Page 211 of Light Leech

The city was loud and the monastery was not the picturesque sanctuary of the Arabasian monasteries, but it was still a comforting site. It was our sanctuary. That was enough.

I opened the door, hoping to see Naoma first. I didn’t see Denji, and it wasn’t a somber Abbas, and it wasn’t a sarcastic Boyband.

“Have you come back?” David asked.

I crouched and rubbed my hand across the meat pillar’s back and over the mechanical ridges of his tech. David was less sweaty than usual, making the petting somewhat comforting.

I smiled. “Yeah, I’m back.”

“Back to kill me? Will you–”

“No, no, no!“ Boyband ran into view and scooped up the Beef3. “Zeg, Pet. He was doing so well, then you come back and he’s reverted to this?”

I smiled and let out a relieved laugh. I reached out and pulled him into a deep embrace as he held David under one arm. He slung the other around me. Had we not just lost one of our closest friends–her body at least–I was sure he would have pushed me away with a snide comment.

He held me tight. He sniffed. I didn’t bother him by pointing out his vulnerability like I would have in lighter circumstances.

I patted him on the back as I let go. “How are the others doing?”

“Fine. Decent enough, I think.”

His eyes had hints of tears. I wondered how he had been since learning of her death but felt it was best not to ask. Some things are best kept to oneself.

He sniffed. “Denji’s working on the pond to make it a decent habitat for that Orca-mech.”

“She arrived?”

“Yeah, those Violet elites dropped her off and I could tell they had been pissing themselves. Deniji’s pretty proud of the habitat so far, but it needs more work.”

“I smiled. I’ll have to check it out.”

We stared at each other, both of us on the verge of tears. I walked away before I could let small talk torture us any longer.

I stepped inside and kicked off my shoes. The soft give of the tatami mat was a warm welcome home after the most foreign trip one could take.

I passed Denji’s study and waved to him as he looked up from a blueprint hologram on his desk. Even though he didn’t know Ralia as well as the rest of us, I was sure her loss hurt after seeing the others grieve.

Akna and Kuni were playing a holographic board game and speaking one of the Arabasian languages. I waved at them as they passed and let their peace continue undisturbed. I doubted the kid had a grasp of the events transpiring around him, but I hadn’t spent enough time with him to see how well acquainted he had become. I would fix that soon enough.

Abbas stood from the seat in which he sat reading a worn book and looked over his shoulder when he heard me pass. He had been facing a wall-sized window that looked out onto one of the gardens, but with how quickly he stirred, I wondered if he had been able to focus on the words at all. My focus had been tested ever since I got on the shuttle home.

“Holding up well?” he asked.

I shrugged and moved to sit into the seat next to him. Both of us watched the rain begin to increase from a sprinkle to a downpour over the garden. “As best as I can manage.”

I looked at him, no longer seeing the younger face of Ali, but the experienced demeanor of the Abbas that he really was. I had always thought he was younger than me, but now he seemed a touch older. Seeing past the judgement of his betrayal, I could see that he was just as worn as I was. “You?”

He closed his book and placed it on the short table between us. “Just trying my best.”

“Aren’t we all?”

He let out an airy laugh, free of humor. “Isn’t that the truth.”

“Did everyone do okay while I was gone?”

His eyes were wide as I glanced at him. It might have struck him as an odd pivot from previous resentment to full trust, but he was the most experienced among us after me. Not only was he an experienced Imp, but he had the whole side of his work with Cut to add to his expertise. “Yeah, I guess so. Kuni’s as fluent as you could ever want. Everyone took the news pretty hard, but he didn’t seem to grasp it. I don’t know if it was because he didn’t know Ralia long enough or if he thinks her ghost in the system means she’s still alive. The kid has had a mess of a childhood already… and it’ll only get worse.”

“At least he has a decent role model to look up to.”