Chapter 15

Still Pixie

Dabria met him on the steps the next night, her face furious. Justin looked at her in surprise, but she motioned him to back up. He complied and she closed the door behind her, so that they stood on the porch alone.

“Good evening, Pixie,” Justin said with a smile.

“Don’t even try it!” She whispered furiously.

Justin looked at her in mild amusement. “Try what?”

“Don’t try to sweet talk me and don’t try whatever you are planning!” She hissed.

“Okay,” Justin said slowly. “First off, I wasn’t sweet talking you. Pixie has been your nickname practically since you first boarded my ship. And secondly, who said I was planning anything?”

“You must be! You were horrible last night!” She accused.

“I… what?” Justin asked, bewildered now.

“You were so mean to Leon. Questioning him like that and then acting like you were all better than him. News update, Justin Falcon, you are not better than Leon!” Her voice cut across to him.

“You don’t need to defend him. And blasting me won’t help his case,” Justin replied, his voice low as his anger rose.

“I wasn’t blasting you, Justin! I was making a point!”

“You could have fooled me,” he growled his reply.

Dabria shook her head. “Look, this is Adem’s birthday and I just don’t want you to ruin it because you have some insane notion that I need protection from a guy I happen to like!”

“So you do like him,” Justin accused.

Dabria crossed her arms across her chest. “Yes, I do.”

“Well, don’t let me get in the way of your little match made in God’s heaven!” His voice was full of sarcasm.

Dabria frowned at him and looked slightly confused, but she didn’t make a comment.

“Now, if you will excuse me, I have a present for the guest of honor, unless of course there is a new one? Or is this still Adem’s birthday party?” Justin asked, holding up a wrapped gift and meeting her eyes.

She flipped her white blond hair back over her shoulder with a toss of her head. “Of course this is still Adem’s party. Just make sure you don’t ruin it.”

With that she turned and went back into the house. Justin stood on the step for a long moment and stared at the spot where she had disappeared. She’s wrong, he thought musingly, the party’s already been ruined.

>~>~>~><~<~<~<

Dabria wanted to groan in pain and sent up yet another quick prayer for the evening to be over. She turned her head to smile at Adem when she caught Kiliki sending her yet another glance. Her sister had been doing it all evening. Not that she really blamed her. Every time Leon had said something, Dabria would look at him, but she could almost feel Justin’s gaze on her and Kiliki’s eyes moving between the two of them. She had told him not to ruin the evening and he had done exactly the opposite.

Supper had been the worst. Even Adem’s excitement over finding all his favorite foods in front of him, couldn’t stop Dabria from feeling Justin’s gaze on her. Between Tadi, Adem, and Evyn the conversation at the table had been animated. It was a time Dabria usually loved, but now as she sat with the others in the parlor she couldn’t remember a thing that had been said.

She covertly searched the room for him now. Adem and Tadi were on the floor playing with all of his new toys in turn. Evyn sat in the chair above them and urgently reminded Adem even birthday boys should share. Emalia sat on the couch next to him, shaking her head, but not stopping her husband from teasing his nephew. Sahen and Tommy were in yet another deep discussion, while Kiliki, Jada, and Salena, all sat with her and Leon. She frowned and looked around again, finally locating him in the corner of the room by the window observing the whole scene. She had the feeling his eyes were not missing much. She shifted her gaze quickly to Leon when she felt Justin’s own gaze returning to her.

She desperately wanted to enjoy the evening with Leon. He had been amazing all night. He must have noticed that something was off, but he hadn’t mentioned a word. He had been extra attentive to her and had told some more fascinating stories as well. But no matter how much she tried to focus on only him she simply wasn’t able too.

“So I simply told the young man that if that was true than every intelligent idea would have come from a monkey and at just the moment a monkey swung over top of us jabbering away excitedly. I tell you it was perfect timing!” Leon finished with a laugh.

The rest of the group joined him, all except Justin, Dabria noted.

“I would have loved to have seen his face!” Evyn managed to say. Dabria hadn’t even realized he and the two boys had started to listen to the story.

“It was priceless,” Leon smiled.

Adem held up his monkey staff that Leon had brought him from the foreign country. “Neat! Maybe I can make monkey people!” he pointed the staff at Tadi who looked at him, but managed not to say a word. “Monkey move!” Adem yelled.

