Rain on the Sidewalk

Author's note: A day late and later in the day but, in my defense, I wasn't feeling good. Think I've slept about 18 of the last 36 hours. Next week won't have a chapter, going to start doing every other week until I have a larger backlog. Still, I hope you enjoy!!

"Oh, the rain started coming down hard," Amelia said as she sat down in the booth they'd been guided to, right next to a window. She had gentle smile lines everywhere they could be and dark brown hair. She wasn't supermodel pretty, but she had a definite 'girl next door' charm that drew Nate to her in the first place. "Good thing we got here when we did."

Nate sat next to his wife, a man who wore his good heart on his sleeve. He bore a well trimmed beard and short-cut black hair. Both he and his wife were in their Sunday best, along with a very upbeat seeming, nineteen year old Mark Mason. "And a good thing I said to grab jackets and an umbrella. The knees never lie, darling."

Mark nodded along with his father's words. "You'd think she'd have learned not to question you about the weather. I brought an extra one with me, too, if we need it."

"At least someone is learning." He gave his wife a smile and a sideways look, a playful shot at her was their usual method of banter. It was a comfortable routine in midst of a celebration well earned.

The trio ordered their meals and carried about polite conversations as they waited. It wasn't anything Mark could remember, aside from the overall feel of the conversation. Light, jovial, the warm kind of conversation from times when nothing seemed like it could go wrong.

The food that night tasted good and was well paired with the call of cheers from Nate, raising a glass. "To Mark, for his persistence and good fortune. I hope that new job does you some good, son, and you do some good with it."

Mark gave a slightly embarrassed smile. "I'm just glad they decided to give me a chance. The search has been such a huge pain but it's finally over."

There was a satisfied noise from Amelia. "I'm sure you'll do just fine. You're smart and capable, just aim yourself in the right direction and you'll be just fine."

"I think it will help you break out of your shell, finally. Get some friends within the state you can see in person more than once in a blue moon. I know the ones you spend time with are good people, but it's good to have people close to you in case of emergency."

Mark nodded along with them. It was a conversation they'd had many times. "I'll try, but I can't make any promises."

The dinner went on like that, with some jokes and laughs for good measure. All while the rain fell on the sidewalk.

The group filed out of the restaurant, umbrellas at he ready against the downpour long enough to get into the car. The three were off in short order, driving through the night. Mark watched out the window as the rain kept falling in sheets. Days like this used to be his favorite, the sound of rain a wonderful background to the day. He almost missed when the car began to slide.

A large puddle in the road had formed from the driving rain, difficult to see with the sun having gone down. The car hit it and began to slide, turning into a slow and uncontrolled spin as they veered towards the left.

The blank spot in Mark's memory couldn't have been more than a few minutes but the pain that seemed to flow into the gap was remarkably clear. A whole body ache that was only mildly concentrated on his chest. His forehead also felt warm and wet to go with his aching body. Reaching up to touch it showed his fingers covered in a slick, red coating.

The car was off the side of the road and in a ditch, something close-by was providing light in addition to the headlights. Looking to the front seat, both his parents were there, limp. The smell of burning gasoline in his nose finally registered and Mark began to panic. He scrabbled frantically at the buckle and pressed himself against the door to open it, having to use more **** than was usual.

The car was on fire, a tree overhead shielding the flames from the downpour. he frantically threw open the front passenger door, managing to get his mom free of the seat belt and out of the car. In simple terms, it hurt. Mark's body protested at having to carry any additional weight and he had to carry her up a slope in the rain. It was a fight for every inch of ground, needing to be sure of his footing lest he slip and fall. The smoke that burned his lungs didn't help.

Hellish would have been the least intense descriptor of how he thought it felt but by pushing himself, he was able to get his mom back up to the road. She was set down as carefully as he could manage.

'I have to go back for dad,' Mark thought as he turned and prepared to push just a little harder. No sooner had he turned when his eyes were met with an expanding fireball. The sound of rushing air and a heat wave followed in the wake.

