"Evelynn! Watch out!" Lydia warned. Her legs were slightly shaking, but her back was straight as her eyes never left the spot behind Evelynn.
Evelynn too, sprung to her feet, taking out the dagger from her inventory, ready to fight whatever had scared Lydia.
"It must be a boss or something. I have never seen this color before. I think we should try to run!" Lydia's voice was low but firm, as she assessed the situation. "I'm in no condition to fight, especially a boss."
Finally seeing what Lydia had warned her about, Evelynn felt her shoulders relax.
"It's okay, Lydia. It's just Dandelion." Evelynn reassured, turning to look at her.
'I didn't really plan to introduce Dandelion, but I guess I don't have a choice now.'
Resigned that so little were going the way she had planned, Evelynn decided to just let things play out. If Lydia decided to betray her, there was nothing she could do to stop her.
'The only way to make sure she doesn't speak is to kill her, but I don't think I have it in me. Not after seeing her bleeding out the way I did, and not after using all that effort to save her...'
Running her hands through her hair, Evelynn turned back towards Dandelion, put her dagger back in her inventory and picked her pet up.
Lydia was looking at Evelynn with large eyes.
"You? It? What?" Lydia stammered as she pointed between Evelynn and Dandelion.
Holding Dandelion securely in her arms, Evelynn gave Lydia a tired sigh.
"Let's sit down and I'll explain," she simply said as she plopped down to the ground.
Seeing that Lydia was still standing while looking down at her in bewilderment, Evelynn let out another sigh.
"Would you mind sitting down?" she tried once again.
That seemed to pull Lydia out of her confusion, and she sat down a little distance from Evelynn.
"It isn't dangerous," Evelynn started as she gently petted Dandelion. "This is Dandelion, my pet. I got it as a reward."
"A pet? That slime?" Lydia sputtered, as she once again pointed towards Dandelion. But seeing the disapproving look from Evelynn, she quickly lowered her arm.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to point, but-" Lydia started, but quickly interrupted herself. "No, Wait! That's not the point here! What's with its color? And why did you name such poisonous looking slime Dandelion? It doesn't match!"
"What?! It does!" Evelynn exclaimed indignantly. "And you shouldn't name someone based on their looks. It's rude!" she argued defensively.
'This is a name me and Dandelion agreed on. How could she say it doesn't match?'
Feeling the indignation from Lydia's comment, Evelynn forgot her usual awkwardness with strangers. All she could think about was protecting her companion.
Seeing Evelynn's strong reaction, Lydia lowered her head.
"Sorry. I didn't mean anything bad. I was just too surprised… And when I think about it again, Dandelion is a good name," she laughed awkwardly.
Lydia truly felt Dandelion was a strange name for a black and purple slime, but seeing how strongly Evelynn reacted, she decided to keep it to herself. 'It's her pet, after all,' she thought in resignation.
Accepting Lydia's apology, Evelynn looked down on Dandelion. It seemed her own emotions had affected it, as it was stirring in her lap.
"It's okay, Little Lion," she soothed, continuing to pet it. "But what are you doing back already? Are you done hunting?"
Feeling the response from Dandelion, it didn't seem to be the case. The feeling Dandelion transmitted was one of irritation.
"You weren't done hunting? Then why?" Evelynn asked. "Was there danger? Was it humans?"
Seeing Evelynn talking to the slime, Lydia just watched in silence. When she heard 'humans', she sharpened her ears.
"Do we need to leave?" she carefully asked Evelynn.
"I think we should. Dandelion says it saw humans by the slime field, and that's why it returned," Evelynn responded, as she got to her feet.
Seeing Evelynn stand up, Lydia too got to her feet. "Can you really talk with it?" she inquired.
"Not really talk…" Evelynn started but didn't explain further. Though Lydia had found out more about her than she expected, or had wanted, Evelynn wanted to keep some things for herself.
"So, what will you do? Will you continue to fight in the tower, or will you return home?" Evelynn asked as she started walking in the opposite direction from the slime field, keeping her eyes on Lydia.
"I think I'll return for now… I don't have any more food, and I am done with the floor quest," she said, as she walked along with Evelynn. "What about you?"
"I'll leave the tower. I want a shower," Evelynn answered as she looked over herself. They were both dirty with dried blood, making a sorry sight.
They kept some distance between each other as they walked, neither of them really wanted to show the other their back.
Though they had reached some understanding between themselves, there was a difference in trusting someone with your back and fighting together against a common enemy.
As they walked through the floor, small conversations naturally started between them.
After a few probes from Evelynn, Lydia opened up about what had happened leading up to Evelynn finding her bleeding out.
Listening to the young girl's story, Evelynn couldn't help but warm up to her. They had both trusted the wrong people, after all.
They kept talking as they walked and even discovered that they even lived quite close to one another.
As they left the tower, they exchanged contact information and decided to meet again in a week. That would give them time to relax and heal and prepare for the second floor.
Looking at her phone, she saw she had a new message from Matthew.
Since there was no reception inside the tower, messages would only be received when one left. Opening the message, she quickly scanned the content.
Hi, Evelynn
Me and my group will be outside the tower until Friday. If you see this message before then, would you perhaps want to meet up?
Ps: if you don't see it until later, might I ask you to simply reply so that I know you're still well?
Seeing the message, Evelynn unconsciously smiled.
Deciding to reply to the message as she walked, she tried to find the right response.
Hi, Matthew.
I just left the tower. I need to take a shower, but after that I would love to meet up.
'No!' She hastily thought to herself, as she started to delete the message. 'We can meet after I take a shower? He'll think I'm trying to seduce him!' She groaned.
Hi, Matthew
She started again
I have just left the tower, and I will be free for the next week. So, we can meet whenever it suits you.
'No, that makes me seem desperate.' She groaned as she tried again.
Hi,
I am free tomorrow if you want to meet up for a cup of coffee? Maybe at True Coffee at 2pm?
'No, that's not it either. Doesn't this make it seem like I'm inviting him for a date? And isn't it to forward for a lady to make the plans for where and when to meet the first time?'
'But then again, I decided I wouldn't have anything to do with my parents in this life, so maybe it doesn't matter? But maybe Matthew would mind. Maybe he would think I am too forward. And what if he thinks I wanted a date by asking him for coffee, when all he was doing was being polite by sending me this message…'
Thinking up to this point, Evelynn decided she would await responding to Matthew until she had gotten home and had a chance to ask the internet.
As she was about to delete her message, she suddenly heard a whoosh sound and saw that she had accidentally sent the message.
Looking down on her phone in horror, Evelynn stopped right in her tracks. Not knowing whether she should send a follow up message to explain that she hadn't meant to be improper, or just put her phone back in her pocket, her phone dinged. Looking at it, she could see that Matthew had replied.
2pm sounds perfect. See you there!