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Sunlight broke through the curtains, glittering with dust motes. The flowery blankets stirred as the bright wake up call dragged her from the comfort of sleep.
Kluke gave a bleary blink, grumbling under her breath as her gaze adjusted. Sitting up, her hair fell over her face in a cookie brown curtain. She lightly smacked her hand across her bedside table, finally finding the button she was blindly searching for.
10:47
Could have been worse honestly.
She gave a stretch with a low groan, scraping her hair from her face and flipping the tantalising blanket back to prevent any other temptations. Her feet touched down into the embrace of her fuzzy slippers and she headed from the bedroom down the spiral staircase leading to the lounge and kitchenette.
The light of the morning warmed the wooden walls of their petite cottage, a far cry from the metallic sheen and high tech furnishings of the more conventional Core houses. It was small, but just enough for the two of them; a lounge rested slightly lower than the main kitchen, open and airy with a communications screen on one wall and a fireplace dusted with fresh ash from the evening before. Cushions and blankets littered the sofa and a bookshelf stood up against the wall by a snug reading nook lining the far window. Medicine nestled beside baking, with a scattering of romantic schlock and a dash of murder mystery.
Kluke reached up to the shelves above the stove top and pulled down a ceramic jar labelled 'BEANS'. It had been a bit on the nose as a gift but it was excellent for holding her coffee so she wasn't going to say no.
The only piece of Ancient technology in the kitchen whirred into life as she flipped a hatch open atop its head, pouring a spoonful of the coffee grounds inside.
It smelt so rich and tasty…
The machine whirred in her periphery as she leant against the counter, rubbing her tired eyes and blinking sleep away.
Phoe was away again, probably at the hospital. It was one of her rare free days where she could thankfully rely on the small yet devoted team she'd put together over the past year or so. That hospital was her dream... and seeing it finally start to come to fruition was thrilling.
The coffee machine gave a firm click as it finished bubbling, Kluke reaching up for her mug hanging from a row of hooks below the cupboards overhead.
It was stout and sturdy, and a little lumpy to be honest. A birthday gift from Marumaro last month. It was clearly handmade.
Nursing the mug in her hands, she took to the steps and swung the doors to the balcony open.
A cool breeze swept the curtains adrift, fresh morning air prickling her lungs in a satisfying chill.
Though living within the Core, the artificial atmosphere was still the serene blue of the sky on the surface. If she looked hard enough, the twinkling lights and nodes of the machinery coating the heart of their planet winked through like stars. Sunlight cast its warmth across their garden, bathing her flowerbeds in light and casting a shadow from the walls of Sahlia's garden.
Even though no organic pests resided in the Core, somehow there were still robotic menaces that found time to harass their plants.
She breathed in the fresh air, brushing her hair from her face as she drank in the serenity, occasionally stealing little sips of her coffee.
"Right," she mused to herself, "time to get up and go."
Her mug clinked as she placed it on the countertop, gaze drawn from her plans for the day as she spied a square box on the table.
Sahlia's lunch.
"Tsk, again?" She sighed, picking it up and glancing at the time. Yeah, she could probably catch her on a break.
Scaling the stairs to the bedroom, she swept up a blue ribbon to tie her hair back, and a comfortable grey dress hemmed with embroidered flowers. Her boots were the same as always however, comfortable and functional to the point she'd been wearing them out for over four years now.
Attire fixed, she snatched up her casual satchel from where it hung beside her work one and tucked the lunchbox inside.
She slid a curved wooden panel aside back down in the lounge, revealing their private warp pad. A quick adjustment to send her directly to the patisserie had the pad glowing that familiar orbital green as she felt the warping rush and stomach lurch like she'd been dropped suddenly. Thankfully she was used to it by now, as everyone had been hit with the warp nausea when they'd first started using it. Even Zola, and she was near immovable.
As her hem finished fluttering and her hair lay to rest against her cheeks, the warmth and smell of fresh pastries wafted around her.
The little back room bustled with activity, Sahlia's team hard at work with huge trays of sweet treats to ferry into the heavy maws of the ovens.
"Renata! Where abouts is Sahlia?" She waved to a plump woman with cheeks flushed and rosy from the heat.
"Good morning, Kluke!" She quickly wiped her hair from her brow as she snatched up a piping bag to douse a selection of fruit crowns, "she's checking the delivery out back."
Kluke waved in thanks as she slipped out of the room and along the corridor, ducking below a few overhead trays as they were whisked off to be baked.
Sahlia had been so anxious expanding her services to a second bakery, but this one had allowed an even bigger staff force as well as space to further expand her culinary explorations.
