Gale woke up in bed from his growling stomach. Last thing he remembered was eating quarter pounders at McDs, almost $200 worth of it.

One complaint he had was that the lights were too bright, the seats were uncomfortable, and everyone looked at him while he was eating. Other than that, everything else was good, particularly, the quarter pounders.

Yohan had told him that if he wanted meat, the only thing he should get was the quarter pounders, and that’s what he blew all of his cash on. He did give his companion at the time one quarter pounder, a generous gift for helping him.

He could’ve probably ate more if he had more cash. But alas, he didn’t think that far.

Worth it though. Completely worth it. It was his first time tasting such delectable treats. After that whole Tomb raid, he deserved it. And today was Tuesday, which made Gale even happier.

More food. All the food. Food for days.

Getting up from bed, Gale’s joints popped as he stretched. The bruises from the Tomb were mostly gone now, just some yellowing around his ribs. Though, it didn’t seem to hurt when he touched it. It’ll probably disappear after a few more days and a couple of thousand more calories.

He headed to the bathroom, took off his clothes that were still on from yesterday, then threw them onto the bed through the open door. Stepping over the bathtub, he turned on the shower, cranking it to the hottest knowing full well it would just be lukewarm at best.

Closing his eyes and letting the water spray his face, Presence Between’s tendrils guided his hands as he took the luffa and spread his all-in-one shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and moisturizer on it. After a quick scrub of everywhere and allowing the spray to clean off the lather, he was done.

Gale dried off with the only towel he had and then dug through the clean laundry pile. He put on an oversized gray shirt with dark jeans. Online conversations these days said something about oversized shirts being the ‘hot new thang’… whatever that meant.

He was all for it though. The size of the shirt was comfy. When he found it in the donation bin at the Salvation Army down the block, he quickly took it before some other guy could get it. The black pants were the real boon, though. It wasn’t ripped.

Now all he had to do was wait for Rachel to call him down. Now that he had money, he’d order all the tasty things he saw on the menu the last time he went there. This time, no awkward conversations of him trying to fake anything like having a party at a rift.

Sitting back down in front of his laptop, he turned it on again. The fan was still making that clicking noise from yesterday.

Whatever. It wasn’t dying, which meant that was a good thing.

He opened the browser and searched for apartments in different neighbourhoods. Curiosity got the best of him, and searching for apartments before 9 months was up was the smart thing to do.

Gale nodded to himself. That’s right. The dark hunter of the darkest nights of Toronto is of the smart intelligent hunter variety. Getting ahead of the game was always the smart thing to do.

The search results loaded. Pages and pages of listings with photos that all looked the same. White walls. Hardwood floors. Stainless steel appliances that all looked fancy compared to what he had.

Bloor West Village. Leslieville. Parkdale. Corktown. Markham. Richmond Hill. Jane and Finch. That last one was where Mia was near.

However, all the other names sounded the same to him, but the prices definitely didn’t. He clicked on a listing in Bloor West Village.

One of them was listed for $6000 a month for a 1BD apartment. The photos showed a space barely bigger than his current place. Tiny kitchen with a two-burner stove. Bathroom that was about as small as the one he had. An actual living room that’s separate from the living room.

Compared to this shithole he had, it was luxury.

Did he really deserve to live in that kind of place? Although this one was much better than his current place, it was asking for $6000 a month. That was bananas. Completely nuts.

He could technically just go out in the woods and probably make a cabin and never pay rent ever again.

“Guide, you think I should just live off the land in the woods?”

[Query declined. Threat level: Minimal]

“Well, your FACE is threat level minimal!”

No response.

Stupid guide. At least humour him. He read somewhere on the red orange conversation website that people read books that had computers with more personality than the guide he had. Why couldn’t he get one of those?!

Gale clicked on another listing, a 1BD apartment. This one was in Scarborough East. This one had a living room and a bedroom. For some reason, the bedroom was bigger than the living room. The bathroom was also bigger than his current one. Problem was, why was there a window from the bedroom to the bathroom?

