Chapter 146| Hangover Saturday

Chapter 146: Chapter 146| Hangover Saturday

9:12 AM.

The cafeteria on Saturday mornings ran at its slowest. Half the tables empty, the coffee machine groaning, the smell of toast and something fried drifting from the counter.

Zane’s stomach had been loud since Arena 3. He grabbed a tray, loaded it with eggs, rice and two sausages, and turned toward the back.

To his surprise, Maren was sitting alone at the corner table.

Hair tied up, a plain grey hoodie, a cup of tea going cold beside an untouched plate. No Nil.

He crossed the room and slid into the seat across from her.

"Morning," Zane said.

"Morning." Maren didn’t look up from her tea. "You’re up early."

"Couldn’t sleep," Zane said.

"Mm," Maren said.

She picked up her fork, put it down, picked up her cup instead. Her eyes slid to his suit, then back to the table.

"You’re wearing your hero suit," she said.

"Yeah," Zane said.

"On a Saturday."

"Yeah."

"To breakfast."

"Okay I came straight from somewhere," Zane said.

A pause. Maren stirred her tea, though there was nothing left to stir.

"Where?" She asked.

He should have lied. He had a clean one ready, library, training grounds, anything. But she had that look, the flat one that meant she was gathering rather than asking.

"Arena 3," he said. "A spar with Nyx."

Maren’s spoon clinked once against the cup.

"With Nyx."

"She asked. I needed to test the new rank."

"Right." She nodded slowly. "The new rank."

"It was just a spar," Zane said.

"I didn’t say anything," Maren said.

"You said right like it had a second word in it."

"It didn’t."

"It did."

Maren sipped her tea. Set it down. Looked out the window for a long, deliberate moment, and Zane had the clear impression of someone choosing which sentence to say out loud from a long list.

"Did you win?" she asked finally.

"No," Zane replied.

"Good," Maren said.

"Good?" Zane said.

"Good for her." She took a bite of toast, chewed, swallowed. "She’s a B-rank. You should be humbled sometimes."

’That was a lot of words for no reaction,’ he thought.

『 System Note: Maren Cass is displaying controlled jealousy. The system recommends the host not point it out. 』

’I wasn’t going to.’

『 The system has seen that exact sentence before. 』

_ _

They ate. Maren thawed by degrees, the way she always did. A comment about the eggs. A look at his tray when he reached for her extra toast. Her knee bumped his under the table, and neither of them moved away.

At 9:40 the cafeteria door banged open.

Nil came in like a woman returning from a war she had lost.

Her hair was a nest, her eyes were half shut, and she wore an oversized hoodie with the sleeves pushed up past her elbows, tight black leggings, and a pair of sunglasses that did nothing to hide how bad she looked.

’No short skirt today,’ Zane thought. ’Don’t know if that’s an improvement or not.’

She walked straight to their table, dropped into the seat next to Maren, and lowered her head onto her arms.

"Don’t," Nil groaned into her arms.

"I didn’t say anything," Maren said, stirring her tea.

"I can hear you thinking," Nil muttered.

"I’m eating toast," Maren said with a straight face.

"Loudly," Nil said. She turned her head and squinted at Zane. "Well, hey, Zane."

"Hey," Zane said, putting his fork down. "You want coffee?"

"I want to be unborn," Nil said, her voice muffled by her sleeve.

"That’s not on the menu," Zane replied.

Nil lifted her head an inch and peered at him through the sunglasses. "Did I say anything last night?"

Zane and Maren exchanged a glance.

It was very short. Maren’s eyebrow went up half a millimetre. Zane’s mouth flattened.

"No," they said together.

Nil narrowed her eyes. "That was too fast."

"You were fine," Zane said. "Mostly."

"Mostly?"

"You sang on the walk back."

"I did not sing."

"You did," Maren said. "Badly."

Nil groaned and slid her face back into her arms. "I remember a bottle. And a toast. And then it gets blurry. And then there’s a part where I think I said something to you." She pointed vaguely at Zane without lifting her head. "Something terrible."

"You said I was warm," Zane said, because it was true and safe.

"That’s it?" Nil asked, lifting her head just enough to peer at him.

"That’s it," Zane said, meeting her eyes without blinking.

A very long silence. Then Nil’s shoulders started to shake.

"I called you warm," she said into her sleeves. "I called Zane warm. Oh, I’m going to die."

"You’re going to be fine," Maren said, and pushed a glass of water toward her.

Nil drank it in three gulps, set the glass down, and finally tugged the sunglasses off. Her eyes were bloodshot and her mascara had smudged. She looked at Zane for a second longer than strictly polite.

"Thanks for last night," she said. "For paying. And for not leaving me on the road."

"You were going to sleep on the road?"

"Probably." She yawned. "Next time I’m paying."

"There’s a next time?" Zane asked.

"There’s always a next time."

『 Nil Valkyrie — Familiarity +2% 』

『 Current: 23% — Stranger tier 』

『 System Note: Shared awkwardness is a reliable bonding accelerator. The system recommends more embarrassing dinners. 』

’You’re enjoying this,’ he thought.

『 The system is gathering data. 』

_ _

At 10:05 Maren announced she needed a shower and a nap and not necessarily in that order. She hauled Nil up by the elbow. Nil complained the whole way to the door.

"Zaneee," Nil called over her shoulder, her voice dragging as Maren hauled her toward the door. "Don’t forget that I’m a wonderful person."

"I’ll write it down," Zane said, deadpan.

"Good boy," Nil said with a lazy grin.

Maren shot him a look that was half apology, half warning. Then they were gone.

Zane sat alone with a cold cup of coffee and a clear mind for the first time since waking.

He thought about Arena 3. The faint ripple at his fist. The seam in Nyx’s redirect where her force and his had overlapped. Zero percent, but a handle at last.

Then he thought about what Maren hadn’t said.

’She didn’t ask what happened in the spar,’ he thought. ’She didn’t ask anything. Just let it go.’

『 System Note: The host is overthinking. 』

’I’m not overthinking.’

『 The system recommends finishing the daily quest. It helps. 』

He glanced at the corner of his vision.

『 DAILY QUEST: Overdrive activation window reduction 』

『 Objective: 6 consecutive activations 』

『 Progress: 4 / 6 』

『 Current window: 0.56 seconds 』

’Fine,’ he thought.

He pushed his chair back, walked to the empty far end of the cafeteria, and ran the reps in small invisible pulses against the wall. One. Two. Three. The window opened and snapped shut under a second each time, the floor sharpening, the world slowing for half a breath.

Two tables away, a pair of students had stopped eating to stare.

"Is this guy okay?" one of them whispered, frowning. "Training in the cafeteria?"

"Maybe he’s got a problem," the other murmured.

Zane didn’t hear them. Or he heard and didn’t care.

Four. Five. Six.

『 DAILY QUEST COMPLETE 』

『 Overdrive activation window: 0.56 → 0.53 seconds 』

『 Progress: 5 / 6 』

『 Progress to milestone: 0.53 / 0.50 seconds 』

『 Milestone reward: HIDDEN 』

’Almost there,’ he thought.

His communicator buzzed.

He checked it.

Instructor Vael: Come to My office, Monday, 8 AM. Don’t be late. We have things to discuss.

He read it twice.

’Monday,’ he thought. ’Wonder what she wants to talk about.’

He locked the screen and put the communicator away.

Outside the window, the Saturday sun climbed over the east wing, bright and indifferent. Somewhere in the building, Dex was still asleep. Somewhere else, Nyx was filing her theory under a heading Zane couldn’t read.

’One thing at a time,’ he thought, and went to get more coffee.