"One silver, nine coppers," I grin after we count the total.
In the Promenade, next to the riverside by the Bridge of Progress, where stalls lined the walkways and people merrily gathered while waiting for the fireworks to start from the barges, Relia and I stood beside one of the metal buildings, concluding business. Between us sat the leftovers in a small wooden box. The hum of voices and distant music made the toxic air feel lighter than usual too.
"No thanks to your mom," Relia raised her brows with an unamused look. "What were you doing?"
"I was watching!" I exclaimed. "They prefer being sold to by a woman than a man. They give a little more. Especially when my mom's pretty!"
Relia snorted. "Thanks for the compliment. Do you plan on starting a sales business with this? Hire twenty know-nothings on commission only with the promise of fortunes?"
"No…?"
"Then don't start with your mom," Relia flatly responded, giving me a copper.
The sparklers and firecrackers cost eight coppers. A net profit of eleven coppers, of which I kept five.
When she pocketed the other six coppers, she eyed my discontent expression and smirked. "It's the mom tax for feeding you and giving you shelter."
"I'm not complaining."
"You sure look like you want to."
I shrugged. "I can't help it."
"Here they are, we've been looking everywhere for yah," a gruff voice startled both Relia and me.
We jumped and turned.
Standing there in a brown leather jacket with a white undershirt, brown hair and beard with wolf-like features, was a heavyset man in his late thirties, staring down at me observantly. And not just any man either because standing shyly beside him were two young girls.
Vi, wearing a nervous expression, and a smaller girl with blue hair dressed in purple and blue garments. She clung to Vi's forearm, hiding behind her while her blue eyes curiously peeked out at Relia and me. Vi subtly shifted her stance, placing herself half a step in front of Powder without thinking.
Except for Claggor and Mylo, it looks like the whole gang is here!
Perhaps I was a little too wide-eyed.
"It's impolite to stare," Vander chuckled from deep in his throat. Yet he was staring at me too, giving me a strange look as if trying to recognize me. His eyes lingered a second longer before softening. "Where's your dad, kid?"
"He's no longer around," Relia scowled, stepping in front of me and directly into Vander's personal space. Her arms crossed tightly as she glared at him and he looked taken aback.
"Sorry, do I know you?" Vander asked, his eyes wandering over her face for a moment.
From his waist, Vi's expression immediately shifted into a glare as Relia got a little too close for her liking. Powder shrank closer to Vi at the sudden tension.
"No," Relia snapped. "But I remember you. I remember my lover coming home every day believing that one day we would be free and independent. But you…" Her voice sharpened. "You gave it up. It was all for nothing."
"We all lost people that day," Vander replied, his warm curiosity fading into a frown as his brows furrowed. "Not just you."
He paused, glancing down at me, then at Vi and Powder, before looking back at Relia. "And it wasn't for nothing. We grew up in the same Undercity. Do you really think nothing's changed for the better?"
Relia's expression tightened. After a moment, she unfolded her arms, placed her hands on her hips, and sighed reluctantly before nodding.
"It has changed for the better," she admitted. She then glanced back at me before asking carefully, "Why are you here?"
Vander's expression loosened, his tone lifting again. "Well, we heard a pair of merchants were selling some sparklers and poppers. You two wouldn't happen to have any left, would you?"
"We have leftovers we weren't planning to sell," Relia answered slowly, her gaze drifting toward Vi. "You're welcome to join us if you'd like, as long as everything stays peaceful."
"Hey, I'm innocent," Vi shot back in protest.
Relia's tone then suddenly pitched upward. "And who's the little cutie?"
The shy little girl, no older then elven or twelve, peeked out more with a smile beginning to form. I could practically see her energy starting to match Relia's.
"I'm Powder! Do you have fireworks?"
"Powder!" Vi exclaimed.
"It's alright, Vi," Vander's heavy voice cut in.
Relia squealed softly, her fingers twirling the teal strands of her hair. The color had dulled with time, but I knew exactly what my mom was thinking.
Oh my gosh, she's got hair like mine! I mimicked sarcastically in my head, brow arching, and Relia beamed.
"Yes, we do!"
