Rian Cole sat at a polished wooden table, surrounded by soft lights and a steady hum of voices.
The restaurant was fancy—walls decked with weird paintings, cushy chairs, the works.
Across from him, Lena was yapping nonstop, hands waving as she spilled how she'd learned to tame her powers.
It all started because Rian, right before saying goodbye at the pharmacy, had asked out of curiosity how she'd pulled it off.
Now, somehow, here they were, eating together in a place that smelled like spices and fresh-cooked meat.
At first, Lena had been cagey, vaguely mentioning she'd started training by lighting campfires in a forest.
But bit by bit, she loosened up.
Mostly because parts of her story were bonkers.
"Hey, but how'd you set a whole forest on fire and not get in deep trouble?" Rian asked, baffled.
"Because that forest was my family's private property," Lena replied, like it was the most obvious thing ever. "But if I'm honest… they're super strict."
And that's how, with just a few short answers, he'd ended up here, stuck listening to Lena ramble.
'Man, this girl talks a ton,' Rian thought, shifting in his chair.
"Still, I gotta admit, thanks to them I snagged a provisional monster-hunting license with my grandpa, but…" Lena glanced up, her golden eyes catching the restaurant's light. "I kinda wish they hadn't made that dumb ad."
Rian nodded, but his mind was elsewhere. All that info was overloading him.
Still, he couldn't help comparing Lena's case—powers that started weak and grew strong with practice—to his own, which…
His powers were never weak. From the day they showed up, that wild electricity in his hands had been strong—too strong.
And over the years, even without practice, it'd only gotten bigger.
Rian flashed back to that kid in the temple, the one who nearly died from a tiny shove that sparked out of control. The blast had trashed half a wall, and the memory still tightened his chest.
'We're not the same,' he thought, scratching his neck as he stared at his food.
Lena snapped him out of it.
"What's up?" she asked, tilting her head. Her golden eyes sized him up, brow furrowing a little. "Food not doing it for you or what?" She nodded at Rian's plate, which he'd barely touched.
Rian blinked, crashing back to reality.
"No, no," he said quick, shaking his head. "It's good, honest."
He glanced at his plate: a juicy, golden-brown slab of roasted meat next to a pile of mashed potatoes slathered in creamy, herb-scented sauce.
Simple, but it tasted a million times better than the clan's stale bread. He grabbed his fork and dug in, shoving a big chunk into his mouth. The flavor hit like a bomb, and for a sec, everything else faded.
Lena let out a dry chuckle, propping her chin on her hand as she watched him chow down.
"It's been fun chatting with you," she said, her tone softer now. "Don't meet someone as… clueless as you every day." A small smirk tugged at her lips.
Rian swallowed a bite and wiped his mouth with his sleeve, mulling it over in his head.
'But you're the one who's been talking the whole time,' he thought, scratching his cheek. Still, he didn't mind. After all Lena and her grandpa had done for him, listening to her stories was the least he could do.
And if it meant eating hot, tasty grub like this, he'd park here for hours.
'Are all girls outside the temple like this?' he wondered, popping another hunk of potato in his mouth.
"Nice meeting you too, Lena," he said out loud, voice flat but real. He set his fork down and looked at her, waiting for her to keep going.
Lena went quiet for a beat, staring at him with those golden eyes.
She didn't say a word—just looked.
Rian frowned, leaning toward her a bit.
"What's wrong?" he asked, scratching his cheek. "Got something on my face?"
Lena shook her head fast, like she'd snapped out of a daze.
"No, no, it's nothing," she said, her voice a notch louder than usual. She coughed and glanced away for a sec, then back at him. "Rian," she said, tone turning serious, "I hope you text me. And let me know if you find your academy, okay?"
Rian nodded, shrugging.
"Sure," he said, short and sweet.
He was about to add something, but Lena's phone buzzed hard on the table. She snatched it up quick, frowning at the screen before answering.
"Grandpa?" she said, polite but curious. "What's up?"
Rian couldn't hear the other side, but he watched Lena nod as she listened.
"Yeah, he's with me," she said, sneaking a glance at him. Then her frown deepened, lips tightening. "Pass it to him? For what?" She paused, hearing the reply, and let out a long, tired sigh. "Fine, here you go."
Lena leaned across the table and handed Rian the phone, dropping it into his palm with a flick.
"My grandpa wants to talk to you."
Rian took it carefully, frowning as he brought it to his ear.
"Yeah?" he said, voice low and confused. He scratched his neck with his free hand, glancing at Lena sideways.
"Rian, kid!" Marcus's voice boomed through, deep and chipper. "Glad you're still with Lena. How'd the hospital treat you?" He paused, chuckling. "Hope you didn't blow anything up over there."
Rian blinked, processing the jab.
"Didn't blow up anything," he said, thrown. "They gave me a bunch of pills and supplements."
Marcus laughed louder, and Rian had to pull the phone away from his ear a bit.
"Good, good!" the old man said, still cracking up. "Hey, listen, I've got something to tell you. About that academy of yours. You sitting down?"
Rian glanced at the chair he was in, puzzled.
"Yeah," he said, scratching his cheek again. "What's up?"