Second Chance

Kaz blinked blankly as Amie mentioned owning an entire house in Cerulean… which he rented out to people. But that… took a lot of money, right? Wait, he already knew Amie had rich parents. He recalled some of their other conversations. Somehow that seemed like something far in the past though, not relevant to the present. Or maybe it was just finally hitting home when Amie said he owned an entire house.

“I haven’t done much of it, but I do enjoy gardening,” Kaz nodded. Never owning a plot of land himself, he had yet to grow anything that was completely ‘his’. But he had done some temporary work in the fields, both tilling the soil and especially harvesting… there was always plenty of work to be had around harvest time. He found that kind of work relaxing. “You mean there’s a place in Lamia Scale for gardens?” He realized. It wouldn’t be the first thing he thought of when he thought about joining a guild… but it made sense. A lot of people enjoyed flowers and herbs.

Kaz was a little reassured to hear Amie’s description of Lamia Scale’s leaders. Both Daedalus and Kade, he was going to remember their names. They seemed fairly calm from how Amie described them… “That’s good. Not like I was planning on trouble.” Whether he knew them personally or not, Kaz was just more concerned with not stirring up trouble in Lamia Scale. First impressions were pretty critical.

One way to look at Amie owning a house was that he was rich. Another way was to look at it as something he adventured, earned, fixed, and used for income. He liked money. He didn’t talk about how much he had, because he hoarded it. He’d given a lot of it to Lamia Scale for repairs, but he still had enough. He would have to hoard more. A quirk of being raised around piles of loot for loot’s sake. Amie didn’t think his owning a house was particularly strange, but Kaz was blinking at him like something was up. They didn’t mention it again though.

Kaz apparently enjoyed gardening. Amie paused, trying to imagine Kaz tending the garden like Kade. Well, he didn’t necessarily think Kaz had that kind of patience. It would be interesting if he did… but unlikely. “Well, Kade has a garden that I sometimes tend for him if he is gone. Its out back. I imagine anyone would be allowed to garden there if they were so inclined,” he admitted. It was a big plot of land after all.

Amie smirked when Kaz said he hadn’t planned on trouble, “Knowing you, you’ll find trouble, whether you’re planning on it or not. But I am sure it will be good. And if they have any doubts, I could use that card where you sometimes think you owe me, so I’m just keeping watch on my investments.” Sounded weird. He didn’t care. He just felt like teasing a little to lighten his mood.

Gardening did sound nice, actually the more Kaz thought about it, the more he wanted to try. He'd never been in one place long enough to actually own a section of land. If he could borrow Lamia Scale's plot, or rather Kade's plot from the way Amie spoke about it... Well, Kaz was interested in at least trying. That could be a future project. Plus, it was something that Amie enjoyed working on as well. "Hm, maybe I'll try that later then, once all the initial Guild stuff is taken care of," he said.

He hung his head a little sheepishly when Amie mentioned that trouble would probably find Kaz. It was true. He had an uncanny way of attracting trouble like none other he'd met. Maybe Amie had it to some degree too, but Kaz almost felt like he was cursed. "Hey, that's no fair," he protested but grinned, knowing that Amie was joking. "What is this, blackmail now? That's not how favors are supposed to work," he laughed. "Well, I guess I can leave it at I'm not planning on trouble. So anything that happens past that can't be my fault.” For a moment he paused, looking at Amie. This man... had certainly done much for him. He had jumped in for Kaz when they were practically strangers, and it was probably the first person Kaz could consider a friend. “Seriously though, thanks Amie. If nothing else, it'll be nice to meet the people you consider friends at Lamia Scale.”

Amie was interested in anything that he could do with Kaz. While the land technically didn’t belong to Kade, he was the only one who made use of it. There was a lot of land near Lamia Scale, and no use in leaving it untouched. That was how Ambrose looked at it. He suspected more than a few people shared that thought. Why leave it alone when they could potentially make use of it. “That sounds good. Although you might want to reconsider the wardrobe choice for gardening,” Amie said casually, nodding at Kaz. The man looked good in a trenchcoat, sure, but given his clothes were mostly shredded, and inappropriate for being in the sun all day, he might want something else. Not that Amie wanted to see Kaz without a shirt on or anything. Nope.

