After we decided on that, we moved on to a different conversation as we stepped into the small building.
"...and the merits to getting a mask far outweigh the cons."
"But it’ll be stuffy and difficult to breathe!"
"And your identity would be better protected," Felix said, voice flat.
"I…" I cast a glance at the young woman looking at us from the counter. "I’ll think about it. Just let me do this for now."
"Hey, you’re back! Here to collect your hat?" the milliner asked.
"Yes, is it ready?" I politely inquired.
"Yep. Have it in the back. My apprentice will get it." The milliner turned around, and called to a room at the back. "Hey, Jay! Fetch me the purple hat on my desk, will you?"
Jay? I exchanged a look with Felix; it could have been another boy named Jay, but when I remembered what the Jay from the orphanage mentioned the day before…
And my suspicions were proven correct. Jay— the boy who tried to rob me a few days ago— walked out carrying a purple hat in his hands.
"Is this it, Ms—" He blinked at me. "Melas? Is this supposed to be yours?"
The milliner paused, pulling out a receipt. "You two know each other?"
"Yeah, we’re…" the boy trailed off, glancing at me uncomfortably. "Uh…"
"Friends?" I suggested with a shrug; that was the closest descriptor I had for our relationship.
I reached into the coin pouched Felix gave me, and handed the milliner the rest of my payment to her. As Jay handed me my hat, I asked him. "You’re… apprenticing here?"
"Oh, yeah," he said with a bit of apprehension in his voice. "I just have been a bit of a troublemaker, y’know? I had been thinking for a while. If maybe I got out of Ms— my mom’s hair for a while, I could come back more grown and she’d be proud of me."
"Come on, Jay. I’ve spoken to Ms Sharity. She showed me all the things you’ve made. She’s proud of you."
The boy looked like he was about to retort, but he bit back his tongue. "...maybe. But I just wanna be better, y’know? I’ll just be living here, working and learning how to make hats and sew in general. I’ll go back and visit whenever I can. But I wanna be an adult. Help out, and not just be a nuisance."
"It’s good that you’re trying to improve," I said, putting on my purple pointed hat on my head. You were a bit of a jerk before, I left the words unsaid.
"Hey, uh—" Jay shifted uncomfortably where he was standing. "Thanks. For helping save Hannah."
"I— you’re welcome." I recalled what happened this morning; before I could get overwhelmed with embarrassment again, I took a step back and began excusing myself. "Now if you’ll…" I began.
"Wait, are you leaving?" Jay asked, calling after me.
I stopped right at the door. Not because I wanted to, but because a gloved hand grabbed me. Felix— the Plague Doctor— was motioning at Jay with his beak-like mask. I frowned. "You want me to— fine."
"Melas, what’re ya talking about? Why’re you with the Plague Doctor, anyways?"
"Listen, Jay. I’ll be leaving town today. No— not today. Right now." I took a deep breath, then turned around to face the boy. "So, uh, bye?"
That’s absolutely horrible! You can’t just say bye to a kid without any buildup to it! That’s too sudden!
Unfortunately, the damage had been done; Jay took a moment to register my words. Then he took a step forward. "Wh— but you can’t—" the boy caught himself from grabbing me. He looked me in the eyes. "Do you need to go right now? You can’t stay?"
"I’m sorry, but I only ever planned to stay here until I got this," I answered his question truthfully, lifting the brim of my purple hat as I did. "I enjoyed meeting you, Jay. It was fun… maybe. But I have to go."
"Where are you going?" he asked meekly, distraught by the news.
"Uh—" I wanted to lie, and tell him that I was going with the Plague Doctor. However I decided against it. "I don’t know, just— anywhere that isn’t in or near the Free Lands. Maybe the Taw Kingdom. Or maybe somewhere else. We’ll see."
"Oh… ok." Jay looked disheartened, and I felt bad about it too. "So this is… goodbye?"
"Maybe," I hesitated. It probably was; I had no reason to ever return here. However, it was always nice to leave things open ended, right?
So I gave the kid my most gentle, reassuring smile.
"But, hey, if we ever do meet again, I’ll be sure to buy my hat from you. And tell Ms Sharity and the others I said goodbye, too!"
"I will," Jay said, resolving himself.
"Bye."
I gave him a farewell hug, and he froze. When I let go, I did not rush off to leave; I slowly walked away, waving at him and the milliner as I did. And he waved back, even until I exited the hat shop.
For a while, I continued heading down the road without saying anything. It was only when I was a bit aways from the hat shop, did I breathe a sigh of relief.
"That was difficult."
"But it felt good, didn’t it?" Felix remarked, popping up beside me.
"I guess?" I cast my gaze heavenward, as I stopped at an intersection. "It definitely made me feel something. But I don’t know if I liked the feeling."
"Well, whether you liked it or not doesn’t matter. You’ll have to get used to it."
"Mhm." I clenched and unclenched my fist. "Thanks for helping me with that, Felix."
