with a young child on his shoulders approached. The child reached both hands toward Excellor’s head. Excellor kept very still. The swipe of a tail or one swift sidestep could injure or kill, but it clearly wasn’t Excellor’s first public appearance.
“So why are we here?” Tauran asked.
Roric shrugged, not taking his eyes off the titan. “I thought you might like it.” He glanced at Tauran, sidelong. “Want to say hi?”
Tauran knew what Roric was doing. A part of him wished he’d quit, but another was strangely flattered by his attempts. “I need to get back to the archive.”
“Fair enough.”
They were both quiet as they walked along Watercress Avenue. The streets were empty. Clearly, Falka’s public appearances drew a crowd. Roric didn’t talk, walking alongside Tauran with his hands in the pockets of his civilian leather jacket. Tauran appreciated the companionable silence. Six years ago, it would have been impossible. Together, the two of them had been hellions, as wild as the mountain strike winds and twice as uncontrollable.
They turned onto Lilypetal Street. When they reached the archive, Tauran went for the door, but Roric halted him with a hand on his arm. He led Tauran a short distance from the guards stationed by the door and stopped.
“What is it?” Tauran asked.
Roric looked uncomfortable, pursing his lips. He nudged an uneven tile on the sidewalk with the toe of his boot. “Falka asked me to remind you of our rules of abstinence.”
Tauran frowned. “What? Why?”
Roric rolled his eyes. “One of the ground recruits you trained saw you exit the Red Rose brothel in Nightshade Alley the other day.”
Tauran crossed his arms, refusing to feel guilty. “So? I’m not in the Sky Guard, anymore. I can fuck whoever I want. And what were they doing in Nightshade Alley, anyway?”
“Hey,” Roric said, the corner of his mouth twitching upward. “Don’t get angry at me. I’m just repeating Falka’s words. He thinks... since you’re working for Emilian and, well, practically also for us, caring for the egg, it’s important you uphold the standards. Set a good example. All that crap.”
Tauran sighed and rested his head against the wall. “Well, you sure haven’t kept it in your pants all eight years since you joined.”
“No,” Roric said, a sly smirk creasing the corners of his eyes. He lowered his head and looked up at Tauran, which made him look like a fox about to steal an egg. “But I’m also smart enough to limit my passionate outings to after dark. You used to be smart enough to do the same, old man.”
Tauran huffed. “All right, all right.”
“I’ll see you later.” Roric pushed away from the wall and winked.
“There’s only a year between us, idiot,” Tauran called after him.
When Tauran turned around, the door to the archive was open.
Tauran stepped up to it, tapping his knuckles against the frame before ducking inside.
“Good morning,” Kalai called from the main room. He appeared a moment later with the egg in his arms. “Do you have the supplies for Arrow?”
“Yeah, I got them,” Tauran said. He closed the door. “They were no problem to get.”
“That’s good.”
Tauran put his bag on the desk, tugging open the drawstring. “I got us some breakfast on my way to the tower this morning,” he said, taking out paper bags of faintly warm butter buns. “In case you haven’t eaten.”
“It’s fine. I’m not that hungry.” Kalai placed the egg on the seat of the armchair and went to the kitchen, speaking without raising his voice so Tauran nearly didn’t catch his last words.
Tauran raised an eyebrow. Abandoning the bag, he followed Kalai to the kitchen. Kalai stood at the sink, wiping it down with slow passes of his hand.
“Do you want to head to the ruins?” Tauran asked, lingering behind him. When Kalai didn’t answer, Tauran placed a hand on his back. “Are you all right?”
Kalai shifted under his touch, making Tauran’s hand slide off him. “Please don’t,” he said softly.
“Don’t what?”
Kalai turned. “Please don’t... act so charming.” He blushed a deep pink and looked away.
Tauran blinked, unable to think of something to say.
Kalai writhed under Tauran’s gaze, rubbing a hand over the back of his neck. “It’s just that... You’re really attractive and... you keep touching me and looking at me like that, and... then you back away like you change your mind or you don’t really want to get too close and I can’t figure out if that’s just how you are, or if you think I’m not attractive, or if you think