A familiar voice ebbed from the stock room and Kluke hung back on the doorframe to watch her girlfriend tick off a checklist and examine the gigantic bags of flour to be hefted onto the shelves.
"Good morning, sweetheart!" She swept in to plant a kiss on the, very surprised, Sahlia's cheek.
"Kluke! What are you doing here? It's your day off!!" Sahlia fumbled her clipboard, pen clattering to the floor.
"You forgot something." She extracted the lunchbox from her bag, Sahlia smacking her forehead with the clipboard,
"Gods damn it..! Not again."
"And this is why we're a team!" Kluke smirked, swiping her pen off of the floor for good measure, "you know I don't mind."
Sahlia peeked out from behind the clipboard, taking the lunchbox from her outstretched hand.
"You know, " Kluke was enjoying the teasing, "If you didn't like my lunches, you could just say..."
"You know it's not like that!!!" Sahlia's cheeks flushed deep red, "quit bullying me!!"
"Oh, am I bullying you now?" Kluke linked arms with her, "how horrible of me!!"
Sahlia leant her head against Kluke's shoulder through her laughter, a comforting warmth blooming between them, like a flower under the first rays of dawn.
"Is it your break yet?" Kluke followed Sahlia's lead from the stockroom.
"Hmmm..." she mused, "I'm sure I could take it a bit early. The delivery is checked off after all."
"Good," Kluke pressed a kiss to her hairline, "I want you to show me the gardens again."
"Not much has changed!" Sahlia laughed as they headed to the front of the bakery, "but if you insist."
The front of house was a far cry from the heavy bustle behind the scenes, a white and blue interior creating a relaxed atmosphere for the assorted tables and chairs seated beside the wide windows. Couples stood musing over the delectable wares kept safe within the counter, and a rather lazy blue cat wearing a purple waistcoat floated lazily over the till.
"Djinni, I'm off for lunch! The delivery has been done so it just needs putting away. I'll be back in an hour!"
Djinni lifted their head, cracking one eye open,
"Hmm? Oh, yes. Ta ta."
"I still don't understand how that's a part of you." Kluke whispered as they slipped out of the back door, "they're such a lazy bum."
"I wonder myself," Sahlia shrugged, "they seem lazy but their customer service and reported profits are pretty good!"
"Free pets don't count as profit." Kluke smirked, Sahlia giving her a gentle shove.
The iron gate of the garden groaned as it swung open, granting passage to the warmth emanating from within. Sunlight bounced off of the gravel and bathed them in comforting heat as they trudged through the aisles of flowerbeds. Rows of herbs lined boxes, each labelled neatly. A separate line of pots edged the wall, labelled 'Mint jail - DO NOT PLANT, WILL GO NUTS'.
Kluke's hand swung in Sahlia's as they settled in the shade of a pear tree, cultivated to reach its boughs across the wall of the garden like the rays of the sun. Kluke handed over Sahlia's lunchbox, opening up her own with a breakfast snack inside.
They sat together, accompanied by the hum of satisfied chewing and the buzz of life around them. Insects nuzzled into flowers, flying away in a puff of pollen to the next. The noises of the city ebbed over the walls, but stayed comfortably away from their little sanctuary.
"So..." Sahlia swallowed down a forkful of rice salad, "how did Jiro's date end up going?"
Kluke's mind immediately flashed back to their failed evening of espionage.
How was she supposed to know that Shu would bull-in-a-china-shop them? However no harm seemed to have been done.
"I think pretty well actually, despite everything."
Yes, despite the blue dragon with the fattest head in the world.
"That's good! Jiro needs someone to drag him out of that dungeon."
"I agree." Kluke licked honey off of her fingertips, watching a dragonfly flicker around the archway trellis threaded with roses, it's threadlike legs coming to rest.
Sahlia chewed on a piece of chicken, Kluke settling back to watch her.
Her hair was tied back in a pretzel plait at the back of her head, but some hairs sprung loose from her crown. Her fingers were covered in plasters, soothing the wounds left from the ovens and knives she dealt with daily. Her cheeks were soft, flushed with the heat and constant cycle of work the bakery gave her.
She looked so happy.
"Sahlia,"
"Hm?"
"I dunno if this is too personal," Kluke said, "but how did you manage to first summon your Shadow?"
Sahlia mused over a tomato, the wings of a bird thrumming overhead as it dove into the garden.
"Well," she placed her fork down, "when I still lived in Devour village, a lot of people left when they realised they could. Only a few of us remained in this decaying husk, and we swore to get it back on its feet."
