"Lumen?" The girls voice broke his wandering thoughts; he attempted a smile, not sure entirely what to say.

"Ah, yeah you're right Mena. I haven't been feeling the greatest lately so I've been staying home a bit more"

Lumen felt a bit guilty. Mena was a kind girl, probably about his age. She's from a Clan of Feli'na to the south of here; mostly a small working clan of farmers and dedicated fishers. Lumen avoided eye contact with Mena when he saw her eyebrows come together and her smile drop.

"Lumen.. Y'know all you have to do is write to us and we can bring something to you. Don't go hiding, you've gotta eat or you'll just get worse!"

Her eyes looked serious and he couldn't escape looking at her, a pang of guilt in his chest.
"I know Mena, I'm sorry...well" Lumen tried to find words as he swallowed.
"I promise to come around more from now on" he said hopeful he could keep those words true.

Mena had a soft smile, but her expression still showed concern.
"Lumen.. I hope you're okay. Please tell us if you need a single thing!"
She leaned in with a mischievous grin before whispering to a slightly confused Lumen.
"I'll discount everything here for you today.. Don't tell Pa" she ended her sentence with a laugh.

Lumen smiled at Mena's gesture and nodded in response. She had always been kind to him and never questioned his quietness or pressured him to share details. He knew arguing with her would get him nowhere, so he silently accepted her offer and continued to pick up various oddly shaped vegetables of every color. A small pouch of mixed berries of deep reds and blues, and finally a jar full of murky red orbs that floated in liquid that was dyed a similar color to the vegetation inside.

Lumen made his way to the front, where people were placing their silver pieces and being given their baskets of goods in return. Mena welcomed him with another smile.
"For you today that's.. let's see"
Mena jotted down some numbers with a worn looking pencil scratching at the thick paper. She quickly added and removed various numbers while mumbling to herself. Lumen found a weird sense of calm during these moments; something so mundane was refreshing to him, who lived alone. He wanted to be alone.

"Twenty three silver! The pickled beets are on us today too"

Mena shot Lumen a wink as she ended the sentence. He was a bit shocked considering he brought forty pieces with him, usually about how much this would all cost. Mena was too kind sometimes, and he never really had a way to repay her for that. All he could do was offer a sincere smile and collect his silver pieces from his small green pouch.

"Thank you, Mena. It means a lot to me really it does!"

Lumen offered her the pieces, and she took them with a shake of her head.

"Don't mention it, now stay healthy you hear? I want to see you back here real soon! before the cold months set in"

Lumen nodded in response and took his fabric bag of goods. The jar was wrapped in a burlap cloth to prevent it from breaking on his trek home. Lumen sighed, searching for a comfortable way to carry his purchases.

 
"Ah.. Maybe I bought too much this time" He stared down at the bag of food, before doing his best to haul it over his shoulder, spreading the weight evenly through his body. He felt a pang of pain in his stomach, but he tried to ignore it along with the creeping anxiety that he could have an episode of sickness in the middle of the city.

Lumen made his way through the crowds of people; he would have stopped to grab something one of the many vendors had been cooking since he had extra silver. Unfortunately, he didn't feel like stopping since he already had the bag over his shoulder. He thought it would just take even longer with all this stuff, maybe next time.
Lumen continued out of the large plaza, until the various chimes and voices began to fade and the regular bustle of the city took over. Where he felt wrong. Cold. Out of place.
The man crumpled in the corner looked as if he'd finally fallen asleep, a few people glanced at him and kept moving. It wasn't terribly common to see folk like him, but they did come from time to time. Sometimes their own fault, and other times unfortunate victims of destruction, razing their homes and lives, unable to recover from such events they had given up. With his free hand, Lumen pulled his hood back up and kept his head low.

Suddenly he felt his bicep being squeezed by something. Lumen's eyes snapped to the stranger that was grabbing his arm and he tugged back, trying to shake the weird stranger off, hoping he would lose interest.
The man spoke, glaring at Lumen, reminding him of a weasel. He seemed dishonest, and squirmy.

"Hey.. Why don't you come this way?" The weasel man pulled at his arm, and Lumen's brows creased in annoyance and frustration, he pulled back harder, forcing his arm free. He was thin but not frail, and he wasn't interested in being pushed around by another man.

"No thanks. I'll be going now"
The other man had gotten more aggressive. He was just a Human, a bit taller than him, sort of rugged and messy looking, but probably still had housing and work. His hair was bright red, probably dyed as Humans didn't exhibit brightly colored hair like other species.

"S'cuse me?" The man's voice sounded harsh like gravel in Lumen's ears. Lumen quickened his footsteps, choosing not to answer.
"Hey.. get the fuck back here. I asked you nicely"  The man grunted as he spoke, grabbing Lumen's arm again, rougher this time nearly causing him to stumble and drop his items. Lumen gritted his teeth in anger and shot the man a glare.

"What the hell do you want?"

The other man grinned and dug his fingers into Lumen's sleeve, as if trying to crush his bones, he forced Lumen closer to his face, causing Lumen to instinctively jerk away. Anxiety rising in his stomach and his heart beginning to pound, he looked at his assailant, waiting for a response. This guy's eyes didn't look right. Something was off, but he didn't know what.

Suddenly the creep leaned in and seemed like he was inhaling the air around Lumen. His behavior was off, something was.. Very wrong.

"You've got this really great smell.. What the hell is it?

Lumen felt disgust rising in his stomach and tried to pry his arm away from the mans grip. Frustration mounted as Lumen kept tugging at his arm, trying to shake the man off without dropping his food. Other people simply walked by, not seeming to care about the exchange happening between them.
The man's rough voice filled his ears again, making Lumen feel nothing but anger, and a rising sickness in his stomach.

"I'm not into dudes.. But damn you smell good. Like I could fuckin' eat you"

The man tugged Lumen's arm closer and began to sniff around his neck, Lumen jerked his body back in horror, this guy was definitely a freak. Lumen gritted his teeth as his arm was squeezed and being pulled towards the shadows of an alley, he couldn't shake this guy off at all. His grip was like iron on Lumen's arm, he just wanted to go home..  Why was this happening now? Lumen dug his heels in and began to pull back, glaring at the twisted individual assaulting him.

"Get the hell off me! Let go!"

Lumen felt his voice raising in panic as the man laughed, and spit out flustered words.

"Hey, hey. I kind of like that you're struggling. It makes me feel kind of crazy y'know? I kinda wanna hear what you sound like when I hurt you"

Lumen's jaw clenched and he felt bile rising in his throat. This is sick, this is absolutely sick. He repeated this to himself over and over. He squeezed his eyes shut and pulled his arm so hard he was surprised it didn't pop out of its socket. How the hell is this creep so strong? Lumen's thoughts screamed in his head, his blood rushed in his ears and all he could repeat was no. No, NO.

Suddenly he stumbled backwards and his eyes shot open. He nearly fell on his backside but managed to stop himself with a quick push of his heel behind him. He gasped for air; he hadn't  realized he'd been holding his breath all that time. What the hell had happened?