Weird layout. The price was good. It was going for $4200 a month. But even that sounded like a lot compared to free out there in the woods.

Why do adults have to pay for everything with money?! Why not chickens or pigs or deer meat? That made more sense. A consumable to pay for services and shelter.

Gale closed the browser before he got too angry.

A door slammed upstairs. The couple again.

Looking at the ceiling, footsteps stomped across the floor like they were making noise on purpose. Not for him, but probably to show they were mad at each other or something. He should go up there and give them a piece of his mind.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Getting up from his chair, he paused as he caught a glance at the time. It was already 11AM. Rachel would be here any minute.

“Damn you, couple upstairs that fights everyday! You got off lucky.” Gale shook his fist up at the ceiling.

His phone buzzed on the desk, vibrating against the wood.

[Rachel: We’re downstairs. Come down.]

Gale grabbed his keys and wallet from the desk, shoving them into his pockets. He quickly put on the black hoodie and went out the door. Locking it behind him, he rushed to the elevator.

Tendrils fed him the large snoring of someone still sleeping in one of the units on his floor. It was Yohan. He did say he had a night job as a bouncer. What night job involves bouncing a ball? Sounds like a fun job.

Ding.

Nevermind. The elevator was here. After a quick minute, it arrived at the bottom floor. Walking through the lobby, he saw Rachel waving at him from the driver’s seat of the white car.

Erin sat in the back right seat, wearing blue jeans, a white blouse, and no jacket.

“Don’t mind her. She wants to be given the CEO treatment,” Rachel said, smiling as she saw him put his foot in.

“That is incorrect,” Erin said. “The Woman of Fire insisted most vehemently that the passenger seat was to remain vacant. Reserved, she claimed. Now we know precisely for whom it was reserved.”

Gale’s eyes darted between Rachel and the empty seat behind the driver’s side. “I can sit in the back if it’s reserved for someone.”

Rachel’s cheeks turned slightly pink. “It’s reserved for you. Now sit.”

“Ok.” Gale got in and closed the door. The seat was already warm. Heated seats. Fancy butt cooker. “Thanks.”

“Buckle up,” Rachel said.

Gale clicked in the seatbelt and nodded to her.

“These mechanical contraptions you call ‘cars’ are primitively designed. In my era, we traversed the skies where traffic congestion was nonexistent. Yet you crawl upon the ground like insects, wasting precious hours in gridlock.”

“Because,” Rachel said through her gritted teeth, “that would be weird when all the other cars don’t fly.”

“Why not though?” Gale asked. “There’s rift tech that probably would let cars fly.”

“Gale, don’t give her anything to work with. It’s just how it is. People would lose their minds the next day someone says they can make flying cars for 10K US dollars in production costs,” Rachel said.

What did that have to do with convenient flying cars? People can lose their minds as long as it makes the world a better place. Adults are definitely weird. No doubt about it. Just like the last time he came back from the rift. Always with these illogical ways.

The car started moving as Rachel pressed the gas to exit the kiss and ride of Gale’s apartment.

“Next up, Fran’s. Downtown location.”

Gale’s mouth was already watering at the thought of eating more greasy food.

“And this time, no pretending you had a party at a rift like last time. We were all there.”

“I wasn’t pretending.” Gale’s face heated up.

“You were absolutely pretending.”

From the back seat, Erin spoke up. “I have witnessed better lies from infant Cryils who had yet to develop full linguistic capabilities. Even now, you currently pretend you were not pretending.”

“You know what, how did you get out of the rift anyways? And are you two living together?” Gale asked. They did come in the same car.

“Your assault upon the Proctor yielded a tactical advantage for the Cryil forces. Following your… adequate performance and our strategic withdrawal, the Guardians rallied and annihilated the remnants of the Proctor’s army, now leaderless and in disarray. Your actions were commendable. In days of old, warriors of your calibre would have been granted medals of distinction. I commend your valour, young child of barely 2 SE old,” Erin said.

“I get that part, but are you two living together now?”

