ONE HUNDRED FIFTY-TWO: A Sharp Break

 

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“That’s funny!” said Kabir, his knives still chopping squash in time to the music. “It almost looked like The Bald General ran away from you!”

Alden’s astonishment was so complete that he stood there with a mind gone blank, gaping at the spot Joe had vacated. One of the mounds of sandwiches in the fridge, unbalanced by the wizard’s rummaging, slowly collapsed sideways onto the bare section of shelf where the trifle had been stored.

I was being friendly. Why on Earth would he run from me?

It had been more of a jog than a full run. But the intention was still really obvious.

He’s Joe.

Superior Professor Worli Ro-den. Multilingual schmoozer. Clever, confident, and a little criminal—an Artonan who’d managed to be likable on Alden’s very first day as an Avowed, when he was so nervous he couldn’t even bring himself to argue with someone like Bti-qwol.

Alden and Joe’s dynamic had been different when they’d talked back in September. During that one late-night call, Joe hadn’t been quite so larger than life. Alden had been…changed. Tireder. Better informed.

But the call hadn’t been bad.

Joe had clearly been uneasy when he picked up the phone, but they’d joked around a little in the end.

I told him I didn’t think he’d made a bad gamble. I told him I liked the lab coat. I told him I’d stood up for him with Alis-art’h.

He narrowed his eyes. “That man’s no hn’tyon, Kabir,” he said, accidentally speaking in Artonan because he was thinking so hard about a member of the species. “His name is Master Worli Ro-den.”

Alden, my darling Rabbit! So happy that we’ll be working together. What a nice, nice skill you have! You’re my savior….

You may call me Joe.

Irritation born of half a dozen less nameable feelings stirred inside him. “You know, I don’t think Worli Ro-den is allowed to run away from me.”

The two wizards by the fridge exchanged one-eyed glances.

Alden’s bag swung as he whirled, and his squishboot squeaked against the hard floor. He strode out of the kitchen.

He was going to catch that jerk.

He didn’t ask himself what he intended to do once the jerk was caught. He didn’t even know why he wanted to catch him, exactly. It wasn’t like he’d been desperate to talk to Joe.

But he had been pleased to run into someone who knew something about him. About Kibby. The lab. His skill.

What had happened to him. What he’d seen there.

I could say so much more, but I just wanted to say hi.

Inside his head…

No, the truth was located in some place more primal than that.

Ro-den was a powerful, sneaky, Artonan genius who would probably have a whole flock of amazing Avowed running errands for him again before Alden graduated from high school. But Alden suddenly had a certainty within himself that Joe owed him just a little bit more than that dismissal.

A few minutes of his time. Not “have a nice week.” Not “I really need to save some more poor Avowed.” A few friendly minutes.

Alden was almost across the cafeteria. Several Artonans were spread throughout the room, enjoying whatever meal this was to them. Joe was stuck waiting for the elevator.

When Alden stopped beside him, the professor didn’t react at all. He was making a show of examining a large black claw through his monocle. Since Alden had just seen him pull the claw from one of the pockets of his salmon-colored pants and wipe what looked like mayonnaise off of it, he doubted it was a precious item that would suffer from the absence of Joe’s focus.

“Good morning, Joe,” Alden said in Artonan. “How have you been?”

“Quite busy,” Joe responded in English. The note of alarm from just moments ago was now gone from his voice.

It had been replaced by brusqueness.

Alden’s irritation grew. “Busy? Me too. But earlier I realized you were here on Earth. And I thought, ‘That’s exciting. I wonder if we’ll get to see each other.’ It’s lucky that we’ve met so soon.”

“Not as lucky as you think. I’m heading to my room to draft a proposal for the Grand Senate. A more efficient and cheaper plan for tidying up this little spill than the one they’re currently considering.” Joe was studying that claw like his life depended on it. “No time to chat. Maybe some other day.”

The elevator arrived. A quartet of wizards was inside, having a conversation that stopped as soon as they saw the two of them standing there. Alden wasn’t sure if it was his fault or Joe’s.

As soon as his fellow Artonans exited, Joe slipped in.

“I think I’ll go upstairs, too.” So much annoyance leaked into Alden’s voice this time that he registered it himself, and it made him pause.

Crap. What am I doing demanding attention from this guy? I shouldn’t care about this. Sure, there are some things I could talk to him about and tell him. And he’s being rude for no reason, but that doesn’t mean I need to be an even bigger—

“Have you eaten?” Joe asked.

“No,” said Alden, startled by the question coming out of nowhere. “I was about to when—”

“Then you have no business pestering me when a dining place full of human treats awaits you.” Joe had finally looked up from the claw. The two of them were eye-to-eye as the doors started to close. “Stay here.”

The words held zero of his usual schmooze. They were cold. Imperious.

The thought that Joe might really be angry for some reason hit Alden, and his stomach clenched with a very particular type of nervousness. It was strong, but not strong enough to snuff out the fresh flare of his own anger that came with it.

