Code Zulu Alpha: Nerd in the Apocalypse!

Joking aside, as I finally got Nancy to a comfortable position for her portrait, I discovered that her notebook of sorts was like a diary, botany book, dream journal, etc. mushed together. To my surprise, she could also draw pretty well—because she had full pages of herbs and the like in her notebook with notes on several things it could do, but she almost jumped me when she thought I was reading her innermost thoughts put on paper.

"H-Hey! That's— P-Please don't flip them around!"

"Ah— My bad, my bad… I accidentally glanced at some passages but you can also draw, huh?"

"N-Not as good as you are!"

"Art is subjective, alright? Anyway, would you mind me taking photos of your drawings and the notes at the bottom to add to my collection— before you ask, they're not hand drawn by me but you have interesting findings here that aren't on the botany books I have at home."

"R-Really? I-I'm not sure if they're actual facts t-though…"

"It doesn't matter to me even if it's anecdotal. What you found about these plants could be unique only to you or a select group of people so it's better to have notes on them just in case they needed a different form of treatment. Your findings here could maybe help someone in need in the future, you never know…"

"Oh~ I-I see… Oh! I-I hate to ask this but d-do I have to stay completely still the whole time?"

"Hmm?"

"I mean— I know I'm just sitting on this sofa but—"

"Are you happy with that position though?"

"I-I guess—"

I chuckled, "Don't guess, heh. Be really sure about what you want."

"Umm~ Okay! I'm happy with this one! W-Wait! I don't think I can hold my smile for this long!"

"Don't worry! I gotchu! Unlike other artists—though I don't consider myself one—I'll give you the honor of watching me draw you like you did earlier."

"I-I don't follow—"

I then realized she didn't know I have a photographic memory, "Ah— I basically 'screenshotted' you and will now draw you from memory. Neat little trick, amirite?"

"F-For real?! That's so cool~!"

In any case, I spent a good 30 minutes drawing Nancy in her notebook and she couldn't help but let out happy noises while she watched it come all together. I did bonk her head once because she grabbed on my drawing arm when she got too excited but little did I know that I'd be stuck drawing everyone past midnight.

Even Elsa wouldn't nudge an inch until I drew her even if Mauro already came back with Logan, looking like they struck gold.

"C'mon Elsa, can't you see I'm this excited?! He's already drawing it from memory, why'd you have to watch it get finished?!"

"Shaddap! Because I want to! We wouldn't be here if you didn't haul ass to a nasty old barn instead of doing me, right?! Have your well-deserved break, Mr. Cotton Candy! Go hang out with Mr. Sour Gummy Worms over there until we're done!"

"Cotton— HUH?! The fuck— I dunno if you care but we just bagged a 356! Can you believe it?!"

I cut in, "A 356-what? Porche?"

"YEAH!"

I nodded as I kept drawing Elsa's portrait, "Sick. That's actually sick—"

Elsa rolled her eyes, "Yadda, yadda~ C-Can you make my eyes a little bigger?"

Mauro cut in, "Dude. I'll give it to you for free if you draw her forehead a few centimeters higher—"

"GET OUT OF HERE, MAURO! AND YOU! DON'T GET ANY IDEAS!"

With that said, I eventually finished drawing everyone's self-portraits including Logan and Mauro's, and as they left, we closed the night off with an activity that involved cardio and a lot of hip thrusting. This time, Nancy took special care of me so Kaley and I decided to include her with our private time before everyone else woke up.

In any case, we had two days left before departure so I let everyone do their own thing as I drove over to the Villegas' Family Estate led by Rosemarie "Rosie" Villegas—who was housing her darling Nephew whom I was looking for, Terry.

I did bring Kaley with me, but surprisingly enough, Nancy also asked to come with us for some reason, and to make our mixture of stows even more random, Logan, Kuzma, and Seb wanted to come with us, so they did.

"I actually wanted a tour guide but wouldn't Edith need your assistance, Nancy?"

"Hmm? Oh! I'm deathly allergic to bees a-actually so I can't follow her over there…"

"Ah~ Thanks for guiding us then— How about you three? What gives?"

