Caedren started awake as the makeshift hovercraft sputtered and shook violently.
He wriggjed his eyes, caught off guard for a moment by the strange surrounding and his naked situation.
"That bitch!"
He muttered, too tired and famished to add the befitting heat such words deserved.
The vessel ducked sharply to the right, sending him sliding to thud against the wall.
Then it swerved to the left, throwing him smack into the opposite wall.
"What the…"
A section of the top shot down and landed with a clang just where his head had been while sleeping.
"That would've been an ugly way to go even for me."
Somehow getting discovered lifeless and naked felt more disastrous compared to dying at the hungry maws of a beast.
The shuddering continued until a mighty quake announced the final grounding of the vessel.
Sighing with relief, he collapsed against the wall.
Another near death experience avoided. Luck played a treacherous game with him nowadays.
There was a muffled rummaging on the other side of the wall, coming from within your cockpit.
"... I'll probably be done with it before market tomorrow. I bet it'll fetch a handsome sum…"
Booming laughter filled with mirth.
"And they said 'Get a job, Garro', 'Stop being a waste of space, Garro', 'Nothing good will come out of Garro playing with metals, blah!'."
Garro laughed again.
"Take that mother, father…wherever you are. Useless Garro will soon be employed by the Lord Commander himself!"
Giddy with excitement, Garro hefted a huge box of the supplies he'd gathered from over two days of scavenging in Cragmier.
His sturdy legs offered defness as he hobbled down the steps to the ground.
On pressing a fob just close to the stairs, it retracted back into the vessel and the dome shut with a snap.
Satisfied that the vessel was safe in his small lot, he huffed towards his house.
Garro never thought to check the engine compartment for any strays he may have accidentally brought home.
He also felt safe enough not to bolt the door shut behind him.
Caedren spied the small man's brisk movement through a crack in the metal wall.
"He's like a minion on steroids."
The latch popped open when he pushed it.
He blinked at the brightness of the sky. It was a pale gold, different from the grey mismatch of Cragmier.
The beastly ruin was well and truly behind him for now.
Matters arising: How to get from the vessel to the house without drawing attention to his bubbly behind?
Peering out the side of the small opening, he scanned the street.
Calling it a street was an understatement.
It was well the end of a road, the very outskirts of some sort of city.
The wide road was made of a deep black crystal inlaid with stone here and there.
Gloomy factories sprawled on both sides, with the occasional squat concrete houses stuck between them.
Machines hummed from the factories, and he caught movement on the guard towers posted along the fences, but the street was mostly empty.
Garro's house would've passed for one of the factory if it hadn't been much smaller.
Thick stone walls reinforced with dark iron bands, the entire surface scorched by heat. A wide chimney jutted smack center of the flat roof.
Scrap metal lay stacked outside in careless piles.
Bent propeller blades. Cracked crystal housings.
Rusty plates welded into crude frames.
Why Garro chose to make his dwelling in such a desolate place was anyone's guess.
Caedren dropped in a crouch and sprinted the shirt distance to the door.
He listened for a heartbeat before slipping in.
From the jovial humming downstairs, Garro was well distracted in his workshop and would remain so in the foreseeable future.
The house was Caedren's to roam.
In a room, he found clothes but they were all too small for his tall frame.
He frowned at a shirt that barely fit over his head.
"Nope."
He settled for a pair of leather pants that fell just above his calf, and a silky something that was either a bathrobe or a nightwear.
He tucked the flair of the something into the pants and stood…squatted in front of a mirror.
"Not bad."
He was making a fashion statement.
Next on his short list, Food.
Garro's cooking area was a far cry from what Caedren had in mind but at least he found leftovers.
Brooth in a pot. Spicy rice-corn combo. Some sort of milky vegetable salad. Juicy meat, thank heavens. And clean water.
He couldn't ask for more.
Caedren dished out a bit of everything in saucers he found in a cupboard.
Poured himself a glass of water while wishing it was wine.
He settled at table and carried on with eating casually while resisting the strong urge to wolf everything down.
Not bad. Garro sure knew his way around pots and pans.
Caedren didn't pause even as footsteps scuttled up the basement steps and Garro appeared.
Garro went about his after-scavenge routine without a care in the world.
He bundled the used energy core into a box to be sold when the numbers counted.
His hunting garb needed to be washed and dried for the next venture.
The aroma of the brooth he'd prepared before leaving tickled his nose and his stomach growled.
Maybe an early lunch?
But when he returned upstairs his excitement evaporated.
Caedren carried on eating even as his host's face shifted from happy to shocked to confused to angry all in the space of a minute.
"Who…what…"
Caedren looked up and smiled. "Oh, hello Garro."
"What are you doing?"
Caedren considered the almost empty saucers. "I'm eating."
"....?!"
"Hope I didn't disturb you? I tried to be as quiet as possible."
Garro glanced out the window to make sure he was actually in the right house.
He shook his head. "This is my house!"
"Sure, it's your house, Garro. Who said it wasn't?" Caedren took a long drink of water to wash down the food.
Patting his still flat stomach, he relaxed into the chair.
There. Two boxes on his list ticked off. Now, about the third, that was a work in progress.
Garro gasped at this carefree display.
"Who are you?"
"Me?"
"How dare you badge into my house to steal my food and…is that my yoga cloak you're wearing as a shirt?"
Caedren smirked as Devil's Empath kicked in.
Garro had been excited about hauling useful scraps from Cragmier.
That happiness got flushed out the moment he discovered the smug intruder in the person of Caedren.
Then came a whiff of fear as he realised the person was a stranger and could have malicious intents.
Said fear was shoved aside by the sight of Caedren wearing his clothes.
Anger took over.
A couple of decibels lower than the rage Caedren desired.
Beneath all the surface emotions was something more potent.
All the insecurities Garro had felt after being belittled by everyone.
Being neglected by his parents because his Spirit Resonance was too weak. For being Emotionless.
The joy of putting metallic structures together.
The pride for his finished works. The vessels, trolleys, valves he always ended up selling for high prices at the market.
And that desire to be seen. To be recognized for all his work. For his genius.
Caedren pushed back the chair and rose up. He extended an arm on approaching the man.
"I'm sorry for the misunderstanding, Garro."
"Don't come any—"
"I'm Agent Smith from the FB…sent by the Lord Commander to see you."
Garro glanced from his face to the outstretched arm.
"What?"
Caedren grinned with serene grace.
"The Lord Commander is gathering metalsmiths for a long term project. You'll have the chance to work with the best tinkering minds on Eclipsera."
Garro sputtered like his engine.
"But…I don't…you're wearing my clothes!"
Caedren squinted down at his attire.
"I assure you that these don't belong to you. The Lord Commander is very particular about how we appear on official assignments."
That was enough for Garro.
He practically trembled with excitement as he shook Caedren's hand.
"I've waited for this day my entire life."
Caedren sighed. You poor thing, he though.
At full height, Garro's shaved head came just up to his lower chest.
"Thank you. Thank you."
Caedren remained smiling. "You have no one to be grateful for but yourself. You're very creative with your hands and…scrap."
Garro couldn't stand in one place. "Do you want to see what I'm working on? It'll blow your mind!"
"Sure, Garro."
He didn't fail to add. "If it impresses the Lord Commander, he'll use it as the flagship invention for the next quarter."
Garro released a moan that could only come from an exhilarated place on climax.
"He'll do what?"
Caedren leaned down. "Exactly what I said, Garro."
He watched the little man hurrying towards the basement while beckining him to follow.
His smile twisted into a smirk.
Caedren had succeeded in lifting him up to the moon.
Now to bring him crashing down in the worst way possible.