Tadi held still for a moment, then let out a screech and lunged for Adem who was off like a shot and hiding behind Evyn’s chair. Evyn simply laughed and hauled Adem out in front of him.

“Go ahead, Tadi, take your best shot!” He encouraged with a grin.

Tadi looked thoughtfully at Adem, while the now seven year old screeched like he was five again.

“Evyn!” Kiliki gave all three boys a disapproving look.

It was enough to make Evyn set Adem on the floor and Tadi look a little sheepish, but not enough to stop Adem from proclaiming loudly, “Mom rules! I win!”

“What?” Tadi and Evyn both exclaimed, setting off a heated argument.

Emalia and Kiliki exchanged amused glances, and Kiliki said calmly, “Everyone else had better turn up their volume. Those three will be at it all night.”

Jada laughed. “I know. It’s so wonderful!”

Dabria watched the three enviously. At least they were having a good time. She shot a glance at Justin who stood in the corner watching it all. Usually he would have joined in by now. Instead he was silent and Dabria didn’t like that anymore than she had liked his staring during dinner. She turned her back to him in time to hear Kiliki pull Tommy from his conversation with Sahen to question him on his own childhood behavior.

Tommy sent her a grin and replied he had been perfect; it was his cousin Neil who had been the mischief-maker. Jada’s answer to that was a loud hoot after which she promptly launched herself into a story of one of Tommy’s finer moments. Dabria smiled having heard that particular story already and took the opportunity to question Leon.

“You said you were going on another trip soon?”

He smiled at her and nodded. “My father is going to be taking a trip to Myth Island in the near future, so he wants to head back to Reneta for a time to put finishing touches on the treaty with them and such. It’s more of a good will follow up tour than anything else. I was excited to be going back, but now I will miss seeing your beautiful face.”

Dabria felt herself blush. He was the one guy who seemed to be able to do that. She never believed the others who told her she had a beautiful face. She knew her sickness from her childhood had left her much paler than most girls. But for some reason, when Leon spoke it she believed him. “Thank you. I will miss you was well. Still, I only live here three months out of the year. And my time is almost up. I believe I will be sailing home soon.”

“Oh, that is a shame. Well, we shall have to match our schedules. I refuse to miss seeing you if I can help it at all,” his voice was a low whisper so that only she could hear him.

She smiled up at him. “That sounds wonderful. I guess I should see when I will be leaving.” She turned to Kiliki. “Kiliki, do you know when we are planning on leaving?”

Kiliki shot her a look that Dabria could clearly translate as if she had spoken it out loud. “Justin is right in the room, why not ask him?”

Dabria shook her head ‘no’ in response and Kiliki eyebrows lifted up. Dabria sighed knowing she wasn’t going to bed tonight without a sister heart to heart. Still, Kiliki turned and beckoned Justin over. He came willingly, never once looking in Dabria’s direction.

They held a whispered conversation and Kiliki looked at her once in surprise, before turning back to Justin. She finally nodded and stood up.

“I’m sorry, everyone, but Justin needs to leave. They are planning on heading towards Yakecon in just a few days and he needs to prepare some things.” She paused to turn to her son, “And a certain seven year old has a bed time.”

“But Mom! I’m seven! I get to stay up till Tadi goes to bed now!”

Right on cue, Tadi yawned. “I’m kinda tired myself, Adem. And I thought we were going riding to Brenttlyn to see your friends tomorrow. Didn’t they say they wanted a party with you too?” He asked mentioning Tommy’s second estate.

Adem’s eyes lit up. “Oh, right! Night, Mom!” He exclaimed jumping up to everyone’s amusement.

“Say goodnight to your guests here, Adem,” his mom said smiling at him.

Adem nodded his head and said a dutiful good night to everyone present. Though Dabria, Aunt Jada, Kiliki, and Tommy all got hugs. Within minutes he and Tadi were heading out the door.

Kiliki turned to Leon. “Please don’t feel you must leave. You are welcome to stay as long as you like.”

He smiled. “Thank you so much, Kiliki. But it is getting late and as I was telling Dabria my father is planning another trip. I really ought to get home to see if I can help him at all.”

“Of course, we understand. Though, I must admit we are sorry to see you go.”

Leon smiled and bowed. “It has been a great honor to be here for your son’s birthday. Thank you so much.”

Dabria hooked her arm in his. “I’ll walk you too the door.”

