Out of desperation, she started surveying the job boards, looking for potential short-term employment. They were of even lower standing than the menial jobs she’d been scouring, mainly involving physical labor, which she wasn’t entirely certain she was capable of. She wasn’t the only one there - there were other people looking at the wide assortment of posters which included discount items sold at bargain prices, as long as you didn’t care about where they came from.
Surprisingly, there weren’t any posters asking where the Gloved Mystery Man was. Not finding any success with any jobs there, she asked anybody within earshot if they’d seen the guy. Most onlookers averted their gaze when she came close, but there was one guy who was casually standing there who didn’t shy away. He wore a hat that did little to hide the burned scars on his face, and he had one hand that looked normal, but the other ended in straight-edged clawed razors protruding from his fingertips.
“Excuse me, have you seen a Man with gloves carrying a woman with a baby face?”
The Burned Man looked at her with naked contempt. “Don’t bring me in with your petty squabbles. I want no part of that child’s doings.”
“I’m not interested in the woman - I want to know where the Man is. He said he was bringing her to the National Historical Society.”
“Sounds made up to me.”
She groaned. It figured that on top of everything else, the Man had probably lied about that too. She looked at the Burned Man’s hands, and saw that they were functionally similar. “Well then, where did you get your gloves? They look somewhat similar to his.”
“I very much doubt he got them from the same place as me.”
“You never know. If he shopped in the same store, I could help you out by getting you a matching pair - ”
“Don’t tempt me with your body, temptress. I know your kind. You’re all alike.”
This non-sequitur came out of nowhere, and the Girl figured this guy probably had multiple subscriptions short of a few issues. She shouldn’t have pushed the issue, since now it looked like he was going to slap her with his claw-free hand.
But before he could even deal his swing downwards, his wrist was halted by another hand. Only, this hand was made up of multiple sharp implemented tools that were connected to a lanky spiky-haired boy with the palest face she’d ever seen. The Burned Man twisted his neck and gazed with pure red-hot hatred at the Pale Boy who simply stared back and shook his head. Then he stretched out his other arm, which likewise ended in an odd assortment of sharp tools and pointed the longest one of them at the Girl’s stomach.
The Girl looked down, then turned around, covering her belly with her arms. “How could you tell?”
The Pale Boy brought his elongated tool he’d pointed with, and brought it up to the side of his nose, tapping his nostril twice.
“Oh sure, tell the world, why don’t you!”
The Burned Man looked at this exchange, then immediately said to the Girl, “You were looking for a job, but couldn’t find one, could you? Well, you’re in luck! You’ve just gained temporary apprenticeship!”
To the Girl, this came as a complete surprise. Compared to earlier, this guy’s personality did a total 180 turn. She would’ve jumped at the chance of finding employment, but was wary of the motivations for hiring her on. She looked at the Pale Boy for verification, but was met with a casual shrug, suggesting (It’s entirely up to you).
“Why do you want me? You don’t even know what I can do.”
“Oh, I think you’ll wind up being very useful for me in the long term”, the Burned Man said with casual brashitude. “This offer’s only good for the next two minutes before we leave.”
The Girl wasn’t going to go with him, until she saw that the Pale Boy got into the same vehicle as the Burned Man. With rapid reluctance, the Girl got in the back of the vehicle that had a signed logo on both sides:
Ed & Fred's Pruning Services.
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