Bang! Bang! Bang!
Theo knocks on the door to 'Clyde's Ship Mechanic + Storage'.
No answer.
"Damn!" Theo mutters to himself before checking his watch.
Interstellar Time
13:52
Local Time
05:12
He lets out a sigh then drops Ark's equipment and sits down next to it.
Theo yawns, "Man, exhausting day, fun… but exhausting," he chuckles, "great seeing Ark again!"
He looks up into the sky, where a large ring sits, floating in front of the stars.
"Ah, I need to text Ark," he gets out his phone and types something in before slowly closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep.
■■■
Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! Ka-chk- pfshh…
The door slides open and Ark limps through. "Mnngh…" he moans as he struggles to take off his shoes.
"Where have you been?" a stern voice asks from the shadows.
Ark flinches and quickly turns to see a woman leaning against the wall, her muscular arms crossed.
"Mum…! Uh… just hanging out with a friend."
"Covered in blood?"
"...It's not real blood…"
"Yes it is."
"..."
"What happened to your leg?"
"Nothing…"
"Take a seat, I'll get the first-aid kit."
Ark's mother leaves into another room and Ark limps to the dining room. After pulling a chair out, he slumps himself on it. His mum then enters holding a red box and kneels down next to the injured leg.
She examines it before saying, "Looks like I'll have to cut open your trousers."
"I like this pair…"
"Well, don't get hurt next time."
"Ugh…"
She takes out the scissors and cuts a large hole in the trousers as well as cutting the makeshift bandage and removing it. Her eyebrows raise slightly before she starts cleaning the wound. Ark winces as she disinfects it.
"You can cut yourself fine but a little sting is too much?" she jokes.
"Wha- How did you-?" Ark reacts but quickly shuts himself up.
Ark's mum doesn't say anything, she just turns and takes a green and white gauze pad out. Ark stares at her as she gently places it on the wound.
She stands up and sighs, "Get some sleep, we'll discuss this tomorrow."
Ark continues staring as she walks away. After she leaves, he locks down at the bandage, the green threads glow slightly.
"Oh!" Ark reacts as his mum pops her head back in the room and says, "And Ark, take a shower, you stink. Also… don't do that again ."
"Yes, mum… thanks."
Ark carefully stands up and limps away. Walking down a corridor, he briefly stops by a door and looks at the word 'Cruise' written in fun letters, before continuing past a door with 'Ark' written on it, the letters dusty and falling off.
Entering the bathroom, he takes off his bloody, sweaty clothes, and turns on the shower.
Waiting for the water to heat up, he stares into the mirror, at the blood staining his messy hair and at the faint, barely visible, scars covering his body. He touches his hand to his chest. He winces and a shudder crawls over him until he reaches the centre. He feels a hum and his face relaxes, a faint smile appearing.
After taking a shower, he opens the door labelled 'Ark'. Inside is a bed in the corner and old posters on the walls. Ark heads straight for the bed and falls asleep instantly.
■■■
"-y! -ey! Hey!"
Theo springs awake.
"Hey, giant guy, you awake?"
"Clyde?" Theo looks forward, where Clyde is standing, shaking him.
"Yeah, that's me. Whatcha doing here, buddy?" Clyde asks.
"Oh, um, I needed to go on my ship," Theo slowly stands up and picks up the gear.
"Ah, of course, come in."
Clyde opens the door and they walk inside.
"You must be mercenaries," Clyde comments, "Mia said you and your friend rushed out wearing armour, and here you are, wearing armour."
"Yes, we are, well… yesterday was our first day."
"Mm… so, remember where to go?"
"Hm? Oh, yeah, down the hall."
"That's right."
Theo splits away and walks to bay 2, where his ship is. Before entering, he takes off his equipment and drops it, along with Ark's, by the door.
After taking a shower inside the ship, Theo enters one of the bedrooms.
Observing the beds, he says, "Huh. Ark was right."
He opens the closet and it is full of old clothes.
"They really didn't touch anything inside the ship, lucky for me, I guess."
Theo grins and puts on some clothes, they fit him pretty well.
Leaving the ship, he glances at the dirty gear on the floor and groans. Then he decides to ignore it and walk away.
"Hey Clyde," he asks after entering the front of the store.
"What's up?"
"Anywhere to get breakfast around here?"
"Oh, uh, Shad's Diner is just down the road, great eggs."
"Cool! Thanks Clyde," they exchange waves and Theo exits, smiling, "great eggs is always a good sign!"
■■■
Ark lets out a long groan as he wakes up, still in the same position he fell asleep in.
He endures the pain and manages to sit up, then he takes his phone out of his pocket and looks at the home screen.
13:23 am
Thursday 11th April
2 New Messages from 'Theo Jörvald'
"Theo texted me? Oh yeah I gave him my number last night," Ark says, still out of it. He clicks on the notification and reads the messages.
Theo Jörvald: Hey Ark it's Theo
Theo Jörvald: oh forgot to tell you im living in my ship
Ark sighs and puts his phone down on the bed. Then he notices his bandage and groans again. He slowly removes the bandage from his leg revealing that his wound has almost entirely healed, all that's left is a faint scar.
He scrunches up the gauze pad and throws it across the room, into a small bin. Then he carefully stands up and walks to the bathroom.
After putting on some clothes, Ark limps into the living room.
As he goes to the kitchen, he passes a young teenager sitting on the sofa, watching a flashy animation on the television.
"Mornin' Cruise," Ark greets meagerly.
"Morning," Cruise replies, his focus not straying from the TV.
In the kitchen, Ark opens a cupboard and pulls out a box of cereal. After pouring himself a bowl, he sits down on the sofa.
"Aren't you supposed to be at school?" Ark asks while eating.
"It's a vacation," Cruise replies.
"Huh. So what's this?" Ark gestures to the TV.
"Anime."
"The cartoons from the Tayokei system?"
"Ugh…"
"What's this one about?"
Cruise turns to look at Ark, "You're just gonna say it's dumb."
"Come on, just tell me."
"It's about a highschooler- a teenager who gets superpowers and fights ghosts. The first season is a bit childish, but the second season gets, like, really dark."
"You're right, that is dumb," Ark puts his bowl down before reaching towards Cruise, "now, give me the remote."
Cruise grabs the remote and holds it away from Ark. "No way!"
"Give it to me!" Ark crawls over the sofa, trying to snatch the remote away from Cruise.
In retaliation, Cruise kicks Ark in the leg, right where he was stabbed.
"Ah! Shit!" Ark reels back to his side and clutches his leg.
"Ha!" laughs Cruise before going back to watching the TV.
Ark pouts, still holding his leg, and Cruise grins victoriously.
■■■
Theo pays his bill and stands up, the waiter and surrounding customers stare, months agape, not only at him, but also the 8 empty plates on the counter in front of him.
He exits the diner onto a street, busy with both people on the sidewalks and hovercars driving on the road.
"Alright, where to next?" he asks himself. He looks to the right with a sour expression before turning left and walking away. "The guild it is!"
Theo opens the doors to the Mercenary Guild and enters. There are a lot of mercenaries gathered inside, all equipped with a variety of different armours and weapons.
He pushes past them and goes to the front desk.
"Hi there," Theo says to Miranda, the receptionist from yesterday.
"Hello again, sir!" Miranda greets him enthusiastically, "I am pleased to inform you, we have you and your friend's Guild cards ready."
"Ooh, that's great!"
Miranda reaches into a drawer below her desk and takes out two cards and hands one to Theo, who takes and examines it. All it has on it is his name and a big letter 'E'.
"Give this to any official guild location and they can identify you quickly," she explains before joking, "so no more having to spell out your name!"
Theo chuckles. "Oh yeah, I finished the quest and gave it to the Guild drop off. I assume they told you?"
"Indeed, sir, we received the plants requested as well as a surprise Tiger-type monster. Very impressive catch!"
"Ha ha, you flatter me," he blushes slightly then straightens up, "So, more importantly, can I get paid for it?"
"Yes, sir, we can pay you for it. Not as much as if it was a mission, but it's still a pretty penny."
"Nice!"
"Also, sir, we went ahead and increased your rank to E, as you probably noticed on your guild card."
"Yeah, I did notice that," Theo looks around the room, "I also noticed the guild is a lot busier than yesterday, do you know why that is?"
