Oh hey you! [Gwyn & Edita]

Outfit + tights and leather jacket



Despite Edita waking from her sleep, she still felt tired. She blinked a few times, slowly coming to consciousness. At first she just looked up at the ceiling; blank and stark white, with a single sad light fixture. Her brows furrowed and her eyes narrowed. Her ceiling didn’t look like that… She looked down at the bedding she was burrowed under; dark sheets on the duvet and pillow; once again, not hers. Puzzled she looked around, adrenaline starting to rush through her veins. Where the hell was she? She raised herself up to sit, immediately regretting it as her head began pounding. Oh fuck. Last night's endeavours slowly came to her: a lot of dancing, way too many shots, just a lot of fun really. Truly it had been a night of celebrating her finally handing in her assignment earlier that week.

It startled her when a hand crept up on her thigh. It was only when she looked over and saw a half-asleep Thomas, that her heart slowed down and the adrenaline rush subdued. She knew Thomas quite well. He studied a science subject here at uni, something he had tried to explain to her and yet she still didn’t really understand it. Although, she had never been in his dorm before, so this was a first on that account. ”Morning,” his voice was deep and hoarse from their intense singing the night before. She smiled. She liked it maybe a little too much. ”Morning.” she said as she removed his hand from her thigh and moved from the bed to find her clothes scattered on the floor.

”Leaving already?” He asked as he raised himself up on his elbows to look at her while she went about the room, collecting her clothes from the floor. She pulled her long-sleeved mesh shirt over her head followed by her t-shirt. ”Did you expect me to stay for breakfast?” She asked teasingly - they had never had breakfast together, that was not part of their arrangement. They simply enjoyed eachother’s company and then went their separate ways the morning after.
”Maybe I wasn’t thinking of breakfast,”
”Ofcourse you weren’t,” She rolled her eyes teasingly at him, then added: ”Have you seen my knickers?”
”These?” he asked as he fished a red thong up from the floor right beside the bed, first innocently, then his eyes changed and his eyebrow raised seductively, realising the opportunity he had. ”Come and get them.”
She rolled her eyes once again, but still crawled onto the bed towards him. A big grin grew on Thomas’ face. As soon as she got close enough to him, Thomas grabbed her by the waist and in a quick and swooping motion turned her onto her back so she laid on the bed with him on top of her. She laughed as he began to kiss and bite her neck, just as he knew that she liked it. Before she even knew it, he moved his way down her body, pulling her shirt up to kiss her skin. ”No! Thomas! I need to go!” she said, smiling, pushing him playfully off of her. He did do as told. He was, after all, a very kind man. She grabbed the thong he had abandoned on the mattress and got up from the bed, walking towards the door.

She pulled up her thong, quickly followed by her black jeans. ”Say hi to Alyssa from me when you see her,” She said, looking at Thomas who got up from the bed and went up to her. ”Sure,” He said, giving her a kiss on the lips before she went out the door. ”Seeya later.”
”Seeya.



After a quick shower, a fresh change of clothes, and breakfast consisting of several painkillers and the most chocolatey croissant she could find at her own dorm, she was finally on the streets of Erast once again. This time it was not in relation to the EFA organisation. Something that Edita didn’t miss. They had accepted the meeting, she had handed over the equipment, and everything had gone smoothly. That job was done and she would probably never see those people again. This time, she had another job in Erast. A regular that needed medicine. These types of jobs were common in Erast. People who needed medicine, but couldn’t pay the full price for it. It almost didn’t feel illegal. She was just helping those who needed help.

”The recipe has been updated, so you should only take 2 pills instead of the usual 3 you take,” Edita said as she pulled out two bottles of pills from her bag, placing them on the table in front of her. The desk of a manager in the backroom of a run down Cescos - the grocerystore chain that had departments throughout most of Ilomar. ”The Puth-Zeal in them are quite powerful, so you might need to be careful the first few days, and be aware of any side effects.”

“Thank you very much, I really appreciate the help,” Edita looked up at the female manager, Edith Adams, a sweet woman who had been Edita’s regular for a few years. She had chronic pains and didn’t make enough money, even as a manager of a Cescos, to afford the medicine at full price from the pharmacy. It didn’t really matter for Edita or her father if the people bought the medicine through the pharmacy or illegally through the Family - the money went to them no matter what since they were the ones producing them anyways.

