We ended up cleaning up the convenience store before Kam’rin’s coworker came in for their shift. I paid for the busted up junk food and the fountain drink, and the Cambion brought us back to their place so we can give each other a rundown-- but mostly Satcha, who still seems to be oblivious about most of what had happened.
Kam’rin and I explained how human civilizations generally operate, from how everything isn’t ripe for the picking, to how to safely abide by signs and lights, and, because it seemed to be worth noting, the average running speed of a human.
Satcha eventually passed out for a while, which allowed me to properly rest from my wounds and Kam’rin call their contact for the phone matter. When dawn struck, we did a bit of shopping for some, what they called ‘burner phones’, and dropped them off at their contact’s place. When we got back to the Cambion’s abode, the two of us started exchanging Satcha and I’s crystalline, Daemonic currency for Kam’rin’s paper money, as Satcha looked on from afar.
“What is the use of this flimsy piece of fabric?” Satcha asks, flapping about a 20 bill and staring at it with squinted eyes. She is lying down on the red leather couch to the side of us as we shuffle through the currency on the prop-up card table. “We can at least use our money for fuel and the like; these things don’t look to be good tinder for flames, at all.”
“Human currency is mainly symbolic,” Kam’rin answers, weighing each Crystal piece carefully to determine its worth in Dollars. “The governing officials actually hold the real money somewhere safe, though I don’t know where. The issue with that is, well, the paper stuff can turn out to be real useless depending on the economic tides.”
“Some places outside of big cities and the like do trade for goods and services,” I say, staring at the money ‘template’ Kam’rin set aside for me to help expedite the process. “So money, in those places, is things like food, tinder, and, say… cleaning off someone’s shoes.”
I feel my phone vibrate in my pocket. The room silences, and I pull it out to see on its screen a number and two buttons: answer or decline. I tap a few times on the answer button-- it takes a moment to do anything-- and when the screen shifts I put the phone to my ear and start speaking the human tongue. “Who is it?” I say, unsure how to properly answer a phone call.
“Oh ah, hey Ke’lan,” a familiar voice answers, to my relaxation. “Val here, just calling about the meet-up at the bar tonight? I just got home from work and am wondering if I can take a quick shower before we meet up there.”
“Yes, that is fine,” I respond, brushing aside my hair. I can feel Kam’rin’s judgmental gaze upon me right now. “Shall I save you a seat?”
“If you want. I’ll text you when I’m out of the shower so you don’t have to sit there waiting for me. I’m sure Kat wouldn’t mind the company but, ah, you know. Don’t know how long I’m going to take.” I hear him ruffle his hair over the phone line. “See you soon.”
I look down at my phone as the screen shifts back to the lock screen. Kam’rin chuckles. “You’ve made some human friends, huh?” the Cambeon sneers, finishing up the last bits of the currency exchange. I scowl, and Kam’rin lifts their palms up in surrender. “Now now, Great Prince, don’t maul me for such a rude comment.” They stick out their pierced tongue and wink; all I could do is shake my head in response and turn to Satcha, standing up on my feet.
“Did you want to check out the human town with Kam’rin while I am out?” I ask, walking over to her. When I go to sit beside her, she sits up a bit. “I am going to meet up with someone, so it would be a great opportunity to find out about human civilization hands-on with an expert.”
“Boy, would I ever!” Satcha exclaims, pocketing the bill she was kneading and inspecting for the past few minutes. She pulls at the clothes that I am letting her borrow. “It would be nice to get some of my own clothes, like these. Dragon’s Maw, it is such a relief wearing something that isn’t just dresses and skirts. I wonder if Mother would approve, though.” Her glistening greys look up at me, and she snickers. “Not like it matters, but boy wouldn’t it be weird to start my Mid-Age Rebellion now.”
“You would likely become the best Lith of your lineage,” I chuckle in kind, pulling my hair back up into a messy ponytail. “I am already down the path of Mid-Age Rebellion, and I am not sure if Father will accept me as-is without another one of my generation following behind me.”
“Mid-Age Revolt!” Satcha shouts, lifting a fist in the air. Kam’rin laughs heartily, and scoops up a few piles of bills. They hand one stack to Satcha, and another stack to me.
“Split up the total dollar amount in half, if you don’t mind,” the Cambion nods, in a half-bow. “I feel like that is more than enough for you currently, Great Prince.”
I wave away the formalities. “You don’t have to speak to me like that. You are allowed to call me by my regal name, you know. Same case goes with Satcha. It is present on our identification cards for a reason.” I look over to Satcha. “You do have an identification card, don’t you, Satcha? You’ll need one if you wish to buy things here.”
Satcha pouts, tapping a finger upon her chin. “Hmmmm… no, not that I’m aware of.”
“Then let us stop by another contact of mine before we go shopping,” says Kam’rin, holding out a hand for Satcha to pull herself off the couch with. “They used to issue government IDs for a living, so the Daemon IDs they make are perfectly authentic to the identification cards of humans. They’ll also sneak you into the system too, free of charge. We will talk about human-sounding last names while we’re in the car, okay?”
As Satcha cheers, I ask Kam’rin if they can drop me off someplace as I look through my phone. They nod and walk into the kitchen, across from the card table.
“Meet me outside,” they tell both me and Satcha. “I gotta lock up.”
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