I hope you all had restful holidays!
Chapter 12
All at once I was ushered atop the small stage next to Esther who smiles encouragingly in contrast to the skeptical murmurs permeating the crowd. A few words are said, and scattered cheers grow as Claudius speaks to the crowd, but I can't take my eyes off of the confused look on Violet's face. Mr. Agust next to her is barely containing his anger.
Both Esther and I are then brought to the interior of a small restaurant near the fountain. Before Violet and Mr. Agust can push through the crowd to reach me, I'm inside being frisked through a metal detector by the town's sheriff's department, the device produces a whirling sound when brought around my headgear. They exchange confused looks with each other before shrugging & letting me through to the main dining hall. That was embarrassing.
Once again joining Esther, the large room is painted soft yellow with a number of hand drawn murals displaying the towns local cuisine as well as references to historical icons, such as the gigantic Indian statue, and a large shark attacking a backbrace. Around the top half of the high wall adjacent a large oven behind the counter, a dust covered fire alarm sits with gaps in the yellow paint around it, revealing a bright pink brick beneath the murals. The very top of each wall is lined with a holographic design of a cartoon diner and jukeboxes repeating as it lines the room. While the room is relatively devoid of chairs and tables, along the waist height portion of the wall are spots of dents and scuffs marking where metal chairs and tables have scraped against it, some painted over again with slightly different shades of yellow, other scuffs showing the older pink beneath it. I spot a majority of the seating folded and stored in the far corner.
I can hear Mr. Agust has made it into the building, and is scolding Claudius, berating him for involving me in this event. Before Violet can make it to me, swinging doors to the kitchen are held open as two tortoises begin rushing towards Esther and myself. It's occurred to me that the numerous pamphlets and posters advertising the "candidates" did absolutely nothing to indicate just how massive these things are. I'm having a hard time believing what I'm seeing as these mammoths hunch towards the both of us at alarming speeds. Glancing to my left, I can see Esther is just a shocked as I am. At least I'm not alone in this. The tortoise facing me hasn't taken his eyes off of me. He just keeps hustling over in my direction. Should I move? Is he going to crash into me? Glancing over to Esther once more, her head is cocked to the side in confusion. Her tortoise has veered off to its right and is now bashing its shell into the wall. I would come to understand this as normal behavior for a tortoise.
Right as My tortoise reaches in front of me, he stops and slouches his shell to the ground, still staring at me. Without warning, a small Asian woman jets from behind the kitchen doors, introducing herself as the one who hatched the both of them. She sees the tortoise stubbornly smashing itself into the wall, and strides over to me.
"You! Headgear girl! Sit! This is Javier! He is a very strong tortoise."
She leans down to kiss and praise the focused beast, its eyes still glued to me.
"Sit! On top of him now sit!"
"W-"
She takes my hips and practically lifts me onto the apex of Javier's massive ornate shell, once again I'm met with the all too familiar sensation of sitting into a diaper. A soft crinkle just barely audible causes my face to turn red. As soon as my butt hits his shell, Javier begins to continue his march in the same direction with myself on his back, right out the front door. I glance back once more to see the woman going to meet Esther's wall-obsessed tortoise exclaiming, "Igulaez! Iglualez this isn't the time for this!"
As Javier proudly carries me outside, onto the same stage via a small ramp laid out for him to the tune of cheers. I hardly know what to do in a situation like this. In all seriousness, what the hell does anyone do in this situation?
Once onto the stage Javier Plants himself onto a small "x" made of tape stuck to the stage. Before long, the cheers ramp back up as Esther is carried out of the restaurant atop Igualez's back, looking just as confused as I felt. Once we're both present atop the backs of our "candidates", The woman in suit once again takes the stage with a single apple. She then cuts two large slices from it and hands one to Esther and myself. We look at each other, and each hold it out as Javier and Igualez turn to face us and hastily munch the apple slices from our hands. Just like that, we've been accepted as their, "caretakers".
As the event draws on, numerous students push to the front of the stage to pet the duo as the woman continues relaying information for the voting event. All the while, Javier and Iglualez enjoy the attention of the crowd as they reach their necks down to receive pats. Listening in to the woman's speech, I overhear the final event being a kind of ball held in the candidates' honor. I have to go to a ball? In headgear?!
I manage to spot Violet and a less angry Mr. Agust, attempting to appear supportive. It occurs to me that the responsibility of being a human decoration for Javier limits my availability to deliver Mr. Agust's stock to the docks. Was that Claudius' plan to derail the growth spurt the flower shop has been having? Even if I was able to back out of the role, I'm not sure if I even want to... Admittedly, this is kind of fun! Javier seems like a well-behaved tortoise. I'll have to ask Dr. Richardson for her advice on the matter.
Speaking of her, as the event comes to a close, after I'm handed an itinerary for the next couple of days, I spot Dr. Richardson next to the fountain speaking with a nervous Claudius.