“You’re very welcome” Edita said with a smile towards the woman as she pulled her bag over her shoulder, beginning to move towards the door to the main store. ”I’ll see you next month!” She said as she opened the door and went into the store and began looking around at the shelves. She kinda wanted some gum or some crisps…

Long beans, mascarpone, basil pesto, and tons of garlic. Checking the list she had made on her phone for the third time in just a few minutes, Gwyn made sure she had everything checked off. The rackety cart had been filled to the brim with all kinds of items, from ingredients for any meal of the day to snacks to sanitary products and toiletries, but with eleven people to shop groceries for it wasn’t a surprise that she’d need this much. Initially, Gwyn hadn’t mind the thought of doing groceries, normally she liked to do so but since she’d seen the Godia warriors the previous day she felt a bit on edge. What if they patrolled again and actually saw her this time? She shook the thought off because they hadn’t seen her yesterday and so far she herself hadn’t seen any Godia either and that meant there was no harm done, so she returned her attention to her list.

Because she was to buy the groceries for the week, it also gave her the responsibility to make the meal plan. The plan was mainly for dinner, but she made sure to add some options for breakfast and lunch too since no one except Dominic and Cadmus left HQ during the day. Bread, spread, yoghurt and granola would be needed and maybe some other things too. Her meal plan was not too fancy or too complicated, making sure that anyone on cooking duty was able to follow the recipe and deliver a delicious meal.

The lentil soup Gwyn had made last week would be their dinner for Wednesday, together with some easy yoghurt naan and kisir salad they would make themselves. Taco Tuesday was a given and furthermore she had added a two different pasta dish for Monday and Friday, Haratian bobotie with long beans, apple and ground beef for Thursday, on Sunday she wanted to make some sort of roast with mash and gravy, a chicken roulade and toasted parsnip. That left her with Saturday to decide and just an hour before she went out for the groceries she had decided on trying to make the Kamisian fried rice she had ordered at her favourite restaurant plenty of times.

Her shopping list had been divided into various sections like kitchen supplies, toiletries and food –which was sub categorised too–  so that she could grab everything at once and not have to go back and forth between aisles. With her method she also always saved frozen goods and protein in the form of meat for last, since meat was easily perishable and defrosted goods would decrease in quality if you had to frost them in after they had thawed.

It had taken her a little while to find some of the items on her list because it seemed like the Cescos in Erast seemed to have less than the ones that she went to when she lived on campus and in Paendley, it looked a whole lot different too with badly light aisles, plastic crates housing all the produce and half broken shopping carts but what was to be expected when the supermarket was placed within the poorest part of the city? However, just because she couldn’t find an item on her first try didn’t mean they didn’t have it, or something that was close to it. The fresh produce seemed less shiny and more ‘deformed’, a reason for plenty of people who had a bigger wallet to not buy it but that never meant those products didn’t taste good. Her grandmother had taken her to plenty of farmers markets whenever she stayed there for the weekend and those products were top tier quality, even if they didn’t look as pretty or as shiny as they did in a supermarket. As long as there was no mould on it, it was perfectly edible.

Having picked up a good selection of various vegetables and fruits, including the parsnips for Sunday’s roast, broccoli, long beans, onions, a pumpkin, apples, bananas and even a box of mixed berries on a discount she felt content with her choices. The chicken thighs had been on discount too and that had been a steal, because often more than not chicken was a tad bit expensive, but still cheaper than lamb. She had gotten two pounds of ground beef for the bobotie and a pound of pork belly she’d want to use to make a carbonara pasta. Any meat that they wouldn’t use they could just put in the freezer and use another time.

When Gwyn finished checking her list for the last time, she made her way towards the checkout counter. The wheels of her cart started making a squeaky sound and Gwyn grimaced at the sound. How on earth was she going to bring back all the groceries to HQ? She’d need a damn car if she wanted to bring it all over in one go. Now she regretted not asking anyone to join her, but then again who could she ask?

