Chapter 54

Luke laid on the floor and stared up at the ceiling while Zea sat on the bed. He’d gotten a meal on his way out of the Harbor, then stopped at a street vendor for a second one while following Zea to their new home. Rather than eat it on the spot, he’d taken it with him and, only once behind closed doors, triggered [Life Surge] while devouring it. He still wasn’t at a hundred percent, but he figured he’d be able to fight tomorrow.

“This is weird,” Zea said, gesturing back and forth between them.

“I guess. I’m not really thinking about it.”

“Well I am.”

“Have you tried not thinking about it?” Luke said dryly.

“Have you tried not being a dick about it?”

Luke sat up and turned to face her. “I’m sorry. Look, I don’t understand why this is such a big deal for you, but it obviously is. Is there anything I can do to make this easier for you?”

“No, it’s just… I mean, I’ve slept in rooms with other people before, but I didn’t have a choice, and it wasn’t just two people. This feels…” she trailed off, before finishing lamely, “improper.”

“Would you feel better if I told you that you’re not my type?”

Zea snorted. “No. Just forget about it, alright? I’m just stuck in my own head. Are you sure you don’t want the bed? You got beat to hell and back barely two hours ago.”

“Nah, I’m fine. Between high stamina, the healer, and my own skills, I’ll be ready to fight again.”

“Bullshit you will,” Zea said. She hopped off the bed and stomped over to look at him. With a frown, she poked his arm and said, “Huh. How about that? Bruises are all gone.”

“Yeah, why do you think I’m eating so much food?”

“I don’t know. Humans always eat a lot of food. I just figured you ate more than usual.”

“Four times more than usual?” Luke said with a laugh. “It’s not Thanksgiving.”

“I don’t know what… that word you said… means.”

Luke waved the implied question off. “Just a holiday from back home that revolves heavily around family gatherings and food. Ignore me.”

“Oh. That sounds nice. Dwifkin have something like that. It’s not limited to just family though. Once a year, there’s a communal feast day that any dwifkin can attend. We all bring something to add to the table and spend the evening catching up with old friends or making new ones.”

“So a giant potluck then,” Luke said.

“Kind of, except more than that. It’s hard to explain. For us, the world is big. Everything is too big, too hard to handle. It’s rare to find things sized for us, so we have this place, a kind of sanctuary, where everything is made for dwifkin, where the foods are just for us, our traditional dishes. It’s a place where we don’t have to make any concessions to humans.”

“I think I understand,” Luke said softly. “It’s hard being an outsider, being different from everyone around you. It sets you apart. You don’t get the inside jokes, or know what people are talking about. There’s stuff that everyone takes for granted, but you don’t have it. It’s lonely.”

Zea nodded. “That’s part of it. I miss going to those.”

“Why don’t you?” Luke asked, surprised.

She spread her arms, showing off her ratty, tattered old clothes. They weren’t the ones she’d been wearing when they’d first met, but they weren’t in much better condition. “I used to, when I was younger, before my family died and I ended up here. I don’t even know where they gather in this city, and I definitely couldn’t bring in a dish. I’ve been living on scraps for years.”

“Oh. That’s shit.”

“Yeah.”

“Well, let’s talk about something a bit more cheery,” Luke said. “You’ve got to be building up a nice little pile of silver from managing the fights. What are you going to spend it on?”

Zea snorted. “That’s more cheery? I need to pay you back for fronting the gold for this room. Then, warm clothes for when it starts to get cold. If you’re still around by then, I’ll see about saving up for something else.”

“You don’t think I’ll still be saving for a boat ticket by then?” Luke asked.

“Nah, I think you’ll be getting tortured in a church dungeon somewhere because you’re doing stupid shit like sleeping in inns on Religious Row and trying to stick your dick in a girl who has really obvious ties to the clergy.”

“Mmm… cheery indeed. I still think you’re overreacting about Myla. I’m telling you she works as a seamstress. I doubt she has a lot of pull with the guys at the church. Also I’m not trying to sleep with her.”

“You don’t have to be part of the church hierarchy to report someone to an inquisitor. Even if she’s not, all you need to do is slip up and say something stupid, again, like you did to me.”

“In my defense, I was extremely drunk,” Luke said.

“Well, don’t do that again. But also you do know that you look like you’re not from around here, yeah? Your skin is too light. You have a noticeable accent when you say certain words. I can see that sometimes you have no idea what’s going on when any twelve-year-old would be following the situation without a problem. It’s really obvious.”

“To you, maybe. I don’t think anyone else has realized that I’m… you know.”

“Maybe not, but my point is that you already slipped up and believe me, I considered turning you in. If you weren’t making me money, I would have.”

“Nah. You wouldn’t.”

Zea let out a huff and shoved him. “You know I’m not joking when I say if they catch you, they’ll kill me too, right?”

