Oddities, Part 2 - House

Tove stood at the docks sipping her coffee and watched the bustle of the sailors and the soft lapping of the waves against the boardwalk. It was busy this time of the year, shipping companies and fishing boats going in and out while they still could, for soon the sea would freeze over. Well, that wasn't entirely accurate, as the harbour was kept clear of ice even during midwinter with a single path leading out to the sea. But it wasn't a very wide path, no matter how important seafaring was to the city -- it simply wasn't feasible to keep the whole area thawed.

A large puff of white condensed in front of her face as she took a deep breath. The heating spell woven into her woollen jumper -- a necessity this far north -- kept the cold away from most of her, but sadly her face wasn't a part of that most. She pressed her mitten clad hand on her mouth and nose and blew. Perhaps waiting outside hadn't been the best idea. But she was too proud to move now; that would be admitting defeat.

Why on earth had she agreed to come pick up the new Cametonian correspondent anyway? It's not like Tove was known for being a people person, or like, talking to anyone, ever. They'd just decided on her because she didn't have any friends at the office who would have her back. Could that be considered workplace harassment? Probably not. She took another sip of coffee. Oh well, at least it was an easy way to earn a day's wages.

After a few more minutes of standing and sipping, she dared to pull her coat sleeve back a bit to check her watch. Any minute now, she thought, quickly tugging the sleeve back in place before any cold could get under her layers. The ship had been docked for a good twenty minutes already so the immigration process should be more or less done with. Unless the newbie got stuck in customs, though Tove doubted that. But hey, what did she know about Cametonians, maybe they carried a bunch of exotic fruit everywhere they went. She chuckled a bit to herself and then sighed.

The door to the arrivals terminal opened and people started pouring out in a steady stream. Several of them shuddered a bit and pulled their scarves and coats closer, though Tove knew that the boat had to have been cold enough for them to know what the weather was like. She scanned the crowd as she dug around in her pocket, before finally producing a folded photograph. In it was a woman, a man, and a name written in cursive at the bottom.

Tove turned her attention to the crowd once more. A lot of pale faces walked past her, no one yet who looked as foreign as the woman in the photo. Tove waited, watched, waited. It wasn't a large crowd, so she shouldn't have any trouble finding the newbie... She checked every face that walked past her. Some gave her weird looks back. She ignored them.

And then they had all passed her and still there was no sign of the newbie.

"Huh," said Tove and scratched her head. She stuffed the photo back into her pocket, picked up her bag and the second cup of coffee that were waiting for her on the ground and walked into the terminal.

She was greeted at the door by a rush of warm air and she paused to let it wash over her body and burrow into her bones. Then she stepped in properly and surveyed the room. Not many people inside, since most had literally just left, but she could hear unintelligible voices coming from the other side of the big door that said "Arrivals" and "NO ENTRY". Tove took a seat and watched the door.

She had just finished her own coffee and contemplated on drinking the other one when the door finally opened and someone came out. Someone who seemed to have trouble keeping her luggage together. Someone, whom Tove recognized from the picture to be Alaia Vega Abaroa.

She was clearly some years older than she was in the picture, but it was definitely her. She had dark olive skin and golden brown eyes and thick-ish eyebrows that were currently scrunched as she struggled with her belongings. Good gods, had she really got stuck in the customs? She had no hat on and several locks of jet black hair were falling on her face. As she tried to push them back out of the way she lost her grip and with a soft yelp from her, her trunk exploded on the floor of the terminal.

Tove was up and by her side in a matter of seconds.

"Are you okay?" she asked, gathering up clothing and other scattered items. Alaia's eyes widened as she looked up at Tove and she stuttered a bit. Tove realised she'd spoken in Fjellish and she had no idea if Alaia knew the language. That question got answered quickly when Alaia opened her mouth.

"Me good now, thank you," she said in Fjellish. Her grammar was spotty and there was a clear accent, but it was good to know that she knew at least a little of the language. Tove let out a small sigh in relief.

"I can speak in Esperanto, if you like?" Tove said and a clear wave of relief washed over Alaia's face. She nodded. "My name is Tove Nielsson."

"Alaia Vega Abaroa," Alaia said, shoving a hand forward. It sounded much prettier from her mouth than it had in Tove's head. She smiled and took the offered hand.

"Yes, I know," she said and Alaia looked confused for a second. "I'm your, what's the word... Welcome committee."

"Oh! Mrs Nielsson--"

"Miss," Tove interrupted. "And please, call me Tove."

"...Tove," Alaia tried the name in her mouth and did a pretty good job at pronouncing it. "Do you work for the EFAR, Tove?"

Tove placed the last piece of clothing back into the trunk and stood up from the ground where they'd been kneeling. "Yep. I'm here to show you to your new home. And," she said, stretching, "if you're up to it, the work place."

