MISSION LOG: 20XX
CONDITION: SUCCESS
DEBRIEFING:
Target successfully neutralised after four days of non-contact from frontline team. Required additional support from backline caster Auren Draksparrow. Frontliner Avett Ironsturm sustained minor to medium injuries and is currently awaiting non-urgent treatment from the onboard crew. Medical recompense not required.
TOTAL EARNINGS: 1—
Lili winces as her partner lets out another howl, shaking the ship's foundations to its core. She looks up from the mission log and meets her captain's downcast grin.
"He's like that all of the time." Ysh'vanna rolls her eyes before returning to her ship's interface. "Auren says it's got something to do with how out-of-shape his ether circulation is, but I haven't had a problem with receiving healing at all."
"And you get healed often?" asks Lili.
She shrugs. "Just minor things. I burn the roof of my mouth often when it's my turn to cook. So not too often."
And they're thankful for that. Lili's had enough burnt toast and sunny-side-fucked eggs to know that it's no coincidence that her captain doesn't cook often. She abstains from the task, not by choice, but by force—courtesy of Auren, who Lili often finds hogging the kitchen counters as early as four.
Avett chooses that moment to plead mercy to his stone-cold provider, proving Ysh'vanna's theory right. It's very strange for Lili to hear his voice peaking like that, especially when she's used to hearing him loudly berate her on a good day. If she isn't careful, she'll actually start to enjoy witnessing his weaker side, and that's not a part of her personality that she's willing to entertain just yet.
In dire need of a distraction, she swipes away the mission log and stands up from her seat. Ysh'vanna hums as she swivels idly on her wheeled chair, one leg crossed over the other. She looks like she wants to say something, but she reaches out and opens a video player instead, finding contentment in watching kittens trip over themselves on her ten-thousand credit navigation panel.
Ironic.
Avett yelps again; his voice trails off into a half-hearted sob this time, and it actually manages to draw a pang of guilt from Lili's heart. She briefly wonders if she should check on him or if her interests lie elsewhere for today.
She slips past the entrance foyer and into the corridor, making sure to keep her steps light. Not like Avett can hear her anyway—Lili is willing to bet that he's far too preoccupied with his own predicament to catch her footsteps outside. Auren, on the other hand, is another story entirely. When she stops in front of the infirmary, the first thing she hears is his bored, superior hum: "Enter, Lili."
Ether signatures, she supposes, speak far louder than any footstep.
She opens the door and peers around the corner. Regret storms her innards when she does. A hot flush takes over her body and she presses her back to the door, keeping her eyes fixed forward and into the corridor.
At least now she's aware that he's more leanly muscular than svelte.
Lili knows it shouldn't be that big of a deal, but it feels like she's just seen something she shouldn't have seen at all. She leans back around the door, making sure to look directly at Auren and only at Auren this time.
"She's here?" Avett shuffles around on his stomach. His ears flutter in annoyance a second after. "I don't want her here. Patient's discretion, or whatever it's called. Get her out."
Auren pays him no heed, keeping his palm flat against the back of Avett's shoulder blade. "I am glad that you have decided to join us. I have been meaning to resume our lessons, and our friendly frontline Kattish has provided us with an excellent opportunity to do so."
"I'm not your scapegoat," says Avett. He positions to roll himself onto his front, but the firm hand at his shoulder keeps him down. It's then that Lili realises his entire back is a brilliant mess of purpled skin, and that Auren has been at it for long that he knows exactly where it hurts. Her partner balls his hands into the sheets until his knuckles turn pearly. He smashes his face into the pillow shortly after.
This is where insubordination will get you, she guesses.
Even though he's likely giving Avett the time of his life with that hand of his, Auren keeps an insidiously deceptive smile on his face as he turns to Lili. "Would you like to give it a go?"
"I'm fine, thanks."
She turns to the door, holding her forearms and lowering her head. She wishes Avett a very pleasant recovery in the back of her mind.
"Actually, fine," Avett says as he raises his head and lets out a sigh of exasperation. "Give me Lilith."
Lili stops at the door. When she turns back to face Auren, she finds that his smile has melted into something more genuine, more kindly.
With a stutter in her step, she comes back to the bed. Caution strains her voice as she answers with, “Suuuure.”
She must be the lesser of two evils here. Auren lifts his hand from Avett’s back, and the latter actually lets out a quiet moan of relief. A respite from his punishment—but not for long. Lili is sure she’ll be just as bad, if not worse, than Auren.
