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It started with a missed alarm clock, something having gone wrong with it, but nothing that Elias could tell when he woke up late for his usual start to the morning. Looking outside, he saw clouds just in the area, but further ahead, it looked clear, so perhaps it was just scattered showers since there wasn't anything about rain on the weather app on the Amazon device on his nightstand.

Yawning and stretching, he felt like he hadn't rested well enough at all, and he was still sore even after Aiolos had healed him. The small scars on his legs and back from the starfish bothered him, and he wasn't sure how he might explain them if they came up when he saw his family next. It might be a case of wearing long socks or a shirt while in the water if they went to a pool or river while he was visiting. But right now, he couldn't sit and wonder over things. Sighing, he got out of bed and pulled a comb through his hair while walking through his apartment and getting one of his overnight oats pulled out of the fridge. Getting his hair tied back was always a pain, but he never liked it when it was short; it had always stuck up in every which way, no matter what products or styling tools he used on it.

Returning to his breakfast, he found it spoiled, another thing gone wrong this morning, and after some mental math, he groaned and dumped it down the sink before hurrying to get dressed. While he didn't have to work at the university today, he needed to get all his errands done so that he could have everything ready for the rest of his work week. There wasn't enough time to spare between his time at the university and his time gathering energy for the Negaverse to get things done any other time, so he had to be quick and make sure nothing was left out; otherwise, he wouldn't be eating the coming week.

Once he had one last check over to make sure he had his wallet and keys, he hurried out the door and down the stairs, nearly tripping a few times but catching himself luckily. Maybe he wasn't as healed as he thought, but he didn't have time to think about it. Stepping outside, the scattering of rain had turned into a full downpour, one that the small pocket umbrella that he had brought with him was less than able to help with. But he kept on, walking with a hurried pace down the street to the stores on his list to get what he needed for his meals.

At the first grocery store, he was met with a sign that said cash only due to a computer issue, which meant he had to move on to the next one and that he couldn't get the fresh veggies he had wanted in order to make some wraps for lunch. As if the weather wanted to add insult to injury, the rain picked up and pulled the small umbrella from his hands, leaving him to get soaked as the other people on the street scattered into various buildings.

Running a bit faster, he headed towards the next store where he was going to grab meats and rice for some other meal ideas he had, at least it was open from what he could tell, and as he stepped inside, nothing seemed out of the ordinary so far. The only issue is that there were no baskets, so as he walked down the aisles, he had to hold everything. It was inconvenient, but he was okay with that as long as he could get what he needed. Chicken breast, pork loins, rice, eggs, sesame oil and seeds, he went down the list for some of the staples he needed, and then as he reached the area where they had seeds and nuts, he grabbed a few that he thought Aiolos might like.

Finally reaching the counter, he set everything down and waited as the cashier went painfully slow at scanning and bagging his items in the reusable bags that the store sold. It dawned on him that he'd forgotten his own, and as he watched the price rise on the register, so did his anxiety. Sure, he had more money due to the Negaverse, but he was by no means well off, so he had to be careful.

Once it was said and done, he paid and thanked the cashier before hurrying out. The rain seemed to have only gotten worse during his time in the shop, having gotten so bad that he was glad for not having his groceries in paper bags, for they surely would have disintegrated immediately.

Looking towards the next stores he had in mind, he weighed his options while thinking of the extra money that had been spent unexpectedly. It was better to be safe than sorry, he'd survived on ramen for a long time, so it would be okay if he fell back on that again, or maybe snuck into eat things down in the offices like when Lavendulan had teleported him there during the large thing. He still only had a partial idea of the grandness of it all, some sort of world-ending thing, but it was far more important than he felt was in his job responsibility as a lieutenant.

Turning back towards his apartment building, he trudged through the rain even as he felt like he might slip on some parts of the sidewalk where the sewer grates were. There was a lot to consider, and being poured on while carrying his meager groceries didn't help him feel much better about his situation. At least now he didn't have to sacrifice sleep to pull more overtime at the university or volunteer to try and get exposure to possible investors, the same way as for his research. It still would happen sometimes, but he could get rest, he could eat better, and the chance to actually travel and follow in his mother's footsteps for work was seeming less like the delusion he had made himself believe it was.

Then there had been Aiolos, she was odd but not crazy like the others. Maybe a bit slow in terms of language, but that was common enough on Earth when it came down to people from other places and cultures as well. Thinking on it, he wasn't sure what to do about her; she was beautiful in terms of plumage color and brightness, which meant she was in good health and things. There were so many questions, but it was still odd, and considering she was an alien, he was still worried in part if that meant she might do something to him at the drop of a hat.

Reaching his building, he fought with the door as his keycard refused to work on the security pad. Standing in the rain as he tried again and again, he groaned and pulled his phone out to dial the office to buzz him in. In the time he stood there waiting, he could swear he felt the rain making its way through the rest of the layers of his clothing and socks. It felt disgusting to feel them squishing within his shoes, but after a bit longer, he finally heard the familiar buzz and thud of the door, and he pulled it open. Taking a moment to wipe his wet bangs from his face, he shook as much water off of him as he could before he started the long trudge up the stairs.

It felt like he weighed an extra ninety pounds from all the water, and the trail he left behind slowly thinned by the time he managed it up the four flights of stairs. Leaning against the railing, he panted tiredly from the workout and took some time just to rest before the last push to his apartment. It would have been nicer if he had gotten an apartment on the ground floor, but then the local cats would try to eat the birds that came to his feeder, and he didn't want that to happen in the slightest.

Finally shuffling off the railing, he lugged himself the rest of the way to his apartment, fighting with his key in the door until it finally let him inside. Setting the bag down on the counter, he went to dump his wet clothes over the shower railing before putting the groceries away. His hair was still dripping as he opened the fridge to put things away, only just now noticing some of the eggs had cracked. Sighing, he decided to deal with that later and set everything else away before going to fold the reusable back up. Only then did he notice something as it stabbed him with a sharp edge, at the bottom was another one of those star trinkets, glittering delicately, even as it had one of the points covered in his blood.

Word Count: 1,512