▬promise of particles▬lloyd x FEM!reader▬

Steep Wisdom -96-

Holding your bag close, you took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of Lloyd's jacket. You had nowhere to go, no one to turn to. You didn't know where anyone was, and would they even want you to?

Walking along the sidewalk, you groaned, ignoring the pushes and ignorant glares of people.

You'd sound too lazy if you asked Skylar for anything else. Pausing at the end of a block, you waited for the light to turn red so you could cross.
Out of the corner of your eye, you saw a woman a few feet away from you, spinning a sign. Her bright orange hair helped her stick out from the gray and redness of the buildings.

Squinting, you managed to read what was on the spinning sign. Steep Wisdom. Like Master Wu? Didn't he- didn't he have a shop named something like that some time ago?

Hope bubbling in your chest, you readjusted your bag, and walked down the street, going to where a sign sat outside a building. Once your eyes adjusted to the shaded alley, you read the sign again. "Steep Wisdom.. maybe it's a coincidence. But maybe.."

Stepping into the small shop, the bell above the doorway rang, telling the cashier that someone had entered. If this wasn't the same Wu, you'd just say you're a vacationer browsing some local teas.

Walking through the store, your nose was filled with scents of various teas ranging from classic green teas, to fruity, imported hibiscus tea leaves. Continuing inward, you passed a bookshelf filled with novels such as 'A History of Teas of Various Realms,' and 'Traveller's Tea: A Study'. Picking up the latter, you began flipping through pages, and studying the detailed diagrams, you smiled. This was the sort of stuff you were used to.

"May I... help you?" A voice asked from down the hallway. You knew that voice.

Turning to it, you met Wu's amber eyes from under his straw hat. "Hey, Master Wu.. how you been?"

He ran his bruised hand through his beard with a sigh. "I've been... managing. Would you like to sit down over tea?

"That'd- that'd be nice to have a slow moment in my life for a minu- Yeah. That'd be nice." You smiled, following to the back of the store, and behind the counter painted in red.

Kneeling at the table, you watched as Wu poured the bubbling liquid into the ceramic cup sat on the table. "Thanks for not rejecting me and leaving once I entered the store. It's a nice difference compared to what I've been through."

With a nod, Wu kneeled across from you, holding his cup between his fingers. "So. I started back up my business, and even have an employee, KoKo, who you might've seen advertising at the street corner. And I've started talking to Misako more about the process of grief, and how to deal with it. What have you done in this past month?"

Taking a deep breath, you mentally prepared yourself on how to explain everything. "So after Lloyd left-"

"Lloyd left..?" Wu asked, obviously worried for his nephew.

"Yeah.. I mean, Nya... Nya affected the whole team, and Lloyd looked up to her as an older sister. I- I'm not sure where he is now though. It's been over a month-"

Stroking his beard again, Wu sighed. "I understand, and.. I'm sorry. Now, would you like to continue?"

▬▭▬▭▬▭▬▭▬▭▬▭

Placing your empty cup down, you sighed. "I think that's pretty much it. I noticed your place while walking.. trying to figure out what to do... and now I'm here."

Wu stood up, collecting the cups from the table. "I see. I'm sorry.. again. You shouldn't have had to go through all of that." He placed the cups in the sink across the back room. "You could always.. stay here if you'd like. It does get lonely from time to time."

"Really?" You asked, eye widening up to him.

He nodded, brushing through his beard again. "It would be nice to reconnect with you. I worry we never had the most stable relationship with each other, and I'd like to fix that."

Standing up, you walked to the man, and hugged him. "Thank you so much Wu." It felt good to have Wu be the most recent person you hugged, instead of your mom. Stepping back, you smiled for the first time in over a month. "I- I can get a job to help pay rent, and I could also help deliver tea to help get even more profits-"

Putting a hand on your shoulder, Wu urged you to slow down. "We'll get to that once your settled. I should have a spare tatami mat somewhere back here.." He mumbled, walking further into the storage room.

Following him, you glanced at all the pots, teas, and other various stuff you weren't surprised Wu had. You could see his sleeping area, based on it being the only uncluttered floorspace in the room. His bed was neatly folded up in a corner.

"Ah- here it is-" he groaned, tugging the greyish bed under a bunch of clutter. Wasn't he the one constantly getting upset at everyone else's clutter?

Jogging to him, you ushered him away and started sliding it out. It'd be cool if he didn't throw his back out. Finally getting the thin mattress out, you looked around the room. Where would you even fit this when it came to sleeping?

Wu shrugged, looking around. "You could put it in one of the aisles in the shop, I'm not sure how much privacy you need though. If not, I could always move to the front as well."

Looking around the room, you managed to see the small crawl area above the employee bathroom. "Wu? Is there anything up there?" You asked, pointing up to the small area.

He looked over and shrugged, "Nothing is up there since it was inconvenient for me to get up there, but if you think your bed will fit up there, it's a bit untraditional but go ahead. I'll be manning the register, it'll be our busiest time in a short while."

Watching him walk past, you rolled the mat up, and started moving crates, and sturdy shelves to create a makeshift staircase. Climbing up, you had enough space to sit straight and crawl around. Going back down, you grabbed the bed, and heaved it up to the loft. Spreading it out flat, you put your bag in the empty space between it and the wall.

Holding onto your phone, you readjusted and faced the close ceiling. As you turned, your wrist rubbed against something. Pulling at your jacket sleeve, you stared at the green cloth. You'd run into him again, but like Skylar said, he needed time to grieve, and you probably did to. Emotions were stupidly complex like that.

--------------

Hii sorry this chapter feels so short :/

I'll be releasing one on Sunday night as well since it fits better In my schedule (and I'm technically releasing this on Friday so it's still a day between and you guys don't get bored with the lack of content :)