“Yeah. Let’s leave, before teachers show up,” Stefan said breathlessly.
I was in agreement. Didn’t want to be around when people noticed that the west wing had basically collapsed.
We made a run for it. I didn’t know if anyone saw us or not. We didn’t look back, or stop until we were outside and far away from the west wing, on the other side of the school. We halted by a portrait of a fae woman and leaned over our knees to catch our breath, trying not to gag.
“You guys didn’t need to step in. I had it handled,” Alexei breathed. He was sporting a black eye where one of the alicorns had kicked him.
“Yeah, for sure, since you clearly weren’t getting your ass beat before we showed up,” Stefan shot at him. “But next time, I’ll back off. Sure you’ve got it covered.”
Alexei went to start toward Stefan, but I got in the way and put a hand on his chest. “Hey, don’t be pissed at him,” I started. “We were just trying to help. Next time, we’ll let you eat dirt.”
Alexei took a deep breath to cool off. “Yeah. I guess you’re right. Thanks for having my back.”
Stefan put his arms around Alexei and Theo’s shoulders. “I’d say we had a good fight, gentlemen. Let’s go down toThe Drunken Dragonand have a beer to celebrate.”
Theo wrinkled his nose. “Beer is distasteful.”
“Wow. All right, have a wine then, sissy,” Stefan said. “But as far as I’m concerned, we should all have a celebratory drink for a brawl well-won.”
Alexei hesitated before visibly relaxing, the tension in his body draining. “To be honest, I’d love a drink right now.”
Alexei remained quiet as we gathered around a circular table in the pub. He stared at his mug and kept his shoulders hunched, even as Stefan was picking on Theo for ordering chardonnay instead of ale.
“You’re pretty quiet,” I told Alexei before I took a swig. He jumped in his seat like he was frightened, before staring at me.
“Sorry,” he said. “It’s just weird. I don’t usually hang out with... people.”
“Too much to deal with?” I asked.
Alexei sighed. “Yeah. Emotions are a lot.”
He was reclusive, even for a griffin. I knew that all griffins were empaths, but their families usually taught them a bit about handling their powers before they got to the university, so they weren’t complete social rejects. Alexei acted like he didn’t have any control over his abilities at all.
“Didn’t your parents teach you how to handle empathy?” I asked.
He shook his head. “Don’t have any. Grew up alone.”
That would explain it. No wonder he couldn’t control his temper and constantly got into trouble. I didn’t want to make him feel worse by asking about his childhood, which I suspected had to be shit, and said, “You should probably work on that. Eli isn’t going to back off if he thinks he can get a rise out of you.”
He gripped his mug. “It’s just… I couldfeeltheir hatred. They didn’t have a reason for going after me. They just thought it was funny,” he said. “Most people when they pick on you, there’s a tiny bit of remorse, you know? They know they’re doing wrong. Eli, though… he just didn’t care.”
Alexei took a deep breath. “It’s nice hanging out with you, though. You seem pretty flatline.”
Little did he know. I just kept my emotions so well under wraps, he couldn’t feel them. “Can’t say the same for those two.”
I gestured at Stefan and Theo. They were ignoring the conversation all together. Stefan had gotten Theo into a headlock, and Theo was trying to get out of it. It was obvious they were just playing around, so I didn’t interfere. Stefan was amused, though I could tell Theo was vastly annoyed. He kept commenting how this was improper behavior for a public place and that Stefan needed to unhand him immediately.
Alexei gave the slightest of smiles. “Yeah, well, your dragon friend’s got about three emotions, as far as I can tell— happy, horny, or pissed off. And the alicorn is just exceptionally irritated.”
“You’ve got us pegged.” I clapped him on the back. “Tell you what. I’ll buy you another drink, on me.”
Alexei paused. Then he relaxed under my arm, and said, “Well, if you’re buying…”
* * *
Another drink turnedinto more than justa drink, if you get what I’m saying. Three hours later the four of us stumbled out ofThe Drunken Dragonmore pissed than sober. Alexei was smiling pleasantly, his head obviously in a buzz.
Theo, who had lectured about the improprieties about being intoxicated in public, was drunker than all of us. He had his arm around Stefan, and the two of them were singing Malovian folk songs. They’d warmed up to each other quickly.
