Chapter Text
~06~
Logan's Luck
“Happy birthday, baby,” Catori murmured, untwisting her long braid as she balanced herself over Justice’s hips.
He smiled, hands clasped behind his head as he lay against Catori’s numerous pillows. “Not gettin’ too old for you, am I?”
“Nope.”
It was five o’clock in the morning. Justice had taken up an early jogging route after his breakup with Vee and found that, besides Cooper, Catori was one of the earliest risers in Sandrock. He wondered why Unsuur hadn’t mentioned it before they’d switched routes, but there she was, up with the dawn every single day, cleaning the facade of either the Museum or the Golden Goose. She swept the road between them and kept the weeds back. She aired cloth relics, or power-washed the whack-a-mole mats, or plucked X’s stray feathers out of her signs, but every day, she was out there doing what she could to fight back the desert from her entryways.
Unsuur, he realized, had noted this in his reports after all: a daily “raven sighting.” Justice had thought it meant X, but X was always out foraging at that hour. Raven was Catori and her long, blue-black hair and the feathers she always wore in them.
It started with a wave. A few days later, a stop-and-chat. Pretty soon, Justice was climbing up to the roof to pick feathers while Catori power-washed the mats. The walkway between the Golden Goose and the Museum had never looked more sparkling and soon…
He could jog later, just this once, on his birthday, after all. He flipped Catori onto her back in one swift move and she yelped as she softly hit the pillows and pulled him closer by the shoulder. “You wanna open presents?” Her lips brushed his ear.
He kissed her shoulders. The left, then the right. “I give presents on my birthday, Cat.” He kissed her clavicle, left then right. “Tell me what you want.” The little dip just below her throat— kiss.
“You got those handcuffs, Sheriff?”
Meanwhile, across town, Heidi and Grace were asleep in each other’s arms on their sofa, covered in a soft quilt. Grace woke up briefly from a bad dream, the one where she relived— in excruciating, exacting detail— proofreading the letter the agency was to send her parents, informing them of her death. She wondered if Heidi had felt her jolt awake, but when she looked down, Heidi was still curled up beside her, sleeping soundly upon Grace’s breast.
Everything was in perfect order, she reminded herself, and fell back asleep. Secret agents have worse dreams than that.
Meanwhile, across the street, Ernest was asleep, not knowing that a letter from his publisher was about to arrive in his mailbox. He snuggled closer to a sleeping Amirah, which could only mean she’d be the next to fall in love.
Meanwhile, several doors down, Owen and Mi-an slept soundly under her sheets, in their underwear, with Owen playing big spoon.
Meanwhile, behind Mi-an’s, Logan lay wide awake in his own bed, alone. It was the second night without Vee, his second night without sleep since that weekend. The lack of sleep barely phased him— there had been many a night on the trail that had passed him by while he guarded Haru or, later, Andy, while sitting next to a fire (or, just as often, in the cold without one, trying to stay hidden).
What really bothered him was the fact that he couldn’t, simply could not, even shut his eyes. The intensity of this sudden loneliness surprised him. How many times had he longed for his mother, then his father, for anyone at all? But this loneliness had a different flavor; it was tinged with the excitement of knowing he would have her again by at least Friday (he began to worry a bit that it was only Monday— well, Tuesday now). That within hours, even, once Andy was firmly in class, he could be at her gate (who was he kidding, of course he would be). Whenever he thought about that smile, her scent, the way her skin would blush gently whenever he touched her, his heart actually pained him, he physically missed her.
This couldn’t stand. He looked at the calendar above his nightstand— Saturday, he thought, noticing the date. He got up and circled it with the pencil that dangled from the calendar cord. He had plans to make.
—
Nia jumped as she heard someone shuffling into the communal kitchen behind her.
Amirah froze. Nia froze.
“Hi, Nia,” Amirah said softly. Carefully. She reminded Nia of a scared doe.
“Hey… Amirah. Um, sorry, I was just…” She grabbed a box of cereal from the cabinet. “I was on my way back to my room,” she said, picking up her bowl and spoon and heading apologetically back to her room.
When she closed the door behind her, she immediately remembered: milk. Also, she hated eating in her room. Wait! I live here. She walked back out into the hall, but Amirah was already gone.
Nia related this to Vee later as she sipped coffee on the assembly station platform at Night Shop. The platform was rarely used anymore since Vee had built the factory, but she held onto it hoping it could be the first thing to go into the communal building space.
