“Is it that obvious that I’m tired?” she asked. She stood straight, and she lifted her chin to encircle her neck with a band of metal that had been hanging loose around the collar. Metal clicked as it cinched tight. She did the same with another band, closer to her neck. Binding all of the tendrils into a ‘neck’ that was one solid cord.

I steadied her with one hand and held her coat so she could slide her arms into the sleeves. “You wouldn’t be the only one that’s tired and cold. But I think we’re doing okay tonight.”

“Don’t jinx it. Weld and Crystal are supposed to get back late tonight, and if you keep talking like that then something’s going to get in the way of our reunion.”

“Mm, yeah. Not sure what Crystal is going to say. Knowing her, she’ll just go straight to sleep.”

“I’m looking forward to sleep,” Sveta said. “Half of me wants to see Weld and talk for a straight week, and the other half wants to say nothing at all, to avoid overwhelming him. Go back to the apartment, and curl up in bed. Make myself a pillow nest on his chest and have him do this thing he does where he puts his hand at the back of my head, tendrils and stuff through his fingers, and puts that gentle pressure down on me. Pushing me into the pillows and his chest with the weight of his hand.”

“You put way more effort into describing one of those things. It sounds like you have a preference.”

Sveta smiled. “I’ve been thinking about it lately. But doesn’t it sound bad if I don’t want to talk to my boyfriend after not seeing him for a while?”

“You want to be close to him. That’s, ah, I envy you having that to look forward to.”

“It’s weird to picture someone envying me.”

“Nah,” I said. I bumped her shoulder with mine as we trudged over in the direction of the main group. “Weld’s one of the truly good good guys. And so are you, for the record.”

She shook her head.

“So are you,” I said, for emphasis. “And you two deserve each other in the best way. If you’re stuck on what to do, you could let him take the lead on how to reunite,” I said. “If it was hard or ugly where he was, he might want to just cuddle instead of getting super into it.”

Sveta gave me a one-armed hug.

“I wanted to ask,” she said.

“What?”

“Ashley. She showed me the lockpicking thing. Was that because you said something to her?”

“No,” I said.

“Was it because… I hate to ask, even. I shouldn’t ask. Benefit of a doubt, right?”

“Did Kenzie listen in and share with Ashley?”

Sveta made a face.

“I think that was just Ashley.”

Sveta nodded.