The prospect of having to carry the heavy bags filled with big bottles of juice and soda, potatoes, eggs, frozen stuff and what not already made her fingers hurt. A sigh left her lips as she reached the checkout counter, noticing the look the cashier gave her when he noticed the amount of groceries she had with her and Gwyn was pretty sure that anyone behind her would likely want to shoot her for the delay she’d cause. Maybe she could talk her cashier into getting one of his coworkers to help carry everything but that would mean that she had to take them to the EFA, so that plan was a big fat no. Any plan that involved anyone helping her carry all the groceries back to HQ was a no, which left her with one thing possible; call Idés. She didn’t want to because she’d probably be disturbing him in his work and she had already texted him for a favour. The last thing she wanted was to become a burden to Des too.

Getting to the end of the conveyor belt Gwyn started to unload her groceries on it after she placed seven plastic bags on it first, hoping that it was enough. While she kept unloading, the cashier already started to scan her items. Secretly she didn’t want to know how much she’d have to pay for it all, knowing fully well that she had taken some more ‘luxurious’ items than the EFA itself would probably buy. It also made her wonder where they got the funding from to even buy groceries for everyone. She knew Idés brought over stuff, as he had done when he had taken her to HQ.

When she had finally managed to unload all the groceries, she hurriedly placed a divider on the belt and sped her way towards the register and politely greeted the cashier. He gave her a look before he continued scanning the items and offhandedly asking her if she had a membercard with her. She didn’t but she used her mother’s whenever she went shopping. Gwyn unlocked her phone and went to the Cescos app to have the barcode scanned. Already her groceries were starting to pile up and she felt her cheeks heat up. It might just be a good idea to put everything back into the cart before I put it in the bags, so that I won’t be hogging all the space. The thought was good enough reason for Gwyn to start putting the already scanned groceries back into the cart. Finalising the scanning of her groceries, the cashier told her the total amount she had to pay and Gwyn felt her stomach drop. How much?!

Instead of staying shocked by the amount of money the groceries had cost, she nodded and unlocked her phone again as she held it against the terminal while mentally crossing all her fingers and toes that she could make this big a payment through her banking app. It would be absolutely mortifying if it didn’t. When she heard the familiar ping of an accepted payment a breath that she hadn’t noticed she was holding in, left her lips. When she came back, Gwyn would look into a way for the EFA to save the costs of their groceries without decreasing the amount and quality of food, there had to be a way. Gwyn had done her degree in accounting before this all had happened and finally it was going to be used. Numbers came easy to her, though she wasn’t sure anymore if it was something she wanted to do until retirement.

Accepting the receipt from the cashier, she put it into the pocket of her biker shorts before she placed the final groceries into the cart and wished the cashier a good day. The cart she walked over to a corner where she wouldn’t be in the way. Eyeing it for a second or two, Gwyn let out a sigh as she grabbed the first bag and started packing. She’d divide all the heavy items first so that the bags wouldn’t break due to heaviness and then add the rest to it. All too quickly she finished with the packing of the groceries –to her surprise she managed to put everything in the seven bags, except for the toilet paper– and that left her with the carrying. Maybe she could ask if she could store half of the groceries and bring it back in two trips. Gnawing in her lower lip, Gwyn eyed the bags.
‘’Just get it over with before Dominic will nag about being gone for a long time.’’ She muttered to herself and started putting her arms through the handles of the bags, four onto her right and and three onto her left and the package of toilet paper in her left hand.
‘’I can do this.’’ She told herself as she hoisted up the bags as good as she was capable of.

It only took a few steps before it felt like her arms were going to fall off and she had to set the bags back on the floor. ‘’Fuck.’’ The curse left her lips after the pressure of the heavy bags left and red angry marks were visible on her skin. Asking if she could store half of the groceries it was because there was no way she was carrying it all in one go by herself.

After having decided that she indeed should buy a pack of gum - the selection of crisps not really intriguing her much -  and ultimately deciding on the very synthetic watermelon flavour that she used to buy when she was a teenager and absolutely loved, she went up to the register to queue up for her turn to pay. In front of her a blonde woman, about the same height as Edita herself, stood with a very filled cart. Right, this is gonna take a while, she thought to herself and pulled out her phone. A few messages popped up on the screen from the groupchat with her girlfriends:


Edita bit her lip at the messages she read. She really wanted to go party with them, but she couldn’t - she had to go to that politician’s birthday party or something, she hadn’t really looked into that job much yet. She usually just had to be pretty and flirt with the men, while making sure they didn’t overdose on anything she served. But sadly, she had to miss Strawberry Daquiry Sunday at Mildred’s with the girls. Edita quickly texted a reply to them:


