Scale stretched in the soft dawn. Shades of pink obfuscated the morning gray. The apartment rooftop had a concrete barrier that circled the outside, originally meant to keep people back from the edge, but Scale was banced precariously upon that very barrier humming a tune. Below she watched the city come alive as thousands of people began their day.
The life paths ahead branched endlessly and Scale decided to think on them. She weighed the life she idealized in the past with her current values. For now she was living off of the generosity of her sister, but that wasn’t a permanent solution. Scale could easily find work with any of the major guilds or even work for the Awakener Association itself, but something about that kind of life felt hollow. She currently had no interest in resuming engineering, nor was she sure she even could considering how long it had been since she touched those skills. It would also be difficult to reacquire credentials since her identity had changed.
“Maybe I’m overthinking it,” she said as she let herself fall backwards off of the rooftop. The rush of air and the feeling of weightlessness filled her with joy. With danger removed from the equation, flying and falling were quite fun.
“I could open a clinic or work as an independent contract healer for guilds,” she mused. That fell more in line with her goals than personally exterminating monsters. She liked helping people. She liked healing people. The ‘Holy’ part of her race seemed to influence her more than the ‘dragon’ part.
Scale nded on the ground gently. A few people gave her odd gnces but most had seen awakeners flying about before so none paid it too much mind. This was Response City, the central hub of Awakened individuals in America.
Scale’s legs started moving without her consent. She meandered about without thought or purpose. She watched the people and looked at the scenery while she pondered her future. A few people gnced at her from time to time but no one bothered her. More and more people were appearing on the streets as the morning stretched.
Scale found herself at her old apartment building. It was four stories tall and made of brick in the western end of downtown. It couldn’t be compared to Watergss’s luxury high-rise, but it still felt nostalgic to visit.
“Excuse me, Ma’am,” Scale spoke to a woman leaving the building.
“I don’t want to buy anything,” said the dy in a curt tone. She was dressed like an office worker with a button-up white blouse and a bck business skirt that went below her knees. Her glossy bck hair was tied in a bun and she had small round gsses that matched her aesthetic well.
“Oh no, I’m not trying to sell you anything,” Scale quickly replied, shaking her hands and wearing a sheepish grin. “I was hoping to find out if some friends I knew were still living here. I’ve been away for five years.”
“Sorry,” the woman apologized with a soft expression, “But I really don’t have time. I’m going to be te for work. You should ask the building manager…” The woman paused as if she was about to say something else. Her expressions shifted a few times while looking at Scale. The dy opened her purse and ruffled around in it for a moment.
“Alright,” said Scale with a shrug. “I’ll let you get to work.”
The woman finally found what she was looking for. “Here, take this,” she said. She handed Scale a card. “If the manager gives you a hard time, call this number--Ack! I’m going to be te!” The woman looked at the time on her watch and freaked out. She started running off but waved as she left.
Scale waved back briefly and then went into the building. She tucked the card into her pocket without looking at it. It only took her a minute to find the manager’s desk because it hadn’t moved in the st five years.
The current manager was a skinny man with blond hair; he looked like a bit of a slob. The moment he saw Scale, though, he perked up from his desk and wore an ugly smile.
“Hello Beautiful,” he said. “Are you here for a tour? We’ve got three vacancies.”
“No,” said Scale. “I just want to find an old couple I knew a few years back. Do you know if the old Johannes couple are still living in apartment 403?”
“I’ll look that up for you!” He was a little too eager to help and his eyes were gross when they lingered on Scale’s body. He looked college aged. He was probably the son of the previous manager; the two had a strong resembnce. The boy typed something into the computer and frowned. His body leaked mana unconsciously from time to time as his emotions fluctuated. He was an Awakened but he wasn’t very strong. He had maybe a third of Watergss’s mana.
“Sorry, it looks like they moved out two years ago.”
“Does it say where they went?”
“Nope. I could call my dad and see if he knows. Would you like to come in and sit down for a while while you wait? I can get you a cup of coffee.”
Scale shivered. She frowned and her brow furrowed. She’d experienced this kind of thing only a few times in the other world. Due to her young age and rather fearsome reputation it hadn’t been too common. Her human form aged as a normal human did, after all, and she had been banished from that other world at only 16 years old. Those that looked at her with those disgusting eyes back then were all dead. At least she was being ogled as an adult this time. That thought didn’t ease her discomfort.
“No thanks.” Scale’s reply was curt as she turned to leave. She didn't want to stay here any longer.
“Could I at least get your number?” The boy followed her towards the door. To Scale it felt like his eyes were licking her body. Her nose wrinkled.
“Fuck off," she said. She didn't give him the time of day as she walked out the door.
Scale moved quickly through the sea of people after leaving her old apartment building. She regretted not being able to see Mr. and Mrs. Johannes again. They had taken care of her back when she was Jacoby more than a few times. Jacoby loved them so much he even affectionately called them ‘Ma’ and ‘Pa’.
“I wonder if the baldy could help me find them?” She didn’t want to ask her sister. Scale felt she was already relying on Alyssa too much.
“Hah,” she sighed and, out of curiosity, finally looked at the business card she was given earlier.
[Hannah Nguyen: Awakener Association Clerk. 1-555-555-XXXX]
An amused smile crossed Scale’s face. “There really are too many coincidences. I need a phone.”
She slipped into an alley. She didn’t feel like using her wings and flying so she decided to just jump onto a nearby rooftop and jump from building to building to speed up her travels. Her next destination was the Lewis River that ran through the north side of the city. She really wanted to take a swim.
-
The boy’s expression faltered for the first time as the white-haired woman left. The mana he was giving off strengthened. He clicked his tongue.
“Icy bitch,” he muttered. He walked back to the desk and sat down, stewing. The woman clearly didn’t recognize him, Jeremy Higgs—a rising B-rank hero in the Windfury Guild, and that irked him. Still, he had to admit she was his type. He pulled out his phone and tapped into the security cameras around the building to get a good picture of her before clumsily sending it to one of his friends who worked in the guild’s IT department.
— [Jeremy H.]: ’Heyyy mank can you help me find this beetch’s socials? also run a bcheck to see if i can go for her’
A reply followed soon.
— [Nerd17]: ’I’ll look into it. By the way, the boss wants to know when you’ll be back.’
— [Jeremy H.]: ‘my dadll b back in 3 days. im only watchin his pce till then. Tell boss ill run C gates for a week to make up to him’
The two exchanged a few more perfunctory texts. Jeremy grinned as he set his phone down. Being rejected once only made him more interested. There was nothing he loved more than breaking down ice queens. If the background check came back with no issues he wasn’t even against using force. It wouldn’t be the first time, after all. So long as they weren’t connected to anyone troublesome… Jeremy was always cautious. He’d heard too many stories of guys that didn’t do their due diligence and tried to mess with the wrong people.
