Return of the Runebound Professor

The rest of the advanced track meeting passed without incident. Noah and Moxie remained on guard throughout it, but it soon came to an end. They headed out and Noah branched off, heading down an alley and rifling through a pile of stones to pull out his grimoire and gourd. He hurried back to rejoin the others, where he and Moxie continued to keep a close eye on everything all the way up until they dropped the students off at their dormitories.

“Well then,” Noah said as he walked alongside Lee and Moxie on the way back to the T building, “I’d say that went pretty damn well.”

“How long were you waiting to say that?” Moxie asked.

“More time than I care to admit. I didn’t want to say it too early and end up screwing something up by spitting in the eye of fate.”

“Fate isn’t going to change itself because you got a bit overeager.”

Noah looked down the bridge of his nose at Moxie. “I have mistakenly pissed off a god. I’m not taking any chances — and I still need to get a fruit basket or something for her. She hasn’t come for my ass yet, but I feel like that’s something you should have ready rather than scramble to put together.”

“Won’t the fruits spoil if you wait around too long?” Lee asked.

“The fruit bit was more figurative. I don’t think a goddess is in any want of fruit.”

“Oh. What’s she want, then?”

Noah didn’t have an answer for that. He wasn’t so sure he actually had an answer. There couldn’t have been many things that a mortal could offer a god that they couldn’t get on their own.

Maybe I’ll give her a firm pat on the shoulder and a proud, fatherly nod. You can never go wrong with some good old fashioned external validation.

“You’re thinking something stupid,” Moxie said. They headed through the entrance of the T building and started up to her room.

“It’s not stupid. It’s a great plan.”

Moxie stopped at the top of the stairwell to glance over her shoulder at him and raise an eyebrow.

“Okay, it might have been a bit stupid,” Noah allowed. “But stupid is only stupid if it doesn’t work. How did you know?”

“It was a safe bet,” Moxie replied dryly.

They reached her room and she unlocked the door. Lee bounded past both of them, launching herself into the bed. She snagged the vine blankets and rolled over, wrapping herself with them.

“Did you manage to tire yourself out from eating so much?” Noah asked. “You definitely put a lot of work in today.”

“Yeah,” Lee said drowsily. “I’m tired because there isn’t any food left to eat. If any squirrels wanted to walk into my mouth on their own, I wouldn’t complain.”

“Somehow, I don’t think you’re going to find any of those here,” Noah said. “But maybe that’s a good thing. I still have no idea where you put all the food you eat. I feel like you’ve got to be breaking laws of physics at this point. You’ve got less shapeshifting ability than you used to, no?”

“Yeah. I can’t hold forms as long as before,” Lee said with a satisfied yawn.

“So how are you shoving all that food into yourself? There literally shouldn’t be enough space for it.”

“Things turn to energy as soon as I eat them. I use up a lot more energy than humans do because of how my body and my runes are connected. I have a higher upkeep and a much higher storage for energy than you do.”

“Oh. Huh. I guess that makes sense,” Noah said, sitting down in Moxie’s chair and resting his arms on the desk behind him. “Seems really inefficient.”

“It means I get to eat as much as I want to. It’s perfect.”

“She’s got you there,” Moxie said. She sat down in his lap and leaned her head back to rest it against his shoulder. “What are your plans for tomorrow morning?”

“I’m meeting with—”

“I meant Lee.”

“You’re literally sitting on me,” Noah protested. “How was I supposed to know that? Use your words. You’re a big girl.”

“Too tired,” Moxie replied. “Don’t need lots of words when just a few do the trick.”

“You spent more words being lazy than you would have if you’d just said Lee’s name in the first place.”

Moxie let out an undignified grumble and turned around, so her chest was pressed against Noah’s. Then she prodded him in the side. He let out a surprised curse but couldn’t jump up without throwing her to the ground. Moxie grinned at him.

“Sometimes, I can’t tell which one of you is the demon,” Noah informed her.

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“The hungry one,” Lee said from the bed. “And, speaking of food, I’m hungry. Can someone feed me?”

“You literally just ate enough for ten men,” Noah protested. “I understand having a bigger storage for energy and needing to use more of it, but this is ridiculous. Azel literally didn’t even eat.”

“He had emotions to feed on. I haven’t figured out what mine are yet, and I’m still growing. I need lots of nutrition.”

“I should hope not,” Noah muttered. “The last thing this world needs is a Lee with even slightly more room in her stomach. I’m not sure anything organic would be left over after you finished eating.”

“Food. Please?”

“No,” Noah said. “Go to sleep. I literally cannot afford to feed you. We can get food tomorrow morning.”

Lee let out a groan. She unrolled herself from the bed and hopped to her feet. “I’m going to go find something to eat then. I’m not tired anymore.”

She is genuinely going to consume the entirety of Arbitage’s ecosystem.

“Hold on,” Moxie said. “Come back tomorrow morning. I wasn’t joking when I asked what you were doing. I want to go hunting and get my runes filled up. We can check if they’ve got the transport cannon up and running on temporary power.”

“Kay,” Lee said, pulling the window open and hopping out of it. She held onto the top of the window and pushed it shut as she dropped, leaving the two of them alone in the room. Moxie let out a slow sigh.

