Shady

Ky gave him a sympathetic pat on the arm, moving slowly enough she hoped she wouldn’t startle him.

“But doable,” Ky pointed out. “You’ve got to keep yourself safe, too. And if you’re safe, I will be, too.”

“Yeah…” would it be bitchy to make this jab? Probably. But— “…hopefully I’ll be back home with Ka’Nor before long though.”

“Yeah.” He didn’t believe her; she needed to sell it. She nodded. “You and Ka’Nor and Gaius all sing Captain Bay’s praises. I’m sure he’s a very good teacher.”

“Um…” no. “Yeah.” She nodded. “It… will be good.”

“Yeah.” She nodded, sighing. Yeah, it did. Great.

“Yeah.” Honestly, fuck her. Look at how badly she’d made her own father feel. And for what? Because he loved her? What a bitch. “… my pace as quicker before ...

“It’s okay.” It felt awkward now, though, and she slowly let her arm fall from around him. “…I’m working on it. I promise.”

He was being too hard on himself. But she didn’t know what she could say to change that. She’d flinched. She couldn’t take that back now. Explanations would just make ...

“It’s okay.” She shook her head, leaving her arm wrapped around him. “I… didn’t expect it, but I’m not opposed.” She offered a more genuine smile, though it was small.

Ky flinched, tensing instantly at the unexpected contact. A moment later her brain processed that she was safe… at least from this stimulus. She forced her shoulders to relax and ...

“Maybe… hopefully.” It was a maybe. But if Sara needed her to pretend to be hopeful in her language, she could do it for Tomhas, too. Even though she didn’t ...

Ky scoffed and shook her head. He clearly hadn’t seen the thousands of glances she’d cast over her shoulder in the past twenty-four hours.

Hopefully. But that was left to be seen. Whether she’d run into Michael or not. Whether she’d have learned enough from Captain Bay by then to protect herself. The ball ...

“….that’s a good idea,” Ky agreed. Why did they keep running to the library rather than to someone who may actually know? “…but only one who wouldn’t tell anyone else ...