The next morning, I stride into Room 5B like I own the place. The kids are already mid-chaos—someone’s screaming because someone else took the red marker, and a third is attempting to flush a juice box down the sink.
I clap my claws together once.
The sound cuts through the room like a blade.
Twelve heads snap toward me.
“Morning, warlords,” I say. “Today we talk economics.”
“What's ee-ko-nomics?” Ben asks, perched on a desk like a miniature emperor.
“It’s the reason why you can’t have everything you want,” I say, dropping a sack of plushies on the table. “Let’s play.”
They gather fast. I’ve got their attention. I hand out crackers, one by one, with theatrical flair.
“You get five each. Spend them wisely. The puppy vendors are Baxter, Loola, and Big Grizz.”
“Big Grizz smells funny,” one girl mutters.
“That’s because he’s been in storage since the Velari trade show.”
“What's a trade show?” Ben asks, wide-eyed.
“A place where grown-ups pretend to work while buying useless things,” I say.
The kids burst into laughter.
We play for over an hour. They barter, hoard, overspend. I stage a mini-recession. Two kids cry. I give out emergency loans. By the time snack time hits, they’re fighting over who gets to ‘invest’ in a plushie stock option.
Ben’s sitting closest to me, watching with that sharp, curious look I’ve come to expect from him.
“You’re funny,” he says quietly.
I raise an eyebrow. “Yeah?”
“You sound like my mom when she’s mad but also trying not to laugh.”
I grin, then catch myself.
“Thanks, kiddo?—”
I freeze.
Ben doesn’t notice. He’s already moved on, building a plushie pyramid out of crackers.
I clear my throat, stand, and turn toward the board.
Careful. Don’t get attached. Don’t slip.
That night, Garkin meets me in the backroom of a pizza parlor we used to use for laundering credits.
Now it just smells like pepperoni and regret.
“How’d it go?” he asks, sliding into the booth and tossing a box of leftovers on the table.
“I taught them market theory with stuffed animals.”
“You scare me,” he mutters. “You legitimately scare me.”
