Nariel, as far as I can tell, does not need to use bathrooms. This troubles me, existentially, but I’m unsure that I want an explanation about magical excrement so thus far have managed to contain myself from asking my questions.
“Let alone followed me on social media,” I say blithely instead. “I’m pretty sure that means we aren’t real friends.”
Nariel snorts and holds out his hand for my phone. Unsure of what he intends, I eye him suspiciously, but I do pass it over.
Then I crowd in to watch over his shoulder as he scrolls through the photos I’ve taken—woops, tactical error, now he knows how many I have of just him—and then returns to the one of me laughing while his eyebrow is raised and texts it somewhere.
He passes my phone back, pulls a phone out of his pocket, and in short order has set that picture as his phone background.
I thought I was blushing with embarrassment a second ago, but at this my heart approximately stops.
“There,” Nariel says, his voice cool as ever. “Now you have my number. It won’t work between dimensions, but if we are ever separated in this world you will be able to reach me without magic.”
I’d been teasing him, but this feels unreasonably intimate. What the hell is he playing at?
“I promise to send you only the best memes,” I tell him solemnly.
Nariel smirks. “I will not promise the same.”
I snicker but take the out to withdraw slightly, since I don’t know what I’m doing and that seems careless.
I lead us toward the stalls and get in line for yakisoba. After a minute, Nariel murmurs that he’ll be back in a moment and dissolves into the crowd.
It’s the first time, aside from showering, I’ve been apart from him for longer than a couple minutes.
I don’t like it.
I’m in fact amazed at howmuchI don’t like it.
I can’t normally stand people for this long at a time—even taking trips with my sister, I either arrange breaks or need a recovery period afterwards where I don’t have to talk to humans for a few weeks. How did I go from a happily solitary person to craving the presence of one particular person so fast?
Maybe it’s for the best this will be over soon. He doesn’t need clinging in his life, and a swift break for him to go back and focus on leading his people to freedom will prevent me from having the opportunity to get on his nerves.
I walk a little ways until I find an empty bench by the river to sit on while I inhale my food. Nariel will be able to sense my magic to find me, and if for some reason he can’t, now he can text me.
Just when I’m starting to wonder if despite the evidence Nariel has been acting all along and really did just need a break from me, he reappears next to me, coalescing out of shadow.
He must be cloaking too, because no one so much as bats an eye at us.
“Very smooth,” I tell him.
“Just wait,” Nariel says, amused. “Turn your back to me.”
I raise my eyebrows but comply.
Then his hands are in my hair, and I feel him twisting it up and then the gentle tug of a clip. His fingers trail down my neck, and warmth rushes through me.
I turn over my shoulder to look not at him, but in the river, to see my reflection, lifting my hand to feel the textured clip he found for me.
And I look at us, our reflection in the water with the lanterns all around us, and I lean back against him and close my eyes. Nariel’s arms wrap around me, and I feel warmer, more content,than I can ever remember. We stay there for a whole minute, maybe two. I’m not counting.
I’m trying not to cry.
Finally, I get myself under control enough to pull away. Nariel’s expression is calm, like he’s totally unaffected.
I think I know him well enough now to guess that he is hiding what he’s really feeling because he’s not sure how I will react. If close friendships are a dream for me, I can only imagine how impossible they must have been for him.
Unfortunately, I’m not sure how I will react either, but as much as I’ve resolved to make the most of my time, given what I’ve planned, pushing our relationship deeper doesn’t seem fair. To him, mainly, but also to me.
