Sara, quite unmanned by her glimpse of Nox channeling fire, slowly remembered who and what and where she was, and fell back a little.
The power really messed her up, didn’t it? She’d gotten so self-reliant, she’d forgotten how to trust anyone with her secret.
She tensed and took a few steps forward so that she came up face to face with Nox. His fascination with the bee brought a smile to Sara’s face.
She was silent and still for some time. But later, she held Nox’s hand between hers and kissed his fingertips.
“No… hey, come on now,” she said, “I love that you can summon fire, but it’s my fault. I let my fears come between us. There’s nothing about you I don’t like… well, except… maybe the facial hair."
Sara kissed Nox’s face, beside his eye.
She helped herself to Nox’s beer, but didn’t offer Nox or Ivan any.
Drinking, Sara half-smiled at Ivan, as if amused at Ivan’s fire following Nox’s.
Sara studied the tall, young man for a moment. His clothes were clean and well fitting, but the man was a mess. He had fresh scratches and contusions on his face and an agony of fatigue in his pale eyes. He also appeared to have an arm wound. She concluded this was probably not a man to cross.
Sara inhaled deeply before replying.
“Yeah, sure.” The woman in red smiled proudly. "These are nano-bots. Responsive to light. They’re spliced with metal scraps and encouraged to grow on their own,” Sara recounted the technology of a refractory topiary for a few minutes. What detail she left out was readily reinforced by the hedges and bees around them. “Is this bee very interesting, duckling?” Sara raised her eyebrows at Nox.
Sara bent down and laid her hands on Ivan’s shoulders, gently urging him back onto his feet. The woman in red gazed up into Ivan’s face. There were tears welling in Sara's eyes.
She continued to stare into Ivan’s face, “By all that’s holy, Ivan,” she said softly, "you have been to hell, haven’t you?”
Sara