"Really?" I asked.
"You want to know everything," Aspen pointed out.
I turned and our eyes met. Blue. Damn, her eyes were so amazingly, perfectly, freezingly blue. It was a shade I didn't even have a name for, because the sky was never that color, but I loved it.
"I've missed you," I breathed.
Her eyes jumped away, landing on the table. "I didn't want to screw up, Rain."
"I know," I hurried to assure her. "And I know it was a lot. I get it - I really do. I just wanted to make sure you know you're missed."
Under the table, she reached over to clasp my hand. "I..." A smile flickered over her lips. "Yeah, I think I did need that."
"Fuck..." Wilder groaned. "They're being cute again."
"Flirt with your own," Keir told him.
"Wait, that isn't happening yet?" Hawke asked, wagging a finger between Keir and Wilder, yet ultimately ending on Keir. "C'mon, what kind of a fae are you, man? Just think of the power move it would be to seduce one of those Winter lovers."
I giggled.
Nope, I didn't mean to, but now that I had the inside scoop, things like this landed differently. Last semester, I would've been sure it was a sign there was nothing between Hawke and Wilder. Now, I knew there definitely was, but those two were so fae they couldn't imagine monogamy. Never mind the whole thing about Summer and Winter conquests. Therewasn't animosity or challenge in it. Rather, Hawke was making fun of everyone else and letting Keir in on the joke.
"Keir's been crashing in Hawke's room," Aspen told me, keeping her voice down. "Hawke's been in Torian's suite, using the extra room."
"And you're with your brother, right?" I squeezed her fingers reassuringly. "Not alone?"
"Yeah," she said. "It's helping. Rain, this is one of those things I can't really talk about."
"That you're staying there?" I asked, because she'd just talked about it.
"The why," she corrected. "I'm not avoiding you intentionally. It's just..." She made a face, proving she'd hit a block.
"It helps?" I asked instead.
"Yeah. A lot."
"Then just try to leave some directions for the plants, hm? I mean, am I supposed to refill the bathtub every so often, or let it all drain out?"
"I'll make a list," she assured me, but her entire body had softened. No, relaxed. "I'll even draw pictures of the leaves, so you'll know which is which, ok?"
"And add names?" I begged. "I mean, I know Glow, but he's a something. A kind of alcohol?"
Torian barked out a laugh. "Close enough. They're called Moon Shines because they shine like the moon, not because of the human crap."
"But moonshine is alcohol," I countered.
Jack chose that moment to take off, fluttering around our backs until he landed on the one empty chair beside Torian. "Jack!" he demanded.
"You have your own food. Stop begging," Torian told him.
The bird just turned, inspecting Torian closely. "Morrigan."
"Wrong person," Hawke joked.
"Yeah, he knows that," Aspen pointed out. "What do you want, Jack? Use your words?"
"Court-Rain!" Jack insisted. "Court-Rain-Court." Then he shook his head in a clear no. "Rain-Court-Court." That got a yes. "Rain-Court-Dad. Jack-Rain. Court-Hunt. Rain-Morrigan-Court. Rain-Rain-Rain-Court."
