Shade

Blackout

She winced - the impact of the explosion inside the barrier would certainly leave bruises on her hands. Not that much thorium nitrate then. She pulled her heavily gloved hands from the arcane dome on her workstation and carefully withdrew petite fingers from the singed leather. Red and purple splotches were already blooming over her knuckles and the insides of her hands.

She flexed her fingers slowly before pulling a pen from her hair and scribbling the results in her ledger. Way too much nitrate. Shade went to the cupboard and pulled out a small blue jar, the pungent contents of which she massaged into her skin, staving off the worst of the bruising. It was time for a break. She squinted at the open window, gauging the light, and realized with some chagrin she’d been working for well past the amount of time she should have been.

She snatched up her engraved silver cigarette case and an apple before perching herself on her windowsill and twisting so her legs dangled outside. It was dark in the City so it was neon in the Row – the smoky, dimly lit alleys crawling with shadows and the cacophony of the night market. A city unto itself wide awake when the rest of the world would be sleeping. 

She bit into her apple, leaning against the sill of the window, head tipped up to look at the dark sky. Talyn would probably be tripping in with the dogs to crash on her couch before she was finished. A soft hum of an old melody struck up in her throat. 

It was lucky, she knew, that she’d gotten a gig working at a place like the speakeasy. It was fun – ludicrously so – and she seemed to fit right in with the others. It was easy, like sliding a well-oiled cog back into the machine. It was lucky.

She crunched into her apple. Her feet, crossed at the ankles, swung almost cheerfully as she continued to contemplate the burgeoning swirl of a galactic arm in among the stars.

Meeting people had never been a problem for her. She was a friendly person and she enjoyed listening to the stories people told at the bar at the Boneyard or growing up around campfires. The markets she pilfered from as a child were always a riot of colorful stories and tales that had dragons and heroes in her dreams.

She wasn’t naive, though she knew Talyn worried about her tendency to leave the door unlocked, and she wasn’t overly trusting. Shade knew a good thing when she found it, however, and she had in this new Tavern. While the contracts with the city were good – blacksmithing and alchemy were both lonely work.

Her night job was lonesome too - not that she’d complain. She took the jobs they knew she’d take and she did her part. It was simple. To be working at a place filled with people, with familiar smells and sounds.. that was blissful to her.

It was strange how one crowd comforted her but another left her hackles raised and seeking shelter in the shadow of a stranger. A soft, sweet smile curled her lips, silversage hues drifting lazily along the constellations as they appeared overhead.

Not so strange now anyway. No, a rather endearing and welcome potential..

Her hand lifted and snatched the shadow darting toward her face. The black crawled away to reveal a creamy envelope sealed with blue wax.

She sighed, biting into the apple to hold it she spun and hopped to her feet. Time to get back to work then.