***
Even though I kept returning to the caves every day and spent my time there nearly around the clock I never saw the boy there again. But instead, I had gotten something else to think about.
Throughout the following week I started to get letters sent every other day about the progress Robin made in the shack. In the latest one, which arrived yesterday, she had even attached some drafts and floor plans of the building. She was planning on making it noticeably bigger, disconnecting the bedroom from the kitchen and living room.
"Oh, bug off. It'll be great. Trust me." Abigail said over the loud beeping of her game.
I sat there on the floor holding my head in my hands staring at the blueprints, trying to make any sense of them. "The thing is just such a mess! I know this Robin is skilled but I'm starting to wonder if my case is just beyond repair."
Abigail let out a little laugh. I watched her beat another unfinished level. Once she was done, she set aside the controller and turned to me. "If you're so distressed about it maybe you should try visiting the place. See it yourself"
I shot my head up and frantically shook it. Burying it then under my hands I muffled through the floor panels: "I don't want to see it."
"Alright," Abigail turned back to her game and shut herself once again out of this world. How could she be so calm about this? And now she was going to leave me all alone with this.
Next to her sprawled probably the laziest dog to ever walk the earth. Deep asleep he rolled around snoring like a middle-aged dad with a full household and pockets full of dept. He looked like he was the one paying for the house.
Since I seemed to get no support from either of the two, I rolled the parchments back up and dramatically sighed while putting them away. Neither bothered to react to this.
Like Robin had mentioned, Fridays were a big deal in town. And Abigail seemed to agree with the sentiment. She had planned on taking me with her to the Saloon to introduce me to her friends.
"Don't worry! It'll be fun!" She grinned. The evening came way too quickly, and once darkness began to fall over the town we were finally set on our journey.
The town's one and only saloon was an old red brick building with dark wood decorations. The creaking wooden door led to a warm and welcoming burrow. The inside was merely lit by candles and lanterns that hung from the ceiling.
"Hey, since you're new here go get some free drinks from Gus. He always does something special for the first timers. Just don't mention me, heh." Abigail waved her hand vaguely in the bartender's direction. "Come to the nook when you're done. I'll wait for you there."
The room was divided by a long counter where a large man with a thick mustache ran around chasing orders and making drinks. The man rang the cash register like some kind of an instrument and at all times had a strange kind of pride in his features.
He was rather scary to approach.
Once I was alone, I glided through the round tables and sat at the front. Most of the chairs were full and I had to fight for a full seat.
"Hey, could I get a-"
"Ah!" The man exclaimed. Had I come on too strong? He hadn't seemed that skittish from afar. But that was because he wasn't. He set down a large jug and went on with as much enthusiasm; "Finally, you're the new gal, huh. I've been expecting you. The name's Gus, if you will. Welcome to the Stardrop Saloon!"
I had heard from Abigail's talks that she had two other friends, so I ordered four drinks. The man questioned nothing and just assumed I was thirsty.
Gus set three more glasses in front of me and then began his little show. First picking up ingredients and cups he stirred the liquids around. He took another cup and nearly tripped over with them. Acting like he didn't notice the dripping drink he continued the show with mysterious glances and winks.
Finally, he put the cups over the glasses and poured them full of bright yellow liquid. For a moment they smelled like citrus and lime, but strangely then changed to resemble more like strawberries.
And the smell wasn't the only thing shifting around. The drink changed color before my own two eyes. First from sunset yellow to a melon-y pink and then to a forest-y green. In utter confusion I turned my gaze from the drink to Gus and then back to the drink that started to shift to a sea deep turquoise. But looking up again, the man had vanished.
A new line of customers had come up to the register and once again Gus had his hands full. As Robin had warned, the Saloon was filled to brim with people. This made disappearing with the drinks fairly easy.
"What'd I say! Gus really loves you more than me." Abigail gasped when she saw me with the drinks in hand.
With her there were two guys playing pool. The other, blond boy with his hair molded up into sharp spikes. I wondered if he had done it all by himself, and if this was his everyday fashion or just for today.
I immediately recognized the other boy next to him. He was the tired boy from the caves. I had become convinced he had begun to avoid the mine after meeting me.
"Guys! This is the Lily I told you about." Abigail held her hands to my side and gleed. The blond boy helped me set the drinks down and then greeted me with open arms.
"Hey, I'm Sam! Good to meet you."
The whole person radiated pure warmth and care. I couldn't believe it at first but maybe this truly was what people called sunshine.
Sam was the youngest of the three. It was funny how he seemed to be a polar opposite of both Abigail and the other. He wore bright, sunny clothes and practically swam in color. He had small calluses on his fingers and mud on his sneakers. He didn't look like much of a fighter or whatever the other two did in their free time.
