Page 28 of The Amber Sunburst

He never gets ready in under an hour.

His hair is not something that happens by itself.

“Come on,” Zeno encourages, pulling him to his feet.

“Zeno, it’s so early.”

“I know, buddy. But you better get used to it. Patrol days we get up at five.”

Alexander launches himself back onto his bed and screams into his pillow. He really, really needs to get out of here.

Zeno just lifts Alexander up again and places him, standing, in front of his closet.

He rifles through his drawers and sees Zeno is doing the same. Which means Zeno didn’t even get ready before spending half his morning waking Alexander. And he doesn’t seem annoyed by it, just amused and slightly rushed. He’s so… nice.

Alexander decides to stop being a brat for Zeno’s sake and quickly gets dressed.

He slides the ring that he doesn’t know how to use onto his finger, and packs his messenger bag up with books, a tablet, and his tank top. Zeno mentioned training at some point during their tour yesterday, and he doesn’t want the linen shirts that he looks so good in to get sweaty.

He’ll just have to fix his hair during breakfast, he supposes.

Once clothes are on and teeth are brushed, they sprint up the stairs and make it right before the clock strikes seven thirty. They load up their plates and join Eudoxos in the same seats as last night.

“You guys cut it close, huh?” Eudoxos asks, far too lively for this early in the morning.

“Don’t ‘you guys’ me. Alexander sleeps like a princess,” Zeno laments, a playful smile on his face.

“That makes sense. Pretty boys like him never have much discipline. I don’t know if Kallias has been on time a day in his life,” Eudoxos says.

Alexander starts to interject, but Zeno beats him to it. “You think he’s pretty?” he asks, face tight with anxiety.

Well, isn’t that interesting. Alexander’s not opposed to some drama to keep him going in these wee hours of the morn. And it looks like Zeno’s nursing a little crush—on his best friend, no less.

“Well, objectively, he is. Not for me, though.”

“Hey!” Alexander exclaims. Why not stir the pot, right? “I could be pretty for you if you want me to.”

“Oh, well if that’s the case, then⁠—”

“No!” Zeno shouts, then immediately laughs sheepishly. “Then I’d be the third wheel and that would be so weird, so, no, you can’t. Alex, don’t look at Xos like that.”

Alexander keeps making kissy faces at Eudoxos until Zeno looks ready to combust, then turns to wink at him, running a hand through his hair, which reminds him…

“Zeno, look at me.”

“Huh?”

“I need to use your eyes as a mirror. Didn’t get the chance to do my hair.”

Zeno’s brows fly up. “You want to use my eyes as mirrors? What about your ring?”

His ring?

“Of course,” he stumbles. “And how would I⁠—”

Apparently Zeno is used to Alexander’s lack of basic life skills because he just slides the ring off of his finger and onto the table. “Here, watch.” Zeno taps the hole in the center and a screen projects up.

“These boxes are all of your applications. That one is the camera. Just click it, and voila. A mirror.”