Bʀᴏᴋᴇɴ Hᴀʀᴍᴏɴʏ || Tʜᴇ Cʜᴏsᴇɴ Eɪɢʜᴛ: Fᴀʟʟ ᴏғ ᴛʜᴇ Bᴇᴀsᴛs Bᴏᴏᴋ Oɴᴇ

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ғᴏᴜʀᴛᴇᴇɴ || ʜᴏᴍᴇᴡᴀʀᴅ ʙᴏᴜɴᴅ

Navia

"So?"

I looked up from where I was fiddling with the laces on my boots.

Sasha was leaning in the doorway of the cabin.

I sat up straighter, arching a brow. "So what? I can't read minds."

"What, you haven't learned that yet?" The Zhongese boy chuckled. His voice was deeper than I remembered it, but it didn't surprise me. Sabien's voice had started cracking hilariously during the year away, so it would only make sense that the other boys had the same issues.

I shook my head and threw one of my shoes at him as I wrestled it off my foot.

He caught it and tossed it back as he walked over to sit on one of the beds opposite to me.

"What do you want?" I asked, "or is it bother-Navia-time and no one warned me?"

Sasha raised a brow. "It's always bother-Navia-time." He answered cheekily.

"I'll throw my other shoe at you." I threatened.

"Okay, okay, sorry." He lifted his hands in surrender, laughing. The edge of Delar's tattoo peeked out of his shirt. "Skye. What do you think about them?"

I crossed my arms. So that's what this was about. "I like them."

Sasha nodded slowly. "And...?"

"And what? I think they're a good fit for the team. They'll provide a new perspective, and from what I've seen, they really don't care that Tazi has become an insufferable—"

"Navia!" He exclaimed, scandalized, before I could finish.

I shrugged. "You wanted my honest opinion."

"Yeah, on Skye. Not on Tazi!"

I rolled my eyes, but chuckled at the way his voice pitched in indignation. "Whatever. There you have it, though. I like Skye."

"And you trust them?" Sasha threaded his hands together. "Just... just like that?"

I paused. "This isn't about Skye, is it?"

"It..." he averted his gaze, reaching up to untie his hair. It fell in waves below his shoulders. "Not really, I guess."

"You could've just said that." I pointed out, though the thought of talking about last year's... incident made me feel like throwing something. Unfortunately, one of my boots was still on my foot, and I was too lazy to grab the other again.

Sasha ran a hand through his hair, looking almost anxious. "I don't know. Everything is just— it feels different. Not wrong, but... I can't put my finger on it."

"Different about sums it up," I agreed. "We're different, all of us. Not in a bad way—"

"Except maybe Tazi." He cut in.

I silenced him again with a look. "I wouldn't be so sure. Tazi is growing. We all are. And everything is changing, fast. It would only make sense if you felt a couple of growing pains."