A Day Off

An awkward silence fell over the trio after the initial introduction. Usually, Winter was a talkative person, but Eir's suffocating presence made her hesitant to speak.

"So, what do you want to do today?" Bane asked, looking at the two of them. Eir shrugged and reluctantly turned to Winter for an answer.

With all eyes on her, Winter spoke calmly, "The three of us could go out for food, and then we can go our separate ways after." Bane nodded in agreement and looked to Eir for her input. She simply nodded.

"Sounds like a plan," Bane said as the three of them continued their small talk.

Winter contributed to the conversation but was lost deep in her thoughts. 'Bane told me to come to the faction building, and I thought it would be just the two of us…' Winter and Bane's idea of "meeting up" were clearly different. She had thought it would have been almost like a date, especially since he had said that seeing her made him happy.

'Did I really misread that?' She pursed her lips and looked down, but a tap on her shoulder brought her out of her thoughts.

"You ready to go? The repairmen just got here," Bane asked, moving toward her.

"Y-Yes, I am," Winter replied.

'So close!' Winter thought, able to see his pores up close. Bane nodded and moved past her to the door, making way for the repair crew and explaining a few things.

"You see that… Make sure you do that…" Bane gave a few orders and soon motioned for the rest of them to exit.

As they exited the poor slum building onto the dirt road, Winter whispered, "Do you trust them alone to repair your building?" She was understandably worried; such work should be entrusted to experts, not some slum dwellers.

"I have faith in their work. They did a great job last time. Besides, I like to have faith in humanity that they won't immediately betray us and take the money. It would only make the slums have an even worse reputation," Bane answered. His insight into slum culture made Winter nod understandingly.

Thus began the trio's day off.

Conversations consisted of Winter and Bane's random back-and-forth, with Eir rarely interjecting. Winter had grown more comfortable in Eir's presence and was now talking without a care in the world.

"Oh! Let's go there. It's super good," Eir said, pointing to a stone brick building with greenery and potted flowers out front. An alluring, sweet scent of desserts and cinnamon wafted through the ajar door and reached their noses.

"Mmm… It smells good," Bane smiled. He turned to Eir and barely held in his laugh at her priceless reaction. She practically had stars in her eyes as she stared at the front door, her mouth slightly open. Bane nudged Winter on the shoulder, and she turned, taken aback.

The two looked at Eir, covering their mouths. Winter hadn't seen Eir act like this before. A gust of wind hit the area, and Eir blinked, the scent being pushed away. That's when she noticed the audience she had acquired.

"What?!" Eir's face turned red. "What's so funny?!" All that answered her was the laughter of the duo. Winter was the first to stop, noticing Eir's glare directed at her.

Bane eventually calmed himself down and concluded, "We should eat here. Eir looked really excited."

Eir wanted to refute but couldn't. As soon as the sweet smell of desserts hit her nose, she was sold.

The three of them made their way inside, and slowly but surely, Winter was starting to understand Eir.

The trio looked out in awe at the glass cases full of cakes, pastries, exotic fruits, and dozens of other items on display. Eir was drawn to a rich slice of dark-colored cake. 'Chocolate…'

Winter looked toward another side of the shop. Bane walked over and noticed it was physically colder.

"What's over here?" Bane asked, approaching Winter from behind.

"It's called ice cream. Have you had it?" At Winter's question, he looked around. 'I haven't had anything like this before.'

"No, I have not. What is it?" Bane asked, looking over her shoulder, unintentionally catching a glimpse into her shirt. He quickly stepped back and waited for her to answer.

"It's so delicious. It's like frozen sweet milk," Winter explained, but Bane could not comprehend such a thing. He'd only had milk a handful of times, and it wasn't his favorite.

"By the way, this is on me. So, get whatever you like. Tell Eir the same thing," Winter said. Before Bane could rebut, she had already turned to the clerk at the counter and ordered a bowl of vanilla ice cream.

Eir took advantage of the free meal and got a large piece of chocolate cake. Bane, not as willing to use Winter for her wallet, settled on a strawberry-filled pastry. Having never tried either strawberries or pastries, he didn't know what to expect.

They took a seat in the corner of the crowded building; half a dozen customers were already chowing down on their desserts.

They all took their seats and shared what they got—well, the two of them shared. Eir had already started stuffing her face with the rich piece of cake.

"Would you like some?" Winter asked, holding up her fork with her hand underneath to catch any that might fall.

Bane nodded, not thinking anything of it, and chomped down on the fork.

'She's feeding him!'

Seeing this, Eir's eyes widened. She quickly swallowed the piece in her mouth and stabbed another piece of cake.

Eir held the fork in a similar fashion and offered it to Bane. "Would you like some cake?" Bane opened his mouth to answer, but before he could, Eir shoved the piece into his mouth.

The flavors mixed surprisingly well as he moved the sweets around his mouth. He was surprised he didn't have to chew. The ice cream simply melted away, and the cake absorbed the moisture, collapsing in on itself.

"Those were both really good. Thank you," Bane thanked the two of them, but Eir was not satisfied.

"Which was better?" she asked eagerly, hoping for her cake to be declared the winner.

Bane toiled over the two, thinking about the flavors and taste of each. "I like the ice cream more. Not to say the cake is bad—it's just that the ice cream is very unique and tasted better," Bane answered unapologetically.

"No!" Eir shouted, stabbing another piece of her cake as she tried to force it down Bane's throat. Winter simply sat and giggled while enjoying her ice cream. She now understood why Eir was the way she was.

'She is a jealous goddess and wants all of Bane's attention on her. She isn't malicious and wouldn't interfere in his life, but she will try her hardest to make him hers.' Winter came to this conclusion by seeing how Eir reacted outside and just now, when Bane gave Winter the slightest advantage in his mind, Eir quickly fired back.

Winter thought this could just be a competitive drive within Eir but doubted it. She trusted her gut on this one. She worked with people and could read emotions easily. Eir was jealous of any girl who got closer to Bane than her.

The trio finished their desserts without a hitch, aside from the little competition. Bane thoroughly enjoyed his pastry. 'I may have to come back here another day,' Bane thought as the trio left the restaurant.

They came upon a crossroads, and the group stopped.

"I'll head back home now. Thank you guys for letting me stop by," Winter said with a slight bow.

Bane tilted his head. "Don't you want to see the finished product?"

Winter nodded. "I do, but I have to get back home, and I'm sure this won't be the only time we meet up."

"I see. And of course, as long as you two are up to it, we can do this again," Bane smiled, looking to Eir for any input, but she just stared forward with a blank look on her face.

Bane took that as a yes, and the trio split up for the day.

"Well? Do you think she's nice?" Bane asked.

"Mmm," Eir mumbled.

The walk back was mostly silent, and when the duo returned to the Faction Building, they were surprised by the progress.

'There's a front door!' was the first thing Bane thought as he saw the new addition.

The two of them walked up the pathway, and Bane reached out to open the door. They stepped inside, but the repair crew was nowhere to be found. Bane glanced up and noticed the ceiling had been patched. Moving further inside, he saw the fireplace had been touched up.

There were two shiny objects on the singular chair in the back room. 'Keys.' Bane picked up the metal key and pocketed it, giving the other to Eir.

"See? Slum folk can do a good job," Bane said, as if Winter were still there. It just fell on deaf ears as Eir looked around in astonishment.

While there was no furniture, the Faction Building was slowly becoming something the two of them could feel safe in and proud of.