Ronnie looked over at the grekelhind, her jaw hanging open in disbelief. “And you want to eat here? Of all the places in the whole fucking city, you’re gonna make me go here?” 

Earnest just looked at Ronnie as if she’d sprouted wings and threatened to fly away. “Oh, I suppose you wanted a more upscale meal?” He looked around at the car, then snorted. “Pardon me for thinking that this was a little more in our mutual budget.” 

“But… it’s a fucking McDonalds!” Ronnie spluttered, gesturing furiously at the golden arches looming above them. “Seriously, there was nowhere else you wanted to go?” 

“In case you’d forgotten, I was a cook- I wasn’t exactly rolling in dough, Rain- I mean, Ronnie,” Earnest said tersely, his head lurching forward as Ronnie slammed on the brakes- she honestly wasn’t trying to be a dick; the engine was long past its prime and nothing short of brute force made the car do anything remotely close to what she wanted. Once, she’d asked a mechanic if the damn thing was secretly sentient, but the mechanic just looked at her and confirmed that no, it was just a piece of shit. 

“Sorry about that,” she muttered, guiding the car into the parking space and saying a prayer that it started again when she shut it off. She knew it probably wasn’t helping, but she also wasn’t above doing it- at this point, it had become tradition. “It’s just how the car is.” 

“Yeah, sure it is,” Earnest grumbled, then sighed. “Whatever, kid... let’s get you something to eat- can’t have you burning out on me.”

“For last fucking time, grek, I’m not a fucking kid.” Ronnie slammed her door. Earnest got out slower, gently closing the passenger door, his face and eyes neutral. “I’m thirty-two years old, and in case you didn’t know, we make it to eighty, maybe ninety. Most not anywhere near that long, especially with the business I’m in. Odds are, I’m at least halfway done with my lifespan and I haven’t been a child for a long damn time.” 

Earnest flinched, his eyes shifting purple as he rested his palms on the roof of her car. “You said you’ve worked for Vent twenty years.” 

“Yeah. So?” 

His voice dipped dangerously low, the purple going so dark it was nearly black aside from the way his irises shimmered like gem facets. “He contracted you when you were twelve years old.”

Ronnie leaned away from her beater and scoffed, crossing her arms. “What the fuck does that matter?” 

And why the fuck were they suddenly talking about her past in a McDonald’s parking lot? Before she could say anything else, ozone stung her nostrils as a molten shimmer danced across Earnest’s skin. Time stretched. Dumbfounded, Ronnie didn’t know what to say or do and went still — before she could say anything, the scent and shimmer vanished. 

When Earnest lifted his head and ran a hand through his hair, his eyes were back to the nondescript brown of his glamour. “Never mind. Let’s get some food.” With that, he turned and walked inside the restaurant. 

Ronnie rolled her eyes at his back; habit, mostly. Honestly, she was more annoyed at herself for revealing so much of herself to a man — no, a grekelhind — she barely knew.

Frowning, Ronnie took in the roof on the passage side. The metal, once smooth, if slightly rusted, was now melted and scorched in the shape of Earnest’s hands. Huh, weird, she thought, before shaking her head and following him.

Inside, she had to blink at the bright lights — what the fuck time even was it? Ronnie didn’t own a watch, and she’d left her phone at home — if a flop she’d been crashing at for a few weeks counted as home. The menu listed burgers and fries.

She caught Earnest’s arm as a thought flashed through her mind. “Hey, can you even eat here?”

He smirked at her, eyes tired. “I gotta eat some bone chips regularly, but yeah, I can eat here. Living on Earth would suck if I couldn’t. Get what you want, my treat.”

Well, that made some kind of sense.

They ordered and sat, and Earnest toasted her with his cup of coffee. “To our partnership, however brief.”

Ronnie allowed herself a smile. “Sure.” Hesitantly, when her stomach growled, she added, “Thanks for the food. Didn’t realize how hungry I was.”

“Don’t sweat it, ki — Ronnie. Bridge magic hits harder than most.” He took a giant bite of his food.

“Sounds like experience.”

“You could say that.” Earnest wasn’t sure how much to say, but considering the conversation in the parking lot, he felt he should say something about his own past. “Been taking care of Anya for most of my life. Which, by the way, is also just over a third over.”

