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They had the big exercise room all to themselves, which pleased Jayla. She much preferred not having an audience when she was learning new skills and likely to look ungainly or incompetent. It was ridiculous, she knew, but felt like she already ought to be good at everything.
She was confident enough on the cable by now that she didn’t need Cody to hold on to her as she made the crossing. So she took off her boots and walked the wire, back and forth, back and forth, feeling the twisted strands through her knit socks. Then she put her boots back on and practiced running on the stretched webbing. She still couldn’t move as quickly as Cody, but she was faster than she’d been, and much steadier than she was on the wire. She almost thought she would be able to run the along the gridway if she ever wanted to.
While she worked on balance, Cody and Aussen indulged in faster pursuits. They first raced a few times down the short, straight center track, then they began a methodical jog around the perimeter of the building. Once Jayla was done with the wires, she fell in step behind them and began a slow, steady run of her own. It was good to feel her muscles stretch and loosen, her lungs and her heart respond to the extra demands. Her body felt strong, healthy, finely tuned. A tiny sense of euphoria began to build under her ribcage.
Cody and Aussen had pulled off the track so they could climb ropes, but Jayla was still running, when three figures burst in from the stairwell. Two were women, but Jayla wasn’t sure about the third. All three wore damp street clothing and red courier vests, so Jayla assumed they were some of Cody’s housemates that she hadn’t met yet. They’d probably come here to work out, which meant this might be a good time for the visitors to leave. Jayla slowed down gradually, then came to a stop right next to Cody and Aussen.
The newcomers had already joined them, clustering around Aussen with friendly laughter. “Look at that! Our youngest recruit ever!” one of them exclaimed.
“We might need to get you a smaller vest, though.”
“Have you learned to run the wires yet? You’re so tiny you might slip through the webbing.”
Aussen smiled up at them, liking the tone even if she didn’t understand all the words. One of the women patted Aussen’s head, glanced at Jayla, then turned her attention to Cody. She had a lanky build, ragged dark hair, an open expression, and a courier’s bracelet on her left wrist. Her right-hand bracelet was pure silver, worked with an intricate floral design.
“Why don’t you introduce your friends? Don’t you have any manners at all?” she asked.
Cody grinned. “The courier-in-training is Aussen. The fierce young woman is Jayla. This is my sister Tokah. She lives here, because she wants my life to be miserable.”
Tokah laughed. “Is it working?” She turned to give Jayla a relaxed smile. Her expression was casual, but Jayla had the sudden conviction that Tokah was hiding intense curiosity. What had Cody told his sister about his new friend? “Why would he call you fierce? You look perfectly nice to me.”
“I think he’s afraid of me because I threatened to beat him up once.”
All three of his housemates laughed heartily at that. “Oh, see, Cody’s not used to that,” said one of the others. This one had a Cordelano’s dark hair and skin but the stocky build usually found in Marata. “Woman are usually fawning all over Cody and telling him how adorable he is.”
“That’s Kammi,” Cody announced. “Kammi hates me.” This earned him a more-or-less affectionate punch in the arm. The motion showed off Kammi’s right-hand bracelet, an exuberant swirl of silver and gold in shimmering loops and patterns. Someone who was sometimes male, sometimes female, and open to loving anybody.
“You think people hate you if they’re not besotted with you,” Kammi said.
“He has to be everybody’s favorite,” Tokah chimed in. “And if he’snotyour favorite, he’ll work night and day to win you over.”
Kammi gave Jayla a wide-eyed innocent glance. “Is that how he’s treatingyou,Jayla?”
“Jayla’s not good at silly banter,” Cody interjected.
“But she can speak, can’t she?” Kammi asked. “Is Cody being extra nice to you?”
“I was under the impression Cody was extra nice to everyone.”
That earned a chorus ofoohsfrom Kammi and Tokah. “You keep being difficult,” Tokah recommended. “It’s good for him to have to try a little harder.”
Cody shook his head and gestured at the third new arrival. “This is Rovyn. She’s much kinder than Kammi and my sister.”
Rovyn was almost as dark as Kammi, but smaller boned, more delicate. Jayla’s guess was that she could travel over the gridway as lightly as a child. She was smiling as pleasantly as the other two, but Jayla thought the huge brown eyes were wary and the thin frame was strung with tension. “You think I’m kind because I occasionally feed you. And help you mend your ripped clothing. And remind you when you’re about to be late for an appointment. That’s not kindness, that’s pity.”
Again, the others all laughed. Jayla managed a discreet glance at Rovyn’s bracelet. A wide band of silver decorated with large buttons of gold. Woman who definitely preferred men. Jayla shifted away from Cody to make it clear she didn’t have any claim on him.
“I knew I never should have let any of you move into the house,” Cody muttered.
Rovyn turned to Jayla with a smile that seemed wholly insincere. “How did the two of you meet? Cody collects people from all over, and the stories are always so interesting.”
“I was trapped on the western side of the northern bridge when there was a quake a couple months ago,” Jayla said. “Cody came over to bring us supplies.”
“Oh, I remember that!” Tokah exclaimed. “I watched him walk the wire across the canyon! I didn’t breathe until he was safely across.”
“Tokah’s too dizzy in the head to walk the wire,” Cody explained.
Now she was the one to slug him. “Too smart to risk my life that way.”
