The Blood of a Nightlock

Chapter Eight

I agreed.

"Eat your damn food and quit playing with it."

I lifted a spoonful of spaghetti to my lips and took a bite that was anything but lady-like. "Can we get Chinese next week? I love Chinese food."

I was on my way back to the dorm after dinner with my hands in my pockets and my head down. The crisp air was starting to feel less refreshing and more cold, which indicated that Fall was slowly coming to an end and winter was on the horizon. I made a mental note that it was a few days shy of Halloween. Raven and I always went to town on Halloween to see all the costumes and join in on the bar hopping. It was one of our favorite things, but with favorite things come the things you don't like so much. To have Halloween, we had to be on the cusp of Winter. I hated Winter. I hated the snow and I was quite certain it had a personal vendetta against me as well. Or so it seemed.

I was close to the dorm when a whistle from the darkness drew my attention to the brick wall of the dorm building. Mitchel was there, leaning against the brick with his eyes on me. I stopped short of the porch leading up to the dorms and glanced around to find no one but us in sight.

"I thought we could chat." He confirmed my thoughts that he was there for me.

I paused and thought about my next words. "I'm really sorry." I said as I slowly closed the distance between us.

He didn't respond.

"I'm sorry about the other day and about... uh... well the kiss." I said, clearing my throat. "That was inappropriate of me." I pulled my hands from my pockets and made a gesture between them that I hoped would sell the reasons for my temporary insanity. "It was Family Day."

He nodded slowly as his eyes slid through the darkness of campus and he stayed silent for a few brief moments before his eyes returned to me. "Don't apologize."

"I was out of line."

He shrugged like it was nothing. "Then I was wrong too because I kissed you back."

I rubbed the back of my neck. "Why are you here?"

"I was wondering how your first psych eval went." He said. "They can be tough, especially your first, and I didn't want you to feel alone."

"Oh..." I paused. "Work."

"Work." He agreed, his tone was quiet and calm.

"Um," I took a deep breath, trying not to show my disappointment, "it was fine." I shook my head. "Nothing to report. I was there for only a few minutes."

"That's good. If something comes up that you're unsure about, I'm here to discuss it."

"Yeah." I nodded. "Thank you."

He watched me for a few moments.

"Can I be honest?"

"I wish you would."

"I know you have to do this," I gestured to his iciness, "for work, but I would appreciate it if you were an actual human in front of me."

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"You have emotions, which is good because then you pass your psych evals, but you face them in private, talk yourself down from whatever it was, and then you come back cold and icy." I said. "The iciness doesn't make you any more of a Chief than being human does."

He thought about my words. "You think I'm being cold to you?"

"You're cold to everyone." I said. "Except Reaper and that's probably because Reaper has learned how to be around you and how to navigate the very treacherous planes of your world. But you're cold. You're shut off and hide everything behind smoke-colored eyes and a hard exterior." I said. "I kissed you the other day and you're telling me you can stand by the fact that you came here to talk to me about my first psych eval?"