xoxo

Roxy returned to her flat after the usual morning run. A sharp tendril was aiming at her head.

She did a forward lunge, dodging and closing the door almost simultaneously.

Another tendril almost gave her a micro bang.

She dodged with a side cartwheel, treasure box opened. She snatched brass knuckles out of it.

Jumping high to avoid an invisible tendril and scanning the whole area, her disjointed pupils located the invisible.

In a split second, behind the giant plush Ryu got slammed to the ground, she pulled his arms behind his back, stepping on some tendrils.

"Welcome back, Ow!"

She sat down to translate another project, a book about frames in Russian. Not a thin seventy pages book but rather a three hundred one about the history of frames and their current making process.

'I have babushka to give me the most brutally honest review for this book!'

That almost made up for the fact that this translation deal earned her only four thousand moro. The translation lifestyle wasn't for the broke.

Ryu came up to her with a plate of ginger cookies and a guilty expression.

"Cookies!"

"I'm sorry."

"Come on comrade, don't suppress your hunting instincts. Also don't break the law."

"It's weird, I don't know what I did that."

"Your predator side is more active now, that's all there is to it. Just don't break the law."

'You know it's serious when she says it twice.' He headed to the academy.

Despite the pager numbers it wasn't all that work since pictures and figures took space.

For five days she sat on the table translating. That was the thing about work, about getting something done. It's all about sitting down and repeating the same steps over and over.

Except for sleep and fighting tendrils stretching breaks, she squeezed the power of her human brain and parasite brain to get it done.

"Your Russian...sucks much less than I thought, kid." Babushka told, reading the last few pages of the book while Roxy munched on tea and snacks.

"What! That good?"

"Well, the big pictures are covering your blind spots."

"Roast me poetically again and I'll shop from your pantry!" Roxy pouted. Babushka didn't react much, giving her a raised eyebrow before taking a pen and highlighting sentences in the draft.

With nothing to do Roxy went to the garden, picked and cleaned vegetables and finished preparing some pickles. Maneuvering her way in the house like she lived here before. Both did their own thing in cozy silence.

"How many books do you have left?"

"Twenty something."

"In Latin?"

"Not all of them."

She gave the annotated draft back to Roxy, one look and she knew she had another week of editing and correcting at least.

She noted the contact card in the book, that of a grammar teacher.

"Refine your skills kid. If you gonna do it anyway then give it your all. Also find an editor."

"Thank you babushka!"

She headed out with genuine advice and a container of food.

In a distant alleyway she put the container in her treasure box and took a plant out. The one that belonged to the translation institution.

At the institution door, she tucked her shirt and pulled her pants up in an almost exaggerated movement.

"Wow, you really revived it." The woman said, touching the plant carefully.

"What can I say? My thumb is really green. Ah, is that vase from the brassdoor collection?"

"My, you know about it?"

They just chatted about things here and there till she had to go back to work.

'Can't believe I neglected mingling with people here. Just because most of them are nobles doesn't mean I shouldn't try networking with them.'

She thought while heading out only to stop at the magazine rack filled with nonfiction, unfamiliar books were added.

She flipped through a book before Yuki and Fradio passed by her.

"Good afternoon." She greeted.

"Good afternoon." The two replied with a dignified nod.

'Yup, these two are hard to approach. Thinking about it, my silliness doesn't really work in this environment. Poor helpless me!'

"Do we have to host the event?" Fradio asked.

"We can't ice out the tradition, the publisher's event must happen," Yuki supplied.

"Tell that to the others. Enzo and Fen said they can't do the organization of the event."

"And I'm not doing it."

"And I organized it last year."

The tension rose despite the calm tone.

'All creatures work similarly, Be unthreatening, offer favors, and don't break unspoken rules. And you're basically in.'

"I can do it if y'all don't mind." Roxy said out of nowhere. Their heads turned to her.

'Hmm, note to Roxy: don't say y'all to the rich.'

"I was a field coordinator." She showed them the badge in her hexagono.

"You were…"

"A field coordinator?"

"Yup!"

"Then what are you doing here?" They asked in unison.

"Humph! What can I say? I always had a knack for job hopping!"

Yuki slightly frowned for a second when she saw the increasing number of books on the rack. A second Roxy didn't miss.

"They found more nonfiction in the storage room." Fradio answered the unasked question.

"I won't share with anyone." She joked, holding the book tightly. Mainly observing their reaction.

Fradio's face stayed deadpan, indifferent and unbothered. Yuki looked more annoyed with the nonfiction accumulation more than anything else.

'Yeah, silliness is a dull knife in this building.'

"That makes your job harder." Yuki commented.

"Not really." She pretended the nimble dig passed unnoticed.

She brought her here to poorly translate a book or two so they stop sending nonfiction to the institute, no wonder more books on the rack are pestering her.

Maybe she didn't pick someone bad enough.

"Take your time, then." The condescending tone slipped into her smile, light and faint.

'Ohh, you wanna do it the old hag way?'

"Third book is almost out, I'll take documents for the event now. xoxo" She waved the draft with an unreadable smile that sat on Yuki's nerves, Fradio was just standing there relived he won't handle the event two years in a row.

In her flat she was correcting her mistakes rigorously.

"Hey, can we go to the wild and fight later?" Ryu asked like a bored cat.

"Not now, my glorious comrade. I have an immature feud with someone third my age."