She quickly looked up at the checkout: the woman in front of her still had plenty of groceries on the counter, so Edita scrolled further through her notifications and messages. Idés name popped up, and a smile crept up on her lips without her realising. It read:


When the rhythmic beeping of the groceries being scanned stopped, she looked up at the cashier. Oh, that’s Tyler, she thought as she recognised the young man at the counter. He was around her age and she used to sell him weed back in the day. He stopped doing drugs when his father died and he had to take care of his family. That was probably why he worked here. After the blonde woman had paid for her many groceries, Edita put down the packet of gum while giving Tyler a smile in a silent greeting. He returned the smile as he recognised her.

“Thanks, Tyler.” She said as he beeped the pack of gum and paid for it, quickly putting the pack of gum and her phone in the pocket of her leather jacket. She looked over at the woman in front of her, who had just paid for her groceries and who was clearly struggling to carry all of her bags with her. Edita scanned the small crowd of people, seeing if anyone was gonna help the poor woman, but alas, no one seemed to care. So Edita hurried up to her. “Hey you, need some help?” She asked, already reaching for some of the bags to help carry them. It was only then, that she got a clear look of the woman and for a moment she couldn’t place the face, although it seemed familiar, and then it hit her: the woman who had crashed her meeting at the EFA. “Oh,” She said in recognition. Then: ”Hi.”

Looking around her, she saw no employee available to help her with the bags. Nor was anyone else looking her way, probably on purpose. Gwyn was extrovert enough to ask strangers things, but to ask them to help her carry some heavy bags didn’t seem right somehow. Neither would Dominic appreciate that she’d bring a stranger close to HQ.  And it was quite strange if she were to ask someone to help her carry the bags only to have them go halfway before thanking them and .. yeah.. She had no other option than to make two trips, because she wasn’t going to be able to carry all bags at once without ending up cutting her own skin.

Just when she was about to walk over to the cashier to ask if she could store some of her groceries in the back, a person asked her if she needed help. Gwyn looked up, peering under the hoodie of the sweater that she wore to see a girl of her age. The girl was already reaching for Gwyn’s bags before she stopped moving and stared at her face. It was awkward, to say the least. Gwyn herself didn’t recognise the girl from anywhere and suddenly she worried if the girl was a Godia warrior. Only a second away from grabbing whatever she could carry and make a run for it, the girl greeted her. She must’ve somehow recognised Gwyn because her tone sounded a little bit surprised but then again Gwyn hadn’t seen her before.

‘’Ehm..’’ Eyeing the girl while she tried her hardest to see if she really hadn’t seen her before, Gwyn started to also push her hood a bit lower. ‘’Hi, you too.’’ Reaching out her hand to grab a few of her bags, she took a step towards the exit. The other bags be damned if this girl was indeed with the Godia and about to rat her out. ‘’I’m sorry, but have we met?’’ She asked cautiously. The girl wasn’t one of the rebels, that was sure. Neither had Gwyn seen a woman come by in the time she had been at the EFA. Digging deeper into her memory, she started to squint her eyes slightly from the effort. Suddenly it hit her, there had been a woman at the EFA recently. Well, she’d seen a womanly figure. Her migraine had prevented her from seeing the person in detail but she was sure it was a woman. A part of Gwyn doubted that the girl in front of her was the woman who had been at the EFA, but most of the rebels were quite young so it would make sense a bit.

The woman seemed not to recognise Edita, which, now that she thought about it, made sense for Edita. Last week the woman had barely seemed alive when she interrupted their little meeting, or at least not capable of taking in much external information. And it’s not like Edita and her had spoken together or exchanged any words between them. So it was understandable that the woman did not recognise her.

It did make the situation a bit awkward, Edita thought. Now she just seemed like a random stranger that just creeps up on people pretending to know them. And tha’ts very odd behaviour, even for Erast.

”We briefly met last week,” Edita explained, with an apologetic smile. She brushed a piece of hair behind her ear as she continued: ”I was at.. your place for a meeting with Dominic and you walked in briefly at one point.” There was a brief hesitation before she said ‘your place’. She didn’t quite know how to describe the apartment she had been in. Was it purely a place for the EFA’s meetings? It had just looked so lived in, that Edita doubted that. It seemed like the members actually lived there. And this woman had walked in on their meeting in an outfit Edita very much doubted she would set foot outside in.