“Kind of. Grandma gave her a room in our house to recover in, and now she’s just freeloading,” Rachel sighed. “Not entirely sure what they talked about, but that’s what ended up happening.”

“Why?” Gale asked. That was a weird choice for Esther to do… unless Erin and Esther knew each other, which would mean that Rachel’s grandma could possibly be a Dainv?

“You’re asking the wrong person. Grandma never tells me anything,” Rachel said, clenching the wheel. Clearly, she wasn’t happy to be in the dark.

“Do not let your imagination run wild with fanciful notions. I merely presented your grandmother with a logical arrangement that served both our interests. She required expertise in analyzing certain artifacts. I required lodging whilst my regeneration completes. A simple transaction between professionals. Nothing more,” Erin said.

“But how do you know her?” Gale asked.

“I merely traced the strongest signature possessing regenerative properties. The signature led me directly to the fire woman’s grandmother’s estate. Thus, I arrived at her doorstep. Simple as that.”

Well, that did make sense. Gale also needed healing during the aftermath of the airport heist. Erin definitely wouldn’t lie to him anyways.

A car cut in front of them suddenly, no signal, just swerving into their lane like the road belonged to them.

Rachel’s hand moved to the window button. The glass started sliding down and Gale could already see her mouth opening as the temperature in the car spiked up.

Then she glanced beside her. Her expression changed back to a controlled smile as the temperature lowered back to normal.

“Coward. Upon my homeworld, we would berate incompetent pilots without hesitation. It was expected. Necessary, even. Where has your fire vanished to, Woman of Fire? Or is it the presence beside you that holds you back?” Erin asked.

“I wasn’t going to yell,” Rachel said. “I just needed some cool air. Like you know. Because that guy was a hazard to society.”

So this is what they call road rage. If he had driven, he’d probably get mad at drivers blocking and cutting him off too.

Rachel’s grip tightened on the steering wheel. “I’m always mature and composed. Right, Gale?”

“Right.” Gale nodded. That was true. Apart from her unusual antics, Rachel was one of the most mature people that he knew.

“You referred to your opponent as ‘hazard to society.'”

“Well, he is.“

Gale settled back into his seat and watched the buildings pass by. The rest of the drive settled into a lull of annoyance from Rachel due to Erin’s constant remarks. Unfortunately, she had a lot to say about the current state of civilization on Earth.

The car turned into Shuter and Yonge street. When the stop light turned green, Rachel drove into the underground parking of Eaton’s Centre. After paying for the parking and finding a spot that took 10 minutes, all 3 got out of the car.

Rachel and Gale exited at the same time while Erin took a while feeling for where the exit lever was. When she found it, she exited the car floating.

“Erin!” Rachel said quickly. “No floating!”

Erin dropped to the ground. “The mannerisms of this world are quite barbaric. Making the Grand Researcher Grand General rely on her own feet, this debt shall be remembered.”

Gale forced himself not to laugh at Rachel facepalming. Judging by Erin’s own words, there was now someone even more inept than him in this new world of adulting.

Rachel held out a hand to Gale, “Come on. We’re already a bit late.”

Good call. Best to not lose each other in the sea of downtown people. Taking her hand, Gale walked beside Rachel and then extended his other hand out to Erin.

Erin took the hand as well. Now all three of them were walking hand in hand. But that made Rachel facepalm again.

“I guess it’s fine,” Rachel said. “Don’t get lost and keep me in sight.”

“We are, as your people say, locked in. Onwards, woman of fire.”

The group entered the busy streets of Downtown Toronto. Even in the winter of January, the streets were packed with a crowd walking about like it wasn’t -10C degrees.

Walking across the street, they reached the big sign of Fran’s restaurant. Gale let go of their hands and then opened the door for both of them.

“Thank you,” Rachel said as she passed.

Erin just walked past him, not even glancing as a thank you for holding the door.

As Gale went inside, the smell of Lily’s Weber-Modified deagles, the taste of frying eggs and bacon, and the viscous texture of maple syrup in the air all attacked him at the same time.

And then there was Lily already waving at them from a table that was meant for 8 people.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep