"Hey! We need two sets of cream soup and mashed potatoes for table four! Is the sous chef finished already?" a server shouts with urgency. We hear a familiar yet slightly different voice answering the server, "I'm already done! They're already on the counter. Hurry up and bring them to table four!"
Then the sous chef walks to the counter and repeats himself in case the server didn't hear, and we see Laniakea's face, who seems to have gotten a little older. Laniakea finishes his shift in the kitchen after a few more hours and goes to the head chef. "Chef, I'm finally finished. I'm going to go home now," says Laniakea.
The chef looks at him and says: "Of course, you deserve it! Who else could become sous chef in just a year? I'll get you your wages in a bit; give the other cooks some tips while you wait, alright?"
Laniakea answers him by saying: "Yes chef, right away. Oh! And make sure to include a little bonus."
"You little brat, always thinking of more money! If you want it, you'll have to stay a little longer—you know how stubborn the boss is," says the chef. Laniakea just nods and goes to the other chefs, giving them some feedback based on their performance for today.
The chef comes back a little while later and hands Laniakea his wages for the day and the extra he said he'd get him. "Here it is. Now go home; the people at the orphanage are probably waiting for you. And while you're at it, why don't you buy Jessica a little something? It'd probably make her happy," says the chef.
Laniakea scoffs and answers: "You tell me that every day. I don't want to spoil her too much. What if we go separate ways?"
The chef gets a little annoyed and says: "What do you mean 'separate ways'? Well, never mind, you are not old enough to understand anyway. Just buy her something, go."
Laniakea leaves the establishment and makes his way home. On his way, he sees a wandering merchant selling some necklaces and approaches him. "Excuse me, how much does a necklace cost?" Laniakea asks the merchant.
The merchant answers: "Well, it mostly depends. This one here made of amber stones is 5 silver, but these two—the one with the citrine and the other with the polished catseye—are only 25 bronze. Which one do you want?"
Laniakea says: "I'll take the citrine and polished catseye necklaces."
"Very well. That will be 25 bronze," says the merchant.
Laniakea hands him a pouch and says: "There should be 25 bronze in here." He takes the necklaces and walks off, but remembers that the pouch only had 20 bronze in it. As he turns around to give him the remaining coins, he sees that the merchant has just disappeared without a single trace. Laniakea decides not to overcomplicate it because the merchant is already gone. "At least I have a gift for Jessica now," he thinks to himself, making his way home.
He arrives home and sees the Sister and asks her: "Sister, do you know where Jessica is?"
The Sister answers: "She should be by the well getting some water for tonight's dinner."
Laniakea thanks the Sister and makes his way to the well where he sees Jessica. He approaches Jessica and says: "Jess, come here! I got a gift for you."
Jessica shows a joyful expression with sparkling eyes, asking Laniakea: "What is it?!"
Laniakea pulls out both necklaces and hands her the catseye necklace. "I got some matching necklaces. See? I even got yours in catseye since it matches your green eyes," says Laniakea.
Jessica looks even more excited, thanking Laniakea for the gift. "Thanks, Lan! Now we've got matching stuff."
Laniakea tells her that he's going to go to the kitchen and start preparing dinner for all the children at the orphanage since he's the only one who got real cooking lessons.