Mylo turned his head to see who Vi was talking to — Jonathan.
Vi opened her mouth to speak, but Mylo beat her to it.
"Jonathan, we haven't seen you in a while," Mylo said, making everyone else turn to look at Jonathan too.
Caitlyn glanced between them all, raising a brow at how casually they seemed to know him.
"Yeah, getting bit really makes you disappear, huh," Crane said with a hollow chuckle.
"Wait, so you were avoiding us?" Vi said, narrowing her eyes slightly.
Crane raised his hands. "I wasn't avoiding you guys — I was avoiding everyone."
Caitlyn looked between them, her expression sharp. "Who are you people, and what's this about Jonathan getting bit?"
Her voice made everyone — except Jonathan — snap their attention to her.
Vi glanced at her, finally taking in the cloaked girl sitting next to Jonathan.
Vi crossed her arms. "We're family… well, not Jonathan — we're friends. Sort of. It's complicated. I'm Vi."
Powder gave a small, shy wave. "Hi. I'm Powder."
Claggor chimed in next. "I'm Claggor. Nice to meet you. We actually met Jonathan here first, at this place."
"And I'm Mylo," Mylo said, flashing a grin. "Leader of the group. And about Jonathan getting bit—yeah, that was Vi's fault." He jerked a thumb toward her.
"She took a bite out of him during a fight. Drew blood and everything."
Caitlyn's eyes widened. She stared at Vi, her mouth dropping open in shock.
She muttered under her breath, "It's true… the Under-city does have cannibals…"
Powder and Mylo burst into chuckles, while Claggor just smiled.
"Wait, what? I'm not a cannibal! That's not even close!" Vi snapped, crossing her arms tighter. "And who even are you? You talk like you're not from the Under-city."
Caitlyn hesitated, looking a little unsure. Before she could answer, Crane casually tapped her shoulder.
"She's my friend," he said simply. "That's good enough for me."
Caitlyn quickly nodded. "Yeah. Friend. Totally. Just… please don't eat my friend."
Vi looked ready to argue again, but Caitlyn jumped in, frowning.
"Wait—did you bite him or not? I'm confused."
"We were fighting," Vi started, rubbing the back of her neck.
Meanwhile, Crane had turned to Jericho, placing an order for food for himself and Caitlyn, clearly uninterested in the chaos besides him.
"Why'd you want to fight him?" Caitlyn asked, tilting her head. "He's not bad… unless you're the bad one."
Before Vi could explode again, Mylo leaned in. "Nah, they just wanted to fight for the fun of it."
"Oh." Caitlyn blinked, clearly not understanding, but going along with it.
"Let me tell it," Vi huffed at Mylo.
Powder listened intently, even though she'd been there for all of it.
"We fought for a while," Vi began, pacing a little. "Traded blows at first… then Jonathan—" she glanced back at him as he handed Jericho some money— "kept dodging like a slippery bastard until I finally got a solid punch in and knocked him down."
"That still doesn't explain the biting part," Caitlyn pointed out, brow furrowed.
"I'm getting there, be patient!" Vi said, frustrated.
She took a breath and continued, "So. While he was on his back, Jonathan used his tail to launch himself up. And he, uh… he came right into my face. Our lips… sort of… touched."
Vi's voice trailed off, and she looked anywhere but at Caitlyn.
Caitlyn's mouth dropped open in pure shock. "You kissed?"
"No! We didn't kiss!" Vi shouted, her face burning. "Our lips just accidentally made contact! That's not the same thing!!"
Crane lightly tapped Caitlyn's shoulder, drawing her attention. "Our food's here," he said, gesturing toward the plates. "Let's eat."
He leaned in and whispered near her ear, "Don't say anything bad about it."
Caitlyn nodded quickly, glancing down at her plate—and the tentacles staring back at her.
"I'll finish the story from here while you eat," Crane said, settling back into his seat. "It's best to eat while listening to a story."
Vi looked down at her own food.
