Julian absently picked at his fries, not paying much attention to them as he continued to read the book with the purple cover. He had only started reading it a few days ago, after their encounter with the feral swarm and Ren’s last minute rescue attack. He hadn’t felt Ren once since then, but somehow he knew he wasn’t far off. The energy coil continued to spin languidly within his core, warm and calm, the only sign of life Julian had for Ren. As badly as he wanted to go after him, to chase that pulsing warmth he had experienced when Ren was near, he had to listen to those around him and press on with the job.

The next night, after talking with Hawk and Hero, and unable to get to sleep, he had dug in his bag, careful not to wake Sun who was reclined on his back, snoring loudly, and pulled out the book Charlotte had given him. He ran his fingers over the runes inlaid in the cover once more, The Lost Clan of Stars. He sat on the edge of the bed with a sigh, turning the book over, looking for any other distinguishing symbols or runes to tell him what it was about before he opened it. Finding nothing, he pulled the cover back, an illustration of a large group of elves standing together holding shining orbs in their hands, illuminating their faces, their pointed ears casting slight shadows, their light blue hair in various styles.

Julian shook his head and grinned. So, that’s why you were curious about Ren… He crawled up into the bed next to Sun and began to read. He hadn’t been able to put it down since, reading it every time he had a free moment to himself. 

Ruby, sitting across from him at the table, glanced between her leader with the book in his face and the barely touched steak fries before him. She let her gaze slide to Felix who was sitting to Julian’s right. He shrugged, looking over at Julian. Modette shook her head.

“Don’t even think about it,” she muttered, taking another bite of her sandwich.

Felix grinned and turned back to his hamburger, his eyes lighting on the page Julian was reading but not commenting on it. Ruby, finally giving in to her irritation at seeing more of that book than her friend, finally asked about it.

“Is that the book Charlotte gave you?” she asked.

Julian nodded.

“What’s it about?”

Julian flipped the pages. “About a hundred and fifty pages long,” he replied.

Ruby dropped her fork and grabbed at it, cussing him out in old Gaelic. 

“Wait, hey!” Julian exclaimed, trying to grab it back but she blocked him, turning to the side as she reviewed the pages.

“Shut it,” she said, holding a hand to his face. “You’ve had this bloody thing in your face for days, it’s my turn. Stupid wanker,” she added under her breath. Felix snorted, almost spitting chewed bits of meat back onto his plate. Modette swatted at him.

“Ruby, come on, give it back,” Julian said, sitting back in his seat and folding his arms, looking every bit like a pouting child. “Charlotte gave that to me for a reason.”

“Yeah, so you can learn more about your blinkin’ boyfriend,” she said, not taking her eyes off the book as she flipped through it.

Felix looked sidelong at Julian but said nothing. Julian sighed, biting angrily into a large steak fry.

“Technically, he’s not my boyfriend,” he muttered.

“Don’t care.” She looked at him, pointing at the page she was looking at. “These buggers have cores like you?”

Felix’s lip twitched. Ruby’s accent had been coming out more and more in the last few days, along with any and every bit of old English and Irish slang she could think of, and he couldn’t help but be impressed. He’d never tell her, but he thought she sounded cute as hell.

“Not exactly like ours, but yeah,” Julian said. “We’re born with ours and it develops over time. The elves are given one by the stars a year after birth.”

“Yes, I can read that,” she said, her expression blank. “They’re the only mythics that have a core.”

“You sound surprised,” Modette said, glancing at her best friend.

“Mildly, yes,” Ruby said, turning back to the book. “It puts them on the same level as the Divine in terms of power and energy manipulation abilities, yet not one single Divine knows they exist. I’d imagine they would.”

“They’re almost extinct,” Julian said, leaning his arms on the table as he picked at his food. All eyes turned to him. He pointed at the book with a fry. “You won’t read that in there.”

“Ren told you that?” Felix said.

Julian nodded. “They’re blood is unique, as well as their magic. They’ve been hunted down and killed, their cores removed and blood stolen for profit. Outside of that, they’re considered a threat to other elf clans because they are more than capable of wiping them all out if they wanted to.”

“They don’t want to?” Modette asked.

“No, they don’t,” Ruby replied, eyes back on the book, a ketchup laden fry halfway to her mouth. “They’re peaceful, borderline pacifists, even. The magic they use is for protection, healing, and defense, never for war.”

Modette smiled. “Also for amusing scared little Irish girls.”

Ruby dropped the book, pointing the fry at her, a drop of ketchup almost landing on the open pages. “First of all, I wasn’t scared. Second of all, he did it because he thought it would make me smile and he was right.” She brought the book back to her face, munching on the fry, her eyes narrowed. “He was a very nice man, that Ren Nova.”

“Is.” Julian corrected. “He is a nice man.” He kept his eyes on his fries, his appetite fading. 

Ruby glanced at him, lowering the book. “Yes, he is,” she agreed softly. She closed it and handed it back to Julian who took it gratefully, placing it back in his pack. He sighed and set his plate on the floor for Sun to eat the rest of his meal, the dog scarfing it down happily. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah,” he mumbled. “I’m gonna go for a walk, you guys enjoy your lunch. Text me when you’re ready to go.” He scooted his chair back and got up to leave, directing Sun to stay. Sun wagged his tail, ignoring his master while he ate.

“Sure,” Modette said softly, watching Julian heft his pack on his shoulder and walk slowly out of the restaurant and out to the crowded city streets beyond. It was the first major city they’d come across since they had arrived on the continent, and when Ruby spotted the burger joint, she jumped up and down, begging to go. It was hard to deny the excited young woman, Modette wrapping her arms around Ruby’s and both of them rushing to get in before it got too busy.

A couple of kids ran past, shouting and laughing but Julian walked right past them as though they didn’t even exist. When two of the boys stopped to stare after him, one of them, a brown haired boy with dark eyes, furrowed his brow. His friend, a boy with light hair and blue eyes tugged on his arm, urging him to hurry up. The first boy broke free from his interest and took the other boy’s hand, both of them running to catch up to their friends.

Felix tapped his fingers on the table, his eyes following Julian before he disappeared around the corner. Both women knew what he was thinking and both of them stared pointedly at him.

“Felix,” Ruby said, getting his attention. She shook her head. “Leave ‘im be.”

Felix glanced between her and the outside, fighting a losing battle with himself. 

“Felix, just let it go,” Modette said with more authority in her tone. “You already made your point back at the ruins, stop pushing him.”

“Boyfriend,” he muttered, mostly to himself. His index finger continued to tap, his mind whirling. He knew he should stay, should let it go, but he couldn’t stop himself. He stood up, his heavy boots kicking the chair back. Sun looked up at him, his dark eyes going to Felix’s half-eaten meal, hoping he would be just as generous as his master was. His mouth split into a wide grin as Felix tossed him the rest of his burger.

“Felix,” Ruby pleaded. “Please, just give him some space.”

Felix said nothing, just walked out the door and took off in the direction Julian had gone. 

Modette leaned back heavily in her chair, shaking her head. “Julian’s going to kill him,” she said with certainty.

“Yep,” Ruby agreed, biting into another fry.

-*-