"Paul and Idel are the cringiest people in the world," I announced, eyeing the two who, as they had done for the week that had passed since their reconciliation, were busy whispering things to each other and blushing before the afternoon shift started. They were sweet to see, and happy Idel was a thousand times better than pained Idel, but sometimes they just made me want to throw a stool at them.

It was a good thing I hurt my back and couldn't follow through with those urges.

Rosa didn't even pretend she heard me. Now that the Paul-Idel ordeal was done and over with, she had begun poring over her "probabilities" again, apparently in preparation for starting school next week.

Next week! I shook my head in wonder. In just one week, Rosa was going to be off and traipsing about like a proper noble. Rosa! And Rosa Chesterfield, at that!

Still, I was intensely bored at the moment. With the long gash in my back, I hadn't been able to work for quite a long time. Sir Pebblestuck-- I mean, Peddlestone-- had said I was unlucky enough to need stitches, but lucky enough to have avoided any "major organs."

"It's just a knife slash," I'd said.

"Well, well," he'd replied. "Still."

I huffed to myself, remembering how slow he had been with each stitch, too. I mean, thank you for coming and stitching me up right away, but at the same time, did he really have to wipe up sweat on his face every three seconds? No.

I mentally shook myself. Think positive! At least I was able to do some work now-- lying in bed all day on my stomach had sounded like heaven for the first two hours, and then it became increasingly nothing. I couldn't do anything, because everything pulled at the skin on my back. And that hurt.

In fact, I'd somehow turned my head towards my mom, who'd been sitting on the chair next to the bed doing something with her hands and humming to herself, and told her that I respected her for being able to stay in the room so long and not die of boredom.

She'd chuckled. "That's how you learn patience, Filian," she'd said. 

I had replied with "I don't think I'm going to become patient anytime soon," and I hadn't. She was probably lying about that anyway.

The cook came along right at that moment, clomping out from the kitchen. He peered at me with his usual suspicious look, and I smiled brightly back. "Hi cook!"

The burly man crossed his arms. "You sure you can work?"

I nodded. "Definitely! Apothecary said that I can work, but I shouldn't move around too much. And what do bartenders do? Make drinks and stay on the spot!"

He narrowed his eyes, but said nothing more and ambled to Paul and Idel. "You there!" he barked.

Paul looked back, his face forming a smile as well. "Oh, cook! How are you liking the bag I recommended?"

Right, the unlikely band of friendship between timid Paul and rough cook: shoulder bags, which had confused us in our very first attempt as the CIA.

Ah, memories. I wiped a false tear away. How glad I am that they are over.

"Rosa!" Cook barked, finally making the unmovable creature raise her head. He frowned at her. "You don't work today!"

"I don't!" Rosa barked back. 

"Then go home!"

"I will!" She nodded once, packed up her things, and went right out the door without so much as a "bye" to me. I raised an eyebrow. So much for a best friend of eleven years. 

Work commenced, and my back did hurt, especially when I had to do my special slam-the-beer technique, but it was worth it to escape the sheer boredom that had frustrated me for the past week. Ugh. Just thinking about that made me want to wail.

"Your pay," Cook said gruffly after the shift was over, slapping a stack of paper bills on my hand. "For the week."

I counted it and nodded in satisfaction. "Perfect. Thanks, cook! See you tomorrow!"

I turned around and headed to the door leading to the stairs. Cook and his family lived above the restaurant, too, but he would need to finish cleaning up the kitchen or whatever he does down there after work. But just as I was about to go into the doorway, the restaurant doors slammed open so loudly that I immediately turned to look back.

Two men stood tall at the entrance, one thin man with a slick Mohawk and one short man with a buzz cut. I closed my eyes shut at the familiar duo and breathed through my nose. When I opened them again, they were both looking at me lazily, as if they had all the time of the world.

"There she is," the thin man said coolly. He smiled, and his crooked teeth gave me the shivers as they always did. "Our dear little Filly-willy."

I let the corners of my lips turn up into a smile-like grimace, and closed the door behind me with a sigh. "Hello, Simon. Gair."

Gair, the short one, waved his fingers around in a mock greeting. "So nice to see you, so glad to meet you."

"Here to collect my wages?" I said warily.

"Is that even a question?" Simon answered.

"Of course not." I mentally calculated in my head (which I was able to do solely thanks to Rosa, the math lover) what we would have left after this payment. Since I hadn't been able to work all week, and since I had used up some of our savings at the farmer's market that one time...

Did I still have my emergency funds yet? I sighed again and pulled out the wad of bills I had just received. "30 Velawins, right?"

//\\//\\Now tuning in to, A Quick Guide By Rosa Chesterfield, The Reincarnated Individual!//\\//\\

Ready for some math, folks? ~*^^*~

It's easy, so don't worry! 