She once again started reaching for the bags, this time the ones that the woman clearly had no intention of carrying herself. ”I can help carrying your bags if you dont mind?” This was clearly a question of politeness. Edita was already carrying said bags, and the woman would be nuts if she declined the offer. Edita didn’t have much else to do today anyways, so she could kill some time helping others.

It felt like there were a few seconds of quite awkward silence between them. Gwyn was still ready to bolt if needed, groceries be damned. However, despite the fact that it was a little suspicious she was also grateful that at least someone was offering to help her out.

Being at the point of asking the girl as to where they’d met, the answer clicked when the girl continued. A slight blush crept upon her cheeks when the girl said she’d been at her place but her ears perked at the words that came after that. So she had seen her, just not in enough detail to recognise her.

‘’Ah..’’ Was what Gwyn managed to answer, but honestly it wasn’t really an answer. Clearing her throat, she looked at the girl directly. She felt like she had to clear some of the air, since HQ wasn’t hers to begin with. ‘’It’s not my place, I am just staying there because… of a situation.’’ Likely, she’d already said too much but she felt the sudden need to explain. ‘’I do remember seeing a woman that day, I was suffering from a raging migraine so it was hard for me to actually see you.’’

Gwyn started to take in the girl that was before her. They were about the same height but where Gwyn had blonde hair and freckles, the girl had brown hair and fair pale skin. Her features made her look youthful, making Gwyn wonder if they were close in age. She also started wondering how the girl knew Dominic, since she was pretty sure no strangers were allowed at HQ and she hadn’t seen her around before. Or it could be that she had been away a while and Gwyn just didn’t know she was a part of them.

Not noticing that she had been lost in thoughts just a bit, she snapped back when the girl once again reached for Gwyn’s groceries. A small smile of gratitude appeared on her face. The girl had been to HQ before, so it was the perfect solution, really. Dominic couldn’t bash her for bringing someone over who helped her with their groceries who had been there before at least once. ‘’I would appreciate that, sorry if I came off as weary before. Had some bad experiences the past time that made me skittish.’’ Manoeuvring the bags so that they were on her lower arm instead of her haid, she held her now free hand out towards the girl. ‘’My name’s Gwyn. Thanks for helping me carry the groceries.’’ It only felt right to thank the girl and be more friendly with her. It would be a bit odd to walk all the way back and maybe talk without knowing each other’s name.

She noticed that the woman sort of perked when Edita said “your place” - words that Edita herself had hesitated to say, but did so in lack of a better alternative. She couldn’t just start talking out loud in a Coscos, albeit a Coscos in Erast, about the EFA. Someone who shouldn’t might hear them…

Edita simply nodded at the woman’s explanation for why she was at the EFA’s headquarters. A situation. Didn’t everyone at the EFA stay there because of a situation? Not that Edita knew much of the EFA, despite her having been at their headquarters twice: She had the feeling that they didn’t quite like her and therefore was hesitant to share anything with her. The relationship she had with any of the members has been purely business. It wasn’t really appropriate for her to ask them as to why they are there, since the answer would most likely be quite a downer on their already limited chit chatter. But her nod was all of Edita’s acknowledgement of the woman’s explanation - she didn’t want to intrude and ask further about the situation.

“Yeah, you did not seem like you had a great time,” she said, a laugh on her lips that never quite escaped.

She changed her grip on the grocery bags, making them a bit more comfortable in her hands. ”Oh it’s no problem - in these parts of Erast it’s good to be wary of strangers.” She said, a smile still on her lips as she greeted the woman’s outstretched hand. ”Gwyn’s a pretty name.” She grabbed the last bag of groceries with her free hand - the one she had just used to shake hands with Gwyn. ”I’m Edita.”

She hoisted up the grocery brags and began walking out of the Cescos. The weather outside was fine by all means. It didn’t rain, although dark clouds were looming in the sky above them, and the temperature was perfect for her choice of sweater this morning. For a moment Edita didn’t say anything, she did not know what to say to this stranger really. She knew nothing about this girl. Then something crept in on her thoughts; Dominic. She bit her lip, before she asked, just trying to get a feel from someone who seemed to know the man personally: ”Is he- Dominic, I mean - is he always like that - you know… kinda tense?”