The flames had completely consumed the car.

Mark came back to himself, not even realizing he'd been sucked into the memory. He'd been talking too, narrating the events to Imara. He was about to apologize for over-sharing when he saw a tear track running down the right side of her face. She quietly said, "that must have hurt..."

He looked at her for a moment before nodding. His voice was weak. "Yea... And what made it worse is that pulling my mom from the fire might have hurt her pretty badly. The doctor said it was the right thing to do but her back may have been injured in the crash. She's... she's not awake right now. She's in a coma..."

Just talking about what happened reignited the pain and regret in his chest, his hands clenching into fists as his vision began to blur. His voice broke when he first tried speaking again. "I wasn't strong enough. Some part of me knew I wasn't going to be able to help them both and I made a choice. And my dad..." The dam burst as tears rolled down his cheek. His eyes closed on instinct, trying to fight against the tears.

Imara reached out and put a hand on his in support. "You did what you could to save who you could. Don't beat yourself up for not saving the day."

Mark gave off a bitter laugh, wiping at his eyes. "We just met and you're already my therapist. Sorry for dropping that on you, I just... got lost in the memory, I guess."

"It's happens sometimes. Everyone has stuff they don't wanna talk about, and stuff they can't help but talk about. Most of them don't live through things quite that traumatic."

Mark was going to respond but the call for their order interrupted him. He excused himself and fetched the tray of beef, fat, and delicious choices of questionable health. A very welcome distraction in his mind. He sat back down and Imara took her food gratefully. The burger she'd ordered was pretty enormous, a triple with the works. "Maybe a little greasier than the gym bros would like but it's protein after a workout."

Mark looked at his burger before taking a bite of a lesser heaven, or at the very least a better place on Earth. Something seemed to pop into his head and he went to speak before remembering he needed to swallow first. "It's going to be weird going to work tomorrow after the day I had. We killed a bug the size of a moving truck."

"You killed a bug the size of a moving truck. Take some credit, it was your plan and I could barely hit the thing."

"The point is, how do people rectify normal life with stuff like that? How can you go from doing crazy stuff like fighting huge bugs in the jungle to working a nine-to-five?"

Imara gave a shrug. "Most don't fight giant bugs. The ones that do usually make it their job."

"That makes sense, adventurers and mercenaries didn't usually have day jobs. Speaking of, I got two items from finishing that quest. One of them is a rolodex of people around that are supposedly important. Wanna see if there's anyone you recognize?"

"Sure, might as well. Maybe there's something I don't know about in there that'd be fun"

With a nod, Mark put a hand under the table to make the fact he was pulling objects out of thin air less noticeable. What he set in the table was a black metal stand with a large number of note cards in a rough tube shape. It was about the width of his hand from wrist to finger top and the very first card on it contained what seemed to be instructions. Mark read aloud, "'Hello, and thank you for using the Informant's Rolodex by Unite Co. Unite Co, for the ones who prefer things how they used to be. Included in your order is a complimentary assortment of people and places of importance for your local area of...' it just says 'Insert Area Here' in brackets. Weird... 'Simply flip through the Informant's Rolodex to peruse the various pieces of information or fix an idea in your mind and turn to the next card to jump to that, should it be available. If you move to a new location, the Informant's Rolodex can acquire new information on an area simply by visiting a location high above the ground, such as a skyscraper, a church tower, or a hill sufficiently tall enough to view the new area.'"

"That at least sounds useful. Knowing important people and places in town fits with your gamer vibes too, kinda like a map."

Mark took a fry and munched on it thoughtfully, flipping to the next card in the stack. "Huh. First off the rip is the mall. 'Portham Mall Shopping Center is home to an economic Grave Zone, complete with the standard fair of amenities, as well as any additional things individual merchants bring to the table. Established and maintained by Archibald Westrig.'" At that name, Mark paused for a moment. "His name is actually Archibald? Was he born in the 1800's?"

"Wouldn't doubt it, people in power tend to be pretty old."

