Riley was not a stranger to following impulses that led him to bad places, but as he sat on a speeding train bound for a likely altercation with a crime lord, he reflected that this was still not the most foolish thing he’d done this year. It was possible he needed to reevaluate the way he lived his life.

Starting by being more careful on who he allowed to plow into it, he thought, as Dash bounced on the seat next to him.    

“The train makes six stops before it hits Preora. We don’t know which one they’ll get off at,” Riley said, trying to temper his companion’s expectations.  

“He’s leading us,” Dash said, eyes bright in a way Riley hadn’t seen before. “At the right stop, there’s going to be a sign. We’ll know.”

“We’ll only have a few minutes to look,” Riley cautioned, but Dash would not be reasoned with.

“We’ll know,” he said, grinning as he stared out the window.  

They’d left the city behind already, and the landscape had quickly given way to rolling hills, bordered in the distance by the occasional forest.  

“You want to know something stupid?” Dash asked, his nose pressed to the glass. “This is going to be, like, officially the farthest I’ve ever gone from home.”

“W- really?” Riley asked, unable to hide his surprise. Dash nodded, his shoulder shaking slightly in amusement.  

“Told you it was stupid. But I’m New Breley born and raised, and I stayed for college, too. I mean, it basically has everything you could ever want in a city, so why bother leaving, right?” He smiled out the window, the new sights reflecting in his gray irises. “What about you? What’s the farthest you’ve been from home? Wait, I don’t even know-- where are you from?”

Riley exhaled softly. He was used to other elementals knowing, or thinking they knew, a lot about him based on who his family was. He wasn’t sure if Dash had connected him with those Deckers yet, but if he hadn’t, mentioning his home town would certainly do it.  

“Small town up north,” he equivocated. “Haven’t lived there for years though, left when I was seventeen.”

“Really? Wow, that’s kind of young, huh?”

Riley shrugged. He didn’t like recollecting the angry teenager he’d been, and he’d already had to deal with too much of his past coming back to bite him this year. Dash fidgeted, like he wanted to dig deeper, but seemed to decide against it.  

“Um, so did you move right to New Breley, or have you lived other places?”

“All over,” Riley said. “I’ve been in New Breley the last three years.”

A few minutes of silence passed between them, long enough that Riley began to wonder if a quiet ride might be possible after all. But then Dash turned towards him again and the odds dropped.  

“Hey,” Dash said, pushing his tongue against his lip ring. “I’m… I’m sorry for freaking out on you, earlier. That wasn’t cool.”

“It’s fine--” Riley started to say but, as usual, Dash wasn't done.  

“It’s just, like, these have been the most stressful fucking days ever, you know? We should be home watching tv or some shit, not running all over the goddamn country chasing after clues. Gabriel should be here, not being dragged onto trains by creepy old men! And I know I dragged you into this whole mess, and I can’t even say I’m sorry I did, cause the only reason we’re this far is because of you-- Do you even know how fucking cool you were at that Security office? I mean--” 

Dash paused, sucking in a breath of air. He blinked his big gray eyes at Riley, like he’d surprised even himself. 

“I just, I’m sorry I've been so obnoxious to you. Really sorry. You don’t deserve that.”

“It’s fine,” Riley repeated, marveling at how wrong he was. “I’m used to it.”

"What, assholes interrupting your life is just another day for you?" Dash asked with a bemused smile. Riley considered his question.

"I think most people would say I'm usually the asshole," he finally admitted. He felt Dash's eyes searching his face; instinct made him look away. 

"I don't believe that," Dash said at last, bumping his shoulder softly. "There's only room for one jerk in this partnership, and it's obviously going to be me." Riley snorted softly, and when he finally turned back Dash's smile was teasing, but there was something serious in his eyes. 

"I won't be a jerk to you anymore though, I promise," he said. "Or at least, I'll try not to. Bad impulse control," he added with a shrug. 

"OK," Riley said with a nod, and Dash's smile widened.  

“And hey, you won't be stuck with me much longer, I can feel we’re close, now,” Dash said, stretching back against his seat. “Thank god-- if I have to go another sleepless night, there's going to be so much hell to pay.”

“Did you get any sleep, last night?” Riley asked. 

“I dozed,” Dash said. “Oh, I didn’t— did I keep you up?”

“It’s fine,” Riley said, starting to feel like a broken record. “I’m a light sleeper, I’m used to it.”

“Aw, dude, you should have said something. Now I really feel like a dick.”

“Seriously, don’t worry about it,” Riley said. “We’ve got at least an hour until the first stop, if you want to nap.”

“I probably will,” Dash said, turning back to admire the passing scenery. “But wake me up if I do anything annoying. For real.”

“Sure,” Riley said, shifting to get more comfortable in his own seat as the possible seventeen hour journey stretched in front of them. With a deep sigh, Riley pulled out his phone and opened his email. He was going to have to take the Director up on her offer of more time off, after all.