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"I should've known it'd be a bad idea to put them in the same room," he grumbled, and I smirked at him.
"And now you left poor Nico to suffer the results of your bad judgment," I teased, and he glared at me.
"Will you quit with that?"
Laughing, I straightened up and grabbed his hand. "Come on, let's go rescue him before he loses all will to live."
It was only when we were halfway inside the bar that I realized I was holding Dakota's hand, but he didn't try to pull away, so I didn't let go until we were back with the others.
We both slid into our seats, and Nico shot me a look that said, 'Are you okay?' He was much too nice for his own good.
I nodded to assure him I was, then raised a brow at him. 'Are you?'
He shrugged, and I rolled my eyes before turning my attention to Ryk and Divya, realizing the human had been watching us as she talked to Ryk.
"You guys are really close, aren't you?" she asked, her eyes switching between all three of us.
"Yeah, we are!" Ryk answered easily, and she tilted her head curiously.
"Are you together?"
"We're always together," Ryk answered, his brow furrowing slightly in that 'I'm a little confused' way.
"I think she's asking if we're in a relationship, Ryk," Nico clarified.
"A romantic relationship," I chipped in, just in case he was still confused.
"Oh! Oh, no, we aren't," he said, shaking his head, and Divya pouted.
"Really? I was so sure you were. You act like you've been together forever," she teased, and I rolled my eyes.
Even though we'd never dated, I was closer to Ryk and Nico than anyone else in all the realms, so I supposed it wasn't surprising that it showed in the way we acted. We'd spent quite a lot of our lives with each other, after all.
"We're just really close friends," Ryk said with a smile, and Divya hummed before bringing up some other topic that Ryk immediately jumped in on.
"You're gonna have to stop them in a bit, or they'll keep going till morning," I told Dakota, and he chuckled before nodding.
"You're right. Let's wait a few more minutes," he said as he checked his phone. "Holy shit. It's almost eleven. Where did the time go?"
I couldn't believe I'd managed to stick out in this noisy, cramped place for so long, but I supposed the idea of heading back home alone didn't sound fun either, even though I was more than ready for a nap.
"Hey, guys? I think we should get going now," Dakota said, and I nodded along. Yes, please. Home. Bed. I needed sleep.
"Look, Star's almost asleep already," Dakota said, and I raised my head. Uh-nuh, I was awake. See? Awake.
"Yeesh, I didn't realize how late it was. We should do this again!" Divya said. How, how did she still have so much energy? She was human, for fuck's sake.
"Yes. I'd love that!" Ryk exclaimed, wiggling beside me, and I wanted to reach over and throttle the jerk. How could he be so talkative? Where did he get the energy? We were made of the same magic, ate the same food, lived in the same house, surrounded by the same people.
People started moving around, and somehow I was on my feet. "Would you like me to return yesterday's favor and carry you to the car?" Nico asked, a teasing lilt to his voice, and I jerked upright, wrenching some semblance of wakefulness from deep in my psyche. No way was I being carried by a 5'5" Nico. I'd combust from embarrassment. Now if Dakota were to offer his arms...
I missed the trip home completely, but Moon's loud meow woke me up as we stepped into the house.
"I'm going to bed," I mumbled to whoever was listening, then slowly made my way up the stairs. Using some magic the moment I was in my room, I got rid of my clothes, slid under the comforter, and fell asleep before my head hit the pillow.
Eight
Ryk