Her mentor steps aside. “Have you healed before, Lili?
She shrugs. She’d used her power to accelerate her recovery back in the mall, but beyond that she’s never used her ether constructively before. No, scratch that; she’s never really had to. Ava had always provided for her, giving her snide remarks and healing wherever necessary.
“Not really,” Lili replies. “What do I have to do?”
“Place your hands onto his back.”
She glances down. His back is bruised, and badly at that. It must be from when Mari had thrown him into the wall, where he’d nearly passed out from the shock of it all. When she reaches for a particularly vicious lump, Avett flinches away from her fingers, his breath hitching for a split second before he manages to compose himself again.
He grins as he cranes his neck back, but his smile is tight-lipped. “Distracted, princess?”
Lili doesn’t have to look behind her to know that Auren is scowling as well. She starts slowly, letting the tips of her nails feather along the surface of his skin before pressing down the pads of her fingers, then her thumbs, then finally her palms.
It’s almost comical how quickly Avett gives up on her and starts feigning interest towards the posters on the wall. They’re his posters, Lili realises, because there are several infographics of dismantled firearms and another photo of a Kattish woman in a garage. Her hair is long and dark, and her features are softly feminine.
She’s pretty.
Auren places a hand on her shoulders, bringing her swiftly back to earth. “Healing and direct muscle manipulation are two experiences that can be likened to each other. Press down on his back—”
“Don’t do that,” Avett says.
“—and scope out the feel of his ether.” He circles around, his gaze unwavering. “Try to match it, then siphon that power into his circulation. The latter should not be hard for you.”
Lili keeps her hand on Avett, but there’s no thrum of ether to be felt when she searches through his body. It’s an eerie silence, one that reminds her of the world before dragons—before the existence of ether.
She looks at Auren. “What happens if I don’t match it?”
The Gallian's answer comes easily. A little too easily. “Immense pain. You will be channeling foreign ether directly into his body. You do not have to match it entirely—only to the best of your abilities. The closer you match, the less pain he will have to experience."
If Avett's pained shouts from earlier are anything to go by, Lili is going to need a lot more than the 'best of her abilities' to get him through a session unscathed. She presses her hands into his back a fraction lower, and his tail flicks in response. There's nothing there for her to feel out in the first place; it's like trying to see out of her elbow, or trying to taste from the pads of her thumbs. It feels so odd that she has to touch her fingers to her wrist just to check if it's not just a bout of sudden weakness. The gentle caress of ether at her skin informs Lili that it's not just her.
"There's nothing there," she says, defeated. "I've never seen anyone like this before."
Even the Humans from the village had hummed loudly with ether, and she hadn't needed to touch any of them. In fact, the air had been positively saturated with it, and it did Lili no favours during her time in the village. Avett, on the other hand, is completely silent.
Maybe constructively manipulating ether just isn't her thing.
"Avett is a Kattish. Biologically, they pride themselves on their physicality. As such, when their ether circuits are not in use, they become near dormant until their next usage." Auren folds his arms, his eyes narrowed as he assesses the healing he's done so far. "Most Kattish are not so indetectable as to cause technicalities during the healing process, but someone who has never once touched his ethereal capabilities—and by extension, has not developed his personal ether's scent—would more than likely prove to be a nuisance in this regard."
Avett glowers into his pillow. "It's a lifestyle choice, asshole."
"Abstinence from ether remains a religious practice of the past."
"Better untrained than loud. I'm the only one on this ship who even has a chance of sneaking up to Auren, and I'd like to keep it that way."
"Avett, your ether is plenty 'loud' to a trained individual such as myself. What you lack is a proper signature. I would have complications picking your scent from the crowd, but you should know that on this ship you stand out like a sore thumb."
"Go fuck yourself." Avett's ears droop to his head.
This is great, but it's not going to help Lili treat her partner at all. She wonders how he's faring with having to sleep on his front. It can't be that comfortable.
"So what should I do?" Lili asks.
"Try harder," says Auren.
There's nothing to ‘try’ in the first place. Avett doesn't even have a hint of ether in him, let alone an easily discernible signature that'll save him from another bout of suffering. Lili isn't like Auren; she hasn't lived with ether like the rest of Therius or wherever he comes from. She's a hack compared to them.
She's about to let the professional get back to his work when that said professional moves to the infirmary door and says, "I shall leave you two be while I prepare lunch. Try not to hurt him, Lili. If you cannot resist, then keep his injuries repairable at the very least."
