Page 12 of In Your Light

“Oh,” Hadeom replied cautiously. “I thought you said you always ran in pairs.”

“We do, normally,” he said.

Then his face did something that made Hadeom pause. It was the briefest flinch, his eyes tightening before he smiled a wrong smile. Too stiff, too forced. It didn’t quite capture the light before it slid into a grimace.

He was such a terrible liar.

Hadeom would have been annoyed if it weren’t so cute.

He was very adept at reading people, at assessing micro expressions, at hearing what their words didn’t say. He’d spent his entire existence watching humans and beasts alike lie and twist the truth into something more palatable. Some were better at it than others—more practiced, as it were—and some were so bad at it.

Fyn was the latter, of course. It was as if this was the first lie he’d ever told in his life, and like an ill-fitting shoe, he couldn’t quite get comfortable with it.

So perhaps it was not a complete lie, but more of an omission of fact. Coupled with him being a day late but earlier in the day than his last visit, as if he’d snuck out of camp...

Hadeom put the pieces together easily. “Does anyone know you’re here, Fyn?”

Fyn stilled, his hand on the box of tea. He took a few short breaths before he glanced at the window. “Well, given the sun is up, they’ll know by now.”

Hadeom sighed. “I don’t want you to get into trouble on my behalf.”

“I can find trouble all on my own,” he said defiantly. “And my brother—” He stopped then and let out a sigh, his voice quieter when he spoke again. “My brother and I don’t agree on many things. He forbade me from coming yesterday, even though I told him I’d promised you. I told him you needed supplies, but he didn’t seem to care. He said you weren’t my responsibility, and I know you’re not wanting to be any bother at all, but Cern told me to look after you. My brother also said I don’t take orders from Cern, I take them from him. He’s our camp leader, and I appreciate his role, I really do, but it’s hard to respect his authority when he doesn’t respect my wishes or decisions. And—” He cut off mid-rant, frowning at himself. “Sorry.”

“Don’t apologise,” Hadeom said gently. “You don’t have to censor yourself for me. In fact, I appreciate that you don’t.”

Fyn’s eyes met his, and when he almost smiled, the slight lift of the corner of his mouth made Hadeom feel... strange. Strange but pleasant. Pleasant enough that Hadeom would like to make Fyn smile more often for no other reason than to feel that flutter of pleasantness again.

But something Fyn had said tugged at Hadeom’s mind, the pieces of the puzzle forming a picture Hadeom wasn’t sure he liked.

He poured the near-boiling tea into their mugs and aimed for nonchalance. “So,” he began conversationally. “If you were not supposed to bring me these rations, am I right to assume these were not allocated for me?”

Fyn’s eyebrows narrowed, and he chewed on his bottom lip. “Sure they were.”

Hadeom chuckled as he handed Fyn his tea. “You are not a good liar, Fyn.”

His gaze shot to Hadeom’s, sharp and indignant. He looked about to rant some more until he saw Hadeom’s smile. Fyn’s cheeks flushed pink, and he scowled in response. He really was very cute.

“Come, let’s go outside. The rain has let up,” Hadeom said.

He took his cup and headed out the door. The air smelled of rain and wet earth, the breeze was invigoratingly cold. As he walked out onto the jetty, he turned to face the wind, smiling as he gave silent thanks to Cern.

You’re getting soft-hearted. Surprised it still beats.

Hadeom wasn’t entirely sure if that was the voice of his own conscience, given it sounded a lot like Cern....

A ray of filtered sunlight shot through the low clouds and touched the river like the long finger of a god, a rainbow flickering briefly in its light before fading.

Hadeom barked out a laugh, surprising himself.

“What’s so funny?” Fyn asked behind him.

“Cern has a sense of humour,” Hadeom said. His mouth felt rather strange when he went to sip his tea, and he then realised that he was smiling.

Fyn was watching him, staring at his mouth, at his lips. Fyn’s green eyes unfocused for a second before he blinked and looked away.

Hadeom’s heart knocked in response.

Don’t ignore it.