"Come on, get comfortable! It isn't every day you get to have a chat with the owner of the best restaurant in Holvenridge!"
Aemon dismissively smirked while seating himself across from Gavriil in an isolated dining booth in the corner of the pub.
"So… this is the town of Holvenridge, I suppose…? Never heard of it. Looks pretty well off, I guess."
With his head lolling up against his hand, Aemon peered through the window, checking out the neighboring stores in the city. He watched as the owners of the shops carted in the day-old produce and closed their stands for the night.
"Yeah! We're pretty isolated from the rest of the world, so we've learned to do everything ourselves. It's nice having anything you would ever need right at your fingertips."
He sure wasn't kidding; a large farmers market was just across the street, and next to that sat a humble bakery. Aemon leaned on the table to peek farther down the road, and the shops kept lining up as far as he could see. He sat back down, this time with a refreshed expression on his face.
"Well, I'm glad the place I got sent to has food and stuff. Glad I didn't end up in a desert… I'd be wasted!"
Gavriil gave a confused look, then replied:
"Sent here…? What do you mean by that?"
Aemon shrugged, then said:
"Ehh, it's not important… just thinking aloud."
The bar was desolate, and the interaction between them grew awkward.
Gavriil looked around the room, trying to think of something to make conversation with. After a long pause, he said:
"Drink up, you look like you need it! You haven't touched your water since I gave it to you!"
Aemon looked down at the drink. It faintly rippled as he anxiously tapped the table.
Raising the cup high, he examined the insides of the glass. Gavriil's appearance became enlarged and distorted through the refraction of the drink.
Light, glowing yellow particles danced through the water while slowly falling to the bottom.
"Hey… what's with all this shit in the water?"
Gavriil stood up, over the table to see for himself.
"Pffft… those things? Those are ground-up Acrendious flower petals. Holvenridge's divine blessing! They give healing to anyone who eats them!"
Inching closer, in a whisper, he added:
"And… don't tell anyone, but they're my secret ingredient. They make anything taste straight from the heavens!"
Aemon, still examining the water, said:
"How do I know this isn't some poison and you're not tryna kill me or something?"
Offended by the question, Gavriil bounced back into his seat, gasping.
"You really think I would take this time to sit down with you and help you just to poison you? That's absurd."
Aemon moved his weary tapping from the table to the rim of the suspicious cup. It was becoming hard to resist the cool liquid as it taunted his parched mouth.
"I mean, I guess you're right… But what's all this talk about divine blessings and healing magic or whatever…? Sounds like bogus."
Gavriil cleared his throat, and with a following sigh, he responded:
"Many years ago, the god named Plandoria blessed every country on the planet with one divine quality. I'm not much of a religious man myself… All I know is we got really neat flowers!"
Aemon nodded, knowing he barely had the brain power to keep up with any of these foreign terms.
It didn't seem like Gavriil had any ill intentions, and after being taken away from his home and everything he had ever known, dying from poison at that moment didn't sound that bad.
Aemon picked up the glass and chugged. He drank harder than he had ever drunk before. Each gulp of the magical water rejuvenated his body.
Gavriil smiled as he watched the color flood back to his cheeks and his deep eyebags slowly shrink.
Slamming the now-empty glass back onto the table, Aemon wiped his face with his sleeve.
After a little hesitation, he blinked a few times and curled his fingers. All of his tiredness was relieved, and he felt like a whole new person.
"Wow… so you weren't lying! My body feels better than ever!"
Gavriil kept his delighted expression and replied:
"See…! I always make sure to give my customers the best!"
Aemon finally had the energy to muster up a real smile, grateful for having someone to help him through this exotic world. Tears dropped from his chin, physically ringing his pain out of him, like a damp cloth. He dried his face with the sleeve of his ragged, navy sweatshirt again, this time patting under his eyes, then exclaimed in a soft whimper:
"Th- Thank you, Gavriil… You didn't have to help me, y'know."
In shock, Gavriil replied:
"Of course I did! Watching you lie helpless on the floor, I knew something was different about you…"
Aemon was about to speak up to respond before Gavriil continued with his usual rambling:
"Anyway… It's getting late, and I gotta close up! I didn't mind staying after hours since tomorrow is my day off and whatever, but nothing can cut into my bedtime…! Y'know… if you want, since it seems like you are new here, and you didn't even know what an Acrendious flower was, why don't I show you to the field of them downtown tomorrow…! Oh boy, is it a sight to see!"
Aemon lit up with excitement, completely forgetting that what he really wanted was to be back with his family.
"Really…? You'll use your free time to show me around? Me…?"
Gavriil replied:
"Yeah! You seem like a decent kid, and hell, it's been a while since I just took a stroll around!"
Aemon tried to express his cheerfulness, but the thoughts of home, deep inside, prevented him from showing anything more than a quick, but appreciative grin.
"So, you got somewhere to sleep? The inn just up the road can definitely fit you if you don't."
Aemon craned his head in the opposite direction he was looking beforehand, and there it was, a nicely put-together hotel. Pillars supported a beautifully designed balcony that shaded the entrance of the distant hostel.
"I'll take you up on that offer. Thank you… for everything."
It was odd, back on Earth, nobody batted an eye at his well-being. People always threw him to the side. For his 16 years of living, the feeling of appreciation was never truly in his heart. He was never depressed. Emotionless, sure, but never suffering. Alone, you could say, but never lonely.
"See you tomorrow… Aemon, was it?"
Aemon replied:
"Yep…! I'll meet you here tomorrow!"
Gavriil's pleased expression looking back at Aemon as he marched through the entrance to the empty saloon signified two things.
One was that he had a damn good day ahead of him, and two…
It seemed somebody actually cared about him.