Logan answered first, "I'm actually a great company, mind you. As much as I wanted to spend more time with Quinn and increase my chances with her, I wanted to know why she wanted to spend more time with you."

Kaley chuckled, "She's not here though? Didn't that contradict your statement?"

Logan rolled his eyes, "Exactly. She always takes what she wants but she lets you two go off on your own. She never does that. I guess I'm trying to learn from you both, it's weird, even for me."

I chuckled, "Suit yourself then, how about you Kuzma? I thought you'd spend more time with Tatiana? Have you talked to Artem, at least?"

He simply nodded, "I did, thanks to you. I'm here because he ordered me to keep you safe at all times. Especially now that Tatiana's having a day off."

"Oh. Thanks, I guess? How about you Seb?"

"Ah~ I dunno… I don't mind horsing around with the guys or even casually hanging around with Alexa but… Haa… I dunno? Just a change of pace, I guess? It's been pretty chill but it's still kinda weird… I heard you guys are going into another place that has rare flowers so if I can afford one, I might get one for Alexa— And before you say anything, I know… She's been smiling more these few days and can't a friend give another friend flowers?"

Nancy cut in with a huge smile on her face, "Normal ones? Sure! But the ones at Mrs. Rosie's place? That's a little too… you know, serious. Well~ There are normal ones too, of course, but you should've gone to our garden instead. You could've gotten them for free…"

"Ah… Do you have an idea of how much are her flowers sold for?"

"I do—"

Logan cut in, "What are you even gonna pay for them?"

"I-I just wanna get an estimate… or pay in a day's work or two or something… Might be worth it to check it out—"

I waved them off, "I think they'll give us one or two for free… If not, I gotcha… Don't worry about it…"

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"T-Thank you…"

With that said, it didn't take long before we reached the front gate of the Villegas Family but I didn't think that a couple of Mauro's men would open it up for us. They were just as surprised to see me with Logan though it seemed like there were more of them inside.

In any case, the sweet smell of flowers instantly came into our noses and it had a more distinct fragrance compared to the ones in front of Sal's mansion. Sure, it could be the way the flowers were arranged close to the entrance but it was definitely a nice touch.

However, just as much fun as we had in Sal's estate, Kaley and I could already sense how the events from last time affected the lesser families.

It shouldn't have come as a surprise but when Mrs. Rosie welcomed us, she couldn't hide the fear in her eyes, especially towards me.

But yeah, it didn't take long before I felt some hate and animosity from a few people whom I've never seen before. I didn't think we'd be met with hostility right as we entered their doors but it didn't take long before I discovered that the ones staring daggers at us were from the Roxas Family who didn't attend the party. And yeah, Terry—who came at the right moment straight up told me who they were as he shooed them away.

Though he was definitely more annoying sober than drunk.

"GO ON THEN! GIT! YOUR HEADS WOULD'VE ROLLED IF ANYONE ELSE CAME! COUNT YOURSELVES LUCKY! FUCKING DUMBASSES, SERIOUSLY!" then he quickly snapped back to me, "I-I'm really sorry, bro. They shouldn't have done that, seriously! I'm gonna tell the guards living with us to deal with them later—"

Logan then cut in as he cracked his knuckles, "No need to tell my bros. I'll handle it myself—"

I quickly flagged him down, "There's really no need for that. They lost their homes, what do you expect?"

"Seriously? They act that way and you let it go?! They should be put in their place before they think they can do shit like that again."

I shook my head, "Well~ That's true in a sense—"

"So what the hell are we standing here for?! It's better than shopping for flowers, right?!"

"Nah~ There's a more fun and proper way to go about it. But before that," I said as I turned to Mrs. Rosie who was patiently waiting for us, "Are they giving you problems?"

She shook her head, "N-Not always because of the guards you sent here but all t-they do is just s-stare like t-that… N-Nothing too serious…"

"I see…" then I turned to Terry, "Can you… please call them back? I mean, everyone involved? Don't worry, as easy as it is for me to lop their heads off, we should just all get along, right?"

"S-Sure but… W-What are you gonna do?"