Chapter 81 - Panda, You Are Precious

The first thing I did the next morning was to write to my coven chat group with a question about when we could meet again. All of us, or just some of us. As I expected, most people were too busy at this time of the day to answer. So, I went on with my usual routine, which meant helping Panda to open the store.

The pale face of Panda was a merciless reminder that despite 'personal life' being called 'personal', it usually wasn't. She studied me with her blue eyes, perceptive despite the deep bags under them that hinted at a lack of sleep. Considering that she only worked one job now—at my store—and was on summer break, I had a feeling that her eye bags must've actually come from a medical condition.

"You acted all weird yesterday, and you act all weird today, Diana," she noted and pursed her lips, but offered no further comment. Instead, she returned to counting the change in the cashbox. It was as if without Rita's presence to give Panda more boldness, she retreated into her apathetic shell.

I knew how it was. When I studied in college, I fell into that trap myself. Scarred by Andrey, I shied away from everyone's attempts at socialisation until they stopped offering—and then it felt like it was too late for reaching back. This was how I ended with only Rita as my close friend. Rita, and now, hopefully, Panda.

Which is why I swallowed my embarrassment and took a deep breath to calm myself. "It's JJ. We are dating now."

Panda's hands paused, and I suddenly found an ornate Gzhel teapot very interesting. Good thing JJ wasn't in the building right now. I hadn't seen him since I went to bed yesterday.

"Oh. Hm. Hm. Diana, are you dying?"

I turned towards her so sharply I think something cracked in my neck. "Of course not! Where did this even come from?"

Panda shrugged, smiling a little. "You asked that weird 'absolutely hypothetical question' yesterday," she said, making air quotes. "I guessed that there was more to it from Rita's face, but she didn't seem to be concerned, so…"

I let out a sigh. In retrospect, it was much worse to hide JJ's true nature from Panda, who saw him all the time, than from Rita. But Rita was my trusted confidante for years, while Panda, well, wasn't.

And truly, it wasn't even my secret to tell. It was bad enough that I shared it with one person, and that JJ didn't protest against it—or fixed it with his hypnosis prowess.

"As I had said, Panda, it was absolutely hypothetical." My tone gave no further room for discussion, but then my face softened and I let out a sigh. "But it gave me some inspiration, in a way."

"I see. I hope Jean-Jacques treats you well. He seems…" Panda paused. "Too easy to flirt for my taste."

I snorted. "For your taste, he is too man, first of all."

Panda shrugged and smiled again. "That, too."

"Well," a smile tugged on my lips as soon as I remembered JJ's devastatingly honest yet still hiding so much manner of speech. The way he made me fall in love with him more and more each day just by being himself. "No, he is cool. Anyway, have a good shift. Kirill is going to come later with some assignments from me, open the door to the basement for him, alright?"

"Sure," Panda nodded. "You have a good day too, Diana."

⠀⠀ ⠀ 

After preparing my shop for the day, my next mission was to look for Avarice. Thanks to JJ's explanation, I knew the approximate region—but it, of course, wasn't enough. Thankfully, I had another person who should know the answers I was looking for.

The problem was in finding him, too. But with some luck and some thirst for the gossip old women in the markets had…

My feet brought me to the flea market where I saw him last time, as well as where I saw Avarice last time. I took my time examining the wares, but besides that, I chatted with the people selling them. 

It was hard to describe the con-man from what I remembered of his features—not much—but just as I hoped, he was much more noticeable from his actions. Even after his lame attempt at conning me, the man was seen around the market and the neighbourhood, loitering and doing odd jobs here and there.

After a couple hours of chatting with the market people, I found out just the lead I needed—apparently, Avarice's nephew frequented one of the local bars. Now I just had to stake him out.

Evening came with messages from witches. To my glee, not only was Orion Coven happy to meet together again, as soon as the next Saturday (though today was only Monday, so it wasn't as soon as I'd like), Alexandra planned to invite a few people from other small covens. Someone the rest of my coven seemed to know.

[It would be good for you to know more members of our community, Diana.] She wrote. I was only happy to agree with her.

Until then, I had all week to search for Avarice. With the recent events and revelations, I had even more desire to talk to her face to face. Which is why the same evening, instead of doing something dating-like with JJ, as I wanted to, I walked into the bar in search of my target.

It was a small place, filled with tobacco smoke so thick it felt like there was little difference between breathing it with or without a cigarette. It robbed already dim overhead lights from their shine and made the place look even shadier. The drinks were relatively cheap, though.

Too bad this wasn't what—who—I came for. My eyes pierced the dark in search of a more familiar face. The bar's hall was small enough that I could see everyone not moving far from the entrance, but at first glance, the man I was searching for wasn't there.

I walked in deeper, walking past the tables towards the farthest one, where a man sat with his back to me. It was the only one whose face I didn't see yet, but I saw the tall beer glass at his side, half-empty. Or was it half-full?

'Half-full,' I decided when my eyes finally met his.