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Lysander wasn't at dinner, something Alina noticed right away. But her plan to bring her food was foiled by the line cook who wouldn't serve her simply because she was Shu. So, Alina dragged her feet, empty-handed as she found Lysander up in a watch tower, looking out sadly at the Fold.
"There you are," Alina said, climbing up to meet her. "You usually hide lower down."
Lysander shrugged, staring down at her fingers as she picked at them. "You're more comfortable higher up. Knew you'd come," she said softly.
Alina reached for her hands to keep her from picking at the skin around her nails nervously. "Do you want to talk about it?"
Tears welled in Lysander's eyes. "Not particularly," she murmured. "Can we just sit?"
"Of course," she said softly, pulling Lysander closer.
She let the younger girl lean her head on her shoulder, hoping she couldn't hear the pounding in her heart beneath her First Army uniform. Many nights were spent wrapped up in each other's arm, but Alina was fearing that this was the last time it'd ever happened. Given the bleak life they'd lived, neither was particularly good at looking on the bright side.
"You'll be okay," Alina whispered, kissing the top of Lysander's hair. "You'll just have to be."
The pair sat in silence for a while longer before Mal broke it, climbing up to meet them. He had an easy smile on his face, trying to hide his own nerves to bring them some comfort.
"I found you," he said.
"You always do, somehow," Alina murmured.
"Well, it's not hard, you always perch. Lysander burrows."
"I'm brooding," Alina informed him, sniffling a bit.
"Well, I have something for you both," he said before producing a glass bowl full of fresh grapes. Lysander's eyes went wider unable to believe it. She couldn't remember the last time she had fruit that wasn't turning sour.
"Where did you get these?" Alina asked in alarm as Lysander hesitantly reached for one, almost scared that the Lieutenant would appear and take it from her.
"I stole them," Mal said, surprising the girls.
"From a Grisha tent?" Alina laughed.
"I thought it would get me an invitation to jail, but it just got me an invitation to tumble with a Grisha," he joked, making Alina snicker.
"You tumbled a Grisha?" Lysander asked, her cheeks going pink as they always did when someone mentioned anything remotely intimate, something she was wholly inexperienced with.
"No. No, I just flirted with her. Maybe she flirted with me," he shrugged. "Look, Grisha women scare me. Okay?"
Alina rolled her eyes playfully before splitting the grapes with Lysander . Actually, she made sure Lysander had a few more than she did.
