The Aberrations of S.I.D.E.

No. 24: Snowfall

Augustus knocked on Elena's doorframe. "Need any help?"

She looked up. "Oh. Hey. I'm all right, thank you."

"Well, Sylvie said that you were packing, so I thought I'd give you a hand." He pointed to her copy of Stranger in a Strange Land. "You bringing that?"

Elena scoffed. "Please. There's a reason it's on a dartboard. It's an insult to the genre."

"Then why the hell do you have it?"

"Dedushka bought it for me for my sixteenth." She shrugged. "He knew I liked sci-fi, and he thought I might enjoy it. Just goes to show how little he knows me."

Augustus sat down next to her on the bed. "Seriously, though, do you need any help packing stuff up? Or at least warding off anybody who might get suspicious?"

"I'm fine," Elena said, putting another pile of books into a cardboard box. "Dedushka went back to St. Petersburg for the month, and you and Sylvie are the only other people who come down here."

"Okay, jeez, sorry," Augustus muttered. "Just wanted to be helpful."

Elena paused, then sighed. "Look, I appreciate you coming down here and all, but I've been preparing for this for a while now. I know what I want to take, how I'm going to bring it, and how me and Sylvie are going to leave. You don't need to stick around."

Augustus raised an eyebrow. "I mean, I'd like to know what I should be doing now that you're leaving."

"All you're doing is using my email account to warn the Academy about the Circle's plans. I've taken care of everything else." Elena closed the box and sealed it up with packing tape. "Why are you even worrying about me?"

"Because you're my friend?" he reminded her.

Elena arched an eyebrow. "I'm two years older than you."

"I wasn't aware that age could get in the way of friendship."

She ducked her head. "Thank you for the sentiment, but I can't afford to be friends with you, Augustus."

Augustus looked up. "What? Why not?"

"Because if we consider ourselves friends, we'll want to keep in contact after I leave. Just being colleagues would be better."

"So, just because we don't consider ourselves friends, I'm not allowed to worry about you and want to help you out even though we've known each other for years?" Augustus said, crossing his arms. "Not even gonna let me help you pack? Just gonna run off with your girlfriend without so much of a 'bye, have a nice life?'"

Elena gave him an odd look. "Of course I'm going to say goodbye---"

"Look, you, Sylvie, and Ian are the only people who've actually stood by me, even when I... you know what I mean," he said quickly. "And maybe we're not friends, but I am going to miss you. A lot."

Augustus sat there for a minute in embarrassed silence, feeling Elena's eyes on him. WhydidIsaythatwhydidIsaythatwhydidIsaythat.

"Thank you," Elena finally answered. "That's uncharacteristically kind of you."

"Oh, shut up," Augustus snapped. "I'm capable of saying nice things, you know."

"I know, you're just not that open about how you feel, usually." She socked him lightly on the arm. "You're growing soft, Griffins. And I mean that in a good way."

Augustus looked down at his feet. "Can... can I actually talk to you about something? Now that we're on the whole 'feelings' subject?"

Elena blinked, surprised. "Um... yeah. Of course."