Chapter 17 #2
As it turned out, Yoni was very much right about that.
Bite for bite, the food was perfection. Still, Mira found ample time to talk.
Whatever that odd moment earlier had been, it was gone again, for the most part.
Those first few dinners when she’d joined her and Kayden, Mira had felt a little like a third wheel.
She hadn’t been, that much had become clear very soon, and Kayden had a way of making anyone feel welcome.
Without him here, things were undeniably a little different, though Mira couldn’t say that she minded very much.
It was nice to see Yoni so relaxed without Kayden and his jokes around to make that happen.
Like she’d finally gotten comfortable with Mira.
Perhaps Marigold was rubbing off on her, figuratively as much as literally.
“That was. A little too much.”
Mira leaned back against the bench, hands folded over her stomach. Maybe she should have stopped a few bites earlier. Yoni did not seem to have the same problem, though she was carrying significantly more bulk around than Mira was. And those muscles had to come from somewhere, didn’t they.
“You could have left the bread,” Yoni pointed out. “At least the second slice.”
“And leave all that delicious gravy on the plate?” Mira pressed a hand to her chest. “Over my dead body!”
“Suit yourself. I’m not slowing down for you on the way home.”
“Abandoning me to the wolves! How cruel!”
Yoni rolled her eyes. “I’ll find you a big stick to hit the big, bad wolves, don’t worry.”
Mira smiled her widest smile. “Aww, that’s so sweet. I didn’t know you cared so much!”
“Kayden’s going to yell at me if I let you keel over in the gutter.”
“Ah, of course.” Mira snorted and managed to sit up straight, with some difficulty and a groan. “Well, don’t worry, a little walk will help, I’m sure.”
At least she hoped so. When they paid and left the inn, she was very much not feeling like keeping pace with Yoni tonight.
Too bad Kayden hadn’t shown up, he’d probably taken pity on her and given her a ride home.
Had it really taken him that long to fix the well issue, or had he just decided to call it a night and head home rather than eat late?
“Should I roll you up the street, or can you at least still walk?”
Yoni was standing at the corner, a hand on her hip. But she was waiting. Mira hurried to catch up, as much as she was in a state to hurry, anyway.
“Sorry. No rolling, just… slow? Please?”
“Fine. Can’t let you roll right into a wolf’s den.”
No matter what she’d said earlier, Yoni was kind enough to match her pace to Mira’s, which Mira was ludicrously grateful for.
Going as slowly as they did, it was a pleasant walk through a mild summer night that carried the fragrance of flowers and damp soil.
Hands in her pockets, Mira kept her eyes on the stars as they walked.
“They’re so bright here,” she mused. “You can see a lot less of them in the city.”
“Mhm.” Yoni sounded distracted. “They used to be even brighter when I was a child.”
“Everything’s brighter then, I think.”
A quite laugh. “Listen to you, a writer and a philosopher.”
Mira grinned. “Hardly. Just noticing some things here and there.”
Like the way, she now realised, that Yoni looked right now. She wasn’t sure she’d ever seen her quite like this, with her guard down and her shoulders relaxed, an expression on her face that Mira might have described as ‘tranquil’.
She’d rather like to see that expression more often.
The walk was over far too soon, even as stuffed as Mira felt from dinner. They stopped briefly in the street in front of Yoni’s house.
“So. Ah.” There it was again, even if it was harder to spot in the light of the gas lamps – Yoni was definitely flustered now. “I guess I’ll see you?”
“I’d hope so, seeing as I live across the street,” Mira joked. Yoni rolled her eyes, but the smile was there, too.
“Maybe next time I can’t find my cat.” She ducked her head. “Good night.”
She was suddenly very quick, slipping through the gate and taking the stairs to her front door in one big step. Mira just about managed to find her voice and call out before Yoni went inside.
“Good night!”
Now alone in the street, Mira ambled off towards her own house, unsure how to feel about the evening. She’d thought it had been nice. She’d though Yoni had felt the same. Maybe even…
The idea shot like a bolt of lightning down her spine, and for a moment, Mira felt wide awake. No. Definitely not.
Was she?
Forcing herself to take some deep breaths, Mira resolutely refused to turn around and look back as she went up to her own front door and entered the dark, empty house.
That would make things… complicated, wouldn’t it.
Now that she’d just about managed to get on friendly terms with Yoni.
Surely, going beyond that into ‘would you like to make out behind the shed’ territory would be in nobody’s best interest?
Groaning, Mira shut the door behind herself a little more forcefully than strictly necessary. Oh, that image was now lodged in her skull. Like she couldn’t be using that mental space more productively. Then again, it was a very nice mental image…
Mira ran a hand through her hair and squeezed her eyes shut.
Absolutely not. She had so much else to worry about right now, this had to go on a back burner until she was ready to examine it more closely.
So she went to brush her teeth, then stomped upstairs to lie on her pathetic mattress, stare at the ceiling, and think about things she had no business thinking about until she finally, mercifully, fell asleep.