Styxx lowered the black veil from his face. “Better?”
“Not really. Weirds me out more.” He shook his head. “When you called last week and told me you’d been living in the desert for the last two years, I thought you meant Morocco or another city. But you really live out in the middle of Nowhere, Sahara.”
Styxx shrugged. “This place makes sense to me.”
“You might like it, but it’s bringing back bad childhood memories. Life before toilet paper was not worth living.”
“Again, a matter of perspective.”
Urian shivered in revulsion. Styxx was definitely having some kind of midlife crisis. “You look good, by the way. Healthy.”
“Thanks.” Styxx held the flap open so that Urian could go inside, where he had nothing but his bedroll and saddlebags of necessary supplies. “I feel better than I have in a very long time.”
The big brown dog came bounding in and curled up on Styxx’s bedroll to chew his rawhide bone. Urian arched a brow. “What’s his name?”
“Skylos.”
He scowled at Styxx for a name that just seemed cruel. “You named your dog … Dog? Seriously?”
Again, Styxx shrugged. “He doesn’t seem to mind.”
“Probably because he doesn’t speak Greek.”
Grinning, Styxx pulled out a bottle of wine and the only two cups he had and poured drinks for them.
Urian sat down beside the dog and took a sip. “So what do you call the horse and camel? Alogo and Kamila?”
Styxx rolled his eyes. “No, they had names when I bought them. Jabar and Wasima. The dog just started following after me one day.”
Urian sighed heavily. “I’d go insane here. How do you cope with the solitude?”
“That was what I had to make peace with. All my life, I hated being alone. After we freed Soteria, it dawned on me that I had to make a choice. Either be part of the modern world or not.”
“You chose poorly, my friend.”
“No, this I understand. It’s the existence I willingly chose on my own. No one incarcerated or dropped me here against my will. Not to mention, I really like not having solid walls that confine me.”
ThatUrian could understand. Part of what he’d hated about Kalosis had been the claustrophobia. While it had been expansive, he’d known there was a much larger world to be had and so he’d often felt confined there. Boxed in.
Especially with the daylight ban.
But this was too much daylight.
Styxx sat down next to him. “What about you? How have you been?”
Urian reached for the can of cashews. “Same old, same old. Someone’s always trying to take over the world or end it. Really not looking forward to dealing with 2012 and the crap that’s coming out to play with us.” He laughed as he skimmed Styxx from the top of his agal-wrapped black keffiyeh to his desert boots. “It’s really messing with my head how natural you look dressed like a Bedouin. The scimitar and dagger just add to the whole cosplay,Assassin’s Creedthing you got going.”
Styxx laughed. “I also have a handgun tucked at my back, and a rifle.” He inclined his head over to where it rested near his bedroll. “But the sword doesn’t run out of bullets when bandits attack.”
“Another thing I tend to forget. You’re human.”
“There are many who would argue that.”
Urian didn’t respond, especially given the shit he had to take from the rabble, given former Daimon status.
Instead, he opened the backpack he’d brought and handed a dark blue box to Styxx. “I got you something I thought you might like.”
Styxx set his cup aside to take it and open it. A slow smile curled his lips as he saw four new sketchbooks and a pencil set. “Thank you, very much.”