It's obvious to Lili now why Auren had delegated such an impossible task to her. She supposes that it's a small tradeoff—free food to babysit a bristly frontliner isn't too high on the pyramid of shitty deals. It could be worse.
The door clicks shut, and all of a sudden it's Lili's cold hand against the expanse of Avett's silky-hot back. The thought settles into her head like she's sinking through icy water. Blood rushes to her cheeks not a second later.
A distracted princess indeed. Luckily for her, Avett either hasn't noticed or has decided to spare her the embarrassment by not bringing it up again.
She's about to start searching for his signature again when Avett releases a sigh. "Don't bother. Auren's been my healer for at least eight months now. I'm used to it… pretty much."
Yeah, 'used to it.' He might as well be passing kidney stones, what with all of that noise he makes behind closed doors. It's a miracle how his voice isn't hoarse yet. He's not used to anything at all.
To prove her point, she sends a spark of her ether down his back, but she's pretty sure in hindsight that she'd sent a lot more than she originally intended. Avett jerks upwards, bites back a shout, and thumps back onto the bed, defeated in form but not in mind.
“You didn’t even try!” he screeches.
A grin plays at the edges of Lili's lips; she stamps it down immediately. "Didn't have to. You're 'pretty much' used to it, aren't you?"
"Is psychopathy a by-effect or a requirement of being a caster?"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
He's still giving her the stink eye as she moves to sit onto the bed directly opposite to his. If she's not getting anything out of this session at her current level, then she might as well take a break.
Avett doesn't get up from his disgruntled position, choosing to keep his cheek smushed against the pillow instead.
Lili motions to him. "Not getting up?"
His eyes wander off. His lips press and open, like he's trying to figure out what to say and the best way to say it. "Hurts to move. I'd rather not."
It's hard for Lili to not immediately think of their encounter with Mari, how she'd tossed him into the wall with a feral ferocity that had reminded Lili of a tiger lunging for its prey. She'd sent a tongue of fire down his side too—thankfully, there's no trace of that on Avett's body. Lili knows that it's fruitless to fret about it now, but during the time he'd needed her the most, she'd been useless. In fact, during their skirmishes with the two elders, she'd cemented her role as the side bench warmer. Had she encountered them on her own, she would've lost twice over.
The thought doesn't settle nicely with her. Fortunately, it doesn't have the chance to settle for long.
"Yeah, that's right." Avett's ears twitch in amusement. Lili is starting to wonder if it's a conscious thing that he does, or if it's something that just happens every time he's decided to be a nuisance. "You've mortally wounded me, Lilith. My back is positively burning from the torture you've forced upon me. I think—I think I might faint—"
Lili tries not to laugh, but a chuckle tumbles from her mouth anyway. She brings a hand to her mouth and turns away. This guy's almost miraculously scrubbed any hint of guilt off her shoulders in one sentence, and that's a minor miracle in itself.
"I appreciate the thought," she says. "I know what you're trying to do. But I'm fine. Really."
He looks down to his pillow as he bites the insides of his cheeks in thought. He's clearly weighing some difficult words in his head, debating if he should bite the bullet and say them or if he's better off keeping his mouth shut.
"You're not," is his answer.
"I am.”
“You really aren’t.”
Lili picks herself up from the bed. “I think Auren might be done with lunch, I should go check—"
"It's really hard for me to un-notice this, but your eyes trail down and unfocus when you start spiralling."
She stops at the door, her heart as good as dead. He's seized control of the mood and yanked it around to his whim.
"And…" His voice falters, like he's trying to catch his breath. "You spiralled a lot. More than usual when you came into this room. I'm not trying to be your therapist, or anything like that. I just hate seeing it—seeing someone else go through the same beats as I did when I…"
Lili stays at the door, her hand trembling at her side. She wishes they were joking around again.
He looks at his photo wall, and his ears sag again. "I know sorry won't cut it, but I really owe you an apology for the amount of shit I've given you for being me. It gets hard a lot of the time. Believe you me."
If it's clearly this difficult for him to spit it out, Lili doesn't get why he won't just forgo saying it at all.
"So if you need someone to lean on, I'm here. I talked to you about it. Let me do the same for you?"
Her heart feels like it's going to burst. She slams down on it, gritting her teeth against that tenderness in her chest before it flowers into something else, something she can't quite control. She feels like lashing out. She feels like thanking him. She feels like snapping and telling him to go back to being the same old smarmy asshole he's always been, because she can't envision being friends with someone who'd actually care about her.