Vee was poking delicately at one of Jensen’s pocket watches at her workbench. There was a lot the factory could do, but watch repair was not one of them. “Did you want her to be there?” she asked, adjusting the focus on her loupe.
“Are you crazy? She’s sleeping with Ernest.”
“Everyone sleeps with Ernest,” Vee said, squinting as she removed a single dial and placed it in a cup.
Nia grimaced. “What?”
“Every good desert town has a charming wastrel. He’s ours.”
“He wears a hoodie,” Nia said, wrinkling her nose.
Vee snorted.
They sat in comfortable silence for awhile. Vee continued to tinker while Nia admired how healthy and lush the garden looked. “I should probably head back to the farm to wrap some things up for my reports,” Nia said after she’d soaked up enough sun. “Tell Justice happy birthday from me.”
“You’re not coming?” She removed the loupe from her eye.
“I promised Professor Luo a few more pages this week. So unless you can get that factory to turn out a dissertation, I’d better hole up for a bit. Especially if I want to make it out on Friday.”
“It’s the Saturday hangover you’ll need to watch out for. Trust me.”
“All the more reason. Thanks for the coffee.”
Vee waved and stuck the loupe back onto her eye so she could close up Jensen’s watch. She knew better by now than to wind it for him— his watches were so finely calibrated that eventually, he gently, almost pityingly, told her she didn’t have to try. But it was in working order again and she got up from her worktable and stretched in the midmorning sunlight.
As if on cue, she heard the approach of Rambo’s footfall as he leapt neatly over the train track. She placed Jensen’s watch in the worktable drawer and made her way to the front of the yard. “Howdy, yakboy.”
“Good mornin’, ma’am.” Logan tipped his hat as Rambo stamped his hooves in the sand, showing off.
“Howdy, Rambo. You want a sweet potato?” Vee opened the gate and as Logan dismounted, Rambo pranced right past her and nuzzled himself into the tiny space between Boy Blue (Vee’s yakmel) and Merle, who were sleeping side by side. “Make yourself at home, then.”
“Ah, Ramb— alright, then.” Logan shrugged. At least one of them was getting enough sleep. “I was only gonna stop a minute, we’re s’posed to be headin’ to the outpost. Wanted to check on a few things before I get back next week, make sure Elsie ain’t filled the place with orphaned penskies.”
“Well, looks like someone had other ideas.”
“Everyone in this town’s gettin’ real transparent,” Logan noted. “We’re in love already, y’all can stop tryin’” he said, wrapping Vee in a bear hug and kissing the top of her head.
She laughed. “Say that again,”
“We’re in love?”
She pulled him in for a kiss. “Say it again,” she whispered before pressing her lips to his. He whispered each syllable to her between kisses.
“Darlin’,” he said seriously when they came up for air. “Tell me somethin’. You don’t think we’re movin’ too fast, do you?”
“Do you?”
“Asked you first.”
She smiled. “No. I don’t. I’ve never felt so sure of anything in my life.”
“You’re younger than me,” he said carefully. “Ready-made family. You’ve got the world at your feet, y’know? And all this buzz around town, I just don’t want you feelin’ pressured or nothin’.”
“That’s very considerate, but you should know I don’t care what anyone else thinks, just you and Andy. Haru.”
Logan nodded and rubbed his silver whiskers. “You, uh, certainly seem to have your life together a bit more than I do. That scare you? Gotta admit, makes me a little self conscious.”
“I didn’t have my life interrupted like you did. Besides, you’re a whole person, Logan. You’re not broken, you know? I never saw you that way.” She slipped her hand into his and laced their fingers together tightly. “You’ll feel more like yourself when you head back to work, I bet. I’ve been a little greedy for your time, but it’s because I know this is… well, not lucky,” she said, feeling for the row of stitches beneath his shirtsleeve (they didn’t bother him anymore, clearly, but she remembered how he got them and who they were from). She paused, tracked back. “This is a rare thing, this time to get to know each other. All the stuff it might have taken me weeks to be sure of, I’m sure of right now. And, yes, I said weeks, not months or years. I know a good thing when I see it. I know love when I feel it.”
He shook his head in amazement. “You took the words outta my mouth. Uh, more eloquently than I woulda said, probably.”
“Well, I’ve had a couple nights of clear-headedness to think things through,” she said with a dry laugh.
