11. echo #3
By the time we came out of the library, the quad had thinned enough that I could see all the way to the business annex without having to pick anyone out of a crowd.
Nichlas was halfway across it with two other students, walking fast enough that one of them had to keep adjusting his stride to stay beside him.
He hadn’t seen me yet. I shifted toward the wider path instead of cutting toward the student union, and Malakai changed direction with me without asking why, still close enough that his shoulder brushed mine when the walkway narrowed.
I didn’t bother looking at him. If he wanted to keep attaching himself to my day, he could at least be useful while he did it.
Nichlas looked up when we were close enough that pretending not to notice us would have been ridiculous.
His eyes landed on me first, then moved to Malakai, and the change in his face was almost worth the entire morning.
Yesterday, Malakai had been one of the men physically standing between us.
Today, he was walking beside me with one hand in his pocket and absolutely no sign that he’d been ordered to keep me away from anything.
Nichlas slowed, and the guy talking to him finally stopped too when he realized he no longer had Nichlas’s attention.
I kept going at the same pace, letting Nichlas decide for himself what the hell had changed.
Malakai glanced across the quad and caught the reaction easily.
“You’re using me,” he said, sounding pleased enough about it that I finally looked over.
He had that sharp little grin he got when something entertained him more than it should, and he bumped his shoulder into mine again before adding, “I’d like it noted that I usually charge for this level of emotional support. ”
“I’d like it noted that I didn’t ask you to come with me in the first place.
” I adjusted the strap of my bag and kept walking while Nichlas remained behind us.
“You sat down at my table, stole my food, touched my work, and followed me out. If that happens to make him wonder whether you’re still supposed to stop me, that sounds like a reward for tolerating you. ”
Malakai laughed, loud enough that a couple walking ahead of us glanced back. “That’s mean. I spent an hour helping you with your homework.”
“You vandalized my notes and ate six fries.”
“Seven.” He reached for the strap of my bag again, and I slapped his hand away without slowing. “And you changed your route on purpose. He saw you with me this morning, now he gets to see you leave with me. You’re trying to make him think Hunter changed the rules.”
“I’m making him wonder.” That distinction mattered enough that I looked at Malakai properly.
“Nichlas does better when he thinks he understands where the walls are. He knew you were supposed to keep me away from him. He knew Hunter had rules. Now he gets to decide whether any of that still applies, and he doesn’t get to ask me for the answer. ”
Malakai’s grin faded into something more interested, though his mouth didn’t stay quiet for long.
He asked how long Nichlas usually lasted before uncertainty made him stupid, then started tossing out possibilities with increasing enthusiasm—more security, changed routes, skipping classes, calling Hunter directly, maybe trying to leave campus entirely.
I answered when there was something worth answering, because half of what he was saying lined up with things I’d already watched Nichlas do.
The rest was Malakai enjoying the idea of a frightened man slowly burning through every option he thought he had.
By the time we reached the next building, we’d turned it into an actual discussion about what fear did to routines and how quickly people exposed the things they valued once they started improvising.
“He’ll tighten everything first,” I told him as we stopped outside the doors. “Then he’ll get tired. That’s when he’ll get sloppy. Nobody stays scared at the same level forever. Eventually he’ll either convince himself I’m not coming or do something stupid because he can’t stand waiting.”
Malakai leaned against the stone beside the entrance instead of leaving, because apparently we were still doing this. “And you’re going to keep letting him see you until then.”
“Sometimes. Sometimes I’m going to disappear long enough for him to think I got bored.” I glanced back toward the quad, but Nichlas was gone now. “He knows me well enough to know that’s bullshit, which makes it better.”
Malakai stared at me for a second, then smiled again in that slightly unhinged way that made it obvious he was enjoying this far more than a normal person should. “I knew fucking you was a good decision.”
I shoved his chest with one hand, mostly because he deserved it, and he caught himself against the wall laughing. “You really do ruin everything the second you open your mouth.”
He pushed away from the stone and immediately fell back into step when I headed toward the next building.