Noah walked through the quiet halls of the dorm building, his satchel slung over one shoulder and his thoughts a storm of calculations and possibilities.
What he'd seen and overheard in the library played again and again in his mind.
Leo Hargreaves, scheming. Galahad, blackmailed. An illegal trip into an E-rank monolith on the seventh day.
He reached his door, unlocked it, and pushed it open.
Arlo was already there, lounging on Noah's bed with a book resting on his chest like he owned the place. He looked up from the pages, his blindfold as pristine as ever.
"Welcome back." Arlo said with a lazy grin. "Still got two hours before our glorious expedition into the wild skies to murder helpless birds. You ready?"
Noah dropped his satchel onto the table with a tired grunt. He didn't even bother asking how Arlo had gotten in. Between him and his cousin, Juniper, personal boundaries apparently didn't exist.
