Artifice - Man x Man - Book Six

Chapter 18

It is decided that Soli will go back to the compound with Tonic to collect the remaining members of our group. As it seems more and more apparent, the city is where we are needed. As much as Verando and Soli don't like it, Tyler will much more easily learn to use our ability here, where there is more to practice on, and the stakes are higher. 

On-the-job training wasn't the easiest way to learn but it seemed to be the best way to teach a Solomonari, at least in my experience. The compound was too safe, and getting back to it, in a catastrophe such as this, was nearly impossible. 

Being in the city made the most sense. Besides the fact that now that I knew who Soli was, the idea of leaving her behind in a world that was foreign to her seemed unfair. Even if she didn't seem to struggle with it herself. 

I try not to notice as the two stand before each other, Soli looking up at him as if she may never see him again and Verando regarding her with distrustful curiosity. I can't help but notice that his child will be running recon while he remains with me. My inner desire for children twinges; would he be so willing with our child? 

Send them off on a dangerous mission while he remains behind with me?

Parents should do anything for their children; it feels too painfully close to what my parents would have done for me. "Are you sure you want to go?" He asks firmly of Soli, who takes a hairband and knots it in her hair a few times, making the poofy mass into a messy bun. 

Of course, it's Soli, he asks, not Tonic. I sigh, distracting myself by looking at the cool tiles on the floor. I need to mind my own business, I suppose; Tonic is an adult, as is Soli. I shouldn't think of him as a child. 

"I think you would have a come apart if we did it any other way. If you wanted to go, I wouldn't be having this discussion with you." Her words make me pull my eyebrows down, finding them a bit untrue, he could be reasoned with if you made a valid case. 

"You're hurt." Verando points out to her, reaching to touch her arm, but he hesitates. She doesn't meet his reach, if anything, tilting her body away. 

She turns her head away, wrapping her arms around herself as if to protect her from him. "I'm not ready for that yet." 

He sighs at her, lowering his hand. 

"Please don't act like you care, Doe." her eyes lock on him, and she forces a small smile as she looks up through her lashes. "And you know what I mean by that. I know you way too well, you think I'm being dramatic, you know I'm more than capable of going."

He tenses, unprepared for the direct insight into his psyche. "That's not true." Her face changes into one of humor as she offers him a small giggle, a soft sound that is quite endearing as her expression softens. 

"One day, he'll know you just as well as I do, and he'll call you on your shit, too. "

"Now I think you're being dramatic." He grumbles in response.

 "Take care of him; he's pretty valuable, and I kind of like him. We'll be back, I'd say, by morning. There's some food in the fridge but I didn't necessarily prepare for this."

His expression changes to one of a twinge, a nerve has been struck. "Of course not. Always on the run."

 She shrugs, not taking offense to his observation. 

"Just get back in one piece, yeah? I don't know my way around, and I'm going to need a tour guide." 

I guess that's Asshole for 'I hope you're alright'. The exchange, frankly, makes me a little uncomfortable, and I just want them to part ways. Two people finding each other again is difficult enough, but the history is mind-numbing, they've known each other their whole lives, a type of closeness that I had longed for with him. I guess I'd hoped to see a brighter, happier Verando.