“That was so stressful.”

“Lee?” Noah asked.

“What? No, doofus.” Moxie let out a small laugh. “The meeting. We’re playing with fire, but it’s not like we have a choice. We can’t let Verrud or Jakob get anywhere near the kids. I think the strategy worked. They shouldn’t realize that we’re onto them.”

“I agree. We’ve bought ourselves some time at the bare minimum. We can try to find a better way to handle things in the future, but I’m glad it all went well. Half of our cards didn’t even get played.”

“I bet you’re disappointed about that,” Moxie said with a snicker.

“Maybe a bit. It would have been badass.”

“Not worth it.” A stubborn frown crossed Moxie’s features and she prodded him in the side again, but far gentler than her poke. “Besides, it’s better to save that for when we really need it. I’m sure Verrud and Jakub didn’t overplay their hands either. They definitely have more to throw at this than just a few students.”

“Oh yeah, I’m more than aware. But we’ll bullshit our way through that too.”

They were silent for a few seconds. Then Moxie poked him again.

“I want to go to bed.”

“You’re on top of me. Nobody’s stopping you.”

“I’m tired.”

“Who are you, Lee?” Noah asked with a laugh, leaning forward and scooping Moxie up in his arms. He carried her over to the bed and dropped her onto it. She grinned — but it only lasted for an instant before Noah flopped down on top of her.

She pulled her way out from beneath him and let out a small laugh as she wrapped her arms around him. “Okay. I deserved that.”

“Yes, you did.”

Noah slid to the side so that he wouldn’t squish Moxie. He let his head rest on the pillow beside hers and pulled her closer to his chest. Something about having her pressed against him wiped the world’s problems away and left only a warm, content buzz in his heart.

“I don’t get how you do it,” Moxie murmured.

“Do what?”

“All this acting and trickery. It’s exhausting. I did a bit of it back in the Torrin estate, but that was because I didn’t have a choice. But you’ve been doing it constantly. Ever since you got to Arbitage.”

“Didn’t have much of a choice. And to be honest, there really wasn’t much else to do in line. All you can do is just stand around and think. And, I don’t know about you, but every guy I’ve ever known loves daydreaming about doing badass shit. I got a lot of time to do that. Lots of scenarios. Pretty much all of them, really.”

“All of them?” Moxie raised an eyebrow and touched a finger to his side threateningly.

“Hey, you can’t hold that against me,” Noah protested. “I didn’t know you at the time.”

Moxie laughed and wrapped her arms around him again. “It’s more fun this way. Oh — I saw you speaking with the rich guy. Considering the smug look you had on your face when you came back, I take it you got what you needed?”

“Am I really that obvious?”

“To me? Yes.”

“Well, you’re right. I found the guy we sold the Monster Rune to before. I suppose it makes sense that he was in the advanced track if that’s where people go to trade and sell all their fancy shit. I fully thought he’d be in the Enforcer meeting tomorrow, but it was a lucky surprise. Silvertide pointed him out to me.”

“Did you get a good deal?”

“Yeah. A Rank 2 Space and Matter Rune, as well as a one-time trip to a hunting ground where I can get more runes that fit the Rank 4 I’m working on. I’m meeting his assistant tomorrow to do the trade.”

“By the time you’re back, I’m going to try to Rank 4,” Moxie promised. “And if you don’t get that new Rank 4 made, I’ll pass you soon as well.”

“Feeling fiery, huh?”

“Yeah. We need to get stronger,” Moxie said, her tone growing serious. “I guess that’s always true, but now more than ever. There’s too much at stake and too many things that can go wrong for us to risk it. The faster we can advance, the better.”

“Then I’ll do my best to make sure I keep up with you. When you get back from hunting with Lee tomorrow, I’ll be ready to help you modify your Rank 4 with Sunder if you need it.”

“If I need it? More like when. You’ve got a lot of confidence in me if you think I’m going to get it flawless on the first try.”

“Damn right I do.”

Moxie laughed and gave him a squeeze. “Thanks. I’m definitely still going to need it, but I’ll do my best. I don’t want to think about it any more until tomorrow. I’ve already done all the preparation I can.”

“Yeah. I’m exhausted,” Noah said with a yawn. “I didn’t like sleeping much when I first came back to life, but it’s growing on me. It’s a lot better than killing monsters to avoid having to rest, but only when you’re around.”

“I can’t lie, I’ve always liked sleeping,” Moxie said. She grinned at the glare Noah sent her and amended her statement, “but I like it better when I’m next to you.”

“Acceptable,” Noah said.

“You said you thought of a lot of things when you were in the line, right?” Moxie asked abruptly.

“Huh? Yeah. Why?”

“You don’t really talk much about it. Will you tell me one of them?”

“Which one?” Noah waggled an eyebrow.

Moxie craned her neck back to make sure he could see her roll her eyes. “You choose… but choose wisely. You’re in poking range and have no path of escape.”

“Look at that. A good one just came to mind,” Noah said.

Moxie smiled and settled back in. Noah launched into a story, then followed it up with another one. It wasn’t long before Moxie’s breathing slowed and her eyes drifted shut as she drifted off to sleep. Noah wasn’t long behind her.

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