.::Tender Sugar::.

[Dreaming_Drifter]

Lena Ryder

Lena smiled at Aluna and ruffled the shorter girl's hair gently. "Hey, don't worry, okay? These are good people here. If Azul and Honey will vouch for you, I'm sure nobody will give you trouble. And once we explain everything to Honey, I just know he'll convince Azul to be lenient."

A sly grin covered Lena's face as she looked over her sister. "First things first, though. Not to sound disgustingly girly, but we should give you a complete makeover. The Luna look has to go, Sis, don't you agree?"

 

[Dreaming_Drifter]

Lena Ryder

Two weeks passed after the liberation of Giza, and finally Lena could see why it had once been called the "crown jewel of the West". Now that the Legions weren't hoarding the wealth and resources for the Spinatologists, the entire city was in better repair. The Temple had been refurbished into an elaborate Town Hall, where Azul and Honey were temporarily running the city until an election could be held for Mayor.

Tender Sugar was doing better business than ever, now that people weren't afraid to leave their homes. As such, Honey was able to pay and care for his employees much better than before. The Guard of Nephthys was back in control as the main law enforcement organization, so crime was at its lowest point ever. Finally, things were looking good for Giza and its residents.

Lena, personally, was also doing well. She continued to work as a guard at Tender Sugar, although much of the security was unnecessary now. She often took Sol out on weekends or just had a drink with her at night after their shifts ended. In fact, she was rarely away from the girl for long.

She and Aluna had gotten a large apartment on the same street as Tender Sugar, right across from the bookstore where Drew used to work and where Valtiel spent most of his days now, feverishly copying her history book and preparing to open the school she'd wanted. Isis had taken over his job as bartender, and was quite good at it.

Aluna had successfully gotten permission from Azul and Honey to stay peacefully in Giza, under the stern command not to make trouble again. Aluna had agreed, and once again her left hand was free of the mark of Spinalogy, instead marred by the scar of the blade that had removed it. But she seemed much happier once the thing was gone.

At the moment, Lena and Aluna were sitting beside the enormous fountain in the Town Square, watching the sunset. "Hey, Allie, what do you think of me running for Mayor?" Lena asked her sister absently, using the nickname she'd come up with.

 

[Dreaming_Drifter]

Lena Ryder

The girl chuckled and adjusted her hat. She'd gotten a new one after everything had settled down, and was even more fond of it than her old one. "Then again, I'm not exactly the diplomatic type... I prefer to let my gun do my persuading."

Lena nodded, considering Aluna's statements before responding with a grin. "Yeah, Azul seems like more of a military leader than a politician, too... Eh, maybe I'll run for the hell of it. See how many dumbasses vote for me..." Lena frowned a bit. "Wonder who else is going to run..." The woman looked up when she saw Jennifer's brother Riley running toward her. "Hey, kiddo, what's up?"

 

[Dreaming_Drifter]

Riley Owens

"Lena! Aluna!" Riley finally located the two women lounging near the fountain. When he skidded to a halt in front of them, he panted for a moment, resting one hand on his knee and holding up the other as if to say, 'Give me a moment'.

When he could speak, the little boy stood up straight and gripped Lena's hand, tugging on her insistently. "Miss Lena, you and Aluna have to come right now! Honey said so! He said it's ur... urg... important!"

 

[Dreaming_Drifter]

Lena Ryder

Lena shot a worried look at her sister and nodded to the boy. "Okay, don't get your ******** boxers in a twist, kid... I'm comin'." Lena leaped to her feet and ran toward the bar, following her older sister (who, in spite of her smaller stature, was quite the runner). She went straight to Honey, worried out of her mind now.

"What the ******** is going on, Honey?" she demanded of the bar owner.

 

[Dreaming_Drifter]

Lena Ryder

".....s**t..." Lena took her hat off, ran a hand through her hair, and put her hat back on before snatching a cookie and ramming it into her mouth. To her surprise, the cookies were actually really good.

"Okay... How many, and when will they be here?" Lena asked in a low voice, passing the cookie plate to Riley, who ran off with it yelling for Isaac to come share. She realized the poor kid might never have seen a cookie before today; things like sugar had been scarce until very recently. 'Damn... We have to stop them. We just have to. There's no other choice. I won't let this kid... These kids... Get their lives ruined just as things were getting better.'

 

[Dreaming_Drifter]

Jennifer Owens

"Yeah, I have a plan about that," the usually-quiet girl spoke up from beside Isis. She was no longer as terrified of people as before, not since the night of the worst attack on the bar, but still didn't enjoy talking to more than one person at a time. Jennifer glanced down at her hands, which were twisting together nervously, and then forced herself to look back up at the others.

"There's a certain kind of inedible weed that grows on the outskirts and just outside the gates of Giza. It'll take some manpower, but if we collect that and grind it to a powder, we can make crude and cheap bombs. There are a couple of citizens with the power of flight... We could easily decrease their numbers that way. It's not much, but it might also buy us some time."

 

[Dreaming_Drifter]

Jennifer Owens

Jennifer blushed at having her idea praised and lowered her eyes, dazed for a moment. She snapped back to reality soon enough, though, and grabbed several burlap sacks from behind the counter before following after Aluna silently. She also stopped by the coat hanger near the door and grabbed her cloak. It wasn't much, but it would provide her fair skin with at least some protection from the sun. It was far too hot to wear a coat or robe.