Shadows obscured two figures in a shallow alley, leaving the warm sight concealed from an onlookers sight.
It took a minute or perhaps a few before Mark fully realized that the brunette was embracing him.
Perhaps it was a feeling of content, or the simple peace she provided amidst the pain, but he fely unwilling to let the moment go, fully immersing himself in its mellowness.
That is, until he noticed the two sources of unfamiliar softness brushing up against his chin.
He put his hands on Chloe's delicate shoulders and gently pushed her away.
Flashing her a smile, he took his back off the alley wall.
"I think I can walk now."
Mark was inwardly thanking the obscuring shadows in the alley which hid the slight blush on his face.
Chloe nodded in return as the two left the shallow spot.
Annoyingly enough, he couldn't stop recalling the intimate embrace, his face remaining slightly-red despite all his efforts to control himself.
The hoodlum was never able to get in a proper relationship after having been forced to start earning his own living.
His inexperience in the field was finally showing in all of its inglorious consequences.
'Calm down- calm, down. Stop! Blushing- ouch.'
Right, his head was pulsating in pain.
It was hard to ignore the feeling of a hammer hitting his head every other second.
An electric roadcar drove by, stuttering out a horrid smog in its wake.
The rare sight filled Mark with a slight envy. Only the rich were able to afford one of those, and only the truly rich were able to drive them with the constantly rising prices of fuel.
If only he had so much money…
His thoughts were distrupted by the disgusting smog invading his nostrils with a permeating potence. The horrid gas sent the unfortunate young man into a coughing fit.
Rather than a hammer, it now felt like a brick was dropped on his head from the top of a building. He put a hand to cover his face, but that did nothing to alleviate the pain.
The sounds of footsteps and chatter suddenly became louder, all the noises on the street amalgamating into an utter cacophony, overwhelming his taxed mind.
He felt something grab his hand.
The brunette was looking at him with concern written across her face, gesturing him to follow while she pulled his free arm in an endearing hold.
'Is this what it feels like to be hammered and drunk?'
It seems like the positions had been reversed since the night he brought her home. He now felt what she did at the time.
Absolute heplenessless.
Mark simply let the brunette guide the way while they sauntered away from the clamorous fray.
The rising sun was now fully obscured behind the fog, shadows in front of them abruptly dissolving into a modest light.
They went west, back to the area he wanted to avoid, where the extent of the dregs began to show.
"Wow, I never thought that the slums would become this big."
Mark looked to at the brunette who led slightly in front of them. She began to move in a different direction.
"Where are we going anyway?"
She glanced back at him, chuckling lightly while continuing to pull.
"Didn't I tell you already? There's this good spot that I want to show you. And no, I'm not telling you where it is."
Mark rolled his eyes
"Because you're leading me to a ditch where you'll rob me blind and leave me to rot?"
He felt his arm get tugged, his sore muscles protested in sharp pain.
"Robbing you is the same as grabbing air, there's nothing to take."
'Ouch.'
That one hit deep. The little pride he had was nearly shattered.
"That reminds me, what do you even do for a living?"
She refocused on the path ahead of her and smiled lightly.
"I'm a landlord."
Mark slowed down, his grip on her hand loosening ever so slightly.
"Oh…"
Feeling the sudden change, the brunette stopped and looked back.
"Is the pain acting up again?"
He shook his head.
"No, not really. It's nothing."
Mark started walking again, but she tugged at his arm, her eyes bearing into him as if trying to pull something out.
"Just tell me what's wrong. I don't want there to be hidden resentments between us."
Mark looked at her resolute eyes with an internal sigh.
If only he had such determination for himself.
A few seconds passed, but the brunette was unwilling to move on, leaving him stuck, the only escape being to simply share his thoughts. Nonchalance seemed to overcome him as he eventually folded.
"This really has nothing to do with you. I just had some troubles with landowners in the past. It's nothing that you need to worry about."
Her eyes lit up in understanding as she began to walk again.
"No, I can understand. This line of work is essentially just leeching off of others to survive. Almost anyone would feel some hatred toward people like me who live off of their labor."
She paused, wistfully looking up at the cloudy sky.
"Of course, I try to meet the needs of the people who rent my houses, but no matter how hard I try, the world seems to have other plans. From rising prices to lower job offerings, those living on my properties are growing more desperate. One day… I might be caught up in some sort of rental rebellion, losing my money and my lifestyle."
The brunette then looked back at Mark with a smile.
"But maybe the war will end before then, and the world will get better afterwards."
He looked at the woman with a bit of concern.
"And if it doesn't?"
She laughed, her movement reverberating through the connection of their arms.
"It helps me sleep at night if I only think about what will happen when things go my way."
Mark shrugged.
"If that's what suits you."
He honestly couldn't understand such a mindset. The world was constantly becoming worse and the end seemed to be nowhere in sight. Rather than optimistically dream of a good outcome, he was forced to plan ways to simply live.
Such was the way of the struggling person. Saving dreams for another time and keeping plans up to date instead.
It was a slightly depressing way of thinking, but it was the one that kept him alive, and so he would go on to cherish it.
At that moment, the brunette suddenly pointed.
"We're almost there."
From what Mark could tell, the two had curved around the edges of the dregs and ended at the western border of the city. A barrier between nature and industry seemed to form as the roads abruptly turned into plain wilderness.
A trail extended into the hill of trees that lay before them.
Leading Mark by the hand, the brunette started ascending the hill in a casual fashion, dragging him into completely unknown territory. Yet he felt oddly at ease whe entering the unfamiliar land.
The trail stretched on for an inestimable distance before finally arriving at a small clearing.
Greenery lined an otherwise circular space with a few boulders the size of coffee tables.
They sat down on the soothingly cool stones.
The place was silent and unmoving. Not a sound was to be heard, nothing to be seen around them except for a trees.
Looking up, only the omnipresent fog or smog made up the sky.
Overall, nothing really stood out,
It felt empty.
"Is this the place you wanted to bring me to?"
She nodded with her eyes looking up at the sky, at something seemingly close to her.
"Why?"
Her eyes closed while she laid her back on the boulder, stretching her wonderful figure across the smooth stone.
"What does this place make you feel?"
Mark paused, not knowing if honesty was the best answer here. It would be embarrassing if he slandered a place that was dear to her. But he eventually decided to tell the truth, the place deserved it.
"Literally nothing."
She glanced at him.
"Harsh, but that's the point. In the city you seemed a bit too overwhelmed by everything that was going on, so I decided to bring you here. A small, meditative place where absolutely nothing ever happens."
He nodded, not really knowing how he felt between the pain and the solitude.
"Maybe."
"Well either way, I think this is a good place for us to relax, and for you to recover."
With that, she simply idled on the rock and laid there, sometimes opening her peach-colored eyes to gaze at the sky, at other times keeping them closed, laying in a tranquil repose.
Mark found the place relaxing, but also a bit awkward. So after a few minutes he tried to strike up a conversation.
"How did you find this place?"
The brunette flashed him a delicate glance and stood up.
"I used to find areas like this as a kid. Just to bring some quiet to my life. Eventually I stumbled here and took a liking to it. For a while, it was always a pleasure to come here and bide some time."
Mark tilted his head
"And after?"
She smiled.
"I simply grew up."