PENUMBRA (how the flowers grow)

17. Tongues

Sabina wakes up surprised that she got any sleep last night. Her eyelids and limbs are heavy, her head is foggy, and yet she must have slept, for she can't recall the arduous pass of time during the midnight hours.

Ugh.

She sits up and rubs her cheek, pressing her hand over her mouth as she yawns. Tuluvey is still fast asleep beside her, so she is careful when she slides out of bed. She takes a moment to pause and watch him, simply taking in the peace in the way he lays.

She pads over to the little basin of water in the corner of the room and wets a rag to wash her face with. She finds herself a bit more awake afterward. As she's putting on her socks and shoes, she jumps at the sound of a knock at the door.

Fuck, she thinks, trying to calm her racing heart.

She cautiously opens the door and is greeted by the cheerful orange face of Jitho. Jitho practically bounces on her feet, teeth biting her lip as she grins. Her black and red hair falls in her face and she shakes the strands away.

"Good morning," she chirps, accent scratching at her words- so familiar. "Do you want to go to the market with me to go get pastries for breakfast?"

Sabina is so flustered she can't gather any words for an embarrassingly long moment. Jitho waits patiently, eyes wide and overbright with excitement.

Get it together. This is one of Tuluvey's friends.

"Um- sure, all right. Give me a second."

"Okay!"

Sabina steps away from the door and goes over to Tuluvey. She nudges him awake and he grumbles, nuzzling into the pillows.

"I'm going to go to the market with Jitho," she says, sounding more confident about it than she feels.

"Mmm. Okay, have fun."

Tuluvey buries himself further into the bed and falls asleep again with no difficulty. Sabina meets Jitho out in the hallway and quietly shuts the door behind her.

"Let's go to the place that sells lemon cakes," Jitho says. "I don't know if they'll have them this early in the morning, though."

"All right."

They walk downstairs and go say hi to Eggel, who's reading a book at the bar. L'gaoia sits next to him, nursing a drink. It's a funny sight. L'gaoia is the tallest person Sabina's ever seen and Eggel is really small, as he's a gnome (or dwarf, maybe. Sabina doesn't know what the difference is).

"Morning, Egg. We're going to go get breakfast."

"L'gaoia said," he answers, looking up from his book. "Get me a scone."

"Will do."

Sabina follows Jitho out the door and onto the street. There's not many people out this early in the morning. Jitho turns to her, face lit up.

"It'll be nice to have another Shasani around," she says. "You know what it's like."

Yes, Sabina supposes she does. She finds it odd how Jitho has placed her trust in her so readily. She would figure a Shasani would know better than anyone how untrustworthy they are. She guesses it's the same reason she agreed to come out with her: friend of Tuluvey's. That must be enough.