at Nox groggily, then pushes a box with some cartoon character on it and a jug of what he assume is milk.

Selena notices the confusion in Nox face. "Not a fan of cereal?"

Nox is pretty sure he has heard that word before when he were held in the lab, is the box the cereal? Are the contents in it the cereal?"

"I uh…" Nox scratched the back of his neck. Looking for the right words.

"Oh, are you lactose intolerant?" She asks again.

The words are familiar but he still have no idea what 'lactose' is.

"It's okay, I think Scarlet is almost done cooking." Selena leans back and glances at the kitchen.

Scarlet appears out of nowhere and drags the seat then slumps. Face planted on the dining table, red curly hair disheveled, she grumbles. "I forgot to buy food."

"Great, we're having cereal for breakfast," Selena says sarcastically.

"Sorry, must have slipped my mind." Scarlet pouts as she fills a bowl with cereal and pours milk, then proceeds to munch with guilt.

It's not like he have a choice. In the past, he eaten much worse than this.

"Oh, and the shower is right over there." Scarlet points at a door. Nox heard about this so-called 'shower' before, the people who were studying him mentioned it now and then.

Nox munch through his breakfast, his thoughts are still stuck on 'how not to mess up a shower'.

As he step into the chamber of hygiene or as they call it the 'bathroom' nowadays, stark white tiles glisten, there is a wall of blurry glass of some sort. Nox try to wipe it, but it seems the glass is blurry by design. He slide its glass door open and take a step inside.

The shower has panels and knobs, unsure of what these are, he twist the right knob, the shower unleashes its fury. Hot water almost boiling blasts his face. He screams in agony as he stumble back. Fortunately, the burns have started to heal.

"Are you okay in there?" Nox recognize Selena's muffled shout.

"I think so." Nox approach the steam breathing monster cautiously. "Hey Selena, how do you use…this thing?"

"Oh for god's sake," she lets out a tired sigh. "You have to use both of the knobs to adjust the temperature."

"What's wrong?" Nox recognize Scarlet's voice.

"He wanted me to show him how to use the shower…personally," Selena says slyly. Nox hear shuffling outside the door and some giggling.

Nox turned his attention back to the steam breathing machine.

His head pops out of the baggy clothes that Scarlet gave him. He looks more disheveled with these clothes on, but he's going shopping with Scarlet and Selena anyway.

"Ready to go?" Selena asks Nox as he enters the horseless carriage and if he recall correctly, he believe they call it the 'car'. He heard his white-coat wardens talking about their 'cars'. "Yeah, I was just thinking."

Scarlet sits in front of the contraption as Nox enters the backseat.

A few minutes later... Inside the mall

The mall is crowded but less noisy than the market stalls of Damascus.

People roam the mall briskly as though their life depended on it, Nox lightly grab Scarlet's shirt, cautious that he might get lost in this river of a crowd.

"I think we should start at The Titan," Scarlet suggests. "They have good quality clothes there."

"And also unreasonably expensive," Selena sneers. "Or we could go to Lux, they've got the best quality at a cheaper price," she grins.

Scarlet shakes her head as she crosses her arms. They both await Nox's decision. He's still quite oblivious to modern fashion, he'll have to trust his gut here, or maybe one of them.

"The Titan sounds good, so I'll go with Scarlet."

"See, even he's got better taste than you," Scarlet says in a mocking tone.

Selena rolls her eyes. "Yeah, whatever I'll go around the tech stores and see if there's anything good." She waves at the two as she walks away.

Scarlet deftly grabs Nox wrist and tugs him towards The Titan. A smile is plastered on her face, Nox spots a dimple just below her rosy cheek as both of them weave through the crowd. A few minutes later, they enter the shop.

It is quite odd to see lifeless dummies wearing clothes, or perhaps it's just him. He used to train soldiers to hit defenseless dummies, he wonder if they still do it this way.

Scarlet tells him to sit on the bench while she digs through clothes, she's smiling like a kid in a candy store.

A few minutes later, after trying and retrying clothes, Scarlet finally heads to the cashier with the items, which Nox think is a little too much.

The line is quite long, so he looks around while whistling, fingers fidgeting on his baggy clothes.

When the two of them finally reach the cashier, Nox spot Scarlet's confused face. "I'm sorry, there must've been a mistake? Or is there a discount that I am unaware of?" She asks.

The cashier smiles and with a nod, he explains further. "Yes, there's a 25% discount for couples," he says cheerfully.

Scarlet's cheerful smile falters, her pale face turns into an unhealthy shade of red. She tries to regain her composure and manages to break into an awkward grin instead. "I-I...uh...yes, thank you," she says in a shaky voice.

She gets out of the store with a stiff posture and shaky legs, face is still flushed and people are starting to side-eye her.

Nox take a glance at her. He notice that she's still wearing the awkward grin, but it doesn't reach her eyes. She looks like she's in pain. "Are you alright?" Nox ask.

She shakes her head. "No, I think I just locked my jaw." Nox barely understand what she says as she mutters in between her gritted teeth.

"Let me help," Nox says as he gently place his hands on her face. Her face burns brighter than before. "Try to relax," Nox says in a soft voice.

Fortunately, during one of his trips to ancient China, he learned a few techniques that may help. A few seconds later, he gives her a smile when he's done. She softly touches her bright red cheek right where Nox hand was.

"Oh hey, guys." Nox turn around and see Selena holding a small box. "What the hell is wrong with her?" She points at Scarlet, hand still placed on her flushed cheek, eyes wide and staring at nothing.

"I helped her with her jaw," Nox say in a flat tone.

Selena nods with a sly look. "So how did you...uh, 'help' her jaw," she says suggestively.

Just before Nox could explain, Scarlet perks up then grabs Selena by the shoulders, shoving her away with a flushed face.

Nox is uncertain why his gesture caused an unexpected response, he shook his head as he follow the two of them.