Eva swallowed back a yawn as she moved swiftly through the crowded streets of Hargeon. It was yet another day in the port city and she had another appointment with Alisa. They were going on a quest again although this time, instead of sailing out into the open seas, they would get to stay indoors in a lab to test some sea water samples. They were going to help a marine biologist –she took a quick glance at the request- named Raina Burke. From the intel she gathered thanks to her manager that actually did come in handy once in a while, she learned that Raina was one of the most passionate people there is when it came to marine biology.

Pausing in front of a big clothing store, Eva leaned in towards the glass and struck a pose with her face tilted gracefully to a side. She wore a plain white sweat shirt tucked inside her dark blue skinny jeans along with a pair of black ankle boots. Her hair was swept to one side and kept in a single, loose braid with a white ribbon going around it. It was one of those days that she felt like dressing up a bit and despite not being a narcissist, she winked at her own reflection in appreciation before continuing down the street.

She didn’t need to walk long to bump into Raina either. The blue haired, tall woman was already carrying a bundle of water samples in her hand when Eva found her near a junction. “Raina!” she called out but the woman didn’t turn to her until Eva grabbed a hold of her shoulders. Raina was trying to pick up another bundle of water samples and failing miserably thanks to her weak hands already carrying a few. “Oh! Sorry, I guess you are one of the two people that will be helping me today,” she panted. “if it’s alright, can you carry the other bundle of water samples for me? My lab is only a couple of blocks down,” she moved back so that Eva could access the water samples. She picked it up with both of her hands and shrugged when Raina threw a surprised glance at her for being able to carry it with ease.

Raina didn’t utter a word after that as they walked to her lab. She was bus keeping an eye on the water samples so that they won’t drop or spill. Eva, on the other hand, was looking around here and there and through the thin glasses of shops just for fun. She stopped one step away from Raina when they reached a small, blue building with a dolphin shaped sign hanging over it. Eva couldn’t get the time to read it when Raina quickly nudged her towards the lab. “Quick now! We don’t have all day! When will the other one get here?” she all but asked in one single breath when she placed her bundle of water samples down and quickly took the other bundle away from Eva. “Soon”.

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Eva wasn’t sure –or rather, she was denying- why it happened when Alisa appeared. She suddenly found herself happy about her presence. Only Eva knew too well that she never looked forward to the appearance of another person in her entire life –maybe, except for her father’s, but that was a different story. For a second, she was shocked at herself but only moments later, her attention drifted over to Alisa’s attire for the day. It was different from what she saw Alisa in during the small time she knew her but she silently praised her choice for that morning.

She gave her a smile, a half fake, half genuine one. “Hey, Alisa. You got here in the perfect time. Raina-san here,” she nodded towards the blue haired woman that closed her eyes for a second in acceptance, “was just about to tell us what we are supposed to do”. Raina moved forward at this and grabbed one bundle of water samples before moving carefully towards a large apparatus set up on top of a long, clean, white table near to the center of the small laboratory. The lab contained other apparatuses and vials and test tubes of all shapes and sizes. Some had various colored liquids in them while some of them were left empty. A few of them, placed to a far corner, was dusty and once Eva strained her eyes a little, could see small cracks over the surface of the glass. Eva would never truly understand these things even if she wanted to; she groaned at the thought of what exactly she signed up for. While she got good grades to show off in front of her father at one point, she easily threw them away once she entered teenage to chase after her great passion of dancing.

Raina must have picked up on her disappointment soon enough because with a shake of her head, Raina quietly grabbed a refractometer from a neatly kept cupboard and handed it over to Eva. “One of you can check the salt while another can check the degree of pollution with me,” she quickly added, giving Eva the eyes to move over to some corner and start her job. And, she picked up on it quickly enough, too, since she swiftly grabbed a few of the sea water samples and walked past Alisa –not forgetting to wink at her as she did so- to a corner where she took up the least room in the lab. She didn’t think she would need much space to simply drop a few drops of sea water into the machine and check the amount of salt in it, anyway.

“You too,” Raina turned to Alisa this time. “Just follow my steps and don’t drop anything,” she spoke, her voice plain but strict. “The people in this town doesn’t understand why aquatic life must be protected. They don’t get how important the sea is!” she huffed while gathering the materials she would need. Eva noticed that Raina was starting to get a little ranty, something that her manager warned her against. But she was almost done with her part of the job so that was Alisa’s part to take care of. The only gesture Eva made to let Alisa know that she was already aware about this was simply sticking her tongue out at the sculptress with a playful smirk.

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