Kaz lightly argued that this was not how favors worked. Technically it wasn’t blackmail. “Hey now. This was just to make sure you got into the guild, not to keep you around. Nothing I can say will keep you around when you want to run off and you know it,” he reminded Kaz. It was a simple fact, and not one he sounded resentful about. He smiled gentler when Kaz thanked him sincerely. “Ah that’s no problem. I have several friends… well, more than several. Point being, I will be happy to introduce them to you.” And some of his friends might actually figure out something about his interest in Kaz. He didn’t know how to feel about that. “How are you feeling? Tired? Awake? I don’t want to strain you.”

The mention of Kaz's wardrobe had Kaz looking over himself again. Yeah, there was no way he could show up in Lamia Scale in all tatters. It was embarrassing enough just having Amie see him like this. His current attire wouldn't leave the best first impression. "Yeah, uh... I'd like to get some new clothes before we start traveling." He didn't want to look homeless. Well, he was homeless, but he was homeless with money, so there was a big difference. Wait, maybe a better word would be wanderer... adventurer... was there a difference between the three outside of context?

It was a little hard to hear Amie say he couldn't force Kaz into staying at the guild. He understood what Amie meant; there was really no way of keeping anyone at a guild. But it still implied that it was an option that Kaz might choose. Kaz didn't want to run away, not when he'd finally accepted that he wanted to join Amie's guild. And he didn't want Amie to think that was an option, either. "I guess with time I'll just have to prove that I'll stick around. Though if for whatever reason I do run off, you have my full permission to drag me back." He didn't want his resolve to falter later down the line. If he couldn't handle this himself, he needed someone to keep him on his goal.

Kaz could see Amie being a popular guy, and wasn't too surprised to hear he had more than several friends. "I'm doing alright now," he assured Amie. Well, Kaz wouldn't be able to move very quickly, and he definitely couldn't handle any fights, but... his life wasn't in danger. So that was enough. "Thanks again, Amie. I'm sure I'll be back in full force in no time." And the first thing he planned to do was get to Lamia Scale. Well, get to Lamia Scale after he got some new clothes.

Amie didn’t mind how Kaz looked any day. He didn’t mind the torn clothes. Sure, a bit of it was attraction, and even a bit of it was the memory of his years wearing far less, but it was something else overall. Overall it was that Amie didn’t care what Kaz ended up wearing. He didn’t care what someone looked like when they’d been through a rough time. Sure he dressed well, and he really liked how he looked, but he wasn’t a jerk. How cruel to judge someone’s appearance when they woke up in bedrest? It was beyond cruel, beyond superficial, it was the most stupid thing Amie could imagine. No, he didn’t care.

“Would you mind if I bought you some clothes?” Amie asked. He wanted to do something nice for Kaz. Saving his life? What was that? Any human would have helped a dying man. He wanted to keep helping. If Kaz needed something, Amie wanted to do that. Clothing was a priority, and Amie really did want to tend to that.

Amie really did figure Kaz would run. Maybe not leave the guild, but run. It was in him. Amie hadn’t seen Kaz really need roots, and roots kept you stable. Otherwise it was up in the air. Kaz was like a bird who needed a new perch each time. Kaz said he would stay, and if not, Amie could drag him back. Amie knew he couldn’t… but maybe in time. “We shall see… I can be quite persuasive, or so they tell me.” He allowed himself a small chuckle. Everyone except Kaz seemed to find Amie persuasive. It was sadly funny. “I don’t mind you being below full force, or whatever it is. I just… well, I don’t know when you want to handle travel preparation, or maybe I should do that on my own.”

Kaz was actually quite relieved when Amie offered to buy him clothes. Even walking in to a tailor in his current garb was somewhat embarrassing. Even if Amie understood Kaz's predicament, strangers would stare. And Kaz didn't exactly feel like explaining what had happened. "That would be great, I was a little worried what they might think if I walked in like this. I'll pay you back whatever the cost ends up being." Normally Kaz would be picky about what he wore. It came with a mentality that first impressions were almost everything. However, he trusted Amie's own fashion sense. Plus... Kaz was going to need a wider wardrobe when he got to Lamia Scale, so some early shopping could only help.

Amie hadn't exactly guaranteed that he'd drag Kaz back, but Kaz took the answer as Amie promising to try. Kaz thought Amie looked a little sad... but it was hard to tell. Maybe it was the laugh that did it. Kaz shook it off as himself being paranoid, it tended to happen after periods of extreme stress. "I think we should go as soon as we can," Kaz said. So I don't change my mind. He thought, but didn't add. "As soon as I've got some better clothes, we could go together. I might just... be walking a little more slowly." He honestly did want to get to Lamia Scale as soon as he could. It was like a new chapter of his life waiting to be opened... and Kaz was ready for his current one to end.