Extemporé

This is where things start getting good, and the plot really starts to blossom.


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Ch. 6 Allergies... right.

“Ugh… I don’t know when I’m going to have time to go get my prescription filled,” Quinn grumbled, his upper half sprawled over the kitchen table, chin resting in a bent arm. Henn’s ear twitched. It had been a few days since anything had happened. Though not completely at ease, he could rest a little easier. He still dreaded the evenings, though… afraid that something could change at any moment.
“Prescription?” he asked quietly, tilting his head. Henn didn’t know Quinn was taking meds for anything… Quinn nodded hesitantly, waving a hand dismissively a moment later.
“Allergies… they act up for me, this time of year.” Henn nodded immediately in understanding. Allergies were terrible. He used to have them, a while ago. When he was living outside. “I’ve been out of meds for almost four days now,” he sighed. Henn frowned slightly. That was coincidental… it’d been four days since his last attack, too. Oh well. He shrugged the thought off, yawning widely. The storm had kept him up last night. Damn wind. He heard Quinn stand and shuffle around a bit, coming up behind him and letting his hands rest on his shoulders. Henn tipped his head back to look up at him. Quinn gave a tired sort-of smile.
“You’re looking better,” he commented off-handedly. Henn was shamed to admit that he’d not been taking care of himself lately… but yesterday he tried to clean himself up the best he could. He couldn’t let himself go because of something like this. He nodded a little.
“Thanks,” was Henn’s simple reply. He wasn’t feeling like much of a conversationalist today. Quinn smiled again and lifted a hand to gently scritch through his hair, looking thoughtful. He sighed eventually, giving a little nod.
“I think we’re going to go out, today,” he commented quietly. He looked back down at him again, brushing some hair out of Henn’s face. “And I say ‘we’, because I’m not leaving you here alone.” The better part of Henn knew that wouldn’t make the situation any better. But the other part knew that there was no way Quinn’d let him stay home. Henn nodded. He’d not enjoy going out into public, but Quinn needed his meds, and Henn had convinced himself that a little fresh air would make him feel better. If only a little. He nodded again and moved to stand, stretching his arms out in front of him before he did so, yawning again. He stood, stretching over his head as he did so, tail curling around his ankles. Quinn gave his shoulder a quick squeeze.
“Ready to go, then?” he asked, hands in his pockets, he moving to lean against the fridge casually. Henn took a quick look around.
“Let me… find my bag, first…” he murmured, slinking out into the living room and discovering the object hidden inconspicuously behind the chair. He stared at that chair for a moment and shuddered, backing away quickly and rushing into the kitchen. He slung his bag over his shoulder and calmed himself, looking back and Quinn with a nod.
“Ready now…” he alerted.

The air was crisp, Henn noticed, still full of the fury from the previous nights’ storm. He sniffed the air gingerly; another one was coming along. Quinn smiled at him and pulled him close, squinting down the street a bit.
“You’d think with all these clouds it’d be darker,” he mumbled softly.
“Light’s reflecting… off the water in the storm clouds. Makes it brighter…” Henn informed. He wasn’t entirely positive that he was right, but it was a good guess, yeah? Quinn made a face.
“Never bothered paying attention in school. Logic tells me stuff covering the sun should make it seem darker.” Henn sighed. Science was a hard thing to accept. They kept their jaunty little pace, Henn’s tail swaying back and forth in time with their steps. The weather was so nice… he couldn’t help but be a little bit happier. They reached the chemist in no time, and Henn’s good mood faded a bit. The second he entered the building, something felt off. Seriously so. He drew closer to Quinn as they went towards the back where the prescriptions were ordered, and tried to stay as out of site as he could. Henn did a double take. He could have sworn… he knew the person… behind the counter. Not from recently… but like he knew him from a long, long time ago. He just couldn’t place it. The man behind the counter looked to be in his forties or fifties; rather tall and dark-looking. He smiled grimly as they approached.
“Afternoon. How can I help you?” he asked strongly. Henn didn’t like the glint in his eyes. Quinn, however, seemed oblivious to the evil this man radiated and smiled, putting the bottle on the counter.
“Need another prescription of this. I have the doctor slip somewhere…” Quinn started rummaging in his pocket while the man eyed Henn. It sent a shiver down his spine. The man grinned darkly.
“Something wrong?” he asked, his tone masked with feigned kindness. Henn shook his head hesitantly.
“He’s just shy, don’t mind him. Ahh, here it is.” The man took the slightly crumpled slip from Quinn and studied it for a moment before smiling again.
“Of course. It’ll be ready in about an hour.” With that, he disappeared through a door at the end of the hallway beyond the desk. Henn was glad to see him go. When they got outside again, Quinn patted his arm.
“What’s up?” he asked quietly. “You seemed pretty spooked in there.” Henn shook his head.
“Nothing…” he murmured thoughtfully. It was nothing… he was getting worked up over nothing. But he still couldn’t shake… he could have sworn he knew that man. He shifted the bag on his shoulder and sighed softly, looking at all the shop signs.
“Ohh,” Quinn muttered, pointing a bit down the road. Henn followed his point and, at first, wasn’t quite sure what he was looking at. Until he caught site of a large hanging sign about halfway down the street. It depicted a huge hanging teakettle that read ‘antiques’ across it in old, faded letters. The sign itself looked ancient. Henn stared at it for a moment. Old things were fun to look at… he nodded a bit.
“Well… we’ve got an hour… don’t we?” he suggested, shrugging a little. Before Quinn could reply, Henn took the pointing hand into his paw and proceeded to lead him to the little shop.