Silva walked inside and up the stairs with young Scott trailing behind. The stairs creaked with every step and the whole downstairs smelled of rotting wet wood. She opened the door at the top of the stairs and walked inside. An old couch sat in the middle of the room and a bookshelf covered in old books was in the back left corner of the room. A lone giant window was on the wall to the right and a wood stove stood in the back right corner. A few cupboards lined the wall directly to the left and a counter space rested below it.

The room also had a musty smell to it that mingled with the smell of burnt wood from the woodstove. There were two rooms on the wall to the left and both the doors were shut. He was curious what was in the rooms but didn’t feel like asking.

“So what do you think?” SIlva asked proudly. She was rather confident in the place she was staying despite it being a trash heap.

“Thank you for letting me stay.” he replied.

“Oh don’t be so formal. I hate it when people try to be all formal when it isn’t necessary, so stop. Also this room here will be yours.” she said, opening the door to the room farthest from the bookshelf.

Inside there was a small bed and a nightstand. A dresser sat at the back of the room with a small window above it and finally a desk was to the right of the door. There were layers of dust on everything and plenty of cobwebs but he didn’t care. It was better than the streets.

“Thank you.”

“Well as your first task as my apprentice you need to clean this room up. There’s a towel and a duster by the woodstove.” she said before laying on the couch.

“Okay.” he said as he walked over and grabbed the cleaning supplies from beside the wood stove. He then turned and went into his new room to clean.

“Oh, I’m going to take a nap for a while. Wake me when the sun rises, or not. I don’t really care at the moment. Too tired.” she said from the couch.

Once he had finished cleaning Scott went out to find that Silva was passed out on the couch. Not knowing what else he should do he decided to grab the top sheet off his bed and placed it over her. He himself then went to sleep.

* * *

Scott walked out into the street towards the market. It wasn’t all that busy due to it being rather cold but despite that it was still a busy place. People were coming and going as they pleased and the stalls were filled with wares for them to peruse. At the edge of the market there was a young lady standing in front of a flower stall.

She was a thin lady wearing a common brown blouse and had her hair tied up in a bun. Her face was adorned with freckles and she had hazel eyes that matched them. Behind her in a chair and smoking a pipe was an older lady. She also had a brown blouse and had several metal bands on her wrists. The jewelry clashed with her white hair but she didn’t seem to care.

“Mrs. Koroline, how are you?” Scott asked as he walked up to them.

“Scott! I have been well, and yourself.” the old woman replied.

“Not as good as I would have liked.” he said gesturing at his injuries.

“I can tell. Now I have your order for you. One orchid and two-thousand-three-hundred and eighty-one gardenias.”

“Perfect.”

“Now boy, I love the fact that you buy all these from me every year. I mean it’s the only way I can keep up my bad habits, but you need to think about whether it’s time to move on.”

“I don’t think I’m ready for that just yet.”

“Well my granddaughter over there is looking for someone and I would feel better if it was you.” she said tilting her head towards the young lady.

“I don’t think it’s a good time for me. I still have my drinking habit and I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

“Okay, but I worry about you. You have helped me out more than once and you’re trustworthy. Heck, I’ve considered putting you in my will.”

“Don’t, I already have enough debt being passed to me from my own family.”

“Oh shut up.” she said while giving him a look of annoyance.

“Here’s that order for you.” the young lady said, holding out a large satchel full of flowers.

“Thank you and here’s your payment.” he said, handing her a sack of coins. “Don’t let your grandmother spend it all on tobacco.”

“Don’t worry, she probably won’t live long enough to smoke much more.” she replied with a smile.

“I’m not old you disrespectful brat!”

“Keep denying it and you will only make it more true.” Scott said.

“I take back what I said. You two shouldn’t become a couple or else I’ll never stop hearing all your sass. Now stop being a bad influence Scott!” she berated.

“Well, you two have a good day.” Scott said with a bow before heading off with his satchel of flowers.