OVERLOOKED ㅤkotlc

038. Our Magic Pond

I knock.

"Come in," Vespera says.

I open the door; It's a small office, with a glass desk, crystal chandelier, and floor-to-ceiling windows. "I brought the weapons," I say, holding up the sack.

She glances at it, then asks, "Seven?"

I try not to fidget. "Um, no, nine. Two of them are really small."

"I see." Vespera opens a file, laying it out on her table. "You can put it next to my desk."

I carefully put it on the floor, then back away, waiting for further instructions.

Vespera's scarily quiet for a moment, and then she looks up and meets my gaze.

Up close, I can see faint scars on her cheek.

She tilts her head. "If I find anything wrong with these weapons... you know we have the upper hand, Dexter; you can't exactly pull anything here."

Oh, yeah, I'm sure we can't. "Yes, Vespera."

She smiles at me, and it's eerily blank. "I'm glad you understand. You're dismissed now."

I mumble a thank you and leave the room; my heart's pounding. I guess I keep remembering what she did to Biana.

"Hey Dex."

I gasp and whirl around, only to be met with Ruy.

He laughs at me. "Sorry."

I let out a breath, laughing with him. "Hi."

There's a pause. "You still owe me a walk, by the way."

"I do?"

He grins. "Wow, okay, memory boy."

I laugh. "No, sorry, I remember now. You asked on Saturday, right?"

"I did," Ruy says. "So... um..."

I bite back a grin. "So, um?" I tease.

He laughs. "So, um," he says, "are you... see, Melia's off with Jaelynn. And Alvar's with Trix, he wanted to make sure he was alright. And so that leaves me."

I suppress laughter. "You're right, that does leave you."

"And I was just wondering if you had... um, if you have anything planned? Because I don't. And if you don't, too, then, um, we could always—"

I can't help it; I burst out laughing. "You could've just asked if I wanted to hang out," I say, in between laughter.

Ruy laughs too, though his cheeks are turning red. "Well, do you wanna hang out?"

I grin. "Don't worry, I'm socially inept too."

"That's not an answer," he says, and it's funny that he doesn't deny it.

"Well, I'm free, and you're free. So, my good sir, lead the way."

"To where?"

"Well, you said it yourself," I say, with a smile. "You owe me a walk."

"Oh," he says, then laughs. "Oh—there's something cool outside. I can take you there if you like?"

I nod. "Sure."

He leads me down the hall, down several twisting corridors (I still haven't memorized this building's layout), and out the huge arched door.

We make small talk (and fail most of it too; please clap for our efforts) as we walk through the grass outdoors.

"What if Kore likes elvin music?" I say. (We've discovered that, if we run out of conversation topics, we can always turn to Alvar's love life.)

Ruy bursts into laughter. "He'll bid her farewell right then and there."