"You make Lupalia sound like some huge street gang convention."
"It is a huge street gang convention," Kana laughed. "Only without any rules. Apparently it used to be better, but the government nose-dived into oblivion and now it's just a big messy city where almost everyone is at least a little bit crazy. The slums make up like half of it, and half of the slums are taken up by the black market. The rest is for the crime lords or corrupt rich people. Saying Lupalia is dangerous is like saying a migraine is uncomfortable. But if you know your way around, it's fun, it's colourful, it keeps you on a constant adrenaline buzz. Moving to Mernot was such a weird change I just spent my first few weeks here wandering around looking for something to do. It was so boring."
"So you prefer a risky life instead of something steady and safe? I don't think the army would encourage recklessness like that."
"I know. And the army has a pretty cruel way of teaching me that." He indicated his midsection where he'd had a rib broken and mended only a few days ago. "I hate your lieutenant. But man, he is so hot. If I were you I'd probably flirt with him until he threatens to change instructors."
Elstrin raised an eyebrow. "He's my teacher."
"So? How old is he? Looks pretty young."
"Stag said twenty-five."
"That's barely older than some of the cadets here. I bet they ignore the posters and let in some twenty-something guys too."
"Well, I'm not twenty-something. I'm turning seventeen in August. And I'm not interested. He's my teacher."
"I think you're just shy," Kana smirked.
"Or maybe I'm just not interested," Elstrin insisted, wondering how many times he had to repeat himself to get the point through.
Kana opened his mouth to retaliate, but he jerked back slightly as if a strong gust of wind had suddenly hit him. His shoulders tensed; he glanced about with a frown. A strange throb, like a noise too low to hear or the heartbeat of an ancient beast, pushed through the air and was gone in a second. "Whoa," he muttered. "Did you feel that?"
"Kinda. It was like the air compressed or something. What do you think—? Hey, where're you going?" Elstrin said, hurrying after Kana as he made for the main gate.
"Just the air compressing?" he said over his shoulder. "More like an invisible explosion." He splashed through the now-muddy field to the guards who stood under a large umbrella stand muttering to each other. "What was that?" Kana demanded them.
"What was what?" one said, too warily to hide the fact that something was wrong, almost glaring at the Lupalian. "It's early, kid. Go back indoors before the thunderstorms roll in."
"That, as in that huge freaking zap of energy," Kana elaborated, nodding toward the rain-slicked gate. "What exactly goes on in there?"
"You'll get to see after three years," the second guard said. "Run along now. There's nothing—"
With a great clank and rattle, the gate inched open, water sluicing down its twin iron doors from
the sudden movement. Two people emerged from its depths. Elstrin almost didn't recognise Snow at first—out of uniform, dressed in casual dark clothes and a jacket with its hood pulled low over his head to cover most of his hair, a rucksack slung over one shoulder. Next to him was Gabriel, casually twirling an umbrella that obviously wasn't his. They both stopped short upon seeing the extra company.
"What're you two doing out here so early?" Snow asked, searching through an outer pocket of his bag. He brought out two unlabelled paper boxes, each large enough to maybe contain a light bulb, and passed them to the guards. They took the items silently.
"Nothing," Elstrin said hastily, beginning to shove Kana away. "We were just walking back."
"Sir, there was a—a wave of energy, just now," Kana protested, pointing at the gate again as if the magic had emanated from the iron.
"Don't worry about it," Snow replied, putting a hand on Gabriel's umbrella to stop its unrelenting slow spin. Gabriel rolled his eyes and yawned exaggeratedly. "Things like that sometimes happen. Physical walls crumble over time and so do magical ones."
"There's a barrier around HQ?" Kana muttered, eyebrows rising. "I don't feel a single thing."
"It's different," Snow said.
"What do you mean—"
"Means it's none of your business," the guard interrupted, jerking his chin at the barracks. "Really, you don't want to stay out in this weather. Just go back."