She does none of those things.
The doors slide open. And maybe it makes her just as cruel as Ava, but Lili doesn't even offer him a second glance before the doors slide shut again.
—
And yet, it seems that no matter how much Lili tries to distance herself from her partner that day, fate—or her insistent crewmates—has other plans in mind. Circumstance had come in the form of a quaint little shopping trip the moment Avett was fully healed and sauntering about, much to the chagrin of both frontliners.
The moment Auren proposes that they’re a little low on root vegetables and milk, and that maybe they should head out to replenish those factors, Avett vehemently disagrees.
“Screw off, Auren.” He rests his knife and fork over his plate and crosses his arms over himself. Being bedridden and all had forced him into eating hours later after everyone had already left the dining table. “Hive’s off limits. I’m not going out there.”
“Perhaps you have already forgotten, but you are obligated to me now, no?” Auren’s grin is slight, but it infuriates Avett all the same.
"Ysh'vanna's clearly off somewhere already—why can't she do the groceries?"
"She is delivering the sample and running errands. There is no time for her to do the groceries as well."
“I could go by myself instead,” Lili pipes up.
Auren’s imposing attitude is on her in a matter of milliseconds, fixing her to the spot. “And I suppose that you are informed in the ways of navigating the Therian credit card?”
He tosses something onto the table. It’s his card.
"A rather intricate system, I must warn you." The way he leans back in his seat reminds Lili of a chess grandmaster. "You would best require the assistance of someone well-versed in the art of spending."
She takes the card in her hand. It can't be that hard to use, right? All she has to do is swipe… and then what? This card doesn't have Auren's name on it—instead, it has the word WINNOW grafted onto the side, and underneath that it reads BANK OF THERIUS. Surely if she's to authorise any sort of transaction, she's going to have to enter a pin or whatever.
Avett snatches the card from her and stands up, his features hard. He storms over to the exit but stops before he opens the doors to throw Auren a terrible glare.
Then he fixes his sights on Lili. "Coming, princess?"
The way he spits out her nickname here definitely makes it sound more like an insult than a compliment.
When she actually enters the convenience store, she's greeted with a disappointing sight. All she sees are rows upon rows of sorted groceries underneath cool-coloured strips of light. At least the contents of the shelves are interesting—she passes a row of what looks to be flash-dried candies—but even then, she’s still a bit let down. The venue is nigh-identical to all of the supermarkets she used to go to prior to the Immigration.
As she catches Avett eyeing a line of potatoes, she decides to break away from him and observe the other aisles. The signs that indicate the section are an LED display—easily adjustable at any time, should they require rearrangement. Then she remembers that she should probably stock up on some conditioner for her hair, considering the fact that no one on the ship had seemed to care about follicle care; this is ironic when she contemplates the average hair length of her crewmates. During the scant times she's actually been onboard, she's used their communal three-in-one body and hair wash. It’s better than what she had back in the wilds, but her seventeen year old self would be throwing a fit if she ever heard about this.
She'll have to pick up a bottle of actual shampoo while she's at it.
Lili turns the corner, passing a horned woman and her daughter. The woman gives her a double take before nudging her daughter along by the small of her back. She pretends not to notice, directing her attention over to the endless arrays of mandarin-infused hair gels and aromatherapy soaps instead. A bottle of regular shampoo costs roughly six credits.
Something else catches her eye; sticks of deodorant, their packaging separated into light, pinkish tones and dark, blue-and-grey hues. Targeted marketing exists here too, she supposes, and it exists as aggressively as ever. Lili vaguely remembers seeing a stick of "game console flavoured" male-marketed deodorant years before the world had gone to shit. Then she remembers that she probably smells like shit too, and that she'll have to pick out something for herself.
Immediately, her eyes fall onto the masculine side. She's never had male deodorant before. Every time she's been to the supermarket, her mother's always been there watching over her, judging her every purchase like a parent on the sidelines. The freedom she has right now is incredible.
With shaky hands, she reaches toward a tall, blue spray can. These bad boys used to set off fire alarms all the time back in high school. Or allegedly, at least. No one in the girls locker room actually used Lynx.
She flips over the can in her hands. This particular deodorant scent is called Antifreeze, and there's a snowflake on the label, which describes absolutely nothing of use to Lili when it comes to scent. What does antifreeze smell like? She brings the lid up to her nose and takes a long whiff.
