It was a point of embarrassment for Cardin how long exactly it had taken him to wrestle free of the tie, as well as the fact that he’d had to stay sprawled on the couch for a long while before finally forcing himself up to shower. He also didn’t want to admit that, despite his best intentions to wait up for Keary’s return, he had fallen soundly asleep within minutes of touching the mattress. It was probably a good thing nobody was around to witness how tired he had been, just from one early morning.
At some point during the night, he thought he heard the sound of Keary’s low laughter from somewhere around him, thought he felt a gentle touch on his hair. But when the cerulean eyes eventually managed to crack open, they found the other side of the bed still empty, although Cardin was now covered in blankets which he didn’t recall pulling over himself.
Even when his alarm went off in the morning, there was still no sign of the dark-haired boy. There was, however, a short text sent an hour or so after Cardin had concussed. It read that Keary would be late after all, that he and Kumiko were taking Mikka out for a bit to air.
Don’t talk about her like she’s a mouldy curtain, Cardin thought, but couldn't help smiling to himself.
He was slightly disappointed that he had not gotten to spend the evening with Keary, but on the bright side, at least he had gotten a full night’s rest. Plus, he could be on time for school today without having to worry about *somebody* ambushing him and making certain things hard.
The walk to school presented a completely different experience when he was able to take his time strolling through the half-empty streets, instead of weaving a frantic dash like he had done the previous day. The sky overhead was slowly brightening into a soft azure, and provided a peaceful backdrop for the twittering birds that took random turns perching in and alighting from the trees along the paths. As a fresh breeze flowed his way, he tilted his face up and filled his lungs with the crisp morning air.
It felt good to be alive. He was so glad he was alive.
His route took him through an arcade of shops, where the only store open at this time was a bakery. Cardin bought himself a chocolate danish to munch on as he walked. It wasn’t as delicious as the ones Nimue made at her café, but it would have to do for now, until he could get back to work again.
More urgently, he had to figure out how exactly he was going to accomplish the other job he had taken on. He needed to find a way that wouldn’t involve dragging an innocent child into potential harm.
As he ran through ideas in his head, he absentmindedly noted a few people walking ahead of him, dressed in the same uniform. Although some of the faces looked familiar from the previous day, he wasn’t actually acquainted with any of them yet to be able to greet and join them. Just then, however, a low voice spoke from behind him.
“Cardin.”
Startled out of his thoughts, the blonde spun around. The first thing that came into his view was the chest section of a school uniform, the same as his; the person wearing it was very tall. As Cardin raised his gaze to see who it was, his eyes met pale, lavender-grey ones, and he almost choked on a mouthful of pastry.
“FINNEAS?!”
The taller boy winced at Cardin’s shout. “Yes. ’Tis I,” he stated coolly.
“What are you doing here??”
“Isn’t it obvious?” Finneas gestured at himself, specifically the uniform he was wearing. “I’m on my way to school.”
“You—?? But aren’t you— I thought you were—” Cardin bit his lip, not sure what he could say next that wouldn’t sound insulting. But Finneas only smiled wryly.
“‘Older’? Yeah, most people are fooled by my height. I’m only in first year though, same as you. Saw you running to class yesterday. Well, everyone in our level did. But you rushed off before I could catch you to say hello.”
“You should've said something before this!”
“I did.”
“When??”
“Last night. You were just too diverted to realise.” He stepped past Cardin before the golden-haired boy could blush, nudging him to follow. “Come on, keep walking. It would be ludicrous to be late for school when we’re already here.”
With his long, almost-white braid of hair that fell past the hem of his school blazer, Finneas easily cut a striking figure among the other students. As he glided gracefully through the growing crowd flocked in the same direction, several lingering gazes turned toward them, even as they shifted out of his path. Finneas ignored them all, but Cardin suddenly felt
extremely self-conscious under the scrutiny and whispers.
He had realised that he was more petite than most of the other males this age and older, but it wasn’t something that had really bothered him until this moment. Finneas stood a head or more above everyone else, and walking right beside him made the discrepancy between their heights all too clear. Perhaps this was why everyone gave him such a wide berth. Feeling dwarfed but trying not to show it, Cardin sidled a couple of paces away.
“Why… How are you so tall?” he muttered into his last bite of danish.
Finneas turned to him in surprise, then sniggered. “You haven’t even seen me in heels yet.”
“... Heels??”
Finneas let out a long-suffering sigh at Cardin’s baffled expression. “I do some modelling outside of school,” he explained. “That’s why I obtained especial permission to keep my hair this long, and in this colour. And yes; on occasion, I get to enjoy the dizzy privilege of teetering around in high-heels, as if I weren’t already tall enough. Fashion brands worship androgyny.”
“That’s…” Cardin shuffled even farther, feeling tiny. “That’s pretty glamorous.”
“As far as being a glorified clothes hanger can be called glamorous. But it can be fun at times, I suppose.”
The school building came into view as they turned a corner, and Cardin asked, “So, how’s Mikka? Is she alright?”
“She cheered up. Keary shook her out of her slump, then left to check on you while she washed up. You didn’t see him?”
That explained the blanket, and the other things Cardin thought he had dreamed. He said sheepishly, “I was asleep. He wasn’t home when I woke up though? He left a message saying he was bringing Mikka out with Kumiko.”
“Yup. The three of them went to wipe out a nest, but I went home because, you know,” Finneas sighed and waved his hand in a grand yet dismissive gesture, “school.”
The golden head tilted in askance. “‘Nest’?”
“Another gang’s headquarters.”
“I see… Wait, what??”
Finneas stared at him. “What ‘what’?”
“What’s this about wiping out other gangs?”
“Hasn’t he brought you along for any?” When Cardin shook his head, Finneas scratched his jaw. “That's strange. I thought he would have. Well, apparently Keary’s been, uh, chasing other mercenaries-for-hire out of the city. He’s only had me tag along once or twice, but there have probably been more.” He cast a sidelong glance at Cardin. “I thought he might have told you about it, at least.”
“He hasn’t.” Cardin’s face fell.
One bleached-blonde eyebrow quirked up before Finneas smoothed out his expression again. “I guess his mouth is too preoccupied doing other things when he’s with you.”
Catching the teasing allusion to the compromising state Finneas had caught them in last night, Cardin tried to smile. But inside, his heart had sunk to the pit of his stomach.
Keary was still keeping him out of the loop. He had thought that they were done with fighting about it, that he had gotten Keary to understand that he couldn’t stand to be shut out, and that Keary had accepted him into the fold… but now it turned out that there were these raids that everyone knew about.
Everyone except him.
*He still doesn’t think I’m strong enough for this.*
The thought triggered a dull restlessness in him. But it wasn’t like he had any grounds to argue right now. He had been assigned one job, just one, and he had yet to deliver on it.
Misunderstanding Cardin's troubled expression for one of worry, Finneas tried to reassure him. “He likely gets Nigel and Shun to follow him more often, but truth be told, even if he went alone, very few people, if any, would be able to put a scratch on him,” he said as they stepped past the school gates. “The morningstar was the only anomaly I’ve ever witnessed, and then only because Keary took poison damage first,” he added.
“For sure.” Cardin nodded, only half listening. “Listen, Finneas. If you don’t have plans during the break, could we have lunch together? I need to pick your brains on something.”
……
And we’re back! Told you I wasn’t giving up on this story. Updates will be patchy over this next month though, as I will be flying. Will update as much as possible, especially if there are many long bus rides. What’d you think of Finneas so far?
