Having been so focused on keeping my balance, I hadn’t noticed the shift from daytime starlight to the illumination of the nighttime galaxy reflecting off the crystal white snow. The last worker disappeared in the distance from the lamp post he’d been working on. It gleamed beside the large silver bell set in a brick arch that matched the school. At least itdidgleam, until unexpectedly turning off and hurling us into the evening darkness.
“Did the light bulb blow already?”
“What?” Cassius turned his head to look at the post I was staring at. “No, it would just be a waste of energy to leave on overnight if nobody is around. Electricity is pricey these days since it’s in such limited supply. Do you want me to get a lantern for us?”
“Actually, I think I need to get back to work,” I grimaced, realizing I hadn’t once considered a means of checking the time.
“Trust me, it’s going to stay dead all night,” he assured, making his way back to the perimeter where his bag rested. “Another pub down the street opened today, everyone will be there.”
I awkwardly shuffled to follow in his direction, fingers spread and ready to catch myself if I lost balance again. “Still,it’s not fair to Mitus.” I all but groaned at the irony of my words. “I’m having a lot of fun, though, and would love to do this again sometime.”
Cassius dug through his bag ahead of me, not noticing, or not caring about, my struggle to join him.
“Based on what I know about Mitus, you’re owed a bit of leeway.”
The dark was disorienting as I moved in his direction. Unsurprisingly, my feet slipped out from under me, and I fell back onto the ice.Ow. Cassius didn’t flinch, continuing to sort through deep pockets and setting objects I could faintly see into the snow beside himself.
“Cassius, can you help me up?” I asked, a little surprised he hadn’t acknowledged my fall and hurried over. Maybe Graysen had spoiled me, if that was the treatment I expected. “Cassius?”
“I thought I heard voices down there!” I looked up, and saw a large figure was making its way down the steps towards us, holding something halfway between a lantern and a flashlight. “Is that you, Faeryn?”
Recognition sparked when he said my name. There stood Ragen, Mykie’s coworker and host of the weekly card games.
“Hi, Ragen!” I greeted, feeling a little proud to show off my accomplishment of “having multiple friends” in front of each of them. That was quite the achievement for somebody who was adapting to an entirely different society from their homeland, not that they knew that.
“Isn’t it a little late for ice skating?” he teased with a raised eyebrow, heavy feet stomping their way across crunching snow.
“I was actually just leaving.”
“I can walk you back to work,” Cassius offered, zipping up his bag.
“I pass the pub on the way to Mykie’s place. I’d be happy to join. Just finished up my shift!” Ragen announced.
“That sounds great.” I looked at Cassius. “Is it the same direction you’re heading?”
He smiled politely. “It isn’t. You two go ahead, I have some stuff I can finish up in the school while I’m down here. Gotta earn that dream office.” He winked.
“Sure.” I replaced my skates with my boots quickly, my feet relaxing into the familiar shoe. “This was fun! Let’s do it again sometime,” I offered before we parted ways. Cassius walked towards the school, and Ragen and I were on our way.
“Who was that?” Ragen asked as we ascended the lengthy staircase.
“His name is Cassius. He’s a friend I made at work.” I was practically beaming with pride. What a fulfilling thing to be able to say. It sounded so incrediblynormal. “You’re heading to Mykie’s house?”
“Yeah, I thought I’d stop by and say hi.” His words puffed out a thick fog of breath.
“Are you working on the school? I thought you did security?”
“Security for the school.” He shoved all four hands into deep pockets. “A lot of expensive materials go into creating something like that.”
Fair enough. “Does Mykie do security here too?”
“It’s not her main assignment,” he answered vaguely. “I suppose it’s not mine either. But I’m glad to run into you. Small world.”
I allowed myself the curiosity of staring up at Ragen for a moment, he had a roughness to him that reminded me of Theo. His body was smattered with long-healed injuries, his facial hair clearly hiding some significant scarring on his face. Come to think about it,everybodyin Mykie’s group was pretty beat up. I excused it as being a norm on Trebianna, primal interactions and all. Even working as a bartender, Graysen had lost a chunk of his ear to a local. Security here had to be pretty dangerous.
“What are you thinking about?” Ragen interrupted my musings. I nearly jumped, and hoped I hadn’t been staring.
“Nothing important. Do you and Mykie spend a lot of time together?” I deflected to anequallyprecarious topic. From physical scars to emotional ones.
