A Friend To The Friendless

Job Details:

Job Details: Page 26, Post Number 638

-Capital Crocus Mall, 2:00 P.M.-

Walking into Capital Crocus Mall while wearing her casual outfit of black long-sleeved t-shirt, long white skirt, and black dress shoes with black purse slung on her right shoulder, Lucia entered Capital Crocus Mall to start her first job as a member of the Legal guild Luminous Rose. It had been a few months since Lucia had done work of any kind, so she was taking this job to ease herself back into the magical workforce before she started going to far-flung places like Haunted Guild and Silent Cemetery on more dangerous jobs. The job she had taken?

Lucia was here to try and help a socially awkward young man who wanted a "real" friend. He was so painfully shy that he did not even have Lacrimanet friends because he was afraid that no one would like him. He had hired her to help him out by spending a bit of time with him and talking to him.

It was not the most glamorous job, the most exciting job, or even the most helpful to humanity as a whole, but Lucia wanted to try and help someone when they needed a helping hand the most. In her previous experience as a Guildless mage sometimes the smaller jobs that were overlooked by some paid off the most. Besides, she did not need to be in the spotlight to do her job as a helper to those in need.

Lucia recalled from the job notice that the fellow in question had medium-length black hair, wore glasses, and was of average height. He was also a bit overweight. Finally, his name was David Mitchell. However, the notice had failed to tell her where to meet him, so she would just have to find him.

Lucia walked into the food court and saw a young man matching David's description on the job notice standing off to the left side of the entrance of a bookstore named The Scholar's Resource. He wore a black jacket over a white t-shirt and black cargo pants with black tennis shoes shoes. He looked like he was intensely uncomfortable being out in public. Deciding to ask him if he was David Mitchell, Lucia slowly walked up to the bespectacled youth and spoke to him.

"Hi there. I'm Lucia Winchester, a member of the guild Luminous Rose. Are you David Mitchell?" Lucia asked the dark-haired youth. He made eye contact with her and blushed, then lowered his eyes to the ground.

"Y-yes. I'm David Mitchell. I d-didn't know that I hired someone like you to t-talk to me." He replied without making eye contact. Lucia was not sure what he meant by that remark, so she kept silent and let him explain.

"I-I'm sorry. That sounded so terrible. It's just that I didn't expect a b-beautiful lady to actually want to have a-anything to do with me." David apologized for the harsh sound of his previous remark, again without making eye contact with Lucia. Lucia figured that that was what he was getting at, but she did not want to assume anything. Now that she had learned exactly what he meant, Lucia shrugged off the unintentional harshness and spoke to him again.

"It's all right, David. What did you want to do in the mall today?" Lucia asked the shy youth. He slowly raised his eyes to make eye contact with the blonde and looked like he wanted to talk to her but just could not find the words. Lucia patiently waited for him to muster up the courage to talk to her. She could tell that he was visibly and genuinely stressed out by trying to talk to her and was not faking it to gain sympathy. In this kind of situation patience was a virtue.

David Mitchell:

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After giving it a lot of thought like he was carefully choosing every word of his response the dark-haired young man finally spoke to her.

"I'd like to go to a s-store called The Music Vault. It's on the third f-floor. It's one of my favorite s-stores in the mall." David finally told her what he wanted to do in the mall, then looked at the ground again as if fearing that Lucia would shut his request down or belittle him for suggesting that they go to the store.

"Certainly." Lucia agreed to his request. He looked up at her and smiled weakly.

"T-thanks. I'll guide us there." David replied with a minimum of words. He began to walk towards the stairs located on the left side of the food court. Lucia quickly followed behind him so that he did not have cause to feel like she had abandoned him.

-On the third floor, twenty minutes later-

Foot traffic had been heavy and their ascent on the staircase stopped on more than one occasion thanks to the sheer number of people trying to use it, but the pair eventually managed to ascend to the third floor of the mall. Now they stood just to the left of the staircase and let other shoppers pass by them as David worked up the courage to talk to Lucia again.

"Have you ever been to The M-Music Vault, Lucia?" David asked her while doing his best to maintain eye contact, wiping sweat from his brow with the back of his left hand. Lucia found that action curious. The walk up the stairs had not been that intense, so he had no reason to sweat... unless he was starting to get even more nervous because he was around her.