...Wow. That's a familiar scent. Lili tilts her head back, sniffs the stale air of the supermarket to refresh her palette, and sniffs the lid again. It's definitely got that masculine edge to it, something a feminine deodorant wouldn't have. It really does remind her of something. She likes it. She can really imagine burying her face into her future lover's chest and scenting this on him—
Her stomach freezes over as she recalls, in no uncertain terms, exactly where she recognises this scent from. No, maybe she's made a mistake. Her nose isn't that great. She's prone to errors like how a certain arms specialist is prone to anger. She rubs her face with her free hand. Why'd she have to make that comparison? This situation is making her head down a rabbit hole she doesn't want anything to do with.
"I can excuse your depressive and self-sabotastical behavior, but I draw the line at… this. What the fuck are you doing?"
Lili jumps and nearly drops the can of Antifreeze. Her face heats up like she's a kid caught in a fat fucking fib as she catches Avett's judgmental gaze. He's holding a plastic casket of vegetables.
When she doesn't respond, he looks over to what's in her hand. "Did I seriously just catch you sniffing Antifreeze—twice!—before rubbing your face like you just regretted doing it?"
Yeah. Why? Because it smelled like him? "I was just testing it—I wanted to see what it'd make me smell like," she stammers. Like he'd ever believe that.
This isn't working. She probably should've given herself a test spray with the deodorant instead of sniffing it, because Avett can smell her fear, and she knows he can because his ears are perking right up. He's actually titillated by whatever she's doing right now.
"Liar," he finally says. "You're lying. I don't know why, but you don't want to tell me the truth."
He circles around her. Lili feels like a rabbit about to get pounced on. "It is the truth."
"I knew. Instantly. Wanna know how?"
She tightens her grip around the can.
"You don't normally make eye contact when you talk. But you did just then. Might've worked on someone who didn't know you, but it totally backfired on me."
Observant. Critical. Avett is dismantling her like she's a junction box in the Winnow’s electrical room. She grips the can tighter. What she'd give for an exit right now.
"I'm so sorry that you think I have something to hide." She puts the Antifreeze back onto the shelf. "We have this on the ship already. Let's just go."
He stops circling. He's satiated now, Lili is sure of it.
Then he folds his arms as he looks at the can of Antifreeze. It's got her sweaty handprints all over it. "What do you mean by 'we have this on the ship already,' Lilith?"
Fuck! She swipes at a random feminine deodorant and throws it into his casket before turning away. "Because I smelt it on you, ok?! I smelt it and thought about you hugging me back in the ship and I wanted to put it back immediately."
Her face heats at the words she can't believe she's actually saying.
He doesn't say anything at first. Maybe her abhorrent confession has actually scared Avett into a round of stunned silence. Which is both a blessing and a curse.
Case in point: Avett doesn't even bother to explain how to use the Therian credit card. Lili watches him slap it against the pin pad once before fumbling around with his ID and slapping that against the screen as well. The machine doesn't prompt him for a pin code at all. He's free to dump the rest of groceries onto the steel platform from there, whereupon it scans everything and totals up his expenditures for him.
She releases a sigh of relief when he continues to hold his vow of silence until they're out of the market, hands full of reusable shopping bags and Lili’s head presumably brimming with cotton.
“You wanted to put it back immediately?”
They’ve only just made it to the entrance of the hangar when he starts talking again. He gives his sleeve a testing sniff as he swivels around, uncharacteristic insecurity painted on his features. “I didn’t think Antifreeze was a bad smell. Is it?”
Lili blinks. “I thought you guys were like… scent connoisseurs.”
“Everything smells like I’ve been shoved up someone’s asshole—means scents are more intense for me. Doesn’t mean I know what people like.” He takes a step towards Lili and turns up the insides of his jacket. “Give it to me straight, Lilith. How do I smell?”
She freezes. She could get something out of this if she wanted to.
“What do I smell like?” she blurts out.
The question comes out impulsively. Lili covers her mouth with her hands right after. What an insensitive question to ask, to even realise at all. Luckily for her, Avett actually doubles over in a laughing fit instead of getting angry.
“Stars—you’re—actually like an off-realm bumpkin or something—ah, fuck, holy—”
He slams his hand into the exterior wall of the Winnow as he catches his breath. She doesn’t know how people from other realms act, but given that Therius sounds like a melting pot of cultures, she’s starting to get a good idea of what being an ‘off-realm bumpkin’ might entail. She’s the opposite of a civilised, modern citizen. She’s just asked Avett to give her a good sniff.
