The city of Lionel was louder than Kai expected.
Not dangerous loud. Not collapsing‑world loud. Just… alive.
Cars humming down the street. People talking on corners. Children laughing in the park. Dogs barking at nothing in particular.
Noise that didn't mean death.
Noise that didn't mean run.
Kai sat on a bench near the fountain, watching the water arc into the air. The sound was strange — soft, rhythmic, almost soothing. He wasn't used to things that didn't want to kill him.
Leon plopped down beside him, holding two cans of soda.
"You're staring at the fountain like it owes you money," Leon said, handing him one.
Kai blinked at the can. "It's… loud."
"It's water, dude."
Kai wasn't convinced.
Leon cracked his open and took a sip. "So. One week in Lionel. How's the grand tour treating you?"
Kai looked around.
He had learned a lot in seven days.
How to use crosswalks. How to buy food. How to talk to people without flinching. How to sleep without expecting the world to end.
Leon had dragged him everywhere — the market, the arcade, the library, the riverside. Everywhere normal.
Kai still wasn't sure how to feel about it.
"It's… different," he said finally.
Leon snorted. "Yeah, no kidding. You didn't even know what a vending machine was."
Kai looked away, embarrassed. "It attacked me."
"It did not attack you."
"It made a noise."
"That's not an attack."
Kai wasn't convinced about that either.
Leon leaned back, stretching his arms behind his head. "Well, you're doing better than day one. You don't look like you're about to pass out every five minutes."
Kai didn't answer.
He didn't want to think about day one. Or the tower. Or the portal. Or the last thing he saw before the light swallowed him.
He tightened his grip on the soda can.
Leon noticed, but didn't push.
He never pushed.
That was something Kai appreciated more than he could say.
After a moment, Leon stood. "Alright. Enough sitting. I've got something to ask you."
Kai looked up.
Leon scratched the back of his neck. "So, uh… I work part‑time at this café. It's nothing fancy, but the boss is chill and the pay's decent."
Kai waited.
Leon took a breath. "We're short‑staffed. And you… well, you need something to do that isn't staring at fountains like a traumatized pigeon."
Kai frowned. "What is a pigeon?"
Leon groaned. "We're working on that later. Anyway—" He pointed at Kai. "You. Me. Café. You help out. You get paid. You get to meet people. You get to stop living like a ghost."
Kai hesitated.
Work.
A job.
A place to be.
A reason to wake up.
He didn't know if he was ready for that. He didn't know if he could pretend to be normal. He didn't know if he deserved to.
Leon nudged him with his elbow. "Hey. You don't have to say yes. But… I think it'd be good for you."
Kai looked at the fountain again.
The water rose. Fell. Rose. Fell.
Predictable. Steady. Safe.
Something inside him loosened, a small crack in the armor he'd built around himself.
"…Okay," he said quietly. "I'll try."
Leon grinned. "Good. You start tomorrow."
Kai blinked. "Tomorrow?"
"Yep."
"That's… soon."
"Welcome to capitalism."
That… capitalism thing? Kai had no idea what it meant
But Leon was smiling, and for the first time since he arrived in this world, Kai felt something faint and unfamiliar.
Not safety. Not comfort. But the beginning of something that might become both.
He stood, following Leon down the street.
The city lights flickered on one by one.
But far away, in a place Kai couldn't yet imagine, something ancient stirred.
Not here. Not now. But soon.