A fire burned in a fireplace adjacent to him. He could have sworn it burned a little brighter at his arrival. A smile flashed across his lips. This is nice, he murmured. Thanks. I know...things are a little messy. I don’t really know what we’ll do, just yet. But...somehow, we’ll-
The bench creaked. Owl looked up.
Leon settled into the open space beside him, his cheeks flushed. The heat, or the drink, or the laughter that still burbled around the room. Owl wasn’t quite sure.
“Well?” Leon said.
Owl blinked. “What?”
Pursing his lips, Leon looked askance at him. “Oh, I don’t know. You just ran off for twenty minutes to somewhere, off to meet someone. After telling us a hell of a horror story, I might add.” His teeth flashed white. “Any more fires?”
Owl chuckled. “No. No fires, this time.”
“Well,” Leon said, nudging him with his elbow. “There’s that, at least. See, it could be worse.”
It could. It could always be worse. Owl nodded, staring down at the table. “Yep,” he said softly. “I’ve got nothing to complain about.”
He didn’t. He didn’t. He repeated that in his mind over and over, until it’d been hammered into his very thoughts. Alexandria had been...a gift. A boon. Sure, he’d been ripped free from time and left to drift, and sure, he’d been forced to live a lie to everyone on the outside, but...it’d given him access to anything he wanted. Any knowledge, any dream.
He was fortunate.
“Shit,” Leon said. “That bad, huh?”
Owl glanced his way, finding the man grinning sheepishly back at him. “W-What?” he said. “I just said-”
“That you’ve got nothing to complain about,” Leon said. “I heard you. But damn, you said it with this pathetic-ass voice. What the hell’d you find, after the bells rang?”
Caught in place, Owl stared at him—and then he sighed.
Little by little, low enough that Maya and James wouldn’t be disturbed, he explained. About Indira’s offer. About her promise of help. And about what she’d asked for in return.
By the end of it, Leon’s smile was gone. He looked pale, too, his skin white underneath the brassy waves of his hair. “Well, that’s a bunch of-”
“I know,” Owl mumbled. “That’s...why I told her no.”
“Good.” Leon nodded, his eyes sharp. “Shit, she’d probably just sell you out the first chance she got—or she’d try and manipulate you into helping them again.”
Owl nodded slowly, the motion almost an automatic urge. “Yeah,” he said. “You think so?”
“Are you kidding me?” Leon burst out. “Shit. She’s a snake, that’s all. God, I’ve met exactly her type before. All they think about is themselves.”
“I guess.”
“What, you don’t believe me?”
Owl shook his head, still staring off into empty space. “I- No, it’s not that I don’t believe you. I get it. She’s...I don’t think she’s all that bad, but she’s definitely...self-interested.”
Leon eyed him long and hard. “But.”
“But, I...I don’t know,” Owl mumbled. “I just...I…”
“You liked her offer,” Leon said, going still at last. “You did, didn’t you?”
Owl was grateful for the mask. It kept Leon from seeing the flush spreading across his cheeks. “No. I mean, sometimes, but- It’s complicated.”
A chuckle rippled from Leon’s throat. “What complication? It’s just you and an ancient, magical library-woman, floating through time and space. That’s so simple.”
Owl snorted. “Pretty much. I’ll be fine. I just-”
“Do you hate this that much?” Leon said. Again, his voice had gone hushed. Owl looked up. Leon wasn’t looking at him, anymore. His hands rested on the table before him, clasped around each other with his drink clutched in the middle. “Being the Librarian. Being here. Her.”
Owl swallowed. “That’s a lot of questions.”
A grin flashed across Leon’s face. “Well. Any of it.”
“Not...Not really,” Owl said. “Sometimes. I just...I want to have the choice, you know?” He spread his hands flat across the table, feeling the woodgrain sinking through the leather of his gloves. “I don’t want to get rid of her. I just…” He sighed. “I’d like this to be a bit more of an equal relationship,” he mumbled. “But...I’ll be fine.”
Silence hung over the table, punctuated by the occasional jeer from James and Maya. Owl forced a smile. “Sorry. I don’t- I didn’t mean to make this all about-”
Something brushed against his back. He jumped.
Leon’s arm settled across his shoulders, draped with casual ease. “Jesus, I told you to knock that off,” he said with a chuckle. “You’re pathetic, you know that?”
“Shut the hell up.”
Leon only snorted, his laughter building. “Stop freaking out, and just calm down. We’ll figure it out.”
Owl nodded. It was so damn easy for Leon to say that—he wasn’t the one staring down forever. He hadn’t realized how much that bothered him until he was put face to face with it.
The room was warm, though, with the smell of pine and woodsmoke filling the air. Leon’s leg was pressed against his, burning like a second fire.
“I guess,” he whispered, nodding once more.
Leon’s fingers squeezed against his arm. “So buck the fuck up, little soldier. Stop being a sad sack for ten minutes, and we’ll help you.”
“Oh, go to-”
“James!” Leon cried, turning away from Owl again. “Tell Owl what you were telling me earlier. About-”
“No,” James said, looking up from the drink he was mixing. Already, his face was bright red. “Damn it, Leon, I told you not to-”
“Aw, c’mon,” Leon said, with a distinctly vicious grin. “It was funny.”
James rolled his eyes, fixing him with an exasperated look.
Leon was trying to cheer him up, Owl knew. As were the others, probably. They were trying to distract him. He smiled, and for a moment, the expression was entirely genuine.
Trapped or not, Alexandria or no Alexandria, friends like this were better than he deserved.
He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table, and let their conversation engulf him. Just for a while, Indira’s whispers faded to nothing.
* * * * *
Daniel leaned back in his chair, groaning. The screens of his computer glowed against the steadily-darkening room. It’d