"Keen observation, I heard it's because the Baron himself is issuing a large-scale mission. In fact," she checks her watch, "I believe an emissary should come out shortly to announce it."
Just as she says that, double doors leading to the back of the guild swing open. A man wearing fancy clothes steps through, followed by two big men in suits.
"Greetings & salutations, members of the Mercenary Guild!" the man announces. He looks around at the rough looking mercenaries and hesitates slightly before continuing, "H- His lordship, Baron Risquit, is in need of a large amount of mercenaries to assist his order of knights in their next expedition. It is open to all ranks."
A collection of excited murmurs can be heard from the crowd as they react to the last part.
"Enrollment will last until tomorrow, then we will be departing the day after. That's all." The emissary finishes his announcement and people start rushing to the front desks to sign up.
"Oh, I have got to tell Ark about this!" Theo says to himself excitedly as he is pushed out of the way.
■■■
"So that's Noro's father?" Ark asks Cruise, his eyes glued to the screen.
"Yeah, Noroi's father, he's one of my favourite characters!" Cruise replies enthusiastically.
"But… he's a villain?"
"Well… you're not wrong… but his power is really interesting. Basically he has no superpowers in a traditional sense. You'll see what I mean later on!"
"Okay…"
They continue watching until a shout comes from their mother in another room, "Boys! Supper's ready!"
Ark glances at the clock on the wall.
6:13
"Alright!" Ark shouts back before he stands up, "C'mon Cruise, pause it."
Cruise, still entranced, replies, "Yeah, one sec."
Ark, seeing Cruise not moving, picks up the remote and pauses it.
Cruise glares at him and Ark just rolls his eyes.
They enter the dining room, Ark first with Cruise trailing behind, and see their mum carrying plates from the kitchen and placing them on the table. At the head of the table, a middle-aged man sits silently, his face covered by the newspaper he's reading.
Ark stands and stares at the back of the newspaper while Cruise rushes past him and sits at the table adjacent to the man.
"Hi dad," Cruise greets the man.
Their father drops the newspaper down slightly and looks at Cruise before locking eyes with Ark. Ark flinches and looks at his mother.
"Uh, need help, mum?" he asks.
"Oh, thanks son, but," she glances at his leg, "I'll be okay!"
"Ah… alright." Ark takes a seat opposite his father, who is still looking at him, "Hey… dad."
His father says nothing, he just folds his newspaper and puts it away.
Their mum brings the final dish to the table, then says, "Okay, help yourselves."
They all start taking food from the plates in the middle of the table and putting it on their own plates. Ark fills his plate, taking the most. Cruise avoids the vegetables. And their father takes the least.
Bzzt!
Ark's phone vibrates while he's eating. He takes it out, "Oh… wow!" he reacts to the notification.
"What is it, Ark?" his mum asks.
"I tried a mercenary job with a friend yesterday, and I just got paid… a lot more than I expected."
"So that's where you were last night." The parents subtly exchange glances.
"Are you gonna be a mercenary, bro?" Cruise asks.
"Uh, probably not," Ark replies.
"Why not? You could be like Zappy Dave."
Ark looks at Cruise with a puzzled expression, "Who?"
"Zappy Dave, he's a really popular mercenary on social media, he can shoot lightning out of his fingers."
"Isn't it a bit gruesome?" Memories of slaughtering wolves appear in his mind and his expression changes to concern.
"Eh? Of course not," Cruise looks at Ark like he's the stupid one, "I really think you should do it, mercenarying, it would be very cool."
"It's also very dangerous."
"I also think you should do it," Ark's mum interjects.
"Wha- mum, seriously?"
"We were thinking of sending you back to school, but this could be better."
"I can't go back to school, I'm way too old."
"Do you really want to work at a convenience store your whole life?"
Ark winces, "but I need to be here to support the family!"
"Son,"
a commanding voice resonates across the room and everyone turns to look at the head of the table, "did you enjoy what you did last night?"
The room turns silent and Ark contemplates for a moment.
"Yes," he answers.
"And it made you money, yes?" Ark's father follows up.
"Yes."
"Great, discussion over."
Nobody spoke and they all returned to eating, except Ark, who just stared at his food.
Bzzt!
Ark looks at his phone once again before standing up and leaving.
Ark's dad watches his son walk out and he smiles slightly.