He covered her hand with his and nodded. “Thank you.”

Suddenly, something caused her to look around. It was only then that she noticed Justin was gone.

>~>~>~><~<~<~<

“What was your problem? Tonight was Adem’s night. He has so been looking forward to it and you are extremely lucky he didn’t notice anything was wrong or you would be in a lot more trouble right now!” Kiliki stormed at her sister later that night.

The two were in Dabria’s bedroom. Kiliki had sent Salena to her own room as soon as she had entered and Salena had moved very quickly. The two girls had barely had a chance to talk and Dabria suddenly wished she were back in the room for support.

“Well?” Kiliki spouted, when Dabria didn’t answer.

“Are you telling me I’m not really in trouble?” Dabria asked hopefully.

“Dabria Richerson!” Kiliki’s voice was not exactly low and Dabria cringed.

“Okay, okay! Sorry,” Dabria muttered.

“You talked to Justin before he came inside. I know you did. What did you tell him that upset him so much?” Kiliki asked a little more calmly, but still very firmly.

Dabria shrugged. “How should I know? Are you sure he was upset?”

“Dabria, how old are you?” Kiliki asked instead.

“Sixteen,” she replied surprised.

“Are you sure? Because I use to say you were eight going on eighteen and now you seem to be sixteen going on five.”

“Ouch,” Dabria muttered.

“Spill,” Kiliki ordered.

So Dabria told her about the conversation on the porch. Kiliki didn’t say a word until she was finished and then she sank on to the bed beside her sister.

“Oh, Bree, how could you? Whatever possessed you to be so mean?” she asked softly.

“What do you mean?” Dabria asked nervously.

“You were so mean to him,” Kiliki said, hurt in her eyes.

“He was mean to Leon!” Dabria protested weakly.

“Was he? Are you sure or is that just your imagination, Dabria? I was there on both occasions. The only one I saw being mean was you,” Kiliki’s voice was gently now.

“How can you say that? He was rude to Leon! He questioned him like he didn’t have a right to be here, he acted like he was better than him…” Dabria’s list ran out. Finally she finished, “I don’t need him protecting me.”

Kiliki shook her head. “Maybe you aren’t ready for a boyfriend.”

“Why? Because Justin was being overprotective? You can’t blame me for him!” Dabria protested.

“Oh, I don’t, Dabria. I blame you for you and that seems to be quite enough. You had no just cause to yell at Justin like you did. He was trying to do what he thought was best for you, looking out for you, and you attacked him like he was less than someone close to you.” Kiliki stared hard at her sister, and then continued, “Bree, he has been like a big brother to you since you were ten. Have you forgotten you met him a full two weeks before you met even Tommy and Evyn? You may have collectively spent more time with your brothers, but Justin feels just as strongly about you as they do. He has sacrificed a lot for you. Then when a new guy comes into your life you tell Justin his opinion doesn’t even matter. I should not have to remind you that Justin is a member of this family just as much as you are. And his connection to you is almost closer than the connection he and I share.”

Dabria stared down at her rug and didn’t say a word. Her sister’s words were like hot fire inside her, hurting her everywhere. She wanted to stay mad at Justin for ruining her evening, but Kiliki’s words and the tone she spoke in were making that increasingly difficult.

“Bree, did you even see his face before you left him on that porch?” Kiliki asked slowly.

Dabria nodded, for the first time that evening allowing the picture to come to mind. He had looked so hurt and shocked. Like he didn’t understand where it was all coming from, but he knew… Dabria shook her head. She couldn’t pretend to know Justin’s thoughts. But she knew beyond a doubt she had hurt him. “He was hurt,” she finally admitted.

Kiliki nodded. “When was the last time he called you Pixie?”

“Tonight on the porch,” she whispered after thinking a moment.

“Really? I’m surprised. He called you Dabria three times tonight. Not even Bree, though that has never been his nickname for you. But I am so use to hearing him call you Pixie, I couldn’t help but notice that I didn’t hear it once tonight. Did you tell him not too? Are you suddenly too grown up to be called by his childhood nickname for you?”

Dabria felt a tear slip down her cheek. She couldn’t answer. She took a shuddering breath and tried to keep more tears from falling. She felt her sister’s arm go around her shoulders and hold her tight. Neither of them said anything for a long time.

“Take a deep breath, Bree. Do you need a drink?” Kiliki finally asked when the tears had started to slow.