“Alright, well.” Logan cleared his throat. “I like the forward momentum, but lemme wind things back a bit if you don’t mind. That date I promised you… the real one. You got a good night for that comin’ up?”
“Oh! Is this not it?” she grinned.
“Er, no, this isn’t it,” he said. “Hopin’ you’ll raise your expectations a bit for the real thing.”
“Come with me,” she said, pulling him toward the factory. She walked over the console and fiddled with a few buttons and then flipped open a little metal panel hanging on the wall above it. Inside, spread across the back of the panel door and inside the panel itself, were little slips of paper with all her commissions and a hand-written calendar crammed with boxes— far more of them stretched across a week than just seven and all of those were divided by softer lines into yet more boxes— and little colored marks of all kinds, all over the place. Unlike him, Vee was not buying the Colors of Sandrock calendar at By the Stairs. “Let’s see,” she said, pulling a green pen from a cup next to the console. “I have… that finishing up tomorrow…” she muttered, more to herself than to Logan. She took another look at the commission slips, then down at the factory console again. “Grace and Heidi on Friday… ah. Thursday? Or tomorrow after the Fireside.”
“Thursday,” Logan agreed. “Dinnertime?”
“I’ll be ready,” she said, making an inscrutable green mark in one of the boxes.
“What’s the green for?” he asked.
She held the pen up to her emerald hair. “Me. My personal stuff.”
“This thing looks more complicated than an almanac.”
“You don’t think I magic up all this free time by chance, do you?” she laughed.
“Do all you builders have something like this?”
Vee shrugged. “I don’t know, I never asked. I think Mi-an keeps a book or something.” She shut the panel. “We’re still on for tonight, though, right?”
“Justice’s birthday, wouldn’t miss it… again. Dunno if I’m any good at mahjong, but I guess we’ll find out.”
—
Mahjong had grown so popular in Sandrock that Catori had added on a private room to accommodate two tables and all the new game clubs that had popped up in town. Mabel, Trudy, Rocky, and Krystal held court on Friday nights while Cooper looked on. Hugo, Vivi, Grace, and Heidi had their own game nights once a month or so. A small audience gathered on Sunday nights to to watch Unsuur, Qi, Fang, and Catori play— these were high roller games that could take hours. Occasionally, Vee joined in with Justice, Unsuur, and Qi when the latter two wanted to get a bit more practice in, but neither Justice nor Vee were any real competition for them.
The mahjong room, which Catori called the Bamboo Nest (she was still waiting for that name to catch on), had been decked out in huge clouds of green and red balloons. She raided Owen’s stash and paid a pretty gol for a few bottles of sparkling wine, bet for (and won) a few cases of Qi’s beer, and remembered to stock Justice’s favorite snacks— whiskey, hot wings, and crispy fried chilis. For Heidi, grilled sweet potatoes, chestnut pork spring rolls, and little individual jars of leche frita.
“Whoa,” Grace said when she and Heidi walked in. “Cat, we really need your touch for our thing on Friday.”
Catori smiled. “Oh, I could offer my services for a price. You wanna get lunch tomorrow?”
“You bet!”
Heidi hugged Catori. “This is so thoughtful. Best birthday ever!”They joined Justice, Logan, and Vee who were already chatting over beers in the corner. “Hey, y’all. What’d you do with Andy?”
“Oh, he’s runnin’ around outside somewhere. I’ll head out early and git ‘im to bed, but hopin’ y’all can learn me a few games first. Happy birthday, by the way.”
“Thanks— you’re not hoping to learn from Vee, are you? Everyone knows she’s terrible at mahjong,” Heidi teased.
Vee flushed. “I’m getting better!”
“Name one game you’re good at,” Justice dared her, having played several with her over the years.
“I—”
All of them burst into laughter as Fang and Qi came through the door, having met outside.
“Uh oh, trouble’s here,” Catori said. “How ya doin’, Doc? Director?”
Fang looked around appreciatively as Qi, spotting Logan in the corner, quickly headed for the snack table. “This is… very nice,” Fang said to Catori. “You are good at decorating. You always make things look nice.”
“I never knew you noticed, Doc. That means a lot.”
To Qi’s great relief, Mint— who had become quite friendly with Heidi— walked in with Unsuur meandering not far behind him.“Spacecase,” Mint nodded, swooping in for a chestnut pork spring roll.
“Sleepyhead. Good of you to put off your nap time for us.”