A little snort left her when the girl commented on Gwyn’s state during their first encounter some more. Yeah, she hadn’t been having a great time. Far from it actually. ‘’That’s lightly put,’’ giving her a little smile before continuing, ‘’I felt so miserable that I was ready to jump of a building to get rid of both the cramps and the migraine.’’ It might have been a little exaggerated but that was what her periods did to her. If it weren’t for the fact that Gwyn wanted kids one day, she’d have her uterus removed already. No more killing periods, period. There was also the option to switch to another type of birth control, but the side effects of those were also quite unpleasant. So she’d endure her migraines and cramps, with a little deserved nagging of course.

While she hadn’t felt unsafe in Erast before, the comment did make her glance around them for a second. The only thing Gwyn had to look out for were Godia warriors at this point, she hadn’t thought about malicious people that could walk around in these parts of the city. After shaking the woman’s hand, she smiled a little. ‘’Thanks! It’s actually short for Gwyndolyn, but I’ve always gone by Gwyn so I rarely use my full name for things. But it’s nice to meet you, Edita. Love your name by the way!’’ After their little introduction, the women left the grocery store and made their way towards the EFA.

While they were walking, Gwyn had to think once or twice if she was going in the right direction. Quite a lot of things seemed different from the other side and she didn’t want to look stupid towards Edita by getting lost. That would be very embarrassing. The silence between them wasn’t uncomfortable, but Gwyn wasn’t really sure about the things they could talk about. It wasn’t like she’d discuss the rebels with Edita out on the streets, but maybe they could talk about….. University? At least if Edita went to university. Thankfully, Edita took the lead by asking her a question. But she hadn’t expected the subject to be Dominic. For a split second Gwyn stalled, her face surprised before she resumed. As she went over Edita’s question once more, she snorted. Again, before letting out a little laugh.

‘’I guess so,’’ she started, ‘’at least when I am around?’’ The question hung between them, since Gwyn wasn’t sure if Dominic was just a grump by nature or not. ‘’I haven’t seen him relax once since I arrived. It’s like he has a carrot stuck so far up his arse all the time. Don’t think we had a civil conversation either without bickering. I don’t think he likes me all that much, either.’’ But then again, he had been quite caring when she had been sick. Talking softly so her headache wouldn’t kill her more than it already had. Giving up his room for her so she could suffer in blissful silence. Shaking her head, she rid herself of the thoughts of a caring Dominic. Gwyn had no use to think of him in that way. She had no use to remember how good he had smelled, or how secure his arms had felt when he had been carrying her… Darn it! This time she gave herself a mental slap so she would stop thinking about the handsome grump. ‘’Maybe he has a lot on his plate, it mustn’t be easy for him.’’ Leading a rebel organisation at a young age, that is. Gwyn didn’t know how old Dominic was, but he couldn’t be much older than his late twenties or early thirties.

“Gwyndolyn is pretty too,” Edita said, shaking her head so that a stray piece of hair that had fallen into her face got back in place, before she added with a smile: “And thank you.” Most people didn’t compliment her name, they often found it surprisingly hard to get, calling her Edith or something else that might be similar, but not right, so the fact that Gwyn complimented her name made Edita smile. It was refreshing.

As the two of them walked out of the store, down the streets of Erast, Edita didn’t really find it hard to navigate which route to go. She knew these streets well and knew where EFA’s headquarters were. She did notice that Gwyn on the other hand seemed hesitant at some corners, so she figured that the woman might not be from here… Interesting... But she couldn’t ask the woman all the questions that she wanted to. Not here out in public.

A surprised snort followed by a laugh came from her when Gwyn very vividly described Dom’s attitude. Well, it does sound similar to when she met him... ”Maybe, he just doesn't like people - I didn’t get the feeling he was very fond of me either…” But… She did show up without warning, use his sister’s name to figure out his identity, without revealing her own… Only the handsome man, she assumed, knew somewhat who she was. She didn’t quite get the whole warlock thing, but knew that Nachon Warlocks could see inside people and see who they were… Or something like that. But she nodded at Gwyn’s last words. It was quite something to be the leader of a terrorist organisation. Or rebellion. Whatever label you wanna give it. ”Still no excuse to be a bit of an arse.”