She didn't want it getting cold either, so she begrudgingly picked up her utensils and started eating while Crane spoke.
"When our lips made accidental contact," Crane began smoothly.
Caitlyn, trying to be brave, took a tentative bite of a tentacle—and immediately gagged.
"Uck—ough," she coughed into her hand, face scrunching in disgust.
Vi glanced over with an eyebrow raised.
Caitlyn quickly waved her hand. "Sorry! Forgot to… bite it down first," she mumbled before forcing the rest of the piece down. She wasn't going to insult to the under-city food.
Crane, unbothered, continued. "As I was saying—when our lips met, Vi must have decided she was hungry.
So she bit my bottom lip, drawing blood. It fell on both our lips before she decided she wasn't that hungry after all… and shoved me back onto the floor."
He said it all in a calm, even tone, as if narrating a simple weather report.
Vi dropped her fork, scowling. "I did not decide I was hungry! It was a reflex!"
Powder and Mylo were openly laughing at this point, while Claggor tried—and failed—to hide his grin.
Caitlyn wiped her mouth, still looking mildly horrified but intrigued.
Meanwhile, Crane had already started digging into his food, chewing without a care. Between bites, he looked up at Vi.
"Hey, Vi—serious question," he said, his words muffled through a mouthful of food.
Vi rolled her eyes. "Can't be that serious. What is it?"
Crane swallowed, then turned to her fully, his expression oddly earnest.
"What did I taste like?"
Vi blinked, thrown off by how genuinely serious he seemed for once.
After a moment, she shrugged, deciding to just answer.
"You tasted… sweet. Then bitter," she said, sounding more confused than anything.
Crane nodded thoughtfully, turning back to his food without missing a beat.
"Neat," he said, before continuing to eat like he hadn't just dropped the weirdest question of the night.
Caitlyn leaned in and whispered, "What was that about?"
"Nothing. Just… interested in something for once," he murmured back, brushing it off.
He went back to eating, casually finishing his plate. Caitlyn followed suit, a bit more cautious with her last bites. Then Crane stood up, brushing off his clothes.
"Well, it was nice chatting with you," he said. "But we should be going. Worry not—I won't be gone more than a week."
He gave Caitlyn a gentle tap on the back as he turned to leave.
Caitlyn stood up quickly. "Bye! It was nice hearing the story… and knowing you're not actually a cannibal," she added, her voice trailing a bit as Crane was already walking away.
Vi let out a loud groan and facepalmed. "Yeah, it was nice meeting you too."
As Caitlyn jogged to catch up, the edge of her cloak shifted, revealing a streak of bright blue hair beneath it.
Powder's eyes lit up. She turned to Vi with a wide smile. "Did you see that, Vi? She's got blue hair. Like me!"
Vi glanced after the two of them and exhaled slowly. "Yeah, Powder. I saw."
——————————-
Catching up to Jonathan, Caitlyn said, "They seem like a fun group of people."
"They are," Crane said looking down.
After a moment, he looked up and asked, "Are you thirsty?"
Caitlyn nodded. "Kinda, yeah."
Crane pulled one hand out of his pocket and held it out to her, palm open. "Here. Have some water."
Caitlyn blinked at his empty hand, then scanned him for a canteen or flask — nothing.
"I don't see any water," she said, suspicious.
"There isn't any," Crane said matter-of-factly.
"Then why would you even bring it up if you didn't have any?" she asked, frustrated.
"I like the sound of my own voice," he said plainly.
Caitlyn gave him a dry look as she walked alongside him. "Great. Now I'm actually thirsty—all because you felt like being egotistical."
Crane sighed. "Fine. Let's get something to drink."
He paused for a moment, then added, "There's a place called The Last Drop. It's a bar, but I've heard they also serve juice."
"A bar?" Caitlyn raised a brow. "That sounds… dangerous."
"Don't worry," Crane said with a faint smile. "The owner's a very respectable man."
————————
I think I've washed more dishes at school, then at home.