"I've been to it a few times before, but my last visit was some time ago." Lucia replied in the affirmative. David kept eye contact with her and began to show interest.

"I go there a lot. It's my favorite store because of all the music it sells." David told her. Lucia noticed that he did not hesitate or stutter at all in that sentence. He must have liked music enough to be able to talk about it without fear even if he was talking to a beautiful woman. She was glad to see any progress no matter how small.

"What kind of music do you like, David?" Lucia asked him. She wanted to keep him talking so that he could build his confidence step by step, but she was also genuinely interested in what music he liked. David hesitated for a moment, then took a quiet breath and gave his answer.

"I like several different kinds of music, Lucia, but if I had to pick one that I liked more than all the others, I'd say classical music." David answered her question.

"I like classical music too, David. I like the works of Mozart and Chopin a lot, but I also like Beethoven." Lucia listed a few of her favorite composers. David smiled at her.

"Me too, Lucia! I like Mozart and Beethoven too, but I don't care much for Chopin... his work just feels too one-dimensional for my liking, but that's just my opinion. I really like Tchaikovsky. His pieces Waltz Of The Flowers and Dance Of The Reed Pipes are amazing. While on that subject, I've gotta give him credit for The Nutcracker... all the music in it is good!" David shared his opinion without any hesitation. Lucia could tell that he was passionate about classical music.

"Another composer I really like is Liszt. My favorite piece of his is Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 and La Campanella is my second-favorite even though it's really hard to play. I know that this is a non sequitur, but the piano's my favorite instrument. My mother and sister taught me how to play when I was a child." David told her both his favorite composer and two of his favorite Liszt pieces plus his affinity for the piano. Lucia smiled at him in an effort to encourage him, but moments later he flew into a panic. Did she scare him?

"I'm so s-sorry, Lucia! I got so caught up in talking about classical music I forgot that we were gonna go to The Music Vault!" He apologized for getting sidetracked by their conversation. He blushed and turned in the direction of the store.

"Let's get going!" David said to her and began leading the way. Lucia followed closely behind him, being careful not to get separated from him or to accidentally bump into other shoppers as she tried to keep up with him.

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-Inside The Music Vault, six minutes later-

It took more effort than it should have taken to get into The Music Vault. For some reason crowds of shoppers kept going by the front of the store and made it difficult to get anywhere near it. Thanks to David's perseverance the pair finally got into the store. Now they were standing in the front looking at two rows of glass display cases put back-to-back to form one big row.

"Well, we m-made it, Lucia. I'm sorry that it t-took us this long. I held us up by going on and on about s-something you didn't intend to d-discuss in such detail." David meekly apologized for delaying them by telling her about his keen interest in classical music and his ability to play the piano. He then looked down at the floor.

"It's no problem, David. I'm glad to see that you have such a passion for music." Lucia tried to reassure him that the delay was not going to cause her to get mad at him and walk off or cause her to berate him in public. David cheered up a little, but only a little.

"I just don't... have anyone to talk to about classical music." David confessed. Lucia made eye contact with him. The youth blushed and looked off to the side to avoid making eye contact.

"I've w-wasted enough of our time rambling on and on. Let's j-just find a Lacrima if we can. That's what we came here to do. Not listen to me go on and on about my problems." David told her. He then turned around and made a beeline for the top left glass display case in the center of the shop. Lucia followed behind him and soon reached the display case moments after he did. She stood to his right and heard him start talking to her.

"Well, here's the classical music Lacrimas, Lucia. There's quite a few of them that I want, but my dad will just get angry at me if I buy one. He thinks that they're a stupid waste of Jewels." He lamented to Lucia. Lucia looked inside the display case to see at least twenty different music Lacrimas, then looked at David, who had placed his right hand on the display case. She could tell that he wanted one of them, any of them, but due to his father he could not have what he wanted.

"I don't get why my dad hates classical music so much. He claims that I don't really like it and that I'm just trying to be different from everyone else by saying I like it." David told Lucia while still looking in the display case. David closed his eyes for a few moments, then made eye contact with Lucia.