He thrust an arm between the doors just before they shut and bulled through to glare at the man.

“Why are you being so…what’s wrong with you?” he demanded the second they were alone.

The car began to rise.

“It depends on who you ask,” Joe muttered, shoving his claw back into a pocket and staring at the floor number like he was willing it to move faster.

“Are you mad at me?” Alden couldn’t fathom why he would be. “Are you mad at me?”

Joe didn’t answer.

Oh my god. Is he giving me the silent treatment? Really? This is insane. I can’t believe—

“What do you want from me, Alden?” Now, he sounded neutral. It was the third major mood shift since they’d run into one another.

“I’m confused by you right now. What do you mean what do I want?” Then something occurred to him. “Did Esh-erdi tell you not to talk to me? When we saw you on television earlier—”

“Why were you watching television with him? What did he…?” Joe’s lips thinned. “No. It’s irrelevant.”

He suddenly started pressing the buttons for all the floors above them.

“I suppose a conversation must be had since you insist on it, but there’s no need for it to be an extended one,” he said. “You can talk to me about unsecret matters until we are interrupted. Or until we reach the top floor of the residential section, where I will sleep in a tiny little cupboard of a room and try to avoid dreams that remind me of the uniquely miserable place I’m at in my life.”

The elevator chimed as they stopped on the next floor. The line of buttons glowed.

Alden turned to face forward instead of staring directly at Joe. “So…what? I’m only worth twenty floors of your time?”

His anger had been punctured. It was taking his energy and certainty with it as it left.

The doors shut again.

“Nineteen now,” Joe said mildly. “What do you want from me?”

“Nothing.”

“You’re very persistent for someone who wants nothing.”

The doors opened. Another empty hallway stretched in front of them.

“I wanted to say hello to you,” Alden said. “I wanted you to say hello back. I was happy to see you. I wanted you to be…to act how you usually do. My mistake.”

They rose another floor without Joe answering.

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Alden felt off-balance. Stupid. He wished he hadn’t followed after Joe in a huff and that he hadn’t just admitted all he really wanted from the man was a little bit of personality and familiarity.

Just take care of any business you can think of and get the hell away from him for now, he told himself. Maybe he’s only being the universe’s biggest bastard because he’s been putting on the Bald General Joe Show and hasn’t slept in days.

What business did he have with this harsh, unwelcoming version of Joe?

“Have you heard from Kivb-ee?” Alden asked.

“Twice. I sent her appropriate messages congratulating her on her new path and apologizing for my failures with regard to the care of her and her family. I will visit her when she returns from Thegund and say all the same things in person. She’s rather…I will probably need to make a point of meeting her new instructors and handing her over to them for her education.”

“To give her a sharp break from you?”

“The formality of it will appeal to her.”

It would. A ritual of some kind. Something that would give her permission to leave Joe in the dust where he belonged and get starry-eyed about a sweet, patient teacher like Gwen-lor.

“Good,” said Alden. “How are your assistants?”

“Only a couple of them remain in my service. The others have found fulfilling positions elsewhere.” Joe’s clothes rustled against the wall of the elevator as he shifted. “All of them will live long, safe lives.”

Alden absorbed that.

Is there anything else I should ask?

There was so much else. But a hundred elevator rides wouldn’t cover it, and Joe had specified unsecret.

And Alden didn’t actually want to talk to him about things that mattered when he was in this foul mood.

He tried to order me to stay downstairs…like he had some right to do that.

Another chime. Doors sliding.

“Well, thanks,” Alden said, switching to English. “I’ll get off here. I guess I didn’t need twenty floors after all.”

They’d arrived at a hallway where one of the residents had opted to improve the decor. The harsh white overhead lights were off, and knee-high fixtures shone soft red. It smelled like pine-scented cleaner.

Alden made a point of stepping out of the car casually. Of not looking back.

“See you later,” he said, keeping his eyes pointed straight ahead toward a section of empty gray wall washed with reddish light.

He waited for the sound of the elevator leaving.

And kept waiting…

Instead, he heard a heavy exhalation.

“I would say that we are unlikely to meet again,” Joe said. “But we should have been unlikely to meet this time. A few days ago, I couldn’t have imagined a scenario that would lead me to encounter you here. And I don’t have a feeble imagination.”

When Alden turned back around, he saw Joe holding the elevator open with an arm.

“Instead, I will say that if we meet again, especially if we meet in public, I will have only have empty pleasantries for you. Though it isn’t my first choice, that will be the nature of our relationship. If there’s something you want to demand of me, now is your only opportunity. I suggest you pluck it before the vine withers.”

I don’t understand.

Or he did. But what he was realizing now was so far outside any expectations he might have had for a meeting with Joe, and so surprisingly upsetting, that he didn’t want to understand it.

“Perhaps you need an apology,” Joe suggested. “Or you desire another conversation like the ones we had together during your service at the university.”

Shut up, you dick.