And she couldn’t really see how he ended up where he is now. Alex always talked so fondly of her brother, so how he ended up in a terrorist organisation, even becoming the leader of it, and acting so grumpy, seemed a mystery to Edita. The thought made her brows furrow for a moment, before she shook it off of her.

”Oh, I know a shortcut this way.” She said, as they walked past a very dodgy looking pathway, but this was Erast - truthfully everything looked dodgy.

Gwyn was sure that she had never heard the name ‘Edita’ before, making her wonder where the girl’s parents might have come from that such a pretty name existed. She was also sure that if Edita hadn’t said her name that Gwyn might have struggled with the pronunciation a bit and called her something that sounded like ‘Editha’. She understood the feeling of having her name mispronounced. More often than not people called her ‘Gwen’ instead of ‘Gwyn’. While she learned not to worry herself about it, because quite a lot of people just didn’t care to correctly pronounce a name, she figured some might always carry a bit of annoyance with them whenever they had to introduce themselves.

‘’Or he is allergic to girls and thinks we’re out there to pass our bacteria onto him or something.’’ Gwyn snickered. Because honestly, aside from the girls and women who were already at HQ, Gwyn hadn’t seen Dominic act friendly towards another female, aka Edita and her. What had they done, aside from Gwyn suddenly appearing and not being the easiest to live with, to deserve his ire? ‘’But it’s indeed no excuse for him to act like he does.’’ She agreed but felt a bit bad about how she wasn’t pointing out the caring things he had done. ‘’However, he can be sweet too, gave me his room when my period hit and slept on the couch himself. He even carried me out of the bathroom after I became sick.’’ Gwyn deliberately failed to mention that he also smelled very nice, that was a piece of information that she’d keep to herself.

If she had been alone and struggling to carry all her bags with groceries, Gwyn would’ve walked past the alley but now that Edita pointed it out she stopped walking to take a look at it. Furrowing her brows in a contemplating manner, she eyed the dumpsters, broken crates and other debris that laid in it. It seemed like even the sun didn’t reach into the alley, cloaking it with some ominous darkness.
‘’Are you… sure?’’ She hated to sound so unsure and suspicious towards Edita, who had helped her out but that alley looked really, really dodgy and it gave her the creepers. What if there were Godia Warriors lurking in the alley, waiting to jump onto her? Quickly shaking that thought off her, she guessed that Edita knew her way around Erast better than Gwyn did so she wasn’t in the position to judge. ‘’Lead the way.’’ Gesturing towards the alley, she waited for Edita to resume walking. ‘’But do know that I will haunt you as a ghost if I die in there.’’ An attempt for a joke, because she didn’t want to seem distrustful while she was only grateful towards Edita.

”He might be.” Edita chuckled at Gwyn’s joke about Dominic. Maybe it was a bit rude of her to make fun of a person she has only met once in her life? And whom she might - might - have blackmailed. Mentally she shrugged at the thought. If it meant that she would be friendly with this Gwyn, then it would be worth it. And since Gwyn agreed with the fact that Dominic’s behaviour was totally mean spirited.

When Gwyn began explaining that Dominic had also been kind to her Edita almost replied that “that sounds more like him”, but chose not to. She did not know how well these people - these members of the EFA knew Dominic. Not that Edita herself knew him, but she did know of him. She knew of the boy he once was. The sweet big brother who Alexandra always talked about. She had been very proud of him, and admired him very much. Edita doubted that the Windsor family knew where their son and brother was… But nevertheless, it was not her place to bring up his past to his friends. Those stories he could tell them himself.

She did however notice how softly Gwyn spoke of him. It made her raise her eyebrow ever so slightly. Interesting… She thought. But she did not want to press on the matter further. She had just met this woman after all. But it did feel very natural to talk to her - like a friend you’ve had all your life.

”Don’t you worry - I know these streets quite well.” She said with a smirk. Noted: Gwyn is not from Erast, or at least not these parts of Erast. Edita tugged at the bags in her hands, changing the grip before continuing down the alley she had pointed out to be a shortcut. She couldn’t help but laugh - a true laugh from the bottom of her stomach - at Gwyn’s comment of haunting her if she died. ”I would be honoured if you haunted me - but I think you’re a little rash: you are not gonna die today.” she said in a teasing voice. ”I’ll make sure that you don’t.” She continued with a wink.

