Chương 137: Offers

Scratching the bridge of his nose, Brand fell silent for a moment, as though choosing his words carefully, and the flames around his face flickered down briefly, as if they too were waiting, before he spoke again, an unusually serious note entering his voice, strikingly different from his usual carefree manner. Nearby, another flying platform touched down on the pavement with a soft rustle, letting out a couple of passengers, but neither Lloyd nor Brand paid it any mind, entirely absorbed in their own conversation.

— I'm part of a small group right now. Want to join us? Lloyd scratched his chin, narrowing his eyes thoughtfully, a faint surprise stirring in his chest. Thinking about it, for as long as they'd known each other since the Exam — and that acquaintance really amounted to nothing more than fate throwing them into the same team during the trials themselves — Brand had never once brought up anything like this before.

A pair of Players in light armor walked past, chatting cheerfully, briefly blocking the bright glow of the nearest sign, and their shadows slid across Brand's face, making the flames on it dim for a second. — And how many of you are there? Suddenly Brand's confidence deflated, as though someone had yanked all the fire right out of him in one motion, and a nervous smile appeared on his face.

If it weren't for the flames making up his entire body, Lloyd thought, there would surely have been telltale red patches of embarrassment on Brand's cheeks right about now. He shifted awkwardly from foot to foot, and beneath his feet tiny tongues of flame flared up a bit brighter for a moment, betraying his inner nervousness far more plainly than any words could. — Three...

An awkward second of silence stretched between them, during which the muffled horn of another passing train sounded somewhere in the distance, and the nearest sign flickered with a burst of bright, colorful light, as though the city itself wanted to underscore the pause hanging in the air. Somewhere across the street, a group of passersby laughed quietly, and that laughter, strangely out of place amid the silence between them, faded into an echo somewhere behind him. —... Counting you.

Lloyd's face twisted involuntarily, his brows drawing together, his shoulders sagging slightly, as though his recent interest had just run headlong into an unexpected obstacle. A perfectly logical question followed from his lips, coming out a touch drier than he'd intended: — And who's the third one?

The nervousness that had been on Brand's face vanished instantly, as if it had never been there at all, and he visibly perked up, squaring his shoulders and lifting his head, a short, bright spark flaring on his forehead, as if he himself was relieved for the chance to change the subject. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. — You could say he's my little brother.

He's never been to Oblivion or in any dungeons, but I promise you — the guy's got boundless talent and ambition. He won't let you down. His gaze dropped for a moment, down to where his flaming body smoothly tapered into something vaguely resembling feet, glowing a touch brighter than the rest of his silhouette, and he muttered under his breath, barely audible, as though the words weren't really meant for Lloyd at all, but for himself: — At least, I hope so.

And just like that his face lit up again, the flames around his jaw and cheeks flaring a shade brighter than usual, casting a warm, flickering glow across the pavement beneath them, and he straightened up, shooting Lloyd an expectant, almost impatient look, clearly struggling to hold himself back from pressing for an answer right then and there. — So, what do you say?

Lloyd let out a heavy sigh, feeling an unfamiliar weight of responsibility settle onto his shoulders over having to make such a quick decision, and closed his eyes for a moment, gathering his thoughts.

Life on the busy street carried on around them as usual — someone laughing, someone haggling with a street vendor over another dubious relic, and somewhere close by another passing train rumbled rhythmically, and for a brief moment it seemed to Lloyd as though all that noise had receded somewhere far away, leaving him alone with his own thoughts.

Even the heat radiating off Brand felt distant for a moment, muffled, as if the whole world had pulled back slightly, making room for nothing but the thoughts spinning through his head.

"All right, let's lay it all out properly," he thought, absently scratching the back of his head as another noisy group of Players passed by, animatedly discussing some recent clash at the arena, someone's loud laugh briefly standing out from the general hum before fading back into the depths of the street.

"On one hand, I don't really have much experience to speak of, if I have any at all worth mentioning. I'm only level one myself, pure support — which means I genuinely need a team, whether I like it or not." He gave Brand a long, appraising look, as though reassessing all over again what he could actually expect from this fiery, perpetually restless man, whom fate had thrown him together with only once, during the Exam itself, and whom, now that he thought about it, he didn't actually know all that well.

"But looking at it from the other side — I'm being invited onto a team by someone I barely know, someone I've only seen in bits and pieces. And on top of that, a Player who's never set foot in a dungeon, let alone Oblivion itself. This team is clearly far from the strongest one out there."

He glanced briefly down at his own palms, still trembling faintly from his recent fall, remembering all the times he'd had to manage completely on his own, in situations where having even one more person at his side could have changed everything, and then he raised his eyes back to Brand, who was still waiting patiently, though with poorly concealed impatience, shifting his weight from foot to foot right there in the middle of the sidewalk.

"But maybe it's better to take a chance with people I at least trust a little, than to keep wandering these islands completely alone." Suddenly a wide, almost boyish grin spread across Lloyd's face, wiping away all his earlier hesitation in an instant, and something warm, something he'd almost forgotten lately, flickered briefly in his eyes. — I'm in.