Lewis blinked at her. He wasn’t really one to talk when it came to eating proper meals, but at least he knew the meals and their correlating times.

“Simone..it’s…well into the evening,” Lewis replied with a look on his face. It was hard to discern, but Simonme could see it easily if she were focused. “What’s wrong?” He could tell that she was hiding something, but it was dark in her room and hard to see. It was one of the few things he needed to work on, and he lacked the ability to quickly adjust his eyesight.

“Tell me what’s going on,” he demanded as he stepped more into the room and started to light the braziers on the wall. “You’re a mess. This is very unlike you.”

Simone had dark circles under her eyes once he lit the braziers. She was still in her nightgown and it was a wrinkled mess from her just laying around. She stood nervously and grabbed hold of her wrist as she stood there shyly looking away from him. “I broke them.”

She frowned deeply before she turned around and pulled out the flowers, “They didn’t start wilting until the other day… I think I broke them. They don’t even smell anymore… You must have worked so hard to get them for me and I broke them…” She frowned deeply and started to cry again.

It was obvious she was feeling guilt over breaking Lewis’s gift. “I don’t want you thinking I didn’t like your present… I tried really hard to take care of it but it wasn’t enough.”

Lewis was confused at first that Simone was crying over what she called ‘broken’ flowers. It took him a moment to realize that she was referring to the fact that they had wilted. “Oh. Flowers do that. I’ve been replacing them,” he said as he walked over. “I didn’t think about bringing new ones today…that’s my fault.” He walked over to Simone and pulled her into a hug.

“They aren’t broken. Just wilting. I’ll get you new ones…” He wrinkled his nose at her, though. It was obvious that she hadn’t taken any care of herself over the last few days. “You…should probably take a bath and get a change of clothes. You’ll feel a lot better. I can make a trip out and get more lilacs…"

For a moment Simone was stunned into silence. She pursed her lips as her face turned a shade of red, “You’ve been doing that for me every day?” It would make sense she wouldn’t have noticed but… Why hadn’t she thought about that? Was it because Lewis was still sorta rough around the edges and she didn’t think he would go that far for her?

She hugged him tightly and put her face into his chest, “I didn’t know you were replacing them… I thought they were enchanted or something… and that I had broken it.” She shyly looked up at him and then looked down at herself. He was right she was a mess.

“Okay…” Snowball helped her get her clothes and a towel before she ventured to clean herself. She was still… shocked. Once she was clean she made her way back into the tower and found Lewis. “I don’t stink anymore… Is that okay?”

Her hair was braided but still wet but thankfully out of the way. “I feel silly now…” She hadn’t been eating, she had been crying, and she had been depressed over nothing. “I just didn’t want to ruin a gift you picked out.”

The Misunderstanding

Lewis was feeling in a giving mood today, for whatever the reason. It had been only a few weeks since Lord Raith had, thankfully, approved of Simone’s presence. Sure, Lewis was being heavily punished for his lack of forethought in asking his God’s permission, but in the end it had all worked out.

Maybe that was the occasion. A celebration of his allowance to keep his pet project at home while he worked out how to permanently kill her. A walk down to the local city. It was large enough to get lost in, but small enough not to be on any map. Perhaps that was how Lord Raith intended it.

“Stay close,” Lewis ordered, taking her hand. He had to make sure she didn’t get separated; after all trying to locate one person in a city like this was likely to be a pain in the ass. “Don’t wander. We’re headed to the book store for your one treat, and then to the weapons shop. Don’t idle. Don’t look at anyone, and don’t talk to strangers.”

His demands were straightforward. In the overall sense, they were wise words, but coming from him they made it seem like he was a controlling asshole. Which, to be fair, he was.

This was Simone’s first trip to the outside since she had come to the tower. Looking down at his hand she blushed lightly and nodded, “Alright.” He was an asshole but… He gave her feelings that were difficult to understand.

Mone had on a cloak since it was a fair bit windy and it hid who she was but it didn’t hide the small innocent voice that was under it. “Well, well… Lewis, who do we have here?” A small group of acolytes gathered around and Simone instinctively hid herself. “You got a partner? No, they seem too shy.”

Lewis said not to talk to strangers so she didn’t.

