11. Would You Mind If I Killed You? #3
“I never said I didn’t,” I chuckled, thanking him for my out before laying a tender kiss to Isadora's cheek. She flashed wide eyes at me as I waved gently. “I’ll be back to check on you soon. Feel free to call me if you need someone to talk to, ok?”
“Yes, I will.” She touched the spot where I'd kissed her as I conjured a portal back to Odrikius, stepping through with a sigh that sat in the back of my throat.
The grounds were wet from a steady trickle that fell over the school.
Our Elite Elementals were out and about, studying for classes or practicing in their arenas.
They were unbothered by the weather and raced along sidewalks, splashing in puddles and trying to keep their socks and nice shoes from getting wet.
I smirked at the sight of this and decided I needed to decompress a little before heading back to the academy.
I found Praxis sitting under one of the covered stairs by the library doors, smoking a cigarette.
The smoke mingled with the passing rain and disintegrated under the droplets, but that didn’t stop her from puffing large clouds across the campus.
My throat burned at the idea of sharing one with her, so I crossed the wet pathways to nudged her with my boot. “Hey, you mind letting me hit that?”
“You smoke?” she questioned, though she offered me one with no hesitation.
I lit the cigarette skillfully, handing her the lighter back before taking a long drag. It tasted of tar and burnt garbage, but I somehow liked that. “Not all the time, but when I'm having a rough day, I like to have something in my mouth to calm my nerves.”
“You should go find your fiancé, then,” she teased. I laughed a full laugh, something that hadn’t broken from me in days, and this made her light up in relief.
I sat beside her so I could shove her, shaking my head to myself. “I didn’t mean a dick, Praxis. My life doesn’t revolve around sex, ya know.”
“It should. Sex is great.” She wagged her blonde eyebrows. “Especially with a handsome God in your bed.”
“Alright, alright...” I chuckled again and took another long drag before looking her over.
She had changed so much since we were teenagers.
Her hair was still long and wavy, the perfect beach blonde, but she had it twisted into an alligator clip to keep it from her eyes.
Still, tendrils snuck down her cheeks and forehead, swaying in the wind that she soaked in intensely.
She had filled her frame out quite a bit, with her chest full compared to the smaller nature she had adorned much of her teenage years.
Her waist tapered sexily, and her long legs were graceful, like a gazelle’s.
She was obnoxiously beautiful, especially as she grew older.
There was no denying that. I somewhat missed her backwards baseball caps and jerseys she adorned when we were younger.
This new Praxis felt foreign to me. This overly feminine young woman was not the tom boy I had come to love, and I felt a piece of my childhood die when I realized this.
She flicked her lilac eyes to me curiously, soaking in my intense aura. “You look like you’ve had the shittiest day in history.”
“I have,” I admitted.
“Wanna talk about it?”
“Not really.” I watched the smoke from our cigarettes mingle with one another, doing a two-step dance amongst the rain-filled sky. Praxis did this as well, then conjured a gust of wind to brush it away from us. “I feel like I haven’t seen you in a while. You and Griff are off in your own world.”
“I know. We’ve been so preoccupied with training and our Elites...
I kind of have been neglecting my friends.
” She laid her head on my shoulder and wrapped both arms around mine, pressing her cheek to my sleeve.
“I worry about you a lot. I feel like this weight on your shoulders is getting to be too much to bear.”
“I agree, sadly, but there’s nothing I can do about it. I’m hanging in.”
She nodded once, sighing to herself. “What can we do to relieve some of the pressure?”
“Just stick by me, especially when I need you most. Moments like this... they mean the world to me. Time with you all, away from the chaos... it brings me immense joy, something I don’t feel often anymore.
” I snuggled into her hair, and she into my chest. “Sometimes I need a reminder that there are some people in my world that don’t expect perfection from me. ”
“We certainly don’t. We like our normal Nick just the way he is.” She squished my cheeks together to make me force a grin. “Except when he’s the grumpy Grim Reaper. Then he’s a little too scary for my liking!”
“I know, because you tumbling around as a giant tornado isn’t terrifying, either.
” I swished her away and died out the cigarette, kissing her hair three times before standing.
“How about we have a movie night? I’ll order Chinese and set up the lounge, and you wrangle the guys up and pick a movie.
I think I need an evening off from the chaos. ”
“That sounds amazing!” she squealed, jumping up. “How does six sound?”
“Sounds like a plan.”