Jim continued walking, and Alex kept pace with him. They walked over to an old tree stump that stuck up amongst the yellow harrigolds. “Yeah, I can imagine. I wouldn’t want to be talking about that all the time. How have you been holding up?”
Alex leaned forward, picked one of the harrigolds, and shrugged. “No one in VR knew I was blind, and I tried to keep it that way. I don’t like people treating me differently, or like I can’t do things.”
“Seems like no one here would treat you like that. What’s it like for you now, suddenly being able to see?”
Alex thought about the best way to answer the question. It was hard enough to explain what being blind was like. Take that experience and add on seeing through the eyes of a Beholder for the first time, and after that, being granted the eyes of a dragon.
It was a bit much to explain. “I guess it’s been,” Alex started, “complicated. It’s completely changed my life, not that I thought my life was lacking before. It’s just an entirely new existence. The whole world is different than I’ve ever known.”
Alex held up the harrigold she’d picked so the sunlight glowed through the flower’s thin petals. “The only time I had ever seen before was in a place that wasn’t real, or at least, not like the real place. I’ve never seen my parents with my own eyes. I’ve never seen anyone from my old life with my own eyes. It’s…it’s different.”
Jim nodded as he listened. “What about me? You’ve seen me as an avatar and now real life. What’s that like?”
Alex tucked the flower behind her ear and laughed. “You? Yeah, I saw you in VR, but seeing you in real life for the first time was, ah, interesting.”
“Oh, yeah? What was interesting about it?”
You’re freaking hot, Alex thought. Probably not the best thing to say right now. “You looked pretty much like your avatar,” Alex finally said. “I heard that wasn’t something most people did. I’m not sure how much my avatar looks like me. You know, I couldn’t really use a mirror.”
Jim moved, so he was right in front of Alex, looking her in the eye. Alex wanted to turn away, but something kept her eyes glued to Jim’s. “Hm,” he said. “You don’t look different. Guess you don’t need to see yourself to know what you look like.”
Jim didn’t move and kept staring into Alex’s eyes. Alex couldn’t tell how long they looked at each other, but she didn’t want to look away. She felt like she could spend the rest of the day with him like that.
Thankfully, Chine broke Alex’s concentration. He’s thinking about asking you on a date.
Alex maintained her look of stoicism, but her heart was racing. A date? She’d never been on a date. She’d never even thought about going on a date. Why would she want to do such a thing?
Chine interrupted Alex’s train wreck of thoughts. He’s very nervous.
Before Alex realized it, she had already opened her mouth and was saying, “Of course, I’ll go on a date with you.”
Jim’s eyes widened as he stood up, awkwardly trying to shove his hands in his pockets, only to realize he didn’t have any pockets. “What? I wasn’t asking, I…wait, how did you know I was going to ask you?”
“Call it a hunch. After this mission. Lunch or coffee? I don’t know what people do on dates.”
“I think since I asked you, I’m supposed to come up with ideas.”
“Technically, I think I just asked you, but sure, take the pressure off me.”
Just then, a siren went off near the mines. Alex jumped to her feet, looking in that direction. “Guess that means it’s time for us to go.”
Chapter Six
By the time Alex and Jim got back, the rest of the dragonriders were ready to go. Four of the mech riders had arrived and loaded up the minerals. It was explained to Alex that the mech riders rode in prototype mechs based on dragon physiology. The mech tech hadn’t worked out as originally planned, and these were really only good for transportation.
Roy was the only rider who had managed to “meld” with his mech, whatever that meant. Alex got the gist of what was being said, though. Since they didn’t have proper reaction times, the mech riders were sitting ducks in the air, and Jim was one of them.
As well as the mech riders, six more dragonriders had arrived. They were veterans and didn’t seem to have any time to waste talking to the newbies. Alex tried not to take it personally. The veterans probably thought Team Boundless would need babysitting.
One of the veteran riders, a wood elf named Alborn, stood atop his dragon, a beautiful purple lightning dragon with white horns curled like a ram’s. “All right, Team Boundless, I’m glad you’ve finally decided to join us.”
Alex ignored the irritation in Alborn’s voice as she mounted Chine. “Seems like we were the ones who were waiting around for you to show up,” she called back. “You missed the fire and everything. Or did you not bother to ask Rocten?”
Alborn’s eyes narrowed as he frowned at Alex. “I see respect for seniority doesn’t mean much to humans.”
“No, not really. And last time I checked, dragonriders are equal across all boards, right? It’s not like you outrank us, so you should probably stop talking to us like you do. Boundless? You guys ready to go?”
Team Boundless stared at Alex, dumbfounded. None of them had been expecting her to talk back to the veteran riders. Earlier, Brath and Jollies had been fawning over them.
Alex wasn’t impressed by the veterans. It wasn’t that she thought she was better than them; quite
