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It was hot. TOO HOT. 
Greg felt hard to believe that he still managed to hold himself together. Working on the docks was never easy, but this time was just too much, dealing with this much cargo, on a climate like this was hell. Or perhaps just a few demons and sulfur pits away from it. 

At least it was lunch time, and everyone got a moment to rest. Settling on one of the conveniently placed benches, negative thoughts started to gather on Greg's head like storm clouds on a summer afternoon. It wasn't uncommon for him to question wether this kind of work was worth the benefits, but nothing like THIS specific time, as much as he needed the job, every day he felt less and less disposition to go do it, but still... And so this train of thought just kept going until a very feminine voice called his attention:

"Uhm, hello?"

Short, silverish-white fur covered her body, with soft locks of hair flowing down ending just shy of her shoulders. Her large, almond shaped eyes, were accentuated by the way her eyelashes were set. She wore a worn-and-tested (yet still good enough to wear in public) pink t-shirt and black pants that tastefully hugged her figure, giving a good view of her from the waist down. 'Distracting' wasn't enough to describe them.

She stood there, with an awkward attempt at a smile plastered on her face. A certain feeling of awe hit him, ever since he had arrived and set himself in Verisport, Greg's routine had slowly eroded his humour, with the metaphorical scars starting to show. But somehow, seeing her sparked something good back on his mind, she was.. Radiant (despite her current demaenor).. It made him almost forget the whole ordeal earlier, nd Greg couldn't help but let himself be distracted by this. Until the figure timidly asked:

"Could you help me?"

"Wha uh-Oh, of course! What do you need?" as he was forcibly snapped back into reality.

"I have to bring back some boxes back to my shop, and i can't just leave them unattended here.." she spoke in a tired voice "I-if you don't mind me, that is! i don't want to be a nuistance."

Still feeling the strain from the first half of his shift "I'm on my break, but its fine! i can help." as he, as swiftly one could do in his state lifted himself from his seat 
"Just show me what needs to be moved and i'll get onto it."

"You sure? I don't want to interrupt your free time." She inquired, resting her hands on her hips.

"Don't worry about that, it started just a minute ago" greg reassured, as he picked his lunch box from the bench "I have more than enough time."

The mysterious figure nodded silently, and led him towards one the right end of the docks, a place destined for small delivery or personal boats, where three neatly organized large wooden boxes rested. "Well, there they are. Think you can help me bring all three?"

"No problem, we'll need a cart though, but nobody's going to miss a cart at a time like this." clapping the dust off his hands "But what do you want me to do about the third crate then?"

Throwing a confident smile "Get the other two in the cart" as she stretched her arms and back, readying herself for action "I'll handle the last one." 

"And one, and two, and.."

"Wait you can't be serious about this, i can take care of tha-" Greg tried to interrupt, but as soon as he spoke

*WHUP* Just like it was nothing, the box was lifted. "C'mon, i want to get all this back home as soon as possible, or you can't keep up?" she taunted, smiling triumphantly.

Greg couldn't do much beond rolling his eyes to that comment, but there was something very comforting about seeing her mood change from absolutely awkward to warm.

"Lead the way then."

And so the two began to make their way into the city.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ah, Verisport, between its markets and colorful buildings, this port town remained a sight for sore eyes even in a gloomy moment. The mixture of old, well-kept buildings, and the bits of more modern architecture popping near the port area made for a very varied view. But out of everything in that city, there was one place that stood out the most:

The market. Not only it held a variety of shops and restaurants, but it was also the stage for various important moments in the city's history. And thats exactly where the two were going to.

Reaching it wasn't that hard, all main streets led to the market square one way or another, luckily, the populace was so used to merchants carrying stock back from the docks that making your way through the old stone brick roads wasn't an issue, as crowded as they could get.

