Shady

Pratik grinned. He'd certainly never been called a good influence before. On anyone. And certainly not on a little goody-goody classmate whose spluttering made clear that she wanted nothing to ...

"Where'd you come from?" Aleth asked, genuinely curious.

“Fair enough.” So much for getting to snoop on the way back. Oh well. He probably couldn’t have gotten away with that anyway, now that his excuse was ruined. “It’s ...

“Probably in a park somewhere,” Jerica slurred, getting progressively drunker. Her mind flitted back to the bizarre mostly-blacked-out conversation she’d had with Lordy at the beginning of the s

Aleth followed her through, sending one final wishful glance back into the library. He glanced down the hall, hoping he wasn’t pushing it. “I know the way.”

Aleth hobbled after her, making a point of not limping as badly as he wanted to. He wanted their sympathies. But he didn't want to be relegated to bed as ...

"Thank you, ma'am." Aleth stood up and grabbed his cane. "I appreciate that."

Aleth was careful to keep his body language and expression impassive, but he sighed internally. So much for his free reign. He finished tidying the cards and then looked up ...

splish splash big fish comes fast.

Aleth hesitated a moment. Something was wrong with the energy between them. He couldn't quite put a finger on what it was. Maybe it was nothing. But he tended to ...

"Thank you." He smiled politely. At least it wasn't a brutal loss like it'd been with Tarr. And she wasn't a sore winner. "I had a good teacher."

(Night!) "Oh." Aleth looked down at the table and then drew one last card. His total score at the end of the turn was 2. "Like so?"

"Oh?" Aleth asked. He looked down and smiled wanly. "Well done!"

There it was. Some lighter topics they could fall back onto. Aleth felt a little bit of the tension release from his shoulders. "What crops do you grow?"

Aleth smiled awkwardly and dipped his head, letting silence linger between them. Things had gotten uncomfortable. And he didn't know how to fix it. Or even what had caused it ...