The door swung open to reveal Leo, already wide awake and dressed in fitted green cargo pants and a black henley. In each hand, she held a coffee thermos, and from her wrist dangled a bag of something wrapped in foil: breakfast sandwiches, if I had to guess.
“Let’s go, Princess. I’ve got a surprise for you.”
I squinted, glancing between her and the sun rising outside of my window. “Right now? What time is it?”
“Time to go,” she clapped her hands, striding over to my closet. “What do you want to wear today? Pants, skirt…?”
“Kinda depends on where the fuck you’re taking me,” I sat up, rubbing the sleep from my eyes.
“This is cute,” Leo pulled a dark silk floral dress with spaghetti straps and a long, slitted skirt.
“In this weather?” I frowned.
“Heard. What about with a layer underneath… this?” She pulled out a black turtleneck that matched the dark background of the dress. “And my jacket, of course.”
I tilted my head as I considered the outfit. “Honestly, that’s a pretty good choice. I’m impressed, Major.”
“Oh, don’t sound so shocked,” she rolled her eyes, laying the outfit out on the foot of my bed. “I’m masc, not a man.”
“Fair point,” I smirked, swinging my legs out from beneath the covers. “Pass me some underwear?”
Leo needed no direction in that department, immediately finding a lacey black thong as if the pair was burned into her memory.Noting that for later…
As I slipped them on, she started to search for a matching bra, but I called back to her, “Don’t bother unless I need one. Tooearly in the morning for underwire.” Plus, two layers of fabric would be more than enough to give me some coverage.
We went on like that, with Leo grabbing me tights, boots, and a little leather harness to finish off the outfit. But as I crossed over to the mirror, feeling good about the look, Leo pulled out two accessories I hated to see.
“Are you kidding me?”
“Sorry, Princess.” Leo held out the Lucky Strike cap and a giant gray hoodie for me to slip on overtop. “It’s just until we get there. Don’t want any nutjobs with Spyre ruining the fun for you before it gets started.”
“...Fine,” I grumbled, slipping on the potato sack and tucking as much of my hair as possible into the cap. And as I did, I saw Leo grab a sketchpad and some pencils from one of my drawers and tuck them into her bag.
“I saw that. Where the fuck are we going?” I raised an eyebrow.
But Leo just laughed, resting a hand on each of my shoulders as she leaned in to kiss my forehead. “Why don’t you just let me show you?”
With that, we headed down to the Ducati, put on our helmets, and took off down the wooded backroad. It was nice getting out this early.
The morning air was perfectly brisk, and the road was entirely ours. In still moments, I could hear the birds drifting along the treetops; Their song was already softer now than it had been a few, warmer weeks ago. And in the moments where we were moving, Leo kept the bike smooth and steady. Leaning into her broad back, I almost felt like I could fall right back to sleep.
It was only a few minutes though before we arrived at our destination: a sleepy college campus full of rolling fog. Its colonial and gothic brick buildings and winding stone pathssomehow looked like they’d sprouted right out of the vibrant grassy hills.
Leo drove us past a big “Atwood University” sign out front, taking a long loop to the back of campus. Finally, we parked outside of a cathedral-esque building with beautiful stained glass along the top floor: the Ali Arts Building, according to the sign over its door.
As she killed the engine and helped me off the bike, I couldn’t hide the tension from my voice. “A college campus? Full of students and cellphones? Are we sure this is the best place for me to be?”
“That’s what the outfit’s for,” she pulled at the hem of my hoodie. “But I don’t see any nosey students around. Do you?”
With a deep breath, I took a look around us. There was beautiful landscaping, some distant water features, and a handful of statues, but not a soul to be seen.
“Saturday morning,” she smirked. “All the students are passed out after a night of partying. And anyone who’s up is way too out of it to notice us. You’re safe here.”
She eased the helmet from my head and rested it on the bike before leading me toward the building by the hand. “Besides, a bunch of students at a liberal arts school aren’t likely to snitch to Spyre. And a certain friend of Violence is keeping an eye out for us to make the whole thing that much safer.”
“If you say so,” I swallowed, letting her lead the way.She hasn’t led me astray this far.
As we walked down the pathway to a side entrance, I couldn’t help but be awestruck by the beauty of this place. I’d been to a lot of beautiful houses in my life, but something about the openness and history of the campus felt different to me.