Even then, the combination of this much heat, and the weight of the boxes didn't help, in other circumstances, Greg would likely be considering to call it quits right now, but maybe the view of the white-furred girl's generous backside paired with the form-fitting black pants was enough to distract his mind from the sun's unrelenting assault.

"Finally we are here! My shop, and my home aswell." the girl announced. Before the two stood a reasonably sized building with a old wooden sign that said 'Antique items and repairs'. "Well, lets just set those boxes inside already, my arms are starting to hurt." Greg didn't have much time to react beyond a simple nod and a smile, hell, he wanted to put down all that delivery as much as she did.

Quickly she led him inside the shop, into its backroom. The inside of it was bizarre, in a good way. Shelves and stands lined with all kinds of old objects, from small bits of jewlery, to even some weapons! The 'tour' ended in a small room, with a beaten-up sturdy work desk lined up with various tools, some shelves with other utilites, and a cooler, neatly placed on the corner of the room. Without a word, both set the cargo load in the corner, and sat down beside eachother to finally enjoy a breather and the cool breeze from the empty room. 

"So uh, what exactly do you do here? With the antiques, i mean." Greg said, trying to stir up some chit-chat under this mood. 
"I buy and sell antiques, and do some machine repairs too." she said, before stopping for a quick moment to thing "Gah, if it weren't for that damn delivery i wouldn't need to do all this in such a damn rush and-" stopping herself before she trailed off too much

"i guess its just how my work goes, as usual." she let out a deep sight "I can't thank you enough for this help." she said, looking over to Greg "is there anything i can do to repay you, uh..." the conversation soon turned into silence.

"We forgot to introduce ourselves, didn't we?" Greg bluntly chimed in. 

And just like that, the two couldn't help but burst out into laughter over this dumb little incident. "Ah, sorry, sorry. I'm Lillian" she said, reaching over for a handshake. "And you?"

"I'm Greg, very pleased to meet you!" he replied "And uh, if you want to do something for me, i well, could use something to drink. Wasn't going to ask for anything, but my throat feels like jerky after walking all the way up here."

picking herself up "On it!" as she happily moved to the cooler "Since we both have a ton of work, this lil' pick-me-up should give us a hand" arching over towards greg, handing him a bright-colored can "Its one of those fancy energy drinks. Not sure if they work as good, but its the best option, unless you want to get all sweaty drinking coffee in summer"

"Hah, tell me about it." Greg chortled "It's been a pain to get up in the morning without coffee, even then its way too hot for-"

The universe seemed to have a really bad habit of interrupting him mid-speech, this time being the roar of the clock tower, announcing the time. "Ah fuck, my break is over." Greg exclaimed.

Quickly the two went outside the shop "Shame you couldn't stay for longer." Lillian said, once more resting her hands on her hips. "Yeah.." Greg balanced himself between his drink, his lunch and the cart. "Maybe we could hang out together some other time?"

Lillian's half-sad expression suddenly changed into a full smile "I'd love to!" ..and just quickly as that, back into a more worried expression "but i'll be just as swamped with work as you are.." quickly Greg chimed in: "We'll just meet after work then." turning his attention to the tall clock tower, "As much as i'd love to sit and chat with you all day, i really need to get back to work..."

"Ah, thats fine." Lillian said, pulling something out of her pocket "Look, i know you are in a rush, but before you go, take this" she handed over a small piece of paper. "I know it won't be hard for you to find me again, but just to make sure!" Greg looked back at Lillian, surprised at the contents of the paper "Sweet! But isn't it a bit weird that you are giving me your phone AND address right now? we just met!" greg, very awkwardly, questioned. "Pfft, better than losing this chance all thanks to a damn work shift." she snarked back, smiling smugly. Soon, both said their goodbyes and went on their own ways.

Having to eat his lunch on a rush, and on top of that, on the go would be a pain in the ass, he thought to himself, but it didn't matter. After this, there was absolutely NOTHING that could ruin this day for him.

Ah, Lillian, Lillian~

-the end-