"Wonder if he goes by Archie, or if he's just old fashioned like that. Fuckin' Archibald of all things..."

"You'll hear way weirder names than that if you live long enough." She spoke with a smile but there was a note of seriousness to her tone. "If my Fixer is in there, you'll see."

While that did make Mark fairly curious, he wouldn't know until he found it. Onward he flipped, to the next entry, and had to pause for a breath. "I think that's supposed to be pronounced like you-na?"

Imara's smile grew as she chuckled to herself. "Yep, that's him. Una Brennan?"

Mark nodded, reading off the card. "Yea. 'Una Brennan, local representative of the...' Oh god, is that Spanish? Ordem de Troca e Serviços... Probably butchered that."

"That's a new one for me, that's for sure. Sure you didn't pull something trying to pronounce that?"

"Oh, har har. Says that's the real name of the Fixer's Guild. Guess I should chat with him at some point or other."

"I can give you a hand with that one, he's a nice guy and I've done some work for him in the past."

"Thanks... Oh, I don't have your phone number." Mark fished his phone out of his pocket and got it ready as Imara did the same.

As they swapped numbers, Imara said, "it was really weird getting used to these. Didn't get one until about a year ago. Assholes wouldn't let me get one 'til I turned eighteen."

Hearing that made Mark's eyebrows rise. "You're only nineteen? I thought you were older than me."

She nodded again, and Mark couldn't help but notice the slight bounce of her chest. "Yep, my birthday was back in September."

"Mine's... actually today, dumb as that sounds. I just turned twenty."

"No shit? Well, happy birthday! I guess I'll have to figure out something to give you."

"You don't have to, we just met. Besides, you helped a ton today, that's gift enough as far as I'm concerned. Now then..." Mark munched on a few more fries as he flipped to the next card. "Huh... I actually know this name. 'David Wrasse, local head of the Atlantis Reef Guild and manager of the Georgia Division of Reef Health and Services.' I guess they really are tied... That's my boss's boss."

"Sounds to me like you're part of the surface-facing part of the guild. Not a bad place to be, not too dangerous."

By this point, Mark had exhausted his supply of fries and began eating his burger in earnest while he processed everything he'd learned. There was a non-zero chance that a lot of his coworkers were... Fish, stupid as it sounded. Not only that, but Tara might be one, which was concerning, considering the only quest he had for the moment. On top of all that, he had a market to check out and someone who was, in essence, a gig broker for mages. The next few days were going to be rather intense. The more he thought about all of this, the more serious his expression became, his eyes glazed over in thought.

He was quickly snapped out of his run away thought train by Imara tapping on his head. "Ground control to space cadet, come in. Can't go spacing out on me all the time, you'll miss all the high brow humor and sophistication."

"Sorry, sorry, just trying to think through all the things this little rolodex put in my head. Didn't mean to."

"Well, now that you're back on Earth, I decided what I'm gonna get you for your birthday."

"Oh," Mark asked as he quirked an eyebrow.

With a small amount of blush on her face and a glance towards where the waitress had been a few minutes ago, Imara grabbed the bottom of her crop top and lifted it. Mark's jaw hit the floor as he saw her chest come completely free of any and all restraint. Under only the influence of gravity, her breasts fell in perceived slow motion into their natural resting position. The two biggest things that Mark noticed, after all the ripples of flesh that captivated the senses, were that she didn't have any perceivable tan line and that her nipples, surrounded by somewhat dark and large areolas, were pierced by silvery metal studs. Her blush had grown substantially after she'd committed to the act, flashing someone she'd only just met today in a public, if fairly empty, place. "Figured this would be a birthday gift to remember... Hope I did alright on such short notice."

Mark had considerable trouble formulating any kind of response with his jaw on the floor. His thoughts managed enough coherency for a singular thought to push through the stunning effect of Imara's feminine flashbang.

'Best birthday ever.'

Find us on the interwebs, including Discord! https://linktr.ee/TwinFatesOffical