The Charlatan

06. An Open Secret

It was warm.

Air opened his eyes. His body ached all over. It was still dark in the cave; no one seemed to be awake yet and the only sounds echoing through the mines were the shifting of the earth above them and the steady breathing of the rescue team. While Air never tired of the noise and excitement of the city, the calmness that surrounded him as he slept under a warm blanket in a wide cave full of mystery was welcoming. He turned his head to his left. His eyes were still trying to adjust to the darkness, but he could feel Clara breathing next to him.

What an enigma.

Air had known she was a courier right away. There was a swiftness and practiced athleticism that revealed all couriers, as much as they claimed to operate discreetly. He had seen it in his brother too. He had also seen what years of couriering robbed him of, what it was robbing Clara of.

Clara shifted and bumped Air as she turned herself over. "Sorry," she mumbled tiredly.

"It's all right." Air smiled lightly. Even exhausted, Clara was using his mother tongue to talk to him.

He felt Clara stiffen as he answered. Evidently she hadn't thought him fully awake. Silence passed and neither of them moved, simply breathing and resting their tired limbs and minds. It was Clara who spoke up again.

"I'm sorry." There was an honesty in her voice, an unguarded vulnerability, that Air had not yet heard in his time around her. "I haven't been honest with you," Clara continued as Air listened, "And you had every right to stop me. To question me. The constabulary and guard chasing me back in the Citadel-"

"They were after you for the message you delivered, right?" Air interrupted. "I know a little about the courier system. Couriers are neutral. Neutrality lands you in messy political wars, and people will do anything for your head and whatever important message you've been tasked with delivering." Clara was quiet, and Air continued. "It happened to my brother. Caught. Illegally charged with treason."

Clara hesitated. "It's not quite like that for me. It's-"

"None of my business," Air interrupted again, a little more loudly than he intended to. He brought down his volume and spoke again, more gently. "You don't have to tell me anything. I know I ask a lot of questions, but you're not obligated to answer them if you cannot. I'm just... trying to repay you."

"What?"

"I was busking in the middle of the square when people started coming out of their shops to question me," Air explained. "I thought I was going to be arrested, but then you dropped down and took their attention away before they could behead me where I stood. I don't know what happened, why the people suddenly turned," Air tensed, remembering his broken instruments and the angry panic of the Velties that had surrounded him, "But I escaped with my head."

"I didn't know you were there, I didn't save you," Clara insisted.

"No, but I think it was lucky I was, and more than lucky that you came when you did," Air said.

Clara was quiet again, no doubt mulling everything over. She had seen what the world was really like, how people really were, Air could glean that much from her spells of anger and annoyance at people who reached out to her. There were some things that set her off so quickly, that made her keep her guard raised up in front of her perpetually. She hid behind colourful language, but Air had no doubt that she was kind.

"Thank you." Clara's sudden utterance pierced Air's thoughts. He didn't know how to answer. "I've... been a coward," Clara continued. "My travels have taught me things, but some of those things... I wish I hadn't known. Running and hiding and pretending are the only things I know I can do best. But there are things I know... that nobody else knows," she paused, "This... This isn't the time to be running. I can't do that to these people. I can't do that to you. You're helping me, so I might as well do something worth your help."

Air smiled and Clara shifted again. "You're safe with me, Vulghebt," he said.

"Fuck off," Clara chuckled.

"Not aiding your case." Air tried to keep his laughing quiet as Clara lightly punched his arm. After their light-hearted bickering and giggling subsided, Air piped up again. "You are safe. I'm here to help," he said seriously as he took Clara's hand. He felt Clara tense and quickly withdraw her hand, startling him.

Unexpected. This was just like what happened earlier at the... Oh. All at once, Clara's behaviour at the shop in the center square started to make sense to Air. He remembered how flustered Clara had been as she spoke to the shopkeeper, and how the Dehic businesswoman eyed the both of them like they were sweetcakes. She meant to take advantage of them for the profit they could bring her. Air thought that they could pounce on that opportunity. She had clearly been flirting with them, but that made Clara uncomfortable. And now Air was suddenly grabbing her without asking. Despite being a Veltie, Clara didn't seem inclined to do any thing for gold.

"Hey," he whispered softly, "You don't have to worry about me forcing or coercing you into weird favors or something. I should've noticed that you're not comfortable with these kinds of gestures. I'm not trying to come onto you. 1, I'm incontrovertibly not interested in women; 2, I'm not an asshole; and 3, I'm not one to be taken advantage of and fall for seductive bribes."

"I wasn't-!"

"It's ok, I know you weren't. I'm just saying, you don't have to worry and I'm sorry. I want to help because I'm a friend, and I'm just touchy because I'm a touchy person, not because I want a favor. Tell me when I've gone too far. Fugitives stick together, yeah?"

"I," Clara mumbled something that Air missed, "Yes," she paused and tentatively took Air's hand before repeating herself more confidently, "Yes."