One Velawin is approximately five U.S. dollars! So 30 Velawins would be, that's right! 150 dollars!

Two Vels make one Velawin.

Five Wins make one Vel.

Then, our math question for the day! How many Wins would Filian need to pay off 70 Velawins?

Have fun, folks! Math time is fun time, so let's fun up your day! ~*^^*~

\\//\\//Brought to you by, A Quick Guide By Rosa Chesterfield, The Reincarnated Individual!\\//\\//

I counted off ten Velawins and one Vel. I pulled out my wallet and added six Velawins to it as well as a few Win coins, to even out my extra Vel. So that was seventeen Velawins. 

I chewed on the inside of my cheek. I knew Mom still had some savings left, and we could pull from our emergency funds, but I had missed work for way too long. "Give me a moment," I said, briefly making eye contact with them. "I have more upstairs."

They smiled at me, their eyes glinting ominously. "We'll come with you," Simon said, and I willed myself not to glance down at his widely stretched mouth. Then his words registered in my brain. I jerked away from the handle of the door. 

"What? No!"

"Why not?" challenged Gair. He seemed to be almost gloating. "Let's go say hi to Avaleen, don't you think?"

"Leave my mom alone!"

"It's her fault for taking out so much loans," Simon said offhandedly, though his eyes looked way too gleeful to be indifferent to any of this. "And she's such a pretty face to look at, even in her age, eh?" He snickered. "If only she wasn't--"

"What's going on!" the cook barked from behind them. I breathed out in relief. He was glaring at the two, his hands folded across his chest once more.

"Hey man, relax," Gair said, sidling up to the unrelenting man. He clapped a hand over his shoulder, which rearranged his sleeve a little to show a bit of his tattoos. "We're not hurting anyone."

"No outsiders on my premises," Cook snarled, and I nearly pumped my fist in the air. You go, Cook!

"That's not nice, Cook," Simon protested languidly, shoving his hands into his pockets and turning around. "We're not strangers any-- hey!"

I closed the door behind me and locked it in a rush, my last view of the two being the snarl on Simon's face and the semi-exasperated look Cook was giving me. I climbed the stairs as fast as my back allowed me and barged into our small room. 

"Mom!" I said breathlessly.

"Is something wrong?" she asked immediately, sitting up from the bed. She faced me, and I swallowed.

"Gair and Simon are here. I'm short."

"By?"

I recalculated in my head quickly. "13 Velawins."

"Queen Serah," she hissed under her breath. "Is it because you couldn't work?"

"Yes," I said. "How much do we have?"

"Last I counted, we have ten Velawins saved for emergencies." She bit her lips, feeling around her skirt for her pouch. "I might have three left in my personal savings."

"Perfect." I reached under our bed and grunted from the pain the movement caused my back, but I was too much in a hurry to really think about it. Attached to the bottom of our bed was a small compartment that would be nearly impossible to find if you didn't know where to look. I rolled out the bills from the small opening and counted ten.

"Here, Filian," Mom said, nudging three more bills at me. I took it from her and added it to the stack. "Now, go before they come up here and wreak havoc, will you?"

"Of course. I'll be back soon!" I kissed her on the cheek and scrambled downstairs, where I unlocked the door and came out. "Here, take your dirty dues," I said as soon as I came out. I wiped my chin with one hand and held out the bills with my other.

Simon stood up from the chair he'd apparently taken a seat on after I'd left. He snatched them out of my hand and counted them, smirking at the coins I dropped into his hand as well. "Looks like you've made it on time this month," he said. His smirk ever widened, though, and I recoiled from the sight.

"If you're satisfied, go," I retorted.

"Oh, but not before I break some news."

Gair started chuckling from where he sat, two tables away, and I narrowed my eyes, taking a step back.

"What news?" I said suspiciously.

The two men exchanged an amused glance before Gair answered me from afar. "Too bad your mother won't hear it straight from the authorities."

"That's us," snickered Simon. "We're the authorities."

"So what's the news?" I snapped, glaring at both of them. 

"Nothing special, really," he said airily. He turned to go out, and Gair stood up as well. "Just that the payments will be increasing to 40 Velawins from the next time we come."

My eyes widened. I gripped the chair in front of me. "Forty-- what? Why?!"

"Higher orders, you know how they can be," called back Gair. He sauntered over to the entrance, hands behind his head. "They need the money back, and they need it now."

"Big things happening in the country," agreed Simon. He whirled around just before he left the restaurant entirely. Lifting up a finger, he said, "But you can't tell anyone, of course. See you next time, Filly-nilly."

I sank down on a nearby chair and stared at the restaurant entrance for a while longer. The dark night outside seemed to reflect the turmoil that I felt. Eventually, after calculating and recalculating my expenses and earnings repeatedly, I moaned and clunked my head down on the table.

What was this, the Make Filian Suffer month?