Page 70 of Avelina

It was early morning and the sun had not yet risen, but Aaron was already gone. A light drizzle hit the oculus, and I shivered at the thought of him walking out in the rain, though I knew he’d never be cold. That was a useful side effect of his Evocation, since this part of Monash was even colder than Northern California. Summer was almost over, but the constant rain made it feel more like late fall.

I lay in bed under the oardoo blanket as usual, and the oil lamp threw a lovely orange light over my shoulder that was bright enough to fill the whole room. I had already decided that I liked it better than electric light and would be taking the oil lamp with me to Earth, if that ever happened. In the meantime, I was perfectly content to lounge and read.

I read The Meriweather Monster and His Kin, by Marie Faraway, which recounted the tales of sailors who had survived a Merimo attack. The author proposed that the monster was actually a family of creatures whose history extended back thousands of years. I was obsessed and completely engrossed in the book, which is why I practically jumped out of my socks when Ward rapped on the trapdoor.

“Lina?”

“Come on up,” I said, trying to sound like I hadn’t just had a mini seizure. Ward suppressed a smile, but I ignored it. “It’s super early, Ward. Did you sleep at all?”

“A little,” he said, shuffling over to collapse into his reading chair. He had somehow managed to claim the cushioned seat as his regular perch despite Aaron’s obvious displeasure. “I heard Aaron leave. I figured you were up.”

“You know me well,” I said.

“You found the monster book, I see,” he said, not quite covering his smirk.

“Don’t judge me,” I said. “It’s a real sea monster. I’m part Scottish. I have no control over it. The passion is in my blood.”

Ward nodded as if that made complete sense, then picked up his own book to continue reading from where he’d left off. He slouched into the chair as much as his body would allow, curling himself in to drape his long legs over the arm, then brought the book close to his face. He had dark circles under his eyes that deepened day by day.

“Ward,” I said.

“Huh?”

“Do you think you’ll ever transform again?”

He shook his head, not taking his eyes from the book.

“What would you do if you could?” I asked.

He took a breath in and out, then just shrugged.

I let the silence sit there for a moment, but I knew he could feel me staring at him, waiting. He finally lifted his eyes to mine.

“What?” he said.

I shoved the blanket off and stood. I wore one of Jorin’s tunics, which was dark brown and so long that it draped down to my ankles. It was long-sleeved and had a wonderful silkiness. I couldn’t understand why the men’s fabrics were so comfortable and the women’s fabrics were so scratchy. Living on Monash as a woman was like death by a thousand pink paper cuts. I walked over to Ward and knelt in front of his chair. “Ward, can I connect with you?”

He sighed. “I’d rather not.”

“I know, but I’m asking anyway. Please. I want to try a sort of reverse Absorption using Connection.”

“That’s not a thing,” he said.

“How do you know?” I asked. “Isn’t Seleca the only other greater connector? I’m pretty sure she would never even attempt to give away a reservoir. Please, I want to see if I can give you some of mine. I accidentally gave Aaron lesser Connection, so I think I can do that for you too.”

“I’m not having sex with you, Lina,” he said, wrinkling his nose.

“I wasn’t offering, but wow. You could have said that without looking like someone just offered you a shit sandwich.”

Ward laughed. “Aaron won’t like it.”

“Aaron’s not here.”

Ward gave me a flat stare. “You were waiting for him to leave,” he said. It was a statement, not a question.

“Like I said, you know me well.”

“Which one would you give me?” he asked, finally closing his book and giving me his full attention.

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