The other boy, who Abigail called Sebastian - or just 'Seb' for short - kept his distance. I couldn't be sure if he even recognized me, but the light bandages that peeped from underneath his hoodie proved that I hadn't just made it all up.
He spun the pool cue in his hands, planning his next move carefully. I watched him make his final attack, which led to the last ball on the table going out.
Sam moped around a good while after that while Abigail rose up for the next match against the winner.
"Ugh, one day I'll beat both of them so badly they won't know what's coming. You'll see." Sam murmured into my ear while Sebastian pondered his next move. Judging by his amused expression he had heard Sam's rather bold comment.
I noticed how Sam had been eyeing the empty glass in my hand, so I put it away.
"What'd you say about another round, huh? Don't worry, I'll handle Gus." Sam suggested, he had left the question open, so everyone was free to comment. Abigail practically pushed him out, so he took the hint and left.
Judging by the comments the trio had made of Gus I didn't think they had too warm of a past. It wasn't too hard to imagine what they had done to set the old man off his rails.
We played pool for hours. Most of the night, actually. I tried my best to cheer Sam on, but the boy was utterly hopeless against Sebastian. But to be fair, Seb had to have some kind of experience in the game. It was nearly unfair.
Sam swilled shots down like water while the others cheered him on. Though, he wasn't the only one.
Slowly the game started to attract less and less interest as the difficulty in concentrating rose. To Sam this transition happened quickly. Somebody paid for the jukebox and the whole Saloon began to blare.
"Hey! This is my song!" Abigail cheered, dragging Sam out to the dance floor with her both disappearing quickly into the crowd.
"You like to dance?" I asked Sebastian, who had stayed behind. He had sat onto a couch a while ago and just watched others go with a drink in his hand. He leaned slightly back when I sat down next to him.
"Absolutely not. Over my dead body." He sighed, shaking his head slightly. It might have been just out of politeness, but he added the question still. "You?"
"I dunno. I used to do ballroom dancing as a kid and really enjoyed it, believe it or not." I answered while looking back at the crowd. Oh, how carefree they truly were. I don't think it even crossed their mind that someone might be looking at them going. Or if they did, they didn't care.
Turning back to Sebastian. His face told what his mouth didn't say. "I don't know why I quit it. It just kind of happened. Sometimes it makes me wonder if I made a mistake. Ya know, quitting"
"Nah, you're probably better off."
"Hmm." I chuckled. "Maybe."
Sebastian swiveled his drink around in the glass and frowned a little. "Ya know, there's actually a whole festival for that, if you're into that sort of thing."
"Really? Like the one they're holding tomorrow?"
"Yeah, just instead of eggs there's flowers and- um, dancing." Sebastian gulped.
The song playing faded smoothly away to make room for the next. Once again, the crowd broke loose with the following song and the cycle continued.
"Thanks for patching the arm up the other day, by the way." Sebastian said suddenly. I had not expected any of this and had to take a step back mentally to take it all in. I had thought he had spent the whole night avoiding me and now it felt like we had done a whole turnaround.
"I don't think I remembered to thank you, so. Thank you?"
"Hm? No, it was nothing. Really."
Again, silence tried to force itself into the space. Not literal silence, the music was still on the verge of deafening. But the awkwardness I wasn't too pleased for.
Trying to desperately avoid this, I brought something up I had been thinking about for a while now; "I want you to take me to the bottom of the cave"
This finally caused a reaction in him. He stood up straighter and gripped his drink with both of his hands.
"Why? Uh... I don't really know you-" He went on; "Why are you this keen on talking to me?"
"No, don't take it like that!" I tried again, since he once again seemed ready to leave. I couldn't let it happen again. "We could work together, ya know. You get the bats and skeletons and I get the cool rocks."
"I lied about the skeleton. How'd you actually believe that?"
"What?"
"Yeah, a regular rock crab jumped on me when I had my back turned." He set the drink back down, which I took as a good sign.
"But the slimes were real."
"Yeah, so?"
"We could still go. Think about it. It would be safer if there's two of us, anyway."
Safer. That was the main string I was going to pull from. He had already been wounded, which I could take care of. I thought that route would make him see the benefit of the situation. I had been down the caves for weeks and never gotten quite as far as I would've hoped.
At least not far enough to reach something actually valuable.
"You don't have to decide now." I quietly added. The music had faded, and the faltering duo was visibly making their return. Clearly ready to go home.
Sebastian took the two in with a hasty smile, but there was something strange about it. As we made our way back into the outside world, I spotted what had been bugging me so much. There was a small, but noticeable dull spot in his eyes that didn't react properly with the rest of the face.
I waved the two a sleepy goodbye before stumbling inside Pierre's Abigail tightly by my side.
***