“Yeah, you’re a real social butterfly hanging out with the buffet here. Think it’ll be hard to avoid the builder and the yakboy all night in this small a room, buddy.”
“Believe me, I’m not avoiding Vee. Or the yakboy, for that matter. But, um, do me a favor and if he’s at my table…”
“Stuck to you like glue, I got it.” They did the handshake. Frankly, Mint thought, it was his own good fortune to have them both in the same room. Vee and Logan, that was. He was ruggedly handsome (even without the armor), animatedly telling a story to Justice, who had tears of laughter in his eyes. Vee was luminous in a simple yellow silk dress. She looked over her shoulder and waved at Qi and Mint, who both straightened up and waved back.
Catori swept in, letting the doors close behind her. The ribbons on her corset fluttered as all eyes went to her— “Alright, boys and girls. Some of us are gonna leave here tonight richer and some of us are gonna leave poorer. But before we start—”
She poured herself a glass of champagne and held it toward Heidi and Justice. “We don’t know yet if you’ll leave richer or poorer, but at least we know you’ll both leave older. Than me.” A mix of laughter and boos— those were from Heidi and Justice. “I’m kiddin’. Thank you all for coming tonight and let’s drink to Heidi and Justice.” Everyone raised their glasses, bottles, or spring rolls. “Everything Sandrock is to us, is because of you two. To Sandrock’s daughter and son, two of our finest.”
“Here, here,” Logan agreed. Everyone toasted and drank, while Heidi and Grace did so by crossing their arms.
“Let’s… play,” said Fang, who raised his eyebrows expectantly and took another sip of wine as everyone looked at him in surprise.
Logan, Justice, Vee, and Catori were all the same table first. Heidi was coaching Logan from behind but to no one’s surprise, especially Vee’s, he picked up quickly.
“Y’know, Lo, your birthday’s comin’ up pretty quick,” Justice said, turning over his cigar. “Was thinkin’ you, me, and Owen could go for an overnight fish like we used to.”
“Yeah, might be nice sometime.”
“Nah, like, Saturday, whatcha think? I hate ‘sometime’ plans.”
“Saturday’s a big day for you,” Vee remarked, discarding a tile and then immediately second guessing herself.
Logan looked at her questioningly. Did she know?
“Stitches Out Day,” she reminded him.
“Oh, right. Well, uh, what about Andy?”
“Bring him,” Justice said. “Bet he’d love that.”
Logan nodded slowly. “Yeah, alright. Sounds good.”
Heidi tapped him on the shoulder as Logan lingered over a bamboo tile. “Not that one,” she said.
Fang, Mint, Qi, and Unsuur were in the midst of a more tense game at the next table and Grace waved off Heidi’s call as she watched. “I kind of want to see a game where everyone knows what they’re doing.”
She ducked as Vee whipped a tile at her and then immediately got up and scampered past the table saying, “sh*t, I needed that.”
“Doctor Fang, I understand you’re from Seesai?” Mint asked, pouring the doctor a second glass of wine.
“Yes.”
Mint looked at Qi, who shrugged. “Have you been back at all recently?”
“No,” he said, nodding his thanks for the wine.
“I was allowed to visit about five years ago. It’s breathtaking, all that greenery and those beautiful covered bridges. A guide took our group into the mountains and we could see an entire city below, but my photos couldn’t do it justice.”
“Do you… still have them? The photos.”
“I’m sure I do back at my place. I’ll remember to bring them next time I visit.”
Fang nodded, looking only slightly more serious than usual.
Grace turned to Mint. “How did you end up going to Seesai? That’s pretty incredible in itself, especially with the limited visas. ...From what I’ve read,” she finished quickly.
“I was part of an exchange program while I was writing my dissertation. It was only a month, but I’ve never eaten better. There was this tofu dish I keep dreaming about...”
“Mapo… tofu. The builder can make it,” Fang said.
“Of course she can,” Mint said.
“What kind of rocks did you see in Seesai?” Unsuur asked.
“Jade. A lot of jade. And turquoise.”
“Cool. I want to see that someday.”
“Good luck,” Grace said. “Might be easier to go to that mineral museum in Atara.”
A whole museum for minerals. Unsuur’s pupils dilated like a cat’s.
Some time later, only one table was still playing while everyone else milled around. Qi, Fang, Heidi, and Logan were playing for the largest pot of the night and Qi tried to arrange his face into a mask of passivity as he watched Vee sitting on the floor with her back against Logan’s leg, as she gossiped with Grace and Unsuur. Every now and then, he could see Logan reach under the table and stroke her shoulder or briefly grip her offered hand.
