Daybreak

VII

A part of me hated waiting for the moment Amelia and Trish left for work, sitting back in my chair, dressed in fresh clothes, and waiting impatiently for the moment I could shoot back out of the apartment unseen, to meet Noah outside.

Despite it being the weekend, both girls had work that morning, rushing a bit to swallow down a decent breakfast before rocketing out the door to meet their early shifts. I was the lucky one, at least for right now.

I kind of fell out of my last job after everything in the past month or two came to an ugly point-

It was an hour before noon before I was able to slide out of the building unnoticed, Noah, by this time, leaning against the brick wall next to the front steps, head down and hands shoved deep in his pockets.

"What do you want?"

He looked up, startled at the sound of my voice as I approached, "I thought we could hang out."

"Hang out?" I echoed, his lips upturning at my echo of his own question, I wanted to punch him for smiling like that- "Wasn't I almost murdered last night? Why would you want to 'hang out'?"

Noah shrugged, waving his hands in his jacket pockets like some set of wings, "Well do you?"

I stopped at the last concrete step, and he looked up at me after a few seconds of silence, that grin still set on his face like he knew some sort of secret I didn't.

What was with this guy? Being hell-bent on saving my life last night and now it's like he didn't have a care in the world-

Wasn't he worried about that guy coming back?

"Look, Thalias isn't going to risk attacking you in broad daylight. There are people around, we don't have anything to worry about-"

"And if he does decide to try during the day?"

He shrugged, "Then it would be safer if we stick together."

Damn he had a point.

"You do know I'm not going to get attacked in my own apartment right?" I bluntly asked, coming down to stand in front of him, the guy making no move to leave from his position.

"Yes," he said, pulling his hands out of his pockets and rapping fingers against his sides instead, "but I was already in this part of town, and it's not like I can contact you."

"So, standing outside my apartment like a creeper is the next best thing?" I questioned, raising a brow in amusement.

He chuckled, shaking his head with a shrug, and a strangled "Eh. But it caught your attention, didn't it?"

This guy was just full of points today, "I suppose so."

"So," he trailed off with the 'o', quirking his brows up in my direction with a hopeful smile, "Coffee?"

I sighed, defeated at the attempt of spending a quiet day to myself, "Fine. Coffee, but I have to go back in and grab my card-"

"Don't worry about it, I'll pay for it."

Almost begrudgingly I halted, foot already back on the first step before turning back around, catching sight of the man straightening to his feet, hands back in his pockets. "Come on, I know a place just up the street."

Unfortunately, the city air was considerably cooler versus the night before as we set out. The wind whipped mercilessly through the buildings with a deep howl and I watched a patch of discarded papers and trash fly skyward in an unseen whirlwind caught within an alley.

A chill ran up my spine.

"So," I chattered between breaths, thankful I thought to grab at least a jacket before walking out, "Elf prince, huh?"

The sudden mention of last night's info dump appeared to dull the air around us and Noah's seemingly cheery exterior grew slightly somber, "Yes."

"Does it hurt?"

"What?" He looked at me, brows up in confusion.

"The glamour you dumb nut," I rolled my eyes, "if I'm allowed to be in the presence of a literal elf, I should be allowed to ask questions."

Noah chuckled, my question apparently now making sense to him, "Oh, no, it doesn't exactly hurt. But it does get itchy after a while, almost like wearing a heavy sweater."

I hummed, nodding, "Well, why don't you take it off? You know, just disguise your ears and-" I broke off, remembering the feathers that had dotted his face and neck.

He chuckled beside me, following my train of thought, "Yeah, it's a bit harder than you'd think to go without using magic, just one of the perks of going into the mortal world."

"Can all of your kind use magic?"

"Yes."

"Is there such a thing as black magic?"

This question, he seemed to take a second or two longer before answering tentatively, "Yes, and it's very dangerous, even when used properly it gives- consequences to its user."

"What do you mean by that?"

"How about we stick to simpler questions?" This next smile was more on the nervous side, openly dodging my question and I noticed how his hands dug further into his pockets, "I'll ask you one, then you can ask me something."

I frowned, I didn't like the suggestion of this guy getting to know things about me, but a larger part of me reasoned the walk would be much less interesting if I just flat-out refused, so-

"Fine, I guess you go first," I sighed.

"What's your favorite color?"

I blinked, "Really? Not something like 'where do you hide your souls' or anything like that?" I joked, a small laugh escaping my lips, recalling the redhead comment he'd made last night.

He didn't chuckle, instead, looking over at me with a curious look in his eyes, "I'm serious."

Embarrassed now at his lack of wanting to joke, I looked ahead to the small bustle of people ahead of us as they passed and shrugged, "Green."

"Really?" He questioned, with a tilt of his head, "You don't strike me as a green lover."

"Well, I wasn't going to say orange if that's what you were expecting," I forced a laugh, raising a hand to shove my obnoxiously ginger strands behind one ear.

I caught his grin out of the corner of my eye as we stepped up to a small coffee shop on the corner of a quiet intersection. The front of the building was painted a soft rust color and fake antique lamps held electric flames, the fabric awning above us making noise in the wind.

I could feel my cheeks involuntarily flush as he held the door open with a smile, the bell from inside giving a tinkling ding as he did so.

"Ladies first."