Dabria shook her head no, but took several deep breaths and let them out slowly. She started to count, but couldn’t concentrate on the numbers. She heard Kiliki’s voice pick up the count so she timed her breathing to that. It was an old trick. Heightened worry and stressed out emotions caused her to relapse into her illness. If that happened, she would often get a high fever and be down for weeks, sometimes even months, though it hadn’t been that bad in a while. Still, the entire family was trained to handle times like these before things could get too bad.

Finally, Dabria nodded she was okay. Kiliki sat silent for another minute and just rubbed Dabria’s back in a soothing motion.

“What are you going to do?” Kiliki finally asked.

“I don’t know,” Dabria whispered.

“Then I will tell you. You are going to have to apologize to Justin.” Kiliki held up a hand to forestall the comments Dabria had fully intended to make. “Yes, his behavior was not perfect either, I will admit that. However, you need to be a Christian example and apologize. Until you do, Leon is not coming over anymore. Now, just listen, Dabria. I fully realize you will not see Justin again until you are on his ship and heading home. However, that will give you time, which I happen to think you need. You are still learning and growing, Dabria. This is the first time you have really been interesting in a guy and that is fine. But you need to think of the consequence of that, like how you need to act and how your relationship with Justin is going to be. He cares about you a lot. And while he needs to learn to respect your decision, something that is not going to come easily for him, you also need to realize what you do is going to affect him as well.” Kiliki paused and then added, “In more ways than one. And you need to figure things out, before you jump any more ships.”

“Ha ha,” Dabria muttered.

Kiliki smiled and raised Dabria’s face to hers. “I love you, Little Sis. You know that. And I have never known you to go all giggly over guys before. I think you need time to take a step back and figure out what you really want before you get yourself into a bad situation. I know you don’t want anyone to get hurt, so let’s try to make that happen as little as possible, okay?”

Dabria gave her sister a small smile. “Yeah. I’ll apologize to Justin. I was kinda mean.”

“Kinda? Hmm,” Kiliki said, but then she smiled. “Good. I would hate for anything to come between the two of you, especially a guy. You have a really good relationship.”

Dabria cocked her head. “Yeah, I guess we do. I wouldn’t want to lose it either.”

“That’s a relief. I would hate to have to knock sense into both of you,” Kiliki teased with a grin.

“Hey!” Dabria protested, but this time she smiled.

“Night, Bree. I love you,” Kiliki gave her sister a hug.

“Night, Sissy. Thank you.”

Kiliki nodded and closed the door behind her. Dabria crawled into bed. Her last thought before drifting off to sleep was that she had missed being called Pixie when Justin wasn’t mad at her.

>~>~>~><~<~<~<

“And if you ever, and I mean ever, leave without saying goodbye again, pirates won’t have to worry about finding you, because I will have skinned you alive and then some! You hear me, Justin Falcon? Never again! You are a member of this family and as such you will say goodbye and see you again!” Kiliki’s angry and loud voice drifted up the stairs to reach an extremely amused Dabria and Salena.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry, Kiliki! I promise it won’t happen again,” a very repentant voice followed it. “I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“You weren’t!” Kiliki responded smartly.

Salena giggled behind Dabria and both Kiliki and Justin looked up to see them. Dabria smiled down at them, but Justin didn’t seem to see. She frowned and realized apologizing was going to be harder than she thought.

The loading of the carriage would have gone faster had Adem not been trying to help, big seven year old that he now was. Eventually, Tadi had yelled he knew how to defeat the Black Panther and had hogged tied Adem to the rail on the steps. Adem’s howling had been loud, but the packing went much quicker. Kiliki had ordered his untying when all was finished. When he was free, Adem promptly stuck his tongue out at Tadi, but Dabria was there to grab a hold of him and say goodbye. The other goodbyes were accomplished among tears, since it would be nine months before they would all be together again.

Dabria and Salena climbed into the wagon, but Dabria was quickly back out. She looked around for Justin and finally spotted him on the opposite side of the wagon.

“What are you doing?” She inquired.

“Riding a horse,” was the short reply.

“I can see that. Why? Aren’t you going to ride with us?” Dabria questioned.

“Obviously not. Now get in the carriage, I want to set sail quickly,” Justin’s tone was as short as his answer. He heeled the horse and the animal quickly took off.

