Mara locked the door and leaned against it when the dinner rush was over and the last customers left.
Garrett came over and put a hand on her shoulder. "Phew~ What a loooooong day," he said.
"You need to take a break, Mara. I'll take care of it."
"You've been up since before dawn," Mara said, but her voice didn't sound sure. "I can deal with it."
Garrett said, "So have you."
"Come on now~! Rex and I will take care of it. That's why we need help now, right?"
Mara looked back and forth between them, clearly torn between her need to control everything and her strong desire to just stop for a moment.
"Go and take a break," Rex said in a soft voice. "We can do this."
She must have believed him because she nodded slowly and went up to their living quarters.
Garrett let out a long breath as soon as she left. "She always works too hard on herself."
Rex said as he started to pick up dirty bowls, "It looks like she doesn't have much of a choice."
"I know, I know."
"I try to help, but..." Garrett stopped talking and ran a hand through his hair. "She's always been hard-headed and wants to do everything on her own."
"It's easier than explaining how to do it right she says.
"That's a lonely way to live," Rex said, repeating what Garrett had said earlier.
Garrett gave him a sharp look, and for a second Rex thought he might have gone too far. But then the man's shoulders fell.
"Yeah," he said in a low voice. "It is."
After that, they cleaned up without talking. And when everything was done, Garrett went upstairs to see his wife.
Rex was then taken to a small room off the kitchen. It was warm, dry, and his, even if it was only a little bigger than a closet and had a worn cot.
He fell onto the cot and stared at the ceiling.
[FIRST DAY ASSESSMENT]
[DESIRE LEVEL INCREASE: +3]
[CURRENT TOTAL: 5/100]
[RELATIONSHIP WITH GARRETT KESSON: FRIENDLY]
[RELATIONSHIP WITH MARA KESSON: CAUTIOUSLY POSITIVE]
[ANALYSIS: SLOW BUT STEADY PROGRESS]
[ESTIMATED TIME TO MINIMUM THRESHOLD: 48-60 HOURS]
[YOU'RE CUTTING IT CLOSE, DUMBASS]
"Yeah, yeah," Rex said quietly. "I do better work when I'm under pressure."
[THAT'S LITERALLY WHY YOU DIED]
"Okay, that's fair."
He closed his eyes and let sleep take over. Tomorrow would be the second day.
He'd have to work harder, dig deeper, find those cracks, and really start working on them, but tonight, he deserved a break.
...
The next morning came after enjoying a long sleep with a dream of fucking a married woman. Rex woke up to the sound of Garrett getting ready for his daily fishing trip downstairs.
The sky outside was still dark, that deep black that comes before dawn and makes everything seem strange.
Rex got out of the cot and splashed water on his face from the basin in the corner. He looked in the small mirror and almost didn't recognize himself.
The younger face with features he doesn't know. It still felt like he was in a costume.
But now it was his face. This was his second chance, but it felt different now. He could be as bad as before, but now he could get paid.
He went downstairs just as Garrett was getting his fishing gear ready.
Garrett was surprised and said, "Oh, hey! Morning, Rex. You're up early."
Rex said, "I thought I could help."
"Unless you want to fish by yourself?"
Garrett's face lit up. "That would be great, actually."
"Having more people means we can check more places."
"Come on, then, it's fishing time~!"
...
They walked through the town, which was still quiet because the inhabitants were sleeping, to get to the river. The air was cold and sharp, and it smelled like morning dew and smoke from chimneys that were just starting to wake up.
"Why did you come to our small town?" As they walked, Garrett asked. "Most people are trying to leave this town, you know?"
"It's rare seeing someone come and just enjoy it like that."
"To be honest..." Rex said, "I didn't have anywhere else to go," and that was true.
"I thought a place that had already been attacked by bandits would be safe for a while."
"They probably won't return to a town that has been picked over."
"Now that's good thinking from you," Garrett said. "It seems dark but clever in some way."
After the small chit-chat, they got to the river, and Garrett showed Rex how to bait the hooks, cast the line, and look for fish. The man was a natural teacher because of how patient and supportive he was, even when Rex made mistakes.
"Do you happen to be married, Rex?" Garrett asked Rex if he was married after they had been fishing for a while.
Rex said, "Nope. I guess I never found the right woman." and that was clearly a lie.
"Fuck marriage! I want to fuck all MILFs and GILFs! Why even have one if you can have all of them?!" Rex said in his mind.
"Well, that's fair because you are still young, and there's a lot of time for you to get ready."
"Maybe."
"Do you ever wish you hadn't? I mean, like... getting married."
Garrett was quiet for a long time as he watched his line float in the water. "Sometimes I wish I had done it at a different time."
"We were so young at that time, only twenty years old."
"We had all these hopes and dreams about how our lives would be like adventure, travel, and seeing the world."
"But then you bought an inn and stayed there," Rex said.
"I'm surprised you guessed that. Yes, it is."
"I love Mara with all my heart, but don't get me wrong."
"I do think about what our lives would have been like if we had waited, like if we had done all those things we talked about."
"Did you ever tell her that?"
"Hell nah, man! What's the point about that?!"
"We chose what to do, and you can't do things over in life."
Rex almost laughed. If only Garrett knew that he was talking to someone in his second life.
"Plus," Garrett went on, "Mara is happy with the inn."
"You know it's her dream, right? Making something and being a part of a community."
"That means more to her than adventure ever did."
"What about what matters to you?" Rex asked in a low voice.
Garrett didn't answer right away. "Um... well..."
He spoke carefully when he finally did. "Making sure she's happy is what matters to me."
"That's enough."
And Rex knew It wasn't enough because he could tell that Garrett was trying to convince himself when he said it. This man had given up his own dreams for the sake of his wife's and was beginning to understand that sacrificing his aspirations did not lead to achieving what he desired.
It was another crack, but from a different perspective.
They fished until the sun came up and the water turned golden. They had caught a substantial amount, enough to feed the tavern for the day and then some.
As they packed up, Garrett said, "You're good company, Rex."
"You're sometimes quiet, but good because you listen. Some people always want to make noise in every quiet moment."
"I like to listen," Rex said. "That's how you learn more."
Garrett smiled and said, "Wise beyond your years."
If only he knew how old Rex's soul really was.