"My father works for a local construction company. He works hard to provide for me and my siblings, but he's a blue-collar guy with the attitude to match. He thinks that only pretentious people like art and that any artistic endeavor's a complete waste of time." David told her a bit about his father. Lucia remained silent as he looked inside the display case again.

"Listen to me complain about something that really doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things. At least my mother and sister don't think that classical music's a waste of time. And you don't either." David told her, clearly resigned to the fact that his father would always dislike the music he adored. He then took his hand off of the display case and gave Lucia a smile. Lucia could not help but to feel that he was smiling for her benefit.

"At least I can talk to you about classical music without you looking at me funny or thinking that I'm a big loser." He said to her in a somewhat cheerful tone. Again Lucia thought that he was acting more cheerful than he felt for her benefit.

"But enough about that. I've run that subject into the ground and you didn't come here to listen to me whine all day." David tried to put the subject to rest. Choosing to let the matter drop, Lucia tried to find something else to talk to him about.

"Say, do you happen to like the music of Sakura Kisagami?" David asked her. Lucia shook her head.

"I can't say that I do, David. I've never even heard of her before today." Lucia replied truthfully. David gave her another smile, but unlike the first smile this one was genuine.

"She's a great pop musician who writes some really catchy music. You've gotta listen to her music some time. I've even got a few music Lacrimas of her work!" David said to her with genuine enthusiasm for the subject. Lucia was pleased to see that he was starting to cheer up, but he had had a genuine reason to be unhappy. Lucia herself had dealt with an opinionated parent who did not like anything outside of their interests, so she knew exactly where David was coming from when he lamented his father's stance on classical music. Lucia's mother Elizabeth was the opposite; she was firmly convinced that classical music was the only music worth listening to and forbade the Winchester children from listening to anything else.

However, Elizabeth Winchester was no longer alive to enforce that edict.

Lucia could choose what she listened to now.

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-Outside Capital Crocus Mall, three hours later-

After having spent two of the past three hours in The Music Vault and another hour in a store called Animated Merchandise, David and Lucia finally emerged from Capital Crocus Mall. David had not bought anything from The Music Vault because he did not want his father to get angry at him and smash his newly purchased music Lacrima into pieces. David had not bought anything from Animated Merchandise since he was saving money to make up for buying some expensive mecha anime figurines from there less than a month ago.

"Lucia?" David asked Lucia the moment they stepped out of the mall. Lucia turned to him.

"Yes?" Lucia asked the young man. He hesitated for a moment and looked at the ground, then looked at her.

"Thanks for spending some time with me today. I know that you had to listen to me whine about my father and how he hates classical music, but I'm... glad. Glad that you were there to listen to me and not judge me." David thanked her for taking the job. Moments after speaking his face turned red.

"That sounded really bad. What I meant to say was... thanks for listening to me talk without judging me. You're the first girl... er, woman outside my family that I've really talked to in any meaningful way. And I'm thankful for that." The red-faced young man thanked her for being there for him to talk to.

"It's no problem, David. I'm glad that I could help." Lucia assured him. This job had not been the most glamorous or the most beneficial to humanity, but she was glad that she was in a position to lend a helping hand to someone who needed it.

"Today wasn't a miracle cure for my problems. I'm still nervous around you, but now that I know you'll listen to me without judgment I'm not as awkward or hesitant around you. I'm still gonna have to work on socializing with others, but you really helped me out." David admitted to her.

"I'm glad that I could help." Lucia repeated her earlier assertion. David looked straight ahead and noticed the exterior of Capital Coffee. He then looked at Lucia.

"Hey Lucia, I know that I might be pushing my luck by asking for this, but would you mind getting coffee with me before you go?" David asked her. Lucia nodded.

"Of course. I don't mind getting coffee with you at all, David." Lucia replied in the affirmative. David smiled.

"Thanks. I know that I'm probably pushing my luck to its limit, but I'm... I'm glad that you want to have coffee with me before you leave. You've been really nice to me." He said appreciatively. He then started walking towards the coffee shop.

"C'mon, Lucia. Since I suggested this so late I'll buy your coffee." David said to her. Lucia was not expecting him to do that and she did not need him to do that, but she did not object because she wanted him to feel like he was doing her a favor. She walked beside him until they reached the coffee shop. He held the door open for her and she went in as he followed close behind her.

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