Dabria sighed and crawled back into the carriage, letting Inu and Sheron know they were ready first. She looked at Salena when she was settled.

“He won’t even ride with me.”

“This is going to be a long trip,” Salena replied, before looking out the window.

The two rode in silence after that.

>~>~>~><~<~<~<

Nine days. I have nine days left before we reach home. How has he managed to avoid me for so long? Dabria thought as she opened the door to her cabin room. She glanced around and saw Salena sitting at the table writing something. Dabria crossed the room and toppled onto her bed. Salena didn’t even look up. Dabria stayed silent for a moment.

“What are you doing?” Salena finally asked, still not looking up from her writing.

“Nothing.”

“I can see that. Why are you doing nothing?”

“Because I can,” Dabria sighed.

Salena shook her head and finally looked at her pouting friend. “You know, if you just talked to him it might get better.”

Dabria sat straight up. “Me? Where have you been! I’ve spent the last five days trying to talk to him!”

“You don’t know what to say.”

It was not a question and Dabria groaned as she flopped back down. “Not a clue.”

“So, who has been avoiding who?” Salena asked, amused.

“Actually, I think we both are.”

Salena rolled her eyes. “You two are hopeless.”

“Thank you every so much, Salena. That doesn’t help,” Dabria complained.

Salena was silent for a moment. Finally her face brightened. “Why don’t you draw him an apology?”

“Draw an ... How would I do that?”

Salena shrugged. “No idea. I already did my part.” With that the girl turned back to her writing.

Dabria opened her trunk and got out her drawing materials. It would be a long time before she looked up again. When she finally did, she left the room without a word, but picture in hand.

The wind was blowing harshly on deck and only the deckhands on duty were out in it. Dabria grabbed onto the rail and held on tightly as she made her way across the deck. Eventually, she reached the Great Cabin and headed down the steps, grateful for the shelter. She knocked on the door quickly. There was no answer for a long time, so she knocked again more harshly.

“I left orders not to be disturbed!” An annoyed voice finally called.

“Well, un-leave them and let me in!” Dabria called back, noting unhappily he was already in a bad mood.

A few minutes later the door opened and Justin stood blocking it. “What are you doing here? Why are you out of your cabin?” his voice was harsh.

“Obviously I had to talk to you. Could you let me in? It is a little cold out here.”

Justin gave her a glare, but opened the door wider, so she could slip past him.

“That was stupid, Dabria. It’s too dangerous for you to be walking on the deck.” Justin closed the door and then sat down in his desk chair. Focusing on the papers he had strewn all over the place.

“What are those?” Dabria asked curious, and very much not wanting to come to the point.

“Papers from a ledger,” his tone harshly saying that the discussion was closed.

“Um, okay,” she finally whispered.

Justin looked up at her. “What do you want, Dabria? Have you come to insult me again? Because I won’t hear you out this time.”

“No,” Dabria said forcefully then much softer, “no. I...um…”

“Dabria, in case you haven’t noticed, I am very busy. I don’t have time to listen to your jawing, especially if it has anything to do with that McNeil character. Go back to your room.”

“Why won’t you give him a chance?” Dabria asked pleading.

“I said the discussion was closed,” Justin replied angrily.

“Come on, Justin, you’ve had days now. You can’t still be mad at him. He never did anything to you, but you disapprove of him. The rest of my family likes him, why not you?”

Justin looked up to glare at her and Dabria took a step back. She had not seen him make such a disapproving and angry face at her since he had reamed her for her little swim in the ocean. But she couldn’t seem to stop her next words.

“You were so mean at the two dinners. You glared from that corner like some kind of protective monster. And you didn’t even try to get to know him or be nice. It was like you had made a decision when you walked in the door and no matter who he was your mind was made up.” Dabria shook her head feeling distraught and confused. “Why? I don’t understand. Tommy and Evyn accepted him. Why can’t you?”

Justin turned his back to her to walk over to the porthole. He didn’t say a word to her, but his back was ramrod straight. Dabria knew he was furious, but she wasn’t sure if it was at her or at what she had said. She didn’t particularly want to find out, but she was determined to get the apology over with before she left the room.

“Justin, we still have to talk.” Dabria finally ventured.

“Talk?” Justin’s voice was filled with scorn. “You have talked enough. Every word out of your mouth is filled with unfounded accusations. You are trying to pin me with something I didn’t do, just to make yourself feel better for your lousy evening. Grow up, Dabria.”