"But why would you need one? Isn't it hard to maintain?"
"Well, it's just for protection. There are plenty of expensive top-secret things in Mernot HQ."
Snow smiled briefly. "I'd say more, but I can't. See you on Monday, Elstrin."
They walked away. The guards looked at Kana pointedly and he trudged back towards the dormitories with a grumble. Elstrin stared at Snow's retreating form, half-obstructed by Gabriel's umbrella. Something nagged at the back of his mind.
"Hey," he said, hurrying forwards to catch up with their easy stroll. "Hey, Snow. Is there one around cadet area?"
"One what?" Snow said blankly.
"Barrier. I'm just—worried. About what happened on Tuesday. What if—"
"Oh," Snow said, comprehension dawning. "No, there isn't. But there's no need to be concerned. Everything's been taken care of."
"Huh? Taken care of how? Look—I don't care if you guys somehow failed to mention to three hundred cadets that there's a magical freaking barrier here—even though it's kind of a shitty thing to do—it's just that someone tried to kill me. I would really appreciate it if you—"
"Taken care of, as in on Tuesday afternoon, while you were lying in the infirmary, I went back down to the city, found the guy who did it and had him arrested," Snow said, voice going flat. Elstrin stopped short.
"Oh. Um. Really? How?"
Snow shrugged. "He was sloppy. Left behind magical traces everywhere. Easy to track. I have to go now. Have a nice day, Elstrin."
"But—" Elstrin spluttered as they started walking again. "Why on earth didn't you tell me?"
Gabriel said over his shoulder, "Because you are damn annoying when you ask a million questions at once like that. Snow is too nice to say it to your face, but it's true."
Snow sighed and looked at Elstrin imploringly. He didn't seem tired, just… uninterested. Case closed. "No, it's not. There's nothing wrong with asking questions, but I'm afraid I can't answer them this time. All you need to know is that you'll be safe here. The details are just… confidential."
His tone left no room for argument. Elstrin exhaled, admitting defeat, and nodded, striding back to where Kana waited under the guards' umbrella stand. Everything Kana said to them was being studiously ignored. The image was amusing enough to lift Elstrin's mood slightly. When he got there, Kana muttered, "What was all that about?"
"Just making sure of something," Elstrin said absently. He glanced at the guards, who'd been watching the conversation curiously, and they returned carefully neutral nods. No doubt they knew more about the situation than he did. Elstrin mentally shook his head and headed for the recreational centre. He was surprised to find himself relieved by the news, now that he had time to mull it over— whatever the stranger's motive that day during the dismissal, whoever it was, it was over now. Probably not completely over judging from Snow's words, but whatever Snow was hiding, it didn't concern him. He was still just a cadet, after all.
He wondered if that was a reassurance he'd need to go back to very often.
x
"Don't you feel bad, lying to him like that?" Gabriel said out of the blue, hoping to startle Snow so he'd at least snap out of his reverie for a second. He'd been staring at the unconscious man strapped to the chair before them long enough to make Gabriel a little worried. Looked like he was starting to seriously consider the idea of putting a bullet through his brain. If things were that simple Gabriel would happily go along with it, but something about the person stirred a deep sense of uneasiness in his gut. Snow didn't seem to share it.
"Who?" Snow asked absently, eyes still f
ixed on the slumped figure.
"Elstrin. You said arrested. This isn't arrest. It's kidnap, and any moment now it's going to turn
into murder. Do you really want to be around when he finds out? That kid's got the moral values of a goddamn priest. He's going to get so offended. Wait, no, not offended—maybe disgusted." Gabriel shut himself up, aware that the nervousness was making him babble. Snow glanced at him briefly.
"Not really. And he won't find out."
"Come on, Snowy. Just think about this first, okay? He's not going anywhere."
"He might. It was hard enough to catch him. I don't want to risk whatever tricks he's got up his sleeve."
