“Thanks! Have a good day!” she chirped at the rather brusque saleslady, who had already moved onto the next person. She made her way back to the door, pausing to study the big brute. She looked way, way up at him, still grinning. “Hi, I’m Jade. You’ll probably see me a bunch. What’s your name?” She hadn’t wanted to ask the saleslady her name because she didn’t seem super friendly and she was busy, but brute here was just standing there glaring at people, so obviously he had more time.
He seemed a little startled that she was talking to him, and he stared her down for a moment before saying directly, “Tom.”
Nodding and make sure to brush her arm against his as she lurched out, she chirped at him too, “Okay. See you later, Tom! Have a good day!” It just seemed like the right thing to say to people at work.
Munching happily on her chocolate croissant, she almost groaned aloud from sheer pleasure. The nurses had never let her have much chocolate, saying her system couldn’t handle it. Well ptooey on them, she was going to eat as much as she wanted now! Finishing it quite handily, she was licking her fingers as she finally got back to The Green Dragon.
She opened the door to a mostly empty common room. Seeing only Raphael talking to Jessica and Kaylee, who were attempting to clean as he growled at them, she spread her arms wide and declared, “Honey, I’m home! Didja miss me?”
Chapter Eight – Rumors
They were gaping at her like she was crazy...and maybe she was. Too many reruns at the hospital, but they had filled her time. Netflix and other streaming sites had been her very bestest friends. Finally, Jessica came to her rescue, asking politely, “Welcome back, Jade. Did you find what you were looking for?”
Jade tried to bounce cheerfully over to them, but probably appeared more like a demented baby gazelle. “I did! I met some really nice people and some horrid jerks.” She wasn’t staring pointedly at Raphael here, nope, not at all. He was glaring right back at her again though, so she didn’t feel very guilty about it. So far the jerks had all been connected to that academy place.
Completely ignoring her, he turned back to Jessica and Kaylee. “As I was saying, everyone else has been sent out, but no one has found her yet. Go out for a bit and see if you can find someone who knows who she is, but make sure you’re back in time to make dinner.”
Jade just listened, interested. Who exactly were they trying to find? “Whoya looking for?” she interjected.
Seeming just to want to shut her up, Raph glared and growled brusquely, “None of your business.”
“But maybe she saw something! She’s been out there for hours,” Kaylee piped up.
Now he was glaring at Kaylee like she was crazy. “You think this one, who’s had a glazed look ninety percent of the time I’ve seen her, would have been perceptive enough to notice something?”
Kaylee winced, but considered Jade as if measuring her. Jade stared unblinkingly at her, trying really hard not to space out. She didn’t stare off into space during her mental musings that often, did she? If so, so what? She’d been alone most of the time before, so she lived in her own brain. She was still getting used to having people around all the time. Finally, Kaylee glanced away and muttered rebelliously, “It still wouldn’t hurt to ask.”
Raphael was still glowering, but finally he bit off the words, “Fine. Ask.” Obviously, he wasn’t going to do so himself. Kaylee was still sulking at his harsh manner, so Jessica was the graceful mediator once again.
“Jade, did you happen to see the zombie healer?”
She choked on the bread she’d started nibbling on in the interim. Coughing and crying because she couldn’t get air, it took a minute for her to stop wheezing. When she finally got herself under control, she asked with a nervous chuckle, “Did I see what now?”
Raphael gave a triumphant snort as if to say ‘I told you so.’ Meanwhile, Jessica forged on, looking both determined and concerned, “The zombie healer. Well I mean, I don’t think she was really a zombie, but people say she was all covered in blood, so a little girl called her a zombie. She’s a healer.”
Yup, they were so talking about her. She couldn’t believe the gossip vine was this strong. She’d have to be careful what she did in public. Nonchalantly, she asked, “Why are you looking for her?”
Kaylee seemed excited by her evasiveness as she interjected, “So you DID see her!”
Jade glanced at the ground guiltily and asked again, “I might have. Why are you looking for her?”
At this point, even Raphael looked a little excited. He had come real close and was now looming over her. “Tell me what you know.”
Jade glared up at him before setting her bread down on a table and standing up, forcing him to take a step back as she glared up at his large figure. “I asked you a question. Why are you looking for her?” She was getting annoyed now. Why couldn’t they just answer the dang question? Disliking the fact that she was still being looked down on by Raphael, she turned around, climbed onto the bench of the table, and turned back around, crossing her arms over her chest. Now she was looking down on him! Only by about six inches, but still! Why does he have to be so dang tall? It’s not fair.
Raphael looked ready to do physical harm to her after she climbed on the bench. He spoke through gritted teeth, “Get. Off. The. Bench.”
“No,” she replied flippantly and smirked. “Oooh, what’s this? Big guy doesn’t like getting a dose of his own medicine? Not so tough when you can’t intimidate me, are you?” He was turning apoplectic with rage. That last bit might have been a tad too far…
He’d started advancing when Jessica piped in, “The academy heard about her and wants to recruit her. They’re panicking a bit because the selections are almost over and they only heard of her today.”
Jade smiled benignly at Jessica, stepping down off the bench and smirking even wider, which was kinda creepy on her skeletal face. All three of them had taken a step back, and she belatedly frowned. “What, am I that scary?”
Jessica and Kaylee shook their heads frantically, while Raphael snapped rapidly, “You’re creepy. Now tell us what you know.”
Jade was glaring at him outright again, all signs of her smirk gone. She questioned pointedly, “Do you really think it’s a good idea to piss off your information source...before you get the information?”
Raphael ran a hand through his glorious hair in frustration, then countered, “Do you think it’s a good idea to piss off the owner of the place where you’re staying?”
Jade glared. “Touché.” Turning to the girls, she asked, “Did you get a description of the…healer?” She had barely stopped herself from saying zombie. She did not want this to become her nickname in the future, but she had a bad feeling about it…
“Yeah, of course!” Jessica seemed happy to be back onto a semi-neutral subject, and she rattled on, “She was covered in blood, super skeletal-like skinny, dark brown shoulder length hair, green eyes…”
As she listed the attributes, it was like a lightbulb went off over all of their heads as they stared at her.
“You’ve gotta be shitting me,” Raphael cursed loudly while Jade’s smirk, albeit a much smaller one, came back.
Jade gave him a little ironic curtsey, saying pointedly, “Beginner healer, at your service. I believe I said something earlier about joining the academy and you said there was no way, so I think now is the right time to say I told you so.”