Before he knew it, the whole afternoon had passed, and the doctor was sending him away with several containers of salveandtonic.
“But—” heprotested.
“Just in case,” the doctor repeated.
Perian couldn’t object to that. He didn’tthinkhe would need it, but he hadn’t expected to need the burn salve, either. He and Nisal headed back to Brannal’s rooms together.
They met Arvus in the corridor, and he told them Molun was just finishing up his shift with the Princess, and did they all want to have dinner?
This somehow turned into all of them heading out to the pub, first for dinner, then for drinking, and finally for dancing. For some reason, Perian hadn’t thought Nisal would like dancing, but it turned out he was completely wrong. Nisal loved dancing, and Perian had a lot of fun dancing with them because they could both be just a little bit handsy without worrying the other person was going to get the wrong impression.
Molun and Arvus were practically making out on the dance floor, apparently happy with all the hands, because sometimes they would sandwich someone between them and dance like that, clearly all enjoying themselves.
Perian was pleasantly exhausted by the time they finally stumbled back to the table, finished the last of their pints, and decided it was time to head home. It soon became obvious that Molun and Arvus had found someone they would like to keep playing with, but Arvus checked with Perian—which he took to mean Brannal had probably mentioned his whole “be intimate while I’m away” plan to his friends.
Perian assured Arvus that he would be absolutely fine and they should enjoy themselves.
Nisal slung an arm around Perian’s shoulder.
Enunciating each word with great care, they pronounced, “I will make sure he gets home.”
Perian was pretty sure he could manage that part, but he didn’t mind the company—and it meant he could make sure Nisal got home, too. They were fierce and could blast anyone with the air they controlled, but they didn’tlookparticularly fierce. There was safety in numbers.
Perian still hadn’t learned how to use a knife, after all. Although he was better equipped now to knee, punch, kick, or block someone, he was far from an expert. He was also aware that training and real-life scenarios weren’t the same.
There was a lot that he didn’t really remember about the night he’d been attacked, just scattered images, the feeling of lying on the cobblestones, pain… and then Brannal, there to rescue him like his very own hero. He sighed.
Nisal nudged him with their elbow.
“What was that for? You being sad again?”
Perian snorted. “I was totally being sad again, yeah. Everything makes me think of Brannal. Is that normal?”
They made a scoffing sound. “’Course it’s not normal. Imagine if everyone thought of Brannal all the time.”
This made Perian laugh. He was pretty sure Nisal had had a little too much to drink. They were relatively small, after all, a good five inches shorter than him, and Perian had lost track of how much alcohol they’d all consumed. Perian didn’t drink very often. He’d found that it gave him a bit of a buzz, but it didn’t seem to do as much good (or bad) as others reported. He could mostly take it or leave it.
“I didn’t mean like that,” Perian told Nisal as seriously as he could. “I mean, is it normal forme? Is thinking about the person you’re missing normal in this sort of situation?”
“Oooh,” they said, drawing the word out with exaggerated comprehension. “I think that’s pretty normal, yeah. Missing people is awful.”
Perian huffed a laugh. “Yes, it is. I don’t mean to be depressing, though.”
They shook their head, which was a mistake, since it sent them tottering to the side at risk of losing their balance, and Perian had to grab them. He looped their arms together and decided this was a much safer way to travel.
“You’re not depressing,” Nisal said firmly. “You’re sad, and you’re allowed to be sad. What kind of a friend would I be if I didn’t support you just because you were sad? In fact, you should getextrasupport when you’re sad, shouldn’t you?”
And Perian, who’d never really had friends before, not like this, since he’d grown up on the estate with basically just his father, could only sniff a little and smile at them.
“That sounds really good, thank you.”
They managed a nod that only made them wobble a little, and the two of them continued back to the castle. Nisal brought him all the way back to Brannal’s room—or maybe at this point, Perian was really the one leading them.
“Uh, where’s your room?” he asked.
Heknew Nisal had said they were going to make sure he got home, but Perian didn’t feel super comfortable letting them leave on their own at this point.
Nisal looked around the room, blinking at it.
