“Civilwith a dragon still sounds dangerous as fuck.”
“Oh, it is.”
The sun was dipping behind the buildings, and the sky was a brilliant blend of orange and gold as they arrived at the flower shop. Seymour swore the windows shuddered once they were closer, and he flinched as the door swung open on its own.
Seymour stepped through with Sariel right behind him. “Hey, y’all.”
Neil was there at the counter, but there was no sign of Flanders or Myrna. There were a few customers milling about, and the menu board didn’t move.
“Oh! Hi, Seymour. Wow. Wasn’t expecting to see you again.” Neil blinked in surprise. “And Sariel! And…” He lowered his voice, whispering, “Uh, who’s the new friend?”
Seymour came up to the counter, whispering back, “You can see her?”
“Yeah?”
Day meowed, tilting her head curiously.
“All the items made by you know who must be connected somehow.” Seymour hummed thoughtfully. “The twins and Mr. Heiss were all real sure that I’d be able to see her. So, here we are.”
“This is incredible.” Neil gave Day a sweet smile. “Hi, I’m Neil. Nice to meet you.”
Movement from the Rolodex caught Seymour’s eye, the letters of the current entry melting and shifting around to form new words.
HELLO
OH! DAY! MEOW MEOW MEOW
Day hopped off Seymour’s shoulder, landing gracefully on the counter. She meowed excitedly and headbutted the cash register, rubbing against it.
“Friend of yours?” Neil asked.
YES
A VERY OLD FRIEND
I USED TO BE A HUT!
“Okay, cool.” Seymour grinned. “So, you can understand her, Mr. Hut?”
YES
THIS IS DAY!
SEE? I KNOW THINGS
I AM INTERESTING
A customer stepped up behind Seymour, softly clearing his throat.
Neil saw him and handed Seymour the Rolodex. “Here, uh, take this. Over there. Let me take care of this customer, okay? And then we will handle whatever all this is.”
Seymour waited for Day to jump back on his shoulder and then retreated out of the way.
MEOW MEOW MEOW
Day purred, meowing happily back.
MEOW MEOW!
