Chapter Text
"See you soon sweetheart!"
Those were the last word's Kit's mother said before she drove away from the entrance of the habitat. It was late in the afternoon, and there was already hues of purple and blue creeping up where the sky met the earth, where mountains cut up into the clouds.
He'd been having a rough few months, in between always making delivery runs for his mother and the constant dissonance between who he was and who she (and everyone else) thought him to be, it was simpler to say that things were... harder than usual. Old time clients would consistently point out how he seemed to frown so much more now than he did when he was younger. Some of them would even insist that "you have such a pretty smile!" or "Give us a smile?"
He scowled and picked up his suitcase to walk up to the gate. It opened with a groan and he stepped inside. He hoped this didn't turn out to be more pseudoscience nonsense like the garbage his overly optimistic neighbor constantly slipped through the mail slot in his mother's front door.
The courtyard was empty for the most part, straight ahead was a padlocked red gate that lead to another open area. To the left was a blocked off hallway and what must be the lounge his mother had mentioned on the car ride, it had been a long, long car ride.
There was a stairwell to the left, that must lead to the apartments. Kit reached in his pocket and pulled out the key he had received in the mail just a few weeks prior. Making his way up the levels he noted a strange, metallic smell in the air that made him feel a bit lightheaded. Maybe it's just the ventilation system? This whole place seemed pretty recent. He tried not to think about the graffiti and weird posters everywhere.
Kit unlocked his room, put his suitcase to the right of his bed (which he could swear was whispering) and was out as soon as his head hit the pillow.
"So Rise and Shine Buster! And Remember... some Day you'll all Smile For me. :-)"
It was his first day in the Habitat and he had already overslept.
Kit rolled over to flip open the battered phone on top of his luggage and winced at the bright pixelated numbers on the screen, it was 5:42 in the afternoon.
With a sigh he sat up, looking out at the hazy sky through the open window.
"Hey, Flower Kid!"
He blinked and glanced over at the girl standing in his doorway. (Her name was on the tip of his tongue, she was on his delivery route, he'd delivered azalea cuttings to her house before, but he couldn't quite remember her name.)
"Yeah, you! Come here!"
He stood, grabbing the over-shirt he had worn the day previously and pulled it over his arms, shuffling up to her as he did so.
"You're, uh, that flowery delivery kid from town, everyone's been talking about you."
Kit frowned, already feeling anxious around this, incredibly short 13 year old (Is she 13? She could be 14. He's never been good at guessing age.) staring at him so intently.
She shrugged, "You know it's the afternoon right? You're quite the heavy sleeper."
Kit shoved his hands in the pockets of the chicken patterned pajama pants he was wearing and made a point to look anywhere else but at the teen, it wasn't like the fact he was constantly exhausted was his fault or anything.
"Anyway, you finally gave in, huh? Joined us all at the Habitat?"
When Kit didn't respond she scoffed.
"Hey, like, you totally ignored my question just now." That made Kit wince.
Nat seemed to notice his flinch and sighed, "I know you've never been like... a talker, but you've gotta communicate somehow. Let me try that again. You finally gave in right? You finally joined us all at the Habitat?"
Kit bit the inside of his cheek and nodded slightly.
"Oh! Nice okay, I uh... guess nodding works? But are you just gonna go around agreeing to everything?"
Kit scowled and shook his head.
"Ah, right. Shaking. That makes sense. Actually... um... do you know who I am?"
He sighed and shook his head.
"Huh!! Um, I'm pretty totally insulted. I'm Nat! Nat Vancy, I basically SWEAR we've met before, back in town?"
Kit tried his best to look apologetic but Nat was already changing the subject.
"Say, did you, like come to the Habitat on your flower delivery route?"
He shook his head.
Nat frowned, "Hm, I want a flower anyway. Like, I know you must have some. Let's see what flowers you've got."
Kit's hand went to the chest pocket of his shirt, he took the dawnblossom flower he had tucked there and held it up.
"Ah, only one flower, huh. Whatever, I wanna see it."
He handed the flower to Nat who then examined it carefully.
"Nice! It looks great, but I have something different in mind. Look over at your windowsill. The flowers growing there look so crisp. Do you think I could have them?"
Kit hadn't planted them, so it could be rude to just pick them without asking first, but if giving them to Nat meant he got to be left alone for a little bit, Kit wouldn't mind indulging the teenager in his doorway. He nodded.
"I always get what I want."
Ugh.
-
Two freshly picked flowers and a word that probably didn't exist later, Nat had let Kit keep the flowers (apparently she only wanted to smell them).
"You saw the Carnival right? It used to be, like, the hippest place around here. But Ronbo the Clown hasn't opened those gates since his girlfriend dumped him. If you go talk to him, maybe he'll open em up again. You seem to have a way with people.
Nat smiled at him, "Well, good luck out there. Make sure you don't stay out past dark."
Well, that's ominous.