Ascension

Chapter 2

“It still got you to the Uni on time though. I’ll see you there around eight? Usual place?”

“Done. Bye, Mick. Sorry for freaking out.”

“Don’t worry about it, Gabe. I’ll see you soon.”

Mick closed his phone with a fond smile and pushed at Sam’s face when she made fluttery eyes at him. She chortled as she stuffed her waitress uniform into a bag and pulled on her coat.

“You two are disgusting,” Sam declared. “You’ve been together...what, four months?”

“Five,” Mick corrected. “And you’re really one to talk. I remember how you were when you first started going out with Jai.”

“I wasn’t this bad.”

“No, you were worse.” He picked up his helmet and fished his keys out from his pocket. “I’m still scarred from the Camaro Incident.”

“That was one time!”

“One time was enough. I’m heading out, Sam. I’ll call you later. Tell Jai I’ll bring Sasha in tomorrow evening and we’ll do dinner.”

Sam agreed and bid him goodbye. Mick headed out of the diner, scowling as little pieces of bone bounced off the top of his helmet.  Most of the town was back in shape, the damage from the previous night’s meteor shower taken care of by Arcadia’s Watcher maintenance crew. He stopped at an Applebee’s to get himself some lunch and finished it off while watching a group of tall, skeletal Watchers patch together the wrecked facade of a strip mall, leaving it seamless and with no sign of having ever been damaged. As he tossed his napkin into a trash can, he wondered how on earth other towns functioned without any Watchers on their police force or civil maintenance team.

It was past midday when he parked Sasha next to Crossroads Books in Nirvana Square. He glanced over the narrow brick facade and the black wrought iron sign that hung next to the shop window, which held an arrangement of books and poles in the shape of a great three-masted galley, complete with little flags and cloth sails as well.

The corner of his mouth tugged up in a fond smile. Carly had been busy.

The little bell on the door jingled merrily as he strolled in, trying in vain to fix his hair that had been flattened by his helmet. He cast his eye around the shop and landed on a woman browsing through a rack of self-help books while her son pouted next to her, tugging at her pant leg. Mick quickly stowed his helmet under the register counter, shucked off his jacket and approached the child.

“Ahoy, mate,” he greeted, squatting down next to the boy. “Found anything you like?”

The boy stuck out his lower lip, shaking his shaggy mop of hair. “I don’t wanna read a cookbook.”

Mick shared a quick glance with his mother and a silent agreement before extending a hand to the boy. “You don’t have to. What’s your name?”

“Peter.”

“That’s a great name!” he exclaimed, shaking the boy’s hand. “I’m Mick. Tell me, Peter, do you like pirates?”

“Like Captain Hook?”

“Exactly like Captain Hook!”

“He has funny hair and a big chin.”

Mick tipped his head to the side, recalling Disney’s caricature of the pirate. “Yes, he does, but...” He trailed away as he caught sight of the man strutting in from the back of the shop. “Not always. Tell me, have you ever met a pirate?”

“No,” he replied, “and I don’t wanna. Pirates are mean and scary.”

“Not always,” said Mick. “Some pirates are friendly and like to help little boys find good books to read. You want to meet a pirate like that?”