That was a sobering thought right there. “I won’t say anything. Just pretend you didn’t know if it comes down to it.”

“The inquisitors won’t care. I wouldn’t be surprised if they kill me, the landlord, Sideon, every person you’ve fought against in the pit, the on-site bookie, and half the audience.”

“Jesus.”

What that really told Luke, more than anything, was that he needed to leave town. Sooner was better than later. Tomorrow he would stop at Donaley’s and see how his new weapon was coming along. After that, he’d need to take a good, long look at his options. “A trip north by boat isn’t the only way to go, is it?” he asked. “Maybe it’s better if I walk. I could be out of the city by the end of the week.”

“You could… it’s dangerous though, and it’s a long trip.”

“Something to think about, I guess.” Luke rested his head against the wall and stared off at nothing. “Look, you’ve helped me a lot, way more than you needed to. Thanks for that. I’ll try to get out of your hair as soon as possible. If the church does find out about me, I don’t want them coming down on you too.”

Zea lifted herself back onto the bed, which was almost funny to watch. It was a normal height bed, but for her, it involved hopping up to sit her butt on the mattress. He could see how it would be frustrating to live in a world of giants, where everything was a stretch to reach or a struggle to use. She noticed him watching and tossed a glare his way.

With a smirk, Luke said, “Don’t worry, you made it look easy.”

“Shut up.”

“Will do.” He was getting tired anyway. “Thanks again. I think I’m going to go to sleep now.”

Zea ripped the blanket off the bed and threw it at him. “Here. At least have some padding and something to keep you warm.”

Luke smiled and wrapped the blanket around his shoulders. “Thanks, Zea.”

“You’re welcome. Now get some rest. I need you in top form so I can make more money off you.”

“You got it, boss.”

Zea reached over and extinguished the candle on the window sill, not that the lack of light hindered his vision in any way. He saw her crawl under the sheet and pull it tight around her before he closed his own eyes and laid down. As tired as he was, sleep was an elusive beast that night. Despite his claims of good health, his injuries did still ache. Added to that was the memory of that man with the rainbow ring on his armor trying to kill him, and of his mace crushing the man’s face. He still couldn’t get that image out of his brain.

One hour turned into two and still he couldn’t keep his eyes closed. Normally, that would have been fine. Anymore, he was down to three or four hours a night anyway, but right now, he needed the rest. It looked like it wasn’t going to happen, not with everything crowding in on his thoughts.

Luke sighed and opened his eyes. He walked over to the shutters and opened them up, then leaned on the sill and looked out. The world was so different to what he was used to, even now after weeks and weeks on Aros. Hell, he could see the stars. They probably weren’t the same stars as Earth’s, but he wouldn’t know. It was pretty hard to see them at all back home.

It was quiet though. There were no trucks rumbling down the streets, no foot traffic stumbling home drunk from the bars. Well, there might have been, but none directly in front of him. It was dark, and cool, and just different from everything he was used to. Part of him wondered if he was insane to think he’d ever get back home. A different part wondered if he even wanted to.

It wasn’t like he’d had a lot going on there. Manual labor job, no girlfriend, family all disappearing one by one. At least he’d solved that mystery. This whole XP madness thing was an unpleasant surprise, but hell, he had Sysadmin powers. Maybe he could fix it. He’d ask System later when he finally got a moment with no one else around.

He could probably get away with it in front of Zea. She already knew he was an off-worlder anyway, but it felt weird to talk to his imaginary friend while there was something else there. It wasn’t like there was much he could do about it either way right now, since the best case scenario would no doubt involve going to the God Machine and accessing the command console, like always.

A stray breeze gusted through the window around him and chilled the room. Off to the side, he saw Zea shiver and clutch the sheet tighter around her. Smiling slightly, he closed the shutters, unslung the blanket from his shoulders and draped it over the bed. As it settled on her, she cracked one eye open and looked up at him.

“Sorry,” he said. “Just having some trouble sleeping is all.”

Before he could walk away, her hand shot out and grabbed his shirt. “I’m cold now,” she grumbled.

“I won’t open the window back up. Sorry again.”

She didn’t let go. “No. I’m cold.”

“What?”

“Get in the bed, dummy.”

Luke froze for a second, then sat down on the edge of the bed. Zea scooted over towards the wall to make room for him and held the blanket up. Slowly, Luke stretched himself out along the length of the bed, which he had to admit was far more comfortable than the floor. He felt the blanket drape across him, and she scooted back closer.

“Holy crap,” he yelped quietly. It was like a block of ice was pressed up against him.

“Sorry. It’s a dwifkin thing.”

It didn’t take long before she warmed back up, but when he went to get back out of the bed, her hand tightened onto his shirt again. Luke relaxed and laid still, eyes closed. Finally, he fell asleep.