The smile on Alaia's face was so bright Tove almost felt like she should turn away. She didn't, of course, instead walking over to the bench she'd left her stuff at while Alaia zipped her bag shut and put her coat on properly. Standing side by side now, Tove noticed how much shorter Alaia was. Sure, Tove was taller than the average Embärfjellian woman, but not impossibly so.

She also couldn't help but notice Alaia was not wearing a hat. Which was bad. But also good.

"Here, I have something for you," she said, digging around in her bag as they walked out. The wall of cold hit them immediately and Alaia shivered. "It's from the staff at EFAR, a welcome present." Tove handed over the small package wrapped in newspaper. "You look like you need it."

"Oh, thank you!" Alaia said, accepting the gift with a small smile. "I wasn't expecting this." Tove held up her trunk as Alaia tore away the paper. Her smile widened as she saw what was inside. A light blue knitted hat with a pompom on top. "That is very lovely. And you were right, I definitely need this."

She pulled the hat on. And her eyes widened and her mouth opened slightly. She looked at Tove, who laughed.

"It has a warming spell woven into it," Tove explained. "It's not a very potent one, but it'll do until you can get yourself some proper clothes. Here, this is for you too." She handed over the second cup of coffee she'd been lugging around for forever now. "I hope you like coffee, because... well we drink a lot of coffee here."

"That is too kind," Alaia tried, but accepted the cup. "Surely it can't still be warm anymore..." She paused as she saw Tove's grin. "Oh, it has a warming spell too! That's clever." She took a sip. "And good. I usually drink mine with sugar and a bit of cream, but this is a nice blend."

"Yeah, I wasn't sure how you'd like it," Tove admitted as they started walking again. "I was gonna ask for milk, but then I realized you might be lactose intolerant and I wasn't sure if you had a nut allergy or a soy allergy so I couldn't get soy or almond milk and the barista was waiting and there was a huge queue behind me so I just asked for it black."

For Tove's relief Alaia laughed at her story and the two of them continued chatting as they made their way to the tram stop. Alaia seemed very impressed at the insulation magic on the tram doors to keep the inside of the tram warm even during midwinter and Tove explained that it was more or less a necessity so that people wouldn't freeze their asses off during their commute. They switched trams at the central railway station and as their conversation died down, they entered the Old Town. Alaia's eyes were immediately glued to the architecture passing by.

"Wow, the Old Town! This area is world famous!" she said, leaning as close to the window as she physically could. "Did you seriously get me lodging in the Old Town or are we just passing through?"

"You... you don't know?" Tove asked, brow furrowing. Hadn't expected that. "All the foreign embassies are located around the Old Town, so there's housing all over the place for foreign dignitaries and the like. You know, like correspondents."

"Oh," was all Alaia said. There was a pause which, at least for Tove, was increasingly awkward.

"Did they... did they not tell you?" she finally asked.

"I mean... I knew there would be housing provided. I just never got any details."

"Oh."

The silence continued. Tove wasn't sure what to make of that, nor how to react to it. In the end she decided to let it go.

"Well, it's a really nice place. One of the really old houses, but it was completely renovated just a few years back so it's in tip top condition. You get your own apartment and everything, unlike some correspondents who live in a... ah, what's the word... together... a shared flat!"

"Mmm," said Alaia.

"Uh," said Tove. Fuck, she was not equipped to handle a small talk situation where the other person was so unresponsive! She was barely equipped to handle one where the other person was the one doing all the talking! Oh well, they were almost there.

The silence had not lifted by the time they stepped off the tram and Tove allowed it to continue. She was fine with not talking, silence wasn't something she was scared of, she just hoped that Alaia wasn't feeling too awkward about it. As she understood it, people in warmer countries talked a lot more than they did up here.

Tove could hear the crunching under her boots as they walked, and she was happy that they'd finally gotten snow. It made everything much brighter than the gray sleet that they'd had to live with for the past few months. And while nobody wished for it to get colder, Tove really couldn't wait for more snow.

They turned a corner, walked for a bit and then Tove stopped. Alaia stopped as well, and turned back to look at her.

"Are we there?" she asked.

"No, I, uh..." Tove said. Despite the chill on her face she could feel her cheeks warm up slightly. "I turned the wrong way. I live a few blocks that way--" she motioned ahead with her hand "--but your new apartment is actually a bit further down that road."

"Oh, you live near here too? That's nice," Alaia said and she was smiling again and a weight lifted from Tove's heart.

"Yeah, it's a pretty small place but it's cozy," she said as they backtracked a bit. "Inherited it from my great-grandparents."

The final few blocks of the journey was spent chatting again, and for the first time in her life, Tove was happy about that.
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Hello!!

I was gonna write a bit further but that felt like such a nice place to end so I decided to end it there. It's long enough as is I think. The only thing is that they never made it to the titular house lol

Oh well. The next topic is "Duck".

Hope you'll enjoy the story! I sure am excited about it! Bye for now!

Pie out.