Lu studied Adon’s CAPT sheets all morning, working with a newfound understanding of freedom the test might offer him. It was a way to Adon at the end of term, when Caldera issued their new private adult IDs, and let the world devour them from there. If he got into the top fifty percent of his block, he could get a stipend too, though he wasn’t sure what that was, he knew it was money meant to pay for necessities while the state practically owned their minds, training them in all the knowledge and tasks the AI bots couldn’t handle or were too fickle about.

Head full of half-baked hopes, Lu answered Adon’s call dreamily, rolling over his bed to his back, “yeeeees?”

Adon sighed warily on the other end.

“What’s wrong?” Lu’s smile fell.

“I don’t know what to do,” Adon huffed, the panic tight in his voice, near tears, “I just… I don’t want to be home right now. I should be working but… I got fired. I just… I can’t look at her. I know she didn’t do it and I don ‘t think it’s fair to either of us, and I’m glad she’s home safe.” He sighed again, “the cafe shifts were full and I filled my hydro hours, so anything extra can go toward this loan payment, but I can’t actually do anything to make extra. Except wait. For my meeting. And hope it’s still enough. I just felt so close.” Adon growled at his tears, tired of crying. 

Lu bounced a leg excitedly, smiling guiltily, “when’s your score meeting?”

“Tomorrow evening.”

“Great.” Lu swung off his bed, striding to his closet, “give me the day.”

“What?” 

“Give me your day. I’ll distract you.” He smiled at Adon’s soft chuckle, realizing as much as Adon grounded him in warmth, Lu offered Adon freedom from the choking monotony of his familiar burdens and chores. The evenness of their exchange gave him courage and he amended himself, “give me a date. Go on a date with me.”

Adon didn’t even hesitate, “okay, where do I meet you?”

“Platfooooorm…” Lu drew the map in his head flipping it around from the way he returned from Adon’s to going to him, averaging the distance between them, his head overflowing with ideas but simultaneously empty of everything but Adon’s easy okay, where do I meet you? “How about Platform V-22?” He nodded resolutely, agreeing with himself and staring at his closet.

“What do I wear?”

Adon sounded as overwhelmed as Lu felt. Lu listed the only clothes he’d seen Adon in outside their uniform, “t-shirt, pants, gravity-coat, boots.” He heard Adon relaxing and smiled at the sudden inspiration of where he would take him, “oh, and bring your helmet. We’re going to race.”

☆

Adon was annoyingly good at the rail circuit and Lu felt a pinch of jealousy before flooding with pride. Adon couldn’t beat Nika, no one could, but he’d made her fight as much as Lu had and he’d never ridden before. 

“Where the hell did you find such a reckless bullet, Lu-Bird?” Nika scoffed, expecting to meet one of Gideon’s new guys, mildly disappointed when Adon removed his helmet to reveal a soft pretty-boy who didn’t belong on the big track, her interest dissipating. She moved to congratulate him, amused by the juxtaposition between Adon and Lu. 

Lu introduced Adon, holding his gloved hand out to Nika with an awkward nod, but as his cold gaze panned to Lu and melted with a familiar warmth, Nika slapped his hand without shaking it and stomped away, muttering about being single forever. 

“That was awesome,” Adon breathed beside Lu, lacing his adrenaline fingers around Lu’s hand and tucking them in a pocket against the ruthless chill of the Ground. 

Lu smiled conspiratorially, leaning into Adon’s ear, “do you want to go to a grounder race?” He studied Adon’s reaction, watching for disgust or fear or contempt, but saw only curiosity and confusion. He pointed at a free motorbike, unclipped from the rails, revving excitedly as the rider called out his jump. It was a rejected grounder bike from a race crash, the metal crumpled and lazily untangled before being thrown to the kids. “That kind of grounder, the bike. Not Grounder like the people.”

Adon jumped as the bike roared to life and immediately died before rolling half a length forward, “is it dangerous?”

“To watch?” Lu thought, speculating carefully, then shrugged, “I don’t think so. I’ve been to lots of grounder races. It’s not like the Pits. There’s gates. And Sec-Offs, I guess. Sometimes the gamblers get out of hand, but then we just leave.”

