Good Friends

It’s been how long? Most of a year? Who’s even counting the seasons anymore? Zal wraps their arms around Razha’s waist. She reaches around their shoulders and pull them tight against her. It’s so warm in her arms, with the fire at their back. Suddenly it’s too warm--they push themself away, catching hold of her hands as they pull apart.

They look up at Razha--probably the tallest girl they know, with broad shoulders and long, strong limbs. Her black hair is in a long braid behind her--she only lets it down when she feels safe. A grey scarf covers her neck, and below it a white moonstone hangs from a rough hemp cord. Her long black coat is buttoned up. She has the same black drake-leather boots as always. Some people never change.

Her face is a welcome and familiar sight, with tattoos in white drawing several curved lines across her brown skin, from her neck up around her high cheek bones and to the edges of her dark, intense eyes. When they first met, Zal thought the symbol had to do with her birth sign--Shiiaalev, the river of souls. Razha said that was “Theanist colonizer nonsense.” She said it was a design engineered to draw people's eyes away from the shape of her jawline and had no more special meaning than the rest of her body. Zal thought being a part of the shape of her face and not a message inscribed on it was probably the most special meaning a tattoo could have.

“Welcome home!” she says and sits back down.

“What an adventure.” They take the seat next to her and pull two little pouches from somewhere in their many pockets.

“Tell me all about it.”

They take some paper and start rolling up a mix of katal and hazeweed. “It started when I kissed you goodbye at Talheim, just before the airships--”

“I know that part!”

“Of course, it’s just nicer than most of what happened in between,” Zal says. “Hey, did my folks get here okay?”

“Kalen and Filla and Perra and Annia, they’re great, what a full and capable support crew, you’re a Hel of a recruiter.”

“Just some folks I’ve met over the years. The second medic was hardest to find. They’re getting scarce.”

“Fuck, it’s supposed to be people like me that get scarce, not them.”

“It ain’t that we’re losing a lot of medics, we’re just forming a lot of new collectives and fighters are easier to come by. It’s a good thing.”

“And how is that kid you found?” Razha says.

“Well he’s green as fuck, but his heart’s got fire. I think he’ll be okay after adjusting,” Zal says.

“Well, I’ve got our fighters, Maris and his boys, and Nadia. Helbender crew is gonna be our best collective ever, Zal.”

They strike their match and draw in their smoke. “Hel yeah it is!”

Razha checks her watch, then reaches into her bag nearby and produces a bottle of a cloudy blue liquid.

“Must be midnight,” Zal says.

“That’s right, can't keep my body waiting.” She unscrews the rubber dropper from the top of the bottle and fills up its little glass tube, opens her mouth and drops a drop under her tongue.

Zal takes another breath of their own medicine. “Old rituals never change.”

“I'm so glad you're here,” she says.

“Glad to be home again. Can't wait to see what the place looks like.”

“You're gonna love it.”

They stare up at the stars. “I already do. Gods I missed the mountains.”

“You ain't even from the mountains.”

“I should’ve been, I hate cities.”

“Then why spend so much time there?”

“‘Cause I understand cities, they’re simple. Food gets delivered to the dumpster. Sents have their predictable patrols. Deep pockets desperate for strange company. There’s a simple rhythm to it all. But it’s just so...artificial.”

Razha puts her little bottle away and puts her arm around Zal. “You're my favorite flatlander.”

They lay their head down on her shoulder, finally feeling relaxed. “Aww, I'm honored.”

She checks her watch again. “I got my security shift soon.”

“Who's with you?”

“Just me this time,” she says.

“No way, we always agreed nobody takes a watch alone,” Zal says.

“Should’ve been Lein but he’s still sick. I made him get some sleep.”

“I’ll take his place.”

“No, you’ve been traveling forever, you have to take the night off.”

“You authoritarian.”

“What, did I violate your autonomy?” She runs her hand through Zal’s short hair. “Go get the new kid, let’s have him take the watch with me, I’d like to talk to him anyway.”

Zal yawns and stretches their arms as they stand up, then rests their hand on top of Razha’s head and looks down into her eyes, dark as the woods around them. “Oh, fine, I guess I can sleep.”

Razha grabs their hand as they pull away. “Hey, don’t worry about setting your tent up tonight. Mine’s the one left of the biggest tree.”

“Thanks Razha. Wake me up so I can fall asleep with you?”

She nods.

“See you later tonight, I love you.”

“Love you, good night.”