He tilts his head slightly, studying me. “You sure you should be up?”
“No.”
“Cool.”
There’s no judgement in it. No lecture. Just acknowledgment.
We share a brief look. Then his grin creeps back in, slow and deliberate.
“All right,” he says, pushing off the wall again. “Come on.”
“Where?”
“If you’re gonna ignore medical advice, you may as well do it properly.”
“Is that an official recommendation?”
“Absolutely not,” he says cheerfully. “But I stand by it.”
I shake my head, but I push off the wall anyway because standing still isn’t helping, and sitting around waiting for Varek to show up on his own? Yeah. Not happening.
“Fine,” I mutter. “But if I pass out, you’re carrying me.”
Sonny looks me up and down. “Bold of you to assume I’d survive that.”
“Fair point.”
We fall into step together, heading towards the broader passage that leads deeper into the active parts of the settlement.
And for the first time since I woke up, I’m not just thinking about the pain. I’m thinking about answers and how the hell I’m going to get them.
Sonny doesn’t give me much time to overthink it.
He jerks his head toward one of the wider passages. “I want you to meet someone.”
“That sounds ominous.”
“It’s not,” he says. “Well. Notthatominous.”
“Reassuring.”
We move together through the flow of the settlement, Sonny taking the lead like he knows exactly where he’s going—which, to be fair, he does. I have no idea how long he’s been here, but I have the feeling it’s been for a while. He cuts through the busier corridors, weaving between people and supplies, before veering off down a quieter branch that slopes slightly upward.
There’s less noise and traffic here. The glow in the walls softens, less buffed by constant movement.
“Who am I meeting?” I ask.
“Jack.”
I glance at him. “That a threat or a promise?”
“Depends how much you like blunt honesty and zero emotional cushioning.”
“Ah,” I say dryly. “So we’ll get along great.”
Sonny grins. “Exactly.”
We round a bend, and the space opens slightly—a natural pocket in the rock that’s been half claimed as a rest area with a couple of crates shoved against one wall, while on the other, there is a rough table where someone’s abandoned tools sit, left mid-job.