“You don’t have parents?” Ronnie squirmed in her seat, the idea that they were about the same age suddenly making the atmosphere uncomfortable.

Earnest shrugged, taking a bite of his burger. “Nope. just me and Anya,” he mumbled. “Been that way for a while now.” 

Ronnie paled a little, then took a sip of her soda to cover her discomfort. “Didn’t peg you for the warm, caring type.” 

Earnest rolled his eyes. “What you know about me could probably fit on the head of a pin, ki- Ronnie.” Then, almost as if he realized how angry he sounded, Earnest sighed. “I think we need to take a step back, get to know each other a little... this snapping at each other ain’t good for either of our life expectancies. So,” he said, leaning forward, his face so close that she could feel the warmth coming from his skin, “how about we agree to a truce?”

Ronnie leaned away from the warmth, not sure what to make of it. Not sure what to make about any of this, except that he was right. They’d just waste energy fighting each other every step of the way. But if they could work together, get this shit done? Earnest got to keep his sister safe, would get back to his low-key life. And Ronnie, she’d finally be done with Vent’s contract, and she could find a better way to keep her sisters safe in the future. 

And she had to admit she was damn curious about him. It was her own fault for falling into stereotyping, and Earnest was clearly anything but some bottom feeding plane hopper like Binks. She wondered if Binks gave grekelhinds a bad name, or if Earnest was an exception.

Well, she’d find out in the next few days.

There was one thing, though. “I can do a truce… if you answer something for me first.” 

His eyes flickered with a burst of sunlit yellow. What did that mean? Was he amused? Happy? Ronnie couldn’t tell, but Earnest answered affably, so it couldn’t have been that bad. “Alright, what?” 

“What’s a dosthy? And what emotion is the color black?” The sun died from his eyes, but he didn’t let any other emotion jump forward. He shifted in his seat, clearly more uncomfortable from more than just the cheap plastic chair, which creaked as he moved. 

Finally, he sighed. “Black is embarrassment, humiliation, the like. As for dosthy…” Earnest rubbed his forehead. Ronnie noticed she was squirming as much as him; what the fuck could be so bad? “The meaning of a dosthy depends on the context. The racial connotations, social statuses involved. It…” Black tinted the outer ring of his irises. “It means lover or concubine or mate, but specifically one taken outside racial lines.”

“Okay…”

“Planar vernacular. And context, again, is everything. To say someone was a troll dosthy would be a joke, because nothing but another troll could survive a sexual encounter with one.” The black in his eyes thickened slightly, then blinked away and vanished. “To others, especially those capable of producing half-breeds, it’s just a word, nothing more. If Vent took a lover outside of dragonkin, it would be an honor to the dosthy he chose, because of his social status and power — and no one dares question a dragon.” 

“I do sometimes,” Ronnie said with a snort. 

Earnest laughed. “Well, you’re braver than most.” He cleared his throat, staring off at the menu as he crossed his arms. “Grekelhinds can’t breed outside our race, and most unions are political and prearranged, at least on our home plane. We’re rare, relatively, and power varies widely based on bloodlines, and coveting power is what my people do best. To take a lover outside our kind is considered a grave sin. To call you that… it… was intended to insult us both. Me for straying from my duty, you for polluting me.” 

Ronnie wasn’t sure why she blushed, since the entire thing was stupid. However, Earnest didn’t look at her when he added, “Don’t take it personally. It has nothing to do with you. If it wasn’t for my history, Binks wouldn’t have taken the barb.” 

Ronnie took a drink of coffee, not sure why the fuck she said, “What? You get around or something?”

His head snapped around to face her again. “No. I loved her and only her, and she died.” His glare was potent, but his eyes remained plain and brown. “Does this satisfy your demands for a truce?”

“Yeah … yeah, it does.” Ronnie squirmed. “You told me the truth,” she added quietly.

Earnest studied her. “Got nothing to gain by lying to you.”

“I suppose not.” She took another sip. “Your turn.”

Emerald green flickered to his eyes, clearly glad Ronnie hadn’t pressed for more information on the painful memory. “My turn for what?”

Ronnie shrugged. “You wanted to get to know each other, and you answered my question.”

Earnest picked up her meaning, the green shifting to yellow. “Ah.” He smirked, and his voice dropped an octave to rumble. “Any question?”

She narrowed her eyes. “Within reason.”