Their prisoner seemed pretty incapable of breaking out to Gabriel. Of course, Snow had some reason to worry—he'd escaped once after all, and they had lost his trail ever since. But that had been years ago, before any of them realised the scope of his powers. Now, in this bland-looking, disused basement, he was contained in so many layers of both Gabriel's and Snow's magic that he doubted even an earthquake would shake him free. They had closed every loophole, checked every nook and cranny, to make this place as escape-proof as possible, which was very.
"He can't do anything in here," Gabriel insisted, trying to make that solidifying decision in Snow's eyes go away.
"Why don't you want this?"
"I don't know. I just have this urge. Didn't you say, way back when, that it's important I follow them? I really think we should. I just feel like something worse will happen if we kill him."
"Yes, but…" Snow gazed at the prisoner for a long time, then repeated quietly, "I don't want to risk waiting."
"Why? We can afford to wait. Just ask Stag first, at least—"
"I want him to die," Snow said flatly and abruptly, and for a split second he sounded like a child demanding a toy. Rem peeking through again. Concern rose briefly before Gabriel wrestled the familiar feeling down, and Snow's voice went back to normal, soft and serious. "For what he did to you. And Serpent. And… well, me, I suppose, indirectly. And everyone else. He doesn't…" Snow frowned, searching for words. "I don't usually think these things are so necessary, but what he's doing—it's pointless. It's gotten to the stage now where it's completely unjustifiable. To be absolutely blunt, I think we'd be doing the world a favour, getting rid of him now."
"Of course," Gabriel agreed quickly. "I'm not saying that's not true. I'm just—look, please wait a while more. Maybe I'll figure out whatever the hell my subconscious is trying to tell me and we can decide then. We'll knock him out. It'll be safe."
"Hm." Snow pursed his lips, clearly seeing the logic behind the plan, but his stubbornness got in the way of accepting it. Gabriel liked to think it was another trait from Rem, but he couldn't be sure. It was so hard to tell these days. He waited anxiously.
Finally, Snow nodded. Gabriel suppressed a sigh of relief. "Good," he said instead, turning to go.
The sooner they got out of here, the less time Snow had to change his mind.
He'd pulled open the door when he realised Snow hadn't moved.
"Gabriel. We are going to kill him," Snow said, almost sounding stern if not for the cold certainty in his voice, one part quiet rage and nine parts finality. It sent an involuntary shiver down Gabriel's spine. It was during these moments that he wished particularly hard Rem hadn't done what he did.
Sometimes Snow briefly stopped being his friend and became the perfect embodiment of a soldier, merciless and faceless, doing only what was 'good' no matter the cost. Entirely not Snow's fault, but Snow who had to bear the fearful looks others sent him every time they heard that tone. He'd never seemed to mind—but then he had an excellent array of masks to hide his true feelings. Gabriel knew of lesser things that bothered him.
At least, through the years they'd known each other, he'd managed to figure out how to deal with most of the different—sometimes alarmingly so—facets that made up Lieutenant Snow. Gabriel stepped back into the tiny room and took Snow's arm, walking them out and away from their deceptively harmless-looking prisoner. "I know we are," he said gently, shutting the door. "But not today. Now let's go get some fresh air. The storms are coming."
Chapter 14
At the party celebrating their first quarter-year of cadet training, inside some crowded, hot room lit only by a cheap set of portable disco lights, Kana kissed him.
Elstrin had managed to get suspiciously tipsy after only half a beer—the paranoia left over from long-gone high school days made him dump it before whatever drug was in there scored him a whole list of regrets in the morning. He'd drank a large glass of water to flush it out, but that had been all his mind was willing to do before the allure of thudding music and spinning lights became too much and he dove back into the crowd, the spiked beer giving him a noticeably stronger high than the popper had, three long months ago. It probably affected him even more due to the fact that this was still only the second party he'd ever attended, and his body had next to no tolerance to drugs. There had been smaller parties hosted steadily every few weeks, but he hadn't gone to any. Kana, who went to most, always tried to persuade him, but he'd be too tired or too nervous, still uneasy over the whole business with the ghost, even though he knew he no longer had any reason to be.