Adon nodded vaguely, eyes narrowed at Lu as he considered. He tucked his helmet under his arm, shifting his weight curiously, “just so I have some context for what you think isn’t dangerous,” Adon weighed the two pieces of his understanding in each hand, “was the dismembered finger traumatizing by itself, or because it flew into the crowd toward you?”

“Both!” Lu shuddered. 

“Oh good,” Adon relaxed, his smile returning with an eager nod, “okay, let’s go see a race.”

Lu kept their hands in his pocket and led Adon through an air causeway, happy Adon had worn his old grav-suit jacket every time the wind whipped around them. Lu waited for the accusing questions or cold disapproval, but it never came. Adon followed beside him relaxed and happy, and if he wasn’t so anxious about their first date, Lu might have paused to try and draw him again. Everything between them felt excitable, nervous but natural.

☆

Grounder races were the pulse of the Wells. They acted as the Chrome Authority among the lower districts that Caldera had broken and abandoned to the frozen earth and decrepit Old City the stilts were set in. Illegal markets, illicit deals, gambling, prostitution, trade in everything but Asylum credits, anything that struggled to gain legal traction in the Arcade but had a loyal buyer could be found at the races, the carnival fun for the people who worked the Arcade, for the Grounders who didn’t want the hopeful humanitarian ropes of the Asylum to ruin their fun—for the people who laughed when a finger went flying into a crowd. But it was also a muddy playground of cement and composting causeways, specifically built obstacles and incredible tricks of human athleticism, and Adon couldn’t keep his jaw shut. 

Lu swung their hands proudly, satisfied with his date choice as Adon’s head swiveled to take in every sight, thoroughly distracted as he pointed to curiosities and waited for Lu to explain. Why did the Sec-Offs turn off their duty lights? They were complicit? There was no authority in the Wells but the Quartet? Did they have track rails or just ground courses? Could they go anywhere? Adon was fascinated, freed from one overwhelm by another, gripping Lu’s hand tighter whenever he got nervous and the crowd pushed them one way or another. 

Lu pulled him closer, wrapping a daring arm around his shoulder and keeping their pace as he guided Adon to the biggest race of the season. Nika would be in Y’s pitcrew, calling orders to check rider and bike, Phaios somewhere nearby. “The Quartet have racers too,” Lu warned, pointing out the garage logos and explaining the odds displayed on the boards above each door, the gambling tents outside the gated track, the bars and illegal casinos tucked beneath the stands, olds stories of collapse and reinforcement, regretting it as Adon froze. “What’s wrong?” Lu reviewed what he’d said.

“Nothing,” Adon shook his head, pushing Lu’s hand to continue scanning their tickets with his wristband.

Lu beeped his band twice, but paused at the top of the stairs, turning to Adon, “we can go back whenever.”

Adon nodded a smile, his nerves replaced by excitement as the noise of the cheering crowd filled the air around them, pulling Lu through the doors, “No, It’s okay, it’s just how mu—ow!”

A drunk man bulldozed past Adon, careening down several stairs to a burst of laughter from the crowd. Lu caught Adon, swinging him upright and shoving the man away with a growl, “what the fuck?”

The man staggered back toward them with a bitter frown, feeling around his pockets.

“Lu, stop, it’s okay,” Adon grabbed Lu’s arm reaching for the man, trying to hold his hand, but his fists were clenched. “I’m okay,” Adon tried to smile.

“No, what’s his—” Lu turned back to the man, determined to fight back, but Adon yanked him backward, down the crowded walkway above the seats just as Lu caught the glint of the knife in the man’s hand.

They didn’t talk about it. Lu corrected their direction, cutting back out into the main tunnel, through an airway, taking Adon’s hand with a delayed apology, uncertain whether he meant it. 

Adon shrugged off the event, gesturing discreetly to market stalls selling anything and everything, “I could get Aphy a new—”

“Nope,” Lu tugged him away, pulling Adon close behind him back into the crowded arena, stomping down the stairs to their seats, “today’s only yours Doni,” Lu bit his cheek, hesitant to use the nickname Mess called him, relieved when Adon only laughed and nudged him playfully.

“Fine,” Adon agreed, pausing to scan his ID after Lu’s at their assigned seats, the green lights that had marked them joining the rest of the arena seats in the anticipatory show as the music grew louder and the pre-race stunt show began. 

“Does the Asylum track these?” Adon eyed the scanner of his seat suspiciously.

