Destined Path

Two strangers in a train

Rex takes another subtle glance at Sam, the man staring out the window. When he moves his head Rex quickly looks back at the book on his lap, even when he knows he won't be able to focus his attention on it.

He still can't believe that he's with a summoner. And a real one, because otherwise how could he explain the cool summoning sword and shield shit he saw before? Yeah, he's the real deal. And Rex couldn't be happier.

Even though he knows he shouldn't, Rex can't stop himself from glancing one last time at Sam, only to feel his cheeks heat up the moment he notices the man staring back at him.

"You know," Sam starts, making Rex gulp, "if you have something to say, you should just say it."

"Ah, well, I—" Rex laughs embarrassed as he looks to the ground, internally screaming. "Sorry, it's just like, wow, you know? I have so many questions and I don't know where to start, or even if I should."

"Well, you should start." Sam says matter-of-factly, moving his body to face Rex. "I can't read your mind, so it's a bit weird seeing you glance at me in silence."

Rex laughs awkwardly, avoiding Sam for a second at the realisation that he wasn't as sneaky as he thought.

"Sorry, for real." Rex answers, looking at Sam. "The thing is, how are you even here?" When Sam quirks an eyebrow, Rex continues. "Like, summoners are like, legends! No one has seen one in, like, centuries! I can't believe you're one."

Sam makes a low sound of acknowledgement, looking at his hand. "I didn't know we were so rare."

"Mega rare, more like!" Rex states, and he tries to relax himself as his mind remembers the previous hours ago. "Okay, so another question."

Sam looks back at him and nods, and Rex doesn't waste a second to continue rambling.

"Okay, so, how does it feel to be a summoner? Like, when you summon your swords and shields, stuff like that? I get that it must feel different that when the rest of us use magic, yeah?"

Sam looks up for a second, and then his gaze returns to Rex. He cocks his head to the side, and when Sam grabs one of his hands he can't help the totally dignified sound that leaves him.

"When people use magic, they use it like a burst of energy." Sam explains, opening Rex's palm, the man paying close attention. "No matter what type: air, fire, lightning... they all work like a pipe that you open for a second and then close again."

"And for you it's different?"

"Yes."

Sam then opens his free hand, putting his palm besides Rex's. He notices that it looks really rough compared to his.

"If I want to summon a weapon, I need to imagine the form and then hold the image there."

Rex watches enraptured as light starts to appear in Sam's palm, slowly taking the form of a tiny dagger. A faint flash of blue light happens and then it's right there, a dagger fully solid, that Sam twirls around his fingers carefully.

"You must have trained a lot to be able to pull this off, right?"

Sam simply hums, and in the blink of an eye he crushes the dagger in his palm, the thing dissolving into thin air. He sighs and looks out the window, Rex following his gaze: by the looks of the wheat fields, they must be getting close to their destination.

"Rex, where are we going?"

"Oh, right, I kinda dragged you here without explaining shit." Rex laughs softly. "The thing is, before you dutifully saved me from a bunch of assholes —thank you very much, by the way— I had a list of deliveries to finish, one of them to a friend of mine."