Lu was gone when Adon woke, Mess curled in the bed beside him. He stretched and smiled at the chocolate in the corners of Mess’ mouth with a sigh, dropping his arms and wiping his mouth gently, “I told you to brush your teeth before bed.” Mess groaned sleepily, batting his hand away. 

Adon stepped over Aphy on the futon pad she’d pulled onto the floor, grimacing at her loud snores. He ate cake for breakfast, sent Lu a picture, then showered away all the anxiety of the CAPT, rescheduled several tutoring sessions, and, when Mess and Aphro were awake enough, spent the morning cleaning their small unit. 

It wasn’t until he plunged his hands into the steaming dishwater that Adon noticed the ID bracelet around his wrist, pulsing a brief neon green to confirm the water safety. He pulled his arm out of the water, staring at the band dripping suds. 

“Lu did that,” Messenger reported, like a youngest child fearful of being blamed. “He said you gave Aphy the good one but she didn’t use it, so you should.”

“Hey, I do use it,” Aphy retorted from the desk in the corner, where she’d been organizing art supplies for an hour. “I told you to be careful of him Doni, he’s from a crazy family. Worse than Sophia’s.”

Adon flinched at the name, wondering how screwed he was for running away from a Silver. Maybe he had enough high-profile students that she wouldn’t do anything. Aphy seemed like she was hinting that she knew something, so Adon went ahead and turned the tables, “hey, where were you last night, Aph?”

“Here.”

“Liar,” Adon and Mess replied in unison. 

“Was too, I just ran to get something and got caught out in the rain. I had to wait for ages to get through the covered halls.”

“Get what?” Mess challenged, excited not to be the one in trouble for once. 

“Girl stuff,” Aphy snapped, glaring a warning at Mess, “you wouldn’t understand.”

Adon frowned, hurt. He’d stocked their tiny bathroom since she was eight just in case. He’d crawled the new internet for hours in search of the best educational videos when she was ten, had as many versions of The Talk as he could, hoping school, friends, or Heather would fill in any gaps, and auto-purchased her girl stuff without a word every time he filled their grocery inventory. 

Aphro slumped in the rickety chair at the innocent frown on Adon’s face, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. I just… I’m just tired.”

Adon thought of the cafe. It wasn’t a job, she still used his credit account. He gripped a plate in the hot water and focused on keeping his voice even, “are you in trouble?”

“What? No!”

Adon smiled at the offense on her face, annoyed not fearful. He let go of any suspicions with a shrug, “okay, then tell me when you’re ready.” He had to trust them, it was the only way they would get to the Mids. He didn’t ask about the cafe, simply dried his hands and clasped the fancy bracelet around her wrist, nodding at the delicate shape. It was the newest model, fashionable, and he saw Aphy’s eyes struggle between acceptance and rejection. He smoothed her hair back, “keep it on, Aph, it’s dangerous out there.”

Realizing she could wear the bracelet or spend the rest of the day arguing, Aphy nodded, grateful when Adon dropped her hand and returned to the dishes. “How was it?” She ventured hesitantly, “the test.”

Adon shrugged, suddenly full of appreciation for Lu, who hadn’t asked such a baneful question. A thought occurred to him and he dropped a plate back into the soapy water, glancing around the unit for clues, “how’d I get home?”

Mess popped up from dusting around the TV table, “Lu kicked the door and when I opened it you were asleep on his back.” He giggled over to Adon, mocking his light snores and stealing more cake with a swiping finger before Adon could yell at him to eat real food. 

Adon blushed over the sink, focusing on the dishes with no further questions. He began sorting his watery memories, recalling the smell of Lu’s shampoo, his soft coat, his stead heartbeat and warm— Adon plunged his hands back into the steaming water with a hiss, feeling around for dishes and wondering if Lu had to do chores while Aphy bored glaring holes into his skull and warned him again to stay away from Lu, muttering pre-mature I-told-you-sos that she couldn’t prove one way or another. Mess danced between them, sweeping the carpet and listing all the things he liked about Lu. None of them were the same as what Adon liked about Lu. 

☆☆☆