"Oh shit. Actually, I forgot to ask something." Lukas suddenly turned around and held out a hand sheepishly towards Junia.
A questioning look appeared on Junia's face. "Yes?"
"Well, I was wondering if the travel pass is enough of a work permit, but that's a little stupid." Lukas said, realizing as he held on the passes. "And I should be asking the immigration bureau over you, so uh, thanks?"
Junia smiled a little and nodded. "It's going to be a bit difficult to get work permits, and I wish I could help you but…"
"No worries, you're here to take care of your grandma. I just wanted to confirm things a little before I head there. See you around for reals, Junia." Lukas waved a hand, smiled in return and finally bid her goodbye before walking down the hospital corridor.
"Talking with Junia isn't so bad now that she's more comfortable with me." Lukas muttered to himself.
The way that she was being sheepish and also friendly somehow maybe made Lukas more willing to be kinder?
Or was it…?
The red hair of Junia faded in Lukas' mind and was replaced instead by a familiar and comforting brown, paired with the delicate scent of flowers and a beautiful and warm smile—Lily Tenebris appeared in his mind's eye.
"…Lily." Lukas glanced up at the white ceiling and imagined how she was at this point.
How long was she asleep by now? Nearly a month and then two months more? Three when they count him and the others traveling back? That was probably an uncomfortable feeling, being stuck in bed for that amount of time. When she woke up, there's no doubt that she'd need help standing up… someone to lean on.
"I'll be back as soon as I can, I promise."
Nostalgia lingered and filled him with a bittersweet feeling.
Before all of this happened, there was a time when it was just him and Lily.
Those days felt like so long ago in the past, but they were just as strong and vibrant in his head.
***
It was during the first week when Lukas started his job.
After he was shown the ropes of how to do the job, he was mostly left to his own devices… which was a shame since it meant that he wouldn't get some time to spend with Lily.
"Of course she'd be in a different position than me. Idiot." Lukas sighed and chuckled. "Now the question is how to get closer to her when I'll only probably see her when it's time to leave or something. There's not much on other employees helping me out too. Most of them are giving me the stink eye for some reason... probably because I'm doing menial work."
However, this wasn't actually so bad.
It was something that he appreciated because it gave him the opportunity to read the files and find interesting nuggets of information.
Or at least try to.
"On the topic of trying to work out other things besides uh, chasing girls… there's a chance for me to work on rediscovering magic. Well, as long as I find something useful. Like where the heck are the documents on the Vardokens? Even if they were uh, traitors… surely there's ought to be some living relatives or something."
Lukas sighed and massaged his head.
"Chasing girls sounds too much. I don't even have a relationship with anyone that's past being in the same job… not that's really different from what I used to have as a human, but this is like a second leash on living and I'm not doing much on trying to change."
A knock suddenly interrupted him.
Lukas immediately straightened up and cleared his throat. "Yes? I mean, come in."
Lily poked her head out through the door and there was a sheepish smile on her face.
"Hello, it's me again. Would you mind me coming in?"
"Of course not." Lukas shook his head.
It's a little draining to do all of these kind of work by yourself, huh?" Lily said and stepped into the record room, she held a glass bottle filled with red blood. "I'm sorry that I was only able to show you how it's done during the first day."
There was a lot of paper strewn alongside Lukas as he tried to read and shred the old documents. As promised, he was truly a rank and file member of the city's civil servants and yet it wasn't actually so bad.
Except for everything he'd been complaining about earlier.
Lukas yawned and rubbed his eyes.
"A little, but what are you doing here, Miss Tenebris? You're supposed to be handling stuff in the counter? Or what department you're in?" Lukas eyed her with a lazy smile.
It was incredible that there was a job that actually kept him sleepy even as a Vampire, but even more so that he had a feeling that he could actually sleep on the job and maybe get away with it.
"It's Lily. I mean, you can just call me by Lily." She cleared her throat and tiptoed past the other papers carefully and with grace, before she finally offered him the glass bottle. "Here's a little something to boost your energy."
Lukas took it appreciatively and coughed. Here he was complaining about not being able to get closer to people, but somehow Lily was able to approach him easily without batting an eye.
The bottle was cold in his hand and when he opened the bottle cap, the aromatic scent of blood filled his nostrils. Somehow, it seemed special than the blood he'd been getting at VitaBlood. Was it something exclusive to the city council folks?
"Do you not like it?" Lily said, noticing he hadn't sipped it yet.
"No. It's not that." Lukas chuckled and grinned. "I'm surprised to receive anything from you, Lily. When my salary comes in, let me buy you a drink like this as well to pay you back, okay?"
Lily blinked and stared at his face for a moment, almost surprised as he had been, but then she sheepishly smiled. "That sounds lovely. I'll hold you on to that, Lukas."
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