She took a sip from her water bottle, a tiny fly hovering around the lunchbox, which Kluke gently swatted away.
Sahlia continued, "so we started tackling the decay, and it was... so hard. A tree began sprouting from where the Eat Yeet once stood and..."
She hesitated, eyes flickering as she gazed down at a patch of gravel,
"And it was a normal tree, but I couldn't help but remember what happened. To... everyone."
The cry of a gull pierced the air.
"So I got up, grabbed an axe, and went to cut it down."
"What, really?!" Even Kluke was surprised at that; Sahlia, gentle and mild mannered Sahlia, hacking away at a tree?
"Yes, I couldn't sleep seeing it silhouetted outside. It brought back too many memories. I didn't want anyone else to get hurt. So I cut it for days and days, and I swore to protect my home, and my people, and to not just give up and run away when it seems too much and scary and I felt this white hot energy within myself. It felt like I was on fire but I was so driven to finish off the tree that it didn't feel like it was burning; it felt like it was fuelling me."
Kluke became aware she had been holding her breath, and slowly she released her grip on her lunchbox.
"And with the final cut, Djinni appeared as the tree fell. Then something amazing happened; from the trunk of the tree came this great fountain of water. It flooded the central plaza and all the decay began just... fading, like something had killed off whatever sickness was plaguing it."
Sahlia's face lit up with pride as she looked skywards, "it was a spring of hope. From then on, me and the villagers have been using it to purify the surrounding forest, as well as our own soil and lands so we can grow healthy crops again."
"That's amazing, I had no idea Djinni had helped begin your village's resurrection." Kluke leant her head upon Sahlia's shoulder, breathing in the scent of flowers and pastries that clung to her clothes.
"It's slow progress, but it's progress." Sahlia flashed her a smile, "speaking of which, would you like to join me in a visit up there soon?"
"Hmm, I'd love to." She pressed a kiss to the wisp of hair that drifted in front of her ear, "Is this because you can't drive the mechat and need Phoe?"
"No! Well... not entirely. I just can't be bothered booking the mechat out; when are they going to find another one so we don't have to have a rota?"
"Ask Jiro, Minos is the head scientist, or at least one of them." Kluke tapped crumbs out of her lunchbox onto the ground for the birds, "Maybe someday they'll find another."
The closest they'd got had been salvaging what they could from the crash site in the wilderness. It was slow progress sometimes.
"You have permission to fly Air Phoe," Kluke smiled, "just make sure you pack light and use your seatbelt!"
Sahlia shoved her arm, "you're silly."
"Good." Kluke's smile split into a grin, nuzzling Sahlia's hairline until she caved and pressed a kiss to her lips.
"We can stop by Pachess town on the way." Kluke allowed Sahlia to nestle her head into the crook of her neck.
"Nice idea, I loved the breakfast the inn did for me last time."
"They're slowly getting better with magic users," Kluke smoothed a crinkle in Sahlia's skirt, "Thankfully they've always been welcoming to me."
"Good," Sahlia breathed in the scent of raspberries and mint, "because if they were mean to you, I'd whack them good."
"Please do not!" Kluke laughed, "then their view of us would be clouded forever, and then where will we use as a rest stop on our trips up to Devour?"
"Hmm, good point." She giggled, "Okay I won't set my wizard cat onto them. In all honesty, Djinni would fold at the first sight of a fuss anyway. They're so fickle."
"Yet they're you." Kluke twirled a strand of her auburn hair, gleaming like copper in the dappled sunlight.
A Shadow with control over death.
"You try controlling your emotions then." Sahlia flicked her ear, Kluke pressing a kiss to the tip of her nose.
"If I could, then Phoe wouldn't be as fun."
"Touché." Sahlia snuck another kiss as she sat up, arms quivering as she reached for a colossal stretch,
"Okay my breaks up, I've gotta get back to work now."
Kluke pulled her back down onto her lap, resting her head on her chest,
"Five more minutes?"
"Fine." Sahlia pressed a kiss to her forehead.
Perhaps this is where Djinni got their easily bought side from.
A gentle breeze rippled through the garden, nothing but the buzz of insects and the faint hum of the city. In their own private Eden, Kluke breathed in the scent of warm pastries and lavender. The soil radiated comforting heat, leaves of the plants that held sanctuary within its embrace rustling as the breath of the world graced over them. A minute spider cleaned it's glassy eyes within the caress of a lily, scuttling back inside as a shadow of a drifting leaf fell across them.
It was for moments like these, that everything was worth it. All the strife, struggles, tears, and blood, all those felt like nothing when she focused on the moment, on her hard won peace.
So yes, she had earned five more minutes.