Sneakers hit against wet blackstone as it poured rain, a pair sharing a single beat- up umbrella. There were murky lights shining brightly along the path, and every shop seemed to glow in the rain. It would have been nice to look at if they weren't still getting poured on despite the umbrella.

"Is it usually like this?" Cleo muttered as she trudged the thin path.

"The weather?" Joe asked. "Usually, but some days the sun is happy and shines his little face out from the clouds."

"Joe, your cryptic language is already getting to me."

"Oh, isn't that fun? I usually save it for when I become more than acquaintances with someone, really," The brunette laughed. "But I guess you're peculiar on your own."

"Heyyy!" Cleo laughed, punching Joe playfully. "Come on, now why are we here again?"

Joe stopped, pulling out a small notebook and opening it. "Uh, we're here to steal- er- buy a new copy of the newspaper, check the town bulletin for odd jobs we could do, barter for some food, I that's it." Joe pulled the ripped umbrella closer to himself. "Gosh, this is getting blurry."

"Well duh!" Cleo grabbed Joe's glasses. "Your glasses might as well be pools for ants to swim in with all this rain on them!" She wiped them swiftly against the inside of her striped blue shirt before putting them back on the man's face.

"Thank you," Joe muttered as he pulled the small book closer to his face and sighed. "I hope you can recall what I wrote on our little list, as the rain's soaked it along with the rest of my writing here."

"Yeah, dude! That's what rain does, if you didn't understand!" Cleo answered, grabbing her friend by the arm. "Now, newspaper!"

"Oh, right," Joe handed Cleo the battered umbrella, stepping out to look around. "Uhh... it's over there." He pointed to a small shop on a hill before them. The Hermiton Herald, I think Cub's in there."

He ran up the slope, the ginger chasing after him.

Cleo stopped at the top of the steep hill, hands on her knees for support. "Joe!"

"What?" The brunette turned around, about to enter a small sandstone building. "Oh goodness, let me help you," he took the umbrella in one hand, Cleo's hand in the other. "Now let's try to look at least a bit respectable as we walk in."

Cleo didn't mind that last remark, stumbling into the newspaper press. "Or not, then."

Joe followed after her, running into the old shop. "Sorry Cubby, my friend here-"

Joe stopped to look up at his old friend, smiling slightly. The man had a white suit on, light blue tie to match. His beard was a light gray, and his hair... he didn't have much.

"Well hello, Mister Joe of the Hills," the man grinned, throwing Joe an fluffy white towel. "You really need to get a new umbrella, that one is hideous."

Joe smiled, glancing over to Cleo. She had a green towel around her shoulders as she tried to squeeze the water out of her hair without getting any on the floor. "Howdy, Cub."

"So, who's your friend here?" Cub laughed, helping the brunette dry off.

"This is Miss Cleo Zaaron. She's visiting for a while."

"Oh, is she family? Friends? More than that?" The man raised an eyebrow as Joe finished drying off.

"Oh, ew!" Cleo called. "I just came on a business trip, it isn't much."

"So you've just met?" Cub asked, walking back to a small desk across the room.

"Well no," Joe answered. "She came here, what? Two days ago? Three?"

"Eh, cool. Now, here's the paper. Free today," Cub threw a copy at his friend. "Not too much today; just resistance stuff and capitalism as always."

"Of course, I love reading dystopian stories," Joe laughed lightly. "Hey, could we maybe borrow an umbrella?" He added, glancing at the umbrella bin full of actually intact parasols.

"Sure, take any one of them, both of you. Stay safe, don't die."

"I won't. Now Cleo, let's walk around?"

"Sure," Cleo muttered, rubbing the towel through her hair one more time. "Thanks... Cub? Yeah, for the newspaper." She took a coral colored umbrella and stepped into the rain, Joe with a lime one after her. "Bye then!"

"Bye, please don't die!"

"We won't! Now Miss Cleo, let's go check out Town Hall."

—————

(730 words)

Hope you enjoyed! The chapters are everywhere now tbh, but they'll make sense later, I hope-