Despite the off-putting tendencies of the group that had found themselves in a kerfuffle of sorts, they had money and were willing to pay. The gold coin she had given him would've worked for a month at his place. He was a powerful man and willing to make the most of it with or without them knowing or wanting too.
"We'll take it."
Scott poured some hot water and took a hot bath. Sears on the other hand locked himself in the attic and began looking for stamps. The other cabin was very calm as Joey began to make a pizza for them. He had set most of his life cooking for himself thus he plunged into overdrive previous to finishing his dinner. Mistress was given an entire rotisserie chicken. Meanwhile Alexandria joined in on eating the pizza. Sears had tried pizza four times in his life and enjoyed each time. But then there was Scott. He laid in a bathtub filled with warm water.
"This is fine."
What more can a man want in this lifetime besides somewhere to reestablish a sense of normalcy? Though he had enjoyed the lands of this place, he felt a little at home. Here he was after all these years, back in New York.
"Where is he?"
Sears was concerned about his friend. He knew that he was a person who had an almost religious sense of duty, but something was off.
"He's probably soaking in that tub again and he's going to wine and complain about how his suit is wet later."
"Yeah, but why isn't he here? We need to figure out what's wrong with him."
Everyone gave him a weird look. The mercenary didn't like being observed and he despised being looked at funny. Especially when he was nervous. It could just make him go into a frenzy. He had countermeasures built up for the people on his crew. BB most likely had some of his own but that wasn't his concern.
"Right... you do you."
"I don't have anything else to do right now, let's do it!"
Joey and Mistress stayed in their cabin whilst Alexandria and Sears went into the cabin. They heard a light tune from it before fatefully meeting Scott who was sopping wet and moping in the bathtub.
"Do you want to talk about what has happened today?"
"No. I don't think I will."
"Do you want to come eat?"
Sears felt that he had some sort of obligation to be responsible for these people but that was really all that mattered to him in life.
"In a minute."
"Well, you better hurry. It's getting cold."
"What are we having?"
"Pizza."
Scott stood in the tub. His suit was ruined, and he had lost quite a bit of weight over the last few days. He couldn't remember the last time he had eaten anything of any sort.
"I guess I'll be there. Just give me some time and this whole thing will be done."
Sears knew from the way that he had said it that he was going to be treating every little thing as a chore. Though, through some risky and possibly dangerous work, he could probably save his friend.
"Since we got him out of there, could we have some ice cream?"
"Sure."
He checked his wallet and all he had left were a few thousand Jamaican dollars. Silently he hoped an ATM was nearby. After wrapping up his leftovers and placing them inside the minifridge in his room, he took the two who were just plain kids out to get ice cream. He liked having those two as company. It usually surprised people that he had been good with kids in his time.
"I would like a triple banana split with pistachios and almonds."
A small tear came from his eye as he heard her order. For some reason, he had felt that he might have [redacted] a little bit but if you asked him he would deny it. Then, Alexandria came up and she had a smaller order.
"Can I just get cookies and cream in a cup?"
The sigh of relief from Sears's wallet was massive. From that moment forward, he would make sure to check a surplus of money in accounts for him to access. It helped him when he was a mercenary to get past the tax man.
"Thanks. But make sure for the rest of the day to not have me buy anything too expensive."
The cashier was given twenty dollars that he got from an ATM and then they enjoyed their ice cream. The meals were night and day between the two girls. Sears stole a water cup and filled it with ginger ale. One time in Backtown, he and BB made a soda machine. Took them forever and BB really only did it as a favor.
"He would love to be out tonight."
"What?"
"BB, I don't know why but I do know that if he was out here tonight with us he would absolutely enjoy it. But he wouldn't show it."
A silent bit of acknowledgement passed through the three. They loved BB. Sears as a son, Alexandria and Mistress as a brother.
"He was strange."
"You can say that again."
They walked back to find Scott and Joey sitting next to one another on a porch. No words were passed between them, but they did have a strange understanding.
"How's it going?"
"Terrible like usual."
Scott got a laugh from Sears. He needed that. Everyone needed a laugh.
"For some reason, I feel like I can say that this night was better than most."
Sears had gotten the best sleep of his life that night. For some time in the morning, he pondered. Does my group still exist? Why was that doctor wearing a mask? Why did Alexandria have that coin on her?
"Can we talk for a moment?"
Scott had stopped by to talk to him and so had the doctor.
"What is it?"
"Well, we just need to find a way to, well, find some people. Also, our landlord wanted to see you for some reason."