Chapter 1.2

That afternoon, Morgana met up with her bestfriend at the mall's food court. Jayna had alreay ordered herself a sandwich and she waved energetically as Morgana approached.

Morgana ordered something for herself, then joined her friend at the table. Jayna was chattering on about a massive fight that had happened at the party, while Morgana tried to think of a way to ask about her new tattoo without alarming her.

"Jayna, did I do anything weird last night?" she asked casually.

Her friend stopped chattering and shook her head. "Not really. Why?"

Morgana rubbed her shoulder awkwardly. "Well, I have this tattoo and I can't remember getting it."

Jayna's eyes glazed over for a second, then she smiled brightly. "Oh, that? I thought it was pretty."

Morgana couldn't shake the uncomfortable feeling in her gut, but it seemed like she really had gotten a drunk tattoo. Her mother was going to be mad.

After eating, she and Jayna went shopping. Morgana and her mom weren't rich, but neither were they poor. With the money her father sent her every month, she had more than enough to spend as she pleased.

She finished shopping, then headed out. She was on the escalator going down when a man ran up the ascending stairs to her right and grabbed her purse. She shrieked in surprise, and her purchases went flying.

The purse snatcher dashed up the stairs and disappeared as Morgana tried to collect herself. She reported the incident to security, but given the time he'd had to get away, the thief was unlikely to to be apprehended. She left the Mall and went to the bus stop. The last bus had barely left, so she sat down to wait.

A footstep scraped off to the side and she looked up. A tall man in non-descript casual clothes was holding out her wallet. She immediately sensed something 'off' about him. He was generic, in every way. It somehow reminded her of an NPC in a video game. She reached out hesitantly to take it from him and checked the contents. Everything was still there and she blew out a relieved sigh.

"Don't you trust me?" he asked, and she instantly felt wary of him.

"No." she replied honestly, then added, "But you're not the one I was worried about."

He smiled and sat down beside her. "You don't mind if I wait with you, right?"

She considered refusing, but he had already sat down, and she didn't want to be rude.

An awkward silence fell between them. After a few minutes, Morgana's phone rang, startling her. She answered her mother's call and for several minutes, she tried to calm her down. Apparently, someone who had seen the incident had called her mom and told her about it. After she finally calmed down, she mentioned that a package had come for Morgana.

After another long, awkward wait, the bus arrived, and Morgana hurried over to it. The man got up and started walking away. "Hey." she called out, "Aren't you getting on?"

He shook his head and held up a pair of car keys. "I was just escorting the lady."

She blinked, then smiled. "And they say chivalry is dead."

He grinned, and she could see that it was genuine. The first show of real emotion that she had seen from him. It was actually a little eerie. "I'll see you around, Mall Lady." He called as he turned away.

"I wouldn't count on it, Random NPC." she said under her breath as she got on the bus.

He walked away from the bus, grinning at her quiet words. She was going to be quite surprised. He waited until the bus pulled onto the busy street before he released the glamor. Being unremarkable was more draining than he'd expected. People passed by him, unaware of his presence as always.

To his knowledge, Morgana was the only human who could see him as he was now. He intended to chage that, but for now, he could only wait patiently. He had waited so long already, what was a few more months or years? If there was anything that he had learned during his banishment, it was patience.

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