But a whole quarter of a year of nonstop training, even in Elstrin's opinion, was a damn good cause for celebration. There had been times, after they'd moved away from the safety of wooden practice swords and onto true weapons that could harm and maim, that he'd seriously doubted he'd survive. But he had gotten through it. They all had.
He'd been dancing—with Vel for a while, before he and Andrew disappeared mysteriously—then just with anybody, enjoying himself with the pleasant buzz of alcohol and drugs in his bloodstream, the celebratory mood hanging thick in the air. And Kana had showed up, looking especially good under the shifting lights, said something Elstrin didn't catch, and kissed him.
It surprised him, to say the least. Obviously Kana was a very touchy-feely kind of person—Elstrin had learnt that from day one, with the massage and all. But he had an uncanny knack for recognising boundaries—he teased a lot, and sometimes his mind seemed perpetually stuck in the gutter, but he stayed a safe distance from anything that would cause discomfort. All he ever gave Elstrin were massages, hugs and the occasional friendly kiss on the cheek. Nothing he especially minded at all. Kana and Vel (fast friends now), seemingly sharing some of the same promiscuous traits, had fooled around one unserious night—Elstrin still did not know the full story—and Kana had backed off right afterwards before Andrew could even begin a frosty glare in his direction. Basically, Kana knew when and where to stop.
Tonight was different, though. The kiss lasted for longer than Elstrin expected, not that he'd been expecting it in the first place, and by the time Kana pulled back the song was onto its second chorus and the crowd had shifted subtly away to give them room. Elstrin couldn't speak for a while, his lips tingling and mind reeling. Kana tasted of soda, not alcohol. Sweet and just the faintest bit sticky.
Kana just watched him with a grin, hands on Elstrin's hips, still bobbing to the beat along with the other cadets. Finally, when Elstrin continued to just blink up at him dazedly, he ducked forwards and said against his ear, "Well?"
Elstrin jerked away from the tickle of soft lips against his jawbone, a shiver travelling down his spine. He shook his head and pulled Kana out of the room to the less packed hallway. Still too loud. They went down a couple of floors, where the music was muffled enough for conversation but could still cover up awkward pauses. The lights here were ordinary halogen tubes, illuminating everything in bland detail. He lost a few more seconds staring, distracted by the sight of Kana with his hair tousled and skin slightly sweaty, for once not dirtied by the dust of the field.
Elstrin had started truly noticing how attractive Kana was around two months ago, when the bandages and bruises were finally gone (apart from the ones they all constantly sported from training) and all that was left were
speedily fading scars on his pale skin. He'd gained a bit more muscle mass since he arrived, but he still kept that sort of feline musculature, all lean and long like a sprinter. Even his face projected that image, high cheekbones and narrow, angular jaw emphasising the structure of his body. Not an overly pretty face, not like Vel, but more than made up by his easy smile. He'd gotten his hair trimmed slightly shorter so it looked lighter and thicker, framing his face in straight, dark layers. And his eyes, of course, deep-set and intense and sometimes so dark blue they seemed indigo, were one of his best assets.
One of the best, because Elstrin hadn't yet seen all of Kana and he was ready to bet there were other… regions that would impress. His nudity in the showers hadn't provided Elstrin with proof either way of Kana's often-bragged-about eight inches. He'd been curious about it for a time, then dismissed it as teenage hormones. He didn't feel any overwhelming urge to find out his roommate's dick size. It was pretty irrelevant. He'd rather just remain friends without any fuss. But tonight he felt buoyed by the party, confident and cheerful. The high was starting to transform sneakily into dizziness. He didn't care. He could always drink more water later.
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