Chuckling along, Gwyn shrugged as she continued her joke. ‘’Coochies are the reason most men die, we girls are highly contagious.’’ Wouldn’t that be hilarious though, if a grown man like him still thought that girls were yuck. But she was sure that if he really thought so, then he wouldn’t have carried her or laid her in his bed. The thought alone of how it felt to be in his arms caused a small wave of butterflies in her lower stomach, one she immediately felt ridiculous for. Licking her lips she banished the memory from her mind, to some far corner with a lot of spiderwebs; forever to be forgotten.

The smirk that graced Edita’s face did make her feel a little less sceptical about the alley. Following Edita, Gwyn felt like she might actually make a friend, aside from Idés. She also felt like the other refugees still held some sort of grudge against her, but she couldn’t blame them. Gwyn just hoped that they’d warm up to her a bit, someday because if she were honest despite living with a dozen people she still felt lonely most of the days. Taking in all the broken crates, grime and trash that lingered on the side while she walked, Gwyn could swear she smelled something rotting too. Scrunching up her nose, she eyed a torn open trash bag where indeed a rotten banana peel laid doing its rotting business. Yuck. How did the local authorities not take any action to keep the streets here trash free? In Paendley you’d only see the trash bags when it was collection day, otherwise the streets were clean, mostly.

Edita’s laugh was a clear and contagious one, making Gwyn let out one of her own too. ‘’You better, because I am quite the clingy type.’’ Letting out a dramatic sigh, trying to bring her hand to her chest despite the heavy bags Gwyn grinned afterwards. ‘’Good, because I feel too young to die right now. But thank you for protecting me, and again helping me out. It’d have been a real pain to carry these all by myself.’’ Yeah, Edita could definitely be her friend if the other girl wanted to be her friend.

Soon after, they walked out of the dank alley back into the light that shone onto the Erast streets. Again Gwyn felt a little disoriented as to where she was. Looking left and right, she tried to find anything that seemed familiar, but failed. A little bit of shame crawled up her neck, had she really been paying that little attention to her surroundings when she walked to the supermarket? Sucking her lower lip inwards, she turned to Edita before giving her an apologetic look.
‘’Okay, I have no clue where I am right now.’’ She confessed. Why did all these streets look so similar to one another? ‘’Next time I’m gonna take that cart with me if it’s this many groceries.’’ Because if it wasn’t for Edita right now she’d have to use her navigation app to try to find the EFA back, and without an address that was going to be pretty freaking hard.

“Oh no - coochies - the horror!” Edita said in a sarcastic voice while making an overly animated face. If she hadn’t been carrying these ungodly amounts of grocery bags, she would have made gestures with her hands aswell, to emphasise the sarcasm. Instead, she laughed. It felt nice. This. Even though she did not know this woman at all, it felt very natural to chat with her, and in this instance, goof around.

As the two of them walked down the alley, Edita did notice the trash lying about. A foul odor also grazed her nose as they walked down the alley, making Edita wrinkle her nose. Erast was truly not an enjoyable part of town. Even though Edita had basically spent her entire youth in these quarters, and in theory should be used to the stench and the trash lying about everywhere on the streets. But you don’t. You don’t get used to it. It just doesn’t faze you after some time. After having seen about 4 living rats rummaging through rubbish bins out on the street by midday, the following rats do not faze you, but they are certainly not a pleasant sight either.

”Yeah there’s no need to die today, and -” She raised the grocery bags. ”- groceries are not worth dying for” She said giggling. She turned around, to look forward to where they were going, trying not to step in anything nasty on the street.

Edita could see that Gwyn was lost, when they got to the end of the alley and turned to the proper streets again. Which was fair, Edita thought. ”The factory building is just over there,” Edita said, raising her one arm despite its heavy weights of groceries, to point towards the run down building half a street away. ”We just get to it from the back of it, when walking this way.” She explained with a smile on her lips towards Gwyn. ”But a cart does sound like a good idea for next time.”

And then the two of them walked the rest of the way, giggling about this and that, towards the factory building.