“Alright. Right.” He inhales and wipes at his eyes with the back of his glove. “Mutual exchange. You tell me how I smell, and I’ll tell you how you smell.”
How he smells? Lili’s not sure how she’s meant to describe the scent of a generic masculine deodorant. Soapy? He’ll kill her for sure if she dares to describe him as soapy.
“It’s not unbearable,” she starts. “You put on a normal amount, so it smells fine by default. It’s a light, fresh scent. I can’t catch it on you if I’m not right up in your face.”
He leans against the wall. “And you smell like our three-in-one shampoo and ether.”
His answer is a bit disappointing. He heads up the stairs, pins the handles of one bag underneath his armpit, and draws out his ID card. She presses harder. “No, like, personalised scent? Nothing?”
“Couldn't smell it from here. And getting any closer would be pretty inappropriate. You'd have to really not be showering regularly for me to tell.” Then he turns. There’s a sly glint in his eye when he does. “Or be in heat. Are you in heat, Lilith?”
"What?" Lili looks up at him. He's giving her a downcast, mirthful smile. "What do you mean—say that last part again?"
He enters the ship.
Lili is left standing outside, two hefty bags of groceries in each hand, wondering what the fuck he means by being ‘in heat.’
—
“No, Lili.” Auren shakes his head. “Kattish women cannot enter heat. That is a myth. Who informed you of such deviance?”
It's 4:00PM, and they're having Gallian tea with rations in the navigation room. Though Auren had asked Avett to join on multiple occasions, he'd declined with a flat tone—a harsh contrast to his normally expressive exclamations—and left for the infirmary.
“But Avett did,” she says. She’s making huge arm signals to really accentuate her point, some of which are far too exaggerated for the topic at hand. “He was telling me about how he smells things differently, and then the conversation changed to heat cycles really abruptly for some reason.”
His fist clenches. Tightly. So tightly that his green skin actually starts to whiten at his knuckles. “They do not have estrus cycles. They are fertile year-round—hence, they would have no biological incentive to have one. He is lying.”
A painfully blunt description. She runs his fingers through her hair. She doesn’t know why it matters so much to her.
Auren is quick to change the subject. "How are you faring, Lili?"
Confusion sweeps across her features. It’s not like she’s injured, not in the same way Avett is at least. "Well, I walked around the Hive earlier just fine."
He shakes his head. “Has mercenary work treated you well?”
Lili sits back in her chair and shrugs. "It's alright."
"Only alright?" It's his turn to be confused now. "I would imagine that mercenary work is a far cry from your previous lifestyle, no?"
She shrugs again. Explaining to your higher-ups that you feel incompetently outclassed on the field due to underlying mental issues doesn't feel like a good topic to have over a spot of afternoon tea.
Sensing that this conversation is a lost cause, Auren leans over and goes through the contents of their groceries bags. He nods every so often to himself, clearly impressed with their subordination.
Lili coughs. Her partner might make her feel weird as shit, but credit is due where credit is due. "Avett got most of it."
"Ah." He reaches into a bag and pulls out a tube of deep-treatment conditioner. "Most?"
Her cheeks flush. "I thought we could use some actual hair care onboard. I can pay you back out of my card if this is too—"
"On the contrary, it is quite alright." He puts it back into the bag. "Personal hygiene is what separates a B class mammalian from the ecology. This, however…"
Auren pulls out a long-necked bottle of what appears to be clear liquid. On closer inspection, it seems like someone's snuck in a litre of hard liquor into the expenditures.
"...is unacceptable," he finishes. "It would appear that Avett has used the communal card for his own whims."
"But we can afford it, right?" Lili presses.
“To afford and to need are two entirely separate matters.” He places the bottle on the table. “Perhaps you are not quite done with your grocery shopping excursion.”
Lili is about to ask what he means when Auren slides his card over the table again with two firm fingers.
"While inebriation can be a fine activity to indulge yourself in every one in a while, I find that our furred friend spends far too much time on alcohol." The look Auren gives her chills her to the bone. "You do understand how to use this card now, yes?"
She nods, already scared shitless at the thought of Auren finding out that she and Avett never trained that day in the Afflatus—and that they'd gone straight to the bars to drink themselves dead instead. Auren would not just kill her; he would also dismiss her from the Winnow. God have mercy on what he'd do to Avett.
He drops the bottle into an empty reusable bag. "Do Avett a favour and return this to the supermarket."