I sighed and picked up the small box filled with packets of firecrackers and sparklers sticking out of the top. Vander pulled out four coppers, but Relia gestured for him to put them away.
"No need. We were going to use them anyway."
But…!
Vander laughed when he caught my expression and joked, "Can't be purely business all the time, Mr…?"
"Varyn," I sighed glumly before setting the box down.
Immediately, Powder pattered over. Vi's hands shot out instinctively for a brief second, protective, before she caught herself and followed after her with a sigh of her own.
In the background, I heard Vander continue, "Well, Varyn, you've already met Vi. And that little one is Powder. She's got a sharp mind, that one."
All three of us hovered over the box. Powder was the most enthusiastic, giggling and making excited little sounds. Vi briefly glanced inside, then looked up at me silently before grabbing Powder's arm, her grip a little nervous.
Pop-pop-pop.
Powder giggled as she tossed several poppers onto the ground. Vander watched with quiet fondness as the ones that didn't explode right away she stomped on until they did. She laughed before running back.
"Can I have a sparkler?"
I nodded and struck a match, lighting one that crackled with blue and purple sparks before handing it to her.
Vi blinked in surprise as I handed her one that threw off red and blue sparks.
"Thanks," she muttered, her shoulders hunching slightly.
"No problem. How're your hands?"
She turned them inward so I couldn't see, but both fists were wrapped in fresh bandages.
"The same as usual."
"Vi, I can make shapes! Watch this!" Powder chirped happily, drawing patterns in the air with the lingering smoke and giggling again.
It was enough to make Vi's tough, tight expression soften into a small smile.
"Can you write your name out?" I asked, lighting my own sparkler crackling green and blue.
"You can do that?"
I nodded and quickly spelled my own name in the air. Unfortunately, the first letters faded before I ever reached the last.
"Almost!"
"Oh! Let me try!" Powder attempted it too, letting out a small, disappointed "Aw" when her letters vanished halfway through.
"I bet I can do it," Vi smirked, quickly tracing out VI.
"That's not fair," Powder pouted. "You're not spelling your full name!"
Vi froze for a second. Her eyes flicked to me before she hurriedly tried to scribble it out faster.
"Violet?" I asked, as if I didn't already know.
Her face flushed and she nodded. "That's the name my mom gave me. Vi's just shorter. Easier. People don't always know I'm a girl that way if I have to write it out…"
I nodded in understanding before slowly tracing Vi in the air beside her.
"Oof!"
She elbowed my side and muttered quietly, "Stop it…"
I gestured widely, giving her a baffled look and she turned her head away to hide her face. Powder, however, was giggling madly and pointing at Vi's face with her sparkler.
I shook my head when a few tense words caught my ear.
"Who's his dad?"
"None of your business."
I looked back to see Relia's strained smile. Vander was stiff, fists clenched. His intense stare shot over to me and I couldn't help but stiffen too before he sighed in defeat.
"Well, it's none of my business at the end of the day," Vander concluded tiredly before walking toward us. He held out his hand, a spark in his eyes. "Can I have one?"
"What?" Vi blurted.
"Sure," I answered, lighting one for him. It sparkled the same as Powder's.
"We have the same sparklers!" Powder squealed, jumping up and down.
"Aye, that we do!" Vander laughed, squiggling it in the air toward her and making her back up with more giggles.
I looked over at Vi, her gaping expression snapping away into excitement of her own.
"I can draw a face!"
As this happened, the first fireworks finally exploded over the river. Everyone paused what they were doing. Powder and Vi stared in awe, Vander and Relia smiled softly, and I leaned back against the wall.
It's days like today where I don't mind being in this new world. It's still weird, though, having that mental bounce remembering that I'm not entirely from here…
"Come here, Varyn," Relia gestured beside her, smiling.
Smiling back, my sparkler burned out and I dropped it onto the street. I stepped up next to her, and she wrapped an arm around my shoulders, while Vander rested his hands on Powder's and Vi's shoulders in front of him.
Green and purple fireworks burst across the sky, illuminating the city in a dazzle of color. The Bridge of Progress and the riversides were lined with Piltover and Undercity residents alike. And in the far distance, Piltover's Council Building flickered with celebratory lights behind its gilded windows.
Tonight is a good night.