“You guys know better than to fuck with Lewis… He’s a jerk,” Jack walked by them and Simone lifted up her head just enough to see who called Lewis a jerk. “A-A GIRL?!” Mone freaked out and hid behind him more which made her hood fall down spilling out her long black hair. Jack was eying the stormy-eyed girl.

Lewis glared at the acolytes and at Jack. “None of your concern,” the assassin stated firmly. “Just keep to yourself and don’t bother me.” He took Simone’s hand once more and led her deeper into the city. He made a mental note of each and every one of their faces. They would be receiving a visit much later, one that may or may not end in bloodshed. That was on them.

“There’s the bookstore,” Lewis said as they neared the building. It was a smaller store, but the windows were filled to the brim with books. When they entered, Lewis glanced around, noting the narrow pathways between piles, and grimaced. This place was a nightmare, but there was only one entrance.

“You have ten minutes. Get your damned book and let’s go. We don’t have time to waste.” He took a step back and pushed her forward towards one of the paths.

From behind him, Jack slipped into the store. “So what…she’s allowed out now?”

“What did I say earlier?” Lewis replied, looking towards the mediocre healer. “Mind your own damn business.”

“Fine, fine,” Jack said as he raised his hands defensively. “Just…try to act more naturally. You stand out like a sore thumb.”

The assassin stared at Jack for a moment, and then took a breath. “Fine.”

Simone blushed, even more, when they looked at her. One was staring at her contently. “This your girlfriend Dusk?” Which made Simone hide more before Lewis dragged her off.

Once they were in the bookstore her face lit up and she immediately ran for the romance section. She thumbed through a few books and she looked genuinely happy. Once she found one she hadn’t read she ran back over to the owner of the bookstore. “This one,” she showed Lewis. She was in and out in five minutes. There were plenty that she hadn’t read yet.

Simone blushed again once Jack looked over at her and she pushed her hair behind her ear. “She is way too cute for you Lewis,” Jack huffed and left them alone.

“I… I HAVE MY BOOK NOW!” She shouted to avoid Jack as she took Lewis’s sleeve. “Come on…” She didn’t like people staring at her. "It's making me uncomfortable."

Lewis took care of the cost of the book, and the two left. He was once more dragging her by her hand, making sure that she kept up through the crowds. They were nearing the weapons shop that Lewis had dropped off his best set of daggers for maintenance. Sure, there were perfectly capable acolytes that could do it for him, but Lewis preferred someone outside of the God’s realm.

Next to the weapons shop was the brothel that Lewis frequently visited. It wasn’t something that he desired, per say. No, this had been a recommendation to ‘blow off steam’ from the acolytes. The concept made sense on paper. Time spent with them was ‘relaxing’ and ‘tension relief’. From that perspective, it worked wonders for Lewis. But the physical aspect of it all was…rather dull. His body reacted as it should, sure, but his mind was anywhere but there.

The women of the Canary were quite attractive, but none of them seemed to hold a spark that caught Lewis’ eyes. He had been with more than half of them in his time there, and there was one, only one, who managed to be the most efficient at getting him in and out. And since Lewis was always priding himself on efficiency…

“Oh hey Lewis!” a red headed girl said as she waved. “Haven’t seen you in awhile! Want to have some fun today?” She blew a kiss.

“Busy,” Lewis stated gruffly.

“Suit yourself,” she replied with a smile. “Sara misses you! Say’s she can’t wait for another day with you.”

“It’ll have to wait. I have…other things to attend to.” The other thing, was of course, Simone.

Simone was…different. It wasn’t like purchasing someone’s time. It was more complicated. A whore’s feelings didn’t matter. It was all about the client. Simone, though…well…

“Well, just so you know…I found something else you might want to try. THat little experiment you did last time was quite the ride. Might let you do it again!”

Simone followed Lewis closely. He had a good grip on her as not to lose her in the crowd. She stopped to look around the weapon shop. She asked questions about a glaive that stood out to her. It looked familiar to her. Once they were done he took her hand again and led her out of the shop… Which was what made her stop to hear the conversation.

It made her blush. It sounded like Lewis had a relationship with these women. Did he think of her the same way? She reached up after gripping Lewis’s hand hard. “Lewis?” The redhead looked at the very small voice by Lewis’s side finally. “I want to go home, Lewis. Can we go home?” Why did it feel like she was being suffocated?

“I just don’t feel good anymore.”