Dabria paused for a second. Hadn’t Kiliki told her basically the same thing last night? She had met Justin on the porch and accused him before he had walked into the door for Adem’s birthday party. He had never stood a chance that evening. Maybe his actions the night before had been bad and rude, and deserved some type of talking too, but she had made it infinitely worse when she had met him that night.

She took a deep breath and stared at Justin’s back. “Justin, you have to understand that I am growing up. I am not some little girl who needs every male in her life to protector her from some imaginary wolf. I know there are bad guys out there, but Leon is not one of them. You have to let me make these decisions on my own. And I would appreciate it if I had your support instead of your burning looks and stupid, angry words.”

She paused and finally sighed again, “Fine. That said, the reason I came in here in the first place wasn’t to question you. It was….um… it was to give you this.”

Dabria stood still and held out the picture she had in her hand. She focused her gaze on the floor and didn’t look up. She felt more than saw when Justin turned around and his gaze fell on her. She heard him take a step forward and felt the paper lifted out of her hand. She kept her gaze down as he studied the picture.

She had drawn one of herself this time. It was a penciled portrait of her face mostly. Her hair framed her face and fell down out of the picture. Her expression was one of deep sadness and a single tear trailed down her cheek to stop just before it fell from her face. Dabria had worked hard on it and in the spot where she usually placed her name were two words, “I’m sorry.”

It felt like Justin had been staring at the picture for an hour before he finally spoke. When he did his voice was low and rumbling, “I don’t want this.”

Dabria blinked and slowly lifted confused eyes to his. “Oh,” she whispered. “Um, I’m sorry. I can take it back. It isn’t very good anyway. Um, you won’t accept my apology either I guess. I, uh, won’t keep you anymore.”

Justin didn’t hand the picture back though. “No, Dabria. I don’t want it because this isn’t you.”

“What?” She asked confused. “Um, I don’t understand.”

“You don’t look like this.”

“Um, okay...” Dabria’s voice trailed off. She knew she was good at drawing. She had thought the picture was very accurate, especially for her feelings at the time.

A slow smile appeared on Justin’s face. “No, it’s not. You very rarely look so depressed, Dabria. If I have a picture of you I want one when you are smiling.”

Dabria felt a warm bubble in her chest and a small smile spread across her face. “I can draw you a smiling one too.”

Justin nodded and held out her picture to her again. “You need this one back?”

Dabria shook her head no. “It is still an apology.”

“I don’t need the picture for the apology, I accept that, Dabria. You didn’t even sign this one.” He picked up the picture she had given him of himself and showed her the well-worn spot where his finger had so often traced her name. She grinned at him.

“You can still keep this one. But I’ll sign the next one and make sure I’m smiling too.”

Justin nodded and placed both pictures on his desk. They covered the only spot that had been clear of ledger papers. He sat back down and stared to go over them again, but looked up when she stayed. “Was there something else too, Dabria?” For the first time since she had walked into the room, he sounded like the Justin she remembered, all except for one thing.

“Um, yes. Well, kind of anyway.”

Justin gave her an amused look and waited.

Dabria sighed. “You stopped calling me Pixie. I miss it. How come you stopped?”

Justin looked at her in surprise for a long moment, before he finally said, “I didn’t know you missed it. You keep telling me you’re growing up, so I guess I figured you didn’t want to be called by some nickname I gave you long ago. And we haven’t exactly been on the best of terms lately.”

“I’m sorry about that,” Dabria whispered.

Justin nodded. “Me too. Do you want me to call you Pixie still?”

“Well, only if you want too,” Dabria answered softly.

Justin cocked his head at her a question still in his eyes.

She smiled. “But I do miss it. I may be growing up, but that’s no reason for you to stop calling me by the name you gave me. Um, though not in front of guests.”

Justin laughed. When he caught his breath he managed, “Okay, Pixie, you have a deal.” He paused then added, “I’m pretty busy and it’s too dangerous for you to walk back by yourself right now. Do you mind waiting for me?”

Dabria shook her head. “Not at all. Can I help?”

Justin shrugged. “These stupid papers got all out of order. I’m trying to fix them before I have to deal with Namid or Maath.”

Dabria laughed. “No, problem. Just tell me what to do.”

>~>~>~><~<~<~<