True to his word, Mint was sitting beside Qi, keeping the conversation light. Qi was normally a quiet player (it was, many noted, one of the few times Qi could be counted for a little peace) and it was fortunate that no one seemed to notice that he had been quieter that night than even Fang.
Catori and Justice were tucked into a corner, sharing a cigar. She draped her arm around his shoulders. “So, how’d I do?”
“Got my friends. Got my girl. Got hot wings. Sounds like a happy birthday to me,” he said, looking very content. “I think forty-two’s the best one yet.”
“Very pleased to come in ahead of hot wings,” Catori said, patting his shoulder. “You manage to get out while you were up?” She nodded toward the table.
“Nope. You?”
“Always,” She kissed him on the cheek.
A roar went up from the mahjong table and they looked up to see Logan putting his hands in the air.
“Unbelievable!” Mint crowed, as Qi shot him a deadly look.
Fang clapped politely with a huge smile on his face as Heidi leapt to her feet. “Holy Peach, that’s some beginner’s luck!”
Vee, Unsuur, and Grace all rose to look at the table. Logan wrapped his arm around Vee’s waist, looking shocked.
“Congratulations,” Qi said, mustering the energy to try and sound warm when Mint kicked him in the shin. In a show of sportsmanship, he held out his hand.
Logan removed his arm from Vee’s waist and shook Qi by the hand. “Thanks, man,” he said. “You’re real good, been pickin’ up a few tips just by watchin’ you. Uh, you too, Fang. Real pleasure gettin’ to sit down with you two finally.” He turned to Heidi, who hugged him. “You’re a damn good teacher,” he said appreciatively. “Speaking of, I better go round up the kid. You take the pot, Heid’.”
“Seriously? Logan, that’s a lot of money,” Heidi exclaimed.
“Consider it a birthday gift and a thank you. Not a bribe to give my kid good grades, alright?”
“She’ll take it,” Grace interjected, her head appearing over Heidi’s shoulder.
He turned to Vee. “Walk me out? ‘Night, all. One for the books.”
She slipped her hand into his, looking positively starry-eyed. “I’ll be back,” she said to the table, but her eyes were only on him. “Don’t start another game without me, I want redemption.”
After they left, Grace slid into Logan’s seat and lit a cigar. “Ah, new love,” she said, shaking out the match.
“Are you saying the bloom is off the rose already?” Heidi asked her, pretending to be aghast.
“I’m crazy about you, but those two? Mark my words, they’re going to do something crazy, like run off to Atara and get married.”
“I’ll take those odds,” Heidi said. “What do we think, friends? Married in a month?” She laid one of her newly-gotten bills on the table.
“Two weeks tops,” Justice said, getting up to place his own bill down.
“Aren’t they already married?” Unsuur asked.
Everyone looked at him. “What do you know?” Grace asked, squinting.
“I just assumed they were married. They seem like they could be. I think I misunderstood the question, but here’s some money. We should give it to them if they win.”
“Betting on already married, interesting,” Grace mused. “You know what? I’m with Unsuur.” She tossed the last of her tip money onto the pile.
“I’m with Heidi. A month,” Mint agreed.
Qi was apoplectic but had the sense to bury it. “It’ll never happen,” he said, tossing in a bill of his own. “They’re too much alike. Like and like repel.”
“Fang?” Grace asked.
He waved his hands no, but he looked amused. “Can’t.”
“A true gentleman. Catori?”
“No way, but I’m takin’ a percentage out of any bets made in the Golden Goose,” she reminded them.
Everyone nodded. It was only fair.
As they walked across the street hand in hand, Vee was still staring up at him. “It was nice. Seeing you happy like that.”
“Yeah?”
“You missed them.”
“Yes, I did. Never thought I’d see the day again.” They stopped halfway up the staircase that led to Logan’s street. “You know what, though? Even in a crowd, I know you’re mine. I liked you bein’ right there.”
“Me too,” she said, squeezing his hand. She closed her eyes for the goodnight kiss and he did not disappoint her. Qi was wrong, of course, but he knew that. Like and like attracted, their bodies pressed together in the stairwell.
When Logan returned home, he saw Andy’s bedroom light on upstairs. He walked up, half expecting to find Andy diving