"Please, please… God, Jesus, lucky stars, Santa or whatever higher being out there…help me out this once…" Jack prayed. "I swear I'll be good. I swear I'll never ask for anything for a while."

Jack's newfound faith blossomed when once upon an evening, when the sun was setting and the sky glowed beautifully crimson and he was aiming for a shot of the grandiose scenery, the universe decided to prank him and hail down the fiercest first rain of the year. It wasn't the kind that gives a warning drizzle at first and let all hell break loose later. It was a full blown fuck-you-and-your-expensive-camera kind of rain that even the thick canopy of trees couldn't protect him.

He straightaway made a dash for cover to the nearest inn/café/bar/sauna called the Wandering Oaken's Trading Post. With an order of the strongest glass of brandy and a borrowed towel, he prostrated himself on the bar table and dismantled everything. Unable to wish for a superpower to insta-dry his apparatus or screw the rainmaker, Jack could only hope he could save his precious work partner with a dry cloth and much luck. Very much luck.

"Don't leave me now, baby… We still have lots to do."

"Yoo-hoo! Rain destroy your toy?" the kindly innkeeper asked.

"She's not a toy, big burly innkeeper, she's my soulmate. And I'm trying to resurrect her from whatever technological afterlife she's going to."

"Don't they have those waterproof bag thing?"

"Apparently, I'm one of those fools who thinks the force of nature ain't got nothing on me. Shameful amateur mistake."

"Well, good luck with that. Another glass of brandy, ja?"

"Please, and a hair dryer. Quickly!"

For the entirety of the brief conversation, Jack didn't even spare Oaken a glance. His mother would smack him for it, but when a lifetime of career was at stake, he was sure his mother would understand. Oaken returned with the requested hair dryer and a power strip. Jack lunged at it and plugged it in. He began drying the body of his camera all the while muttering praying to whichever god would listen; his 'bribe' were becoming more outrageous as he went on—starting from fasting, converting to becoming a hermit photographer (as if he wasn't already one).

Everything he could have done, he had done and it was finally the moment of truth. With a slight trembling hands, he reassembled his 'darling' and prepared for the outcome. Closing his eyes, he flicked the power switch. After a second that felt like an eternity, the screen lighted up and showed his default 'manual' setting.

"Oh, yeah! Welcome home, baby!" Jack crowed in victory, leaping from the stool he was sitting on. "You got me frightened for a second there. Don't ever do that again!" He was lucky he was the only one in the inn or someone would call the mental asylum.

Jack's monologue was interrupted with the entrance door' bell ringing and a customer entering. It was a woman, medium height and slender with a long platinum blonde braid swinging under her left shoulder. She carried an umbrella with her, although it didn't provide adequate protection for her drenched trench coat and black jeans.

"Yoo-hoo! Welcome back, Elsa."

The woman turned toward Oaken and smiled. "Hello again, Oaken. The usual please." She then sat at the corner of the room, took off her coat and dived into a world of her own accompanied by a book she plucked out from her bag.

Her smile, her gait and her figure. Suddenly, Jack was regretful he used up all his luck to save his camera.

So... the plot of this story sprung into mind because of the never-ending rainy nights my hometown has been having. This will probably be a drabble with inconsistent update time (perhaps when writing TSK is becoming a chore and I just want to let loose). I'll try not to focus on one and abandon the other entirely. The two will progress in tandem (hopefully) and well... we'll see...