Noemi shoved the living room couch back, tilting its angle so she could get to what was hidden underneath it. "Don't look so smug. I went easy on you." She pulled up the loose floorboard and took out a small sack, tied tight at the top. "How'd the last batch go?"

"It practically sold itself." Zinnia took the sack of coins out of her bag.

"Economy's gone down the toilet and yet folks still gotta get their fix. All of this fervor for some seed pod paste. Funny, ain't it?" Noemi traded her sack for Zinnia's. "There's less this time. Apparently, something went down during transport. Batch got botched."

"We're not going to get in trouble, are we?" She felt the compact bricks through the bag.

"Nope. The whole line knows about it. Whoever-messed-up's been taken care of, I'm sure."

In other words, they'd been killed for their mistake. Zinnia swallowed. "I also need a refill."

"Of course, of course. I was thinking you were due soon. Wait here." Noemi put the couch back in place, then left for her room. Zinnia did as she was told, not moving from her spot.

They'd met at least a year and a half ago, when Zinnia's life was at its lowest. Initially, Noemi was a cheaper alternative to the apothecary, someone who wouldn't price gouge the drug she depended on. She relied on Noemi to maintain her appearance and her psyche. But, then, the two of them got to talking, and Zinnia became one of Noemi's runners. She leveraged her network of down-on-their-luck farmers and the rest was history.

She did what she had to do. The thing that happened left her with no other choice. The Trotters needed money to rebuild. Zinnia needed a cheaper source that wouldn't be as hard on her family's income. Noemi helped give her all of that and more.

A friend who genuinely listened to her. Someone far removed from the tragedy, who didn't know her before it happened. Someone who didn't remind her of it. And in those rare moments of weakness when Zinnia did need to talk to someone about it, Noemi was never the one to brush her off.

Uttering her sister's name was like uttering a curse upon the town. No one wanted to acknowledge her existence or the swirl of things that happened because of her.

Noemi came back into the room, holding a bundle of twined-together leaves and a tiny jar of ointment. "Have you ever tried injections?" She handed the drugs over.

"A dog would sooner get a syringe than I could. Animals in Seide District get better treatment than the people in Arntzen." Zinnia put it all away in her bag. "It's wrong. It makes you wonder who's really the animal."

"Hey, cut that out." Noemi scolded her. "In the end, we're all anthropes. Dividing us into humans and animals is arbitrary bullshit."

"These distinctions were established for a reason." Zinnia liked Noemi's use of arbitrary, even though she disagreed with it.

"Someone felt bad about not having special ears and tails and shit, and decided to be a 'human' when everyone was just fine being one pool of anthropes all together."

"You've got a vivid imagination."

"And so do you, pretending like you were born and raised in Rat's End. You may know Arntzen, but you don't know it. At the end of the day, you'll return to your cozy bed in Seide and be damn glad you're not sleeping here."

"I'm sorry if I implied that," Zinnia said.

"You sure did."

"Seide's not as great as you'd think. Everyone there lives in a daze. They have no idea what's really going on in Stockbrunn."

"Stockbrunn or Casterne at large?"

"Both." She answered. "They're missing everything. It's like they're asleep."

Noemi folded her arms. "What makes you so enlightened, besides your trips over here?"

"...I don't know. You can tell I'm different, can't you? Isn't that why you helped me?"

"I helped you because you looked like you lost everything." Noemi said. "Loss and rebirth come with the territory of being a lavender girl. Excuse me, a lavender woman. Yeah, we understand the destruction/creation cycle better than anyone else."

Zinnia mused. "I'm not sure that statement applies to every lavender girl."

"But it does to us, because of the shit we've gone through. That's why I helped you. Mutual understanding of shitty circumstances. I could tell that about you as soon as I saw you." She relaxed. "I'm not mad at you, by the way. You do good work. Great work. Never had a reason to complain about you."

"I don't have any complaints about you, either."

"Good. You wanna talk about anything? You've got this sad girl vibe going and I'd hate to have you leave that way."

Where should she begin? The handful hours of sleep she got every night because her mornings, afternoons, and nights had her pulled in three different directions? The fact that sometimes, she really would like to get out of Siede and stay with the three of them? Or how about that no-way-out feeling that seemed to be suffocating her more and more each day?

"Maybe tomorrow. I want to see if I can make any sales tonight."

"I'll look the other way if you ever want to have any. It helps with anxiety."

"No thank you," Zinnia spat that out faster than she intended to. "I'm okay."

"Then don't say maybe. I'll see you tomorrow and I'll be here waiting for you." Noemi helped her off of the floor. "We can talk privately. Everybody knows Gracja and Lucio are like hens, ready to peck up any gossip they can get their greasy beaks on."

"I know, right? You've got to do something about them." Zinnia hugged her. "I'll see you."

"What kind of hug was that?"

Zinnia tried again, this time fully embracing her. "Is that better?" When she let go and stepped back, she felt twice as self-conscious as she usually did, and that was saying something.

"Yeah." Noemi read her embarrassment loud and clear. "You better get home in one piece. See you later, Z."

"Bye!"

Zinnia shot out of the room, out the door, and back onto the streets of Arntzen District.

She wiped the goofy smile off of her face with the back of her hand.

It was time to get to work.

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A/N: This is an interactive fantasy serial. Voting takes place on Thursdays through Sundays on the story's main site. The most up-to-date chapters can also be found there, but uploading will happen in parts on RRL as well.

The next post will be Chapter 8.

Chapter 14 is out now on the main site. This week, voting will end Sunday at 11:59 PM EST. Comments on the main site are especially encouraging to the author.