Lu shrugged, remembering why Adon might have some anxiety regarding scanners, “the races are legal, but don’t worry, these are just scanning the ticket, not your ID number.” He waved toward the crowded hall of vendors outside the doors, “that’s the risk, in here we’re fine.” He was jostled into Adon by an apologizing seat neighbor, and smiled when Adon caught him without pulling away. Holding hands was normal in the crowded areas of Caldera. Standing too close, being shoved together, speaking volumes through eye contact, it was normal, especially during heavy rain days or high-pollution alerts when they all wore their masks and full suits. But Lu found himself warmer with Adon, watching every expression, searching for warmth, approval, or acceptance where he normally expected only questions, suspicions, or disappointment. He squeezed Adon’s hand and reminded himself they’d both called it a date. 

But he’d heard Adon call tutoring a student a date. A word he used interchangeably to mean appointment or scheduled meeting, an event. Lu rolled his eyes at his impatience. It could be a friend date first. It could be whatever Adon wanted to call it. 

They watched the scrappy warm-up amateur races while Adon tried to explain to Lu how the betting pool payouts probably worked and Lu nodded along like he cared or understood the math. They made their own play-bets with each other, sealing it with a handshake and a pinky-promise, picking out their favorite racers and grounder bike-mods as the crowd rallied and the real race began. Lu watched Adon’s face light up, caught in the roaring chaos of flipping bikes flashing over obstacles, the drone footage tracking the riders, and Lu remembered how much he’d loved coming with the Bens. 

Adon interrupted Lu’s nostalgia with a soft elbow, pointing to the blue bike that had the crowd roaring. 

“That’s Y,” Lu grimaced, “she’s a grandfathered winner.”

Adon nodded excitedly at the obvious champion as she overtook the lead, smacking Lu’s arm again and pointing down at Nika waving up at him. 

Lu waved back, rolling his eyes at her. They weren’t really friends, but Adon didn’t know that yet. “They’re with Brutus’ pit crew. Phaios too.” He couldn’t remember if he’d told Adon about Phaios or if he’d been too scared of being seen only as Gideon’s son, but the racers flew past them as he spoke, so Adon hadn’t heard him anyway. 

Adon watched the kid next to Nika salute Lu, pointing excitedly at the logo on his crew suit, bouncing with a big smile and a thumbs up. Adon turned to Lu, bewildered by his matching gestures, “you have friends?”

Lu snorted, dropping his arms, “of course I have friends.” He didn’t. Phaios worked for Pa… or Benny, he was never sure which. 

Adon frowned, accepting this new reality, “I’ve only ever seen you alone.”

“Yeah, at school,” Lu stuck out his tongue, waving back at Phaios. 

Adon rolled his eyes, muttering, “and at my house, and my work,” Adon counted the places he’d seen Lu, “the rails… to my house and my work.”

“Okay, okay,” Lu conceded, laughing away his feigned offense. It was fun teasing Adon and watching him fluster, but he saw the cold frustration creeping into the corner of Adon’s eye and pulled him into a side hug as the crowd screamed team chants, “I’m sorry, you’re right. You’re my only friend.”

Adon inhaled to say he didn’t need to be his friend, but there was too much noise as the race passed the halfway checkpoint. He pursed his lips in a pout, but did not shove Lu off him, hiding his smile at the warmth and keeping himself tucked tight even as they jumped along and screamed their own cheers. 

They watched the pit crews scramble as bikes slid and crashed, Adon and Lu and half the crowd temporarily flinching at the pop of the last-lap gun, then laughing about their shared reaction as the flag waved. They huddled together, pressed forward by the anxious crowd, the air buzzing with held breaths and fanatic hopes as Y rounded the final bend, hitting cracked pavement with a confident jump, flanked by two others gunning to catch up but too far behind for the short runway to the finish. The crowd roared at the obvious win. 

They blinked, and inexplicably, without reason or cause or collision, Y was rolling, sliding over the pavement. The racer in yellow tried to swerve but hit her bike as the shocked crowd went silent, blinking at the streak of red trailing her wake, the drone cameras zooming in on the hole in Y’s unbreathing gravity suit, torn to shreds as she twitched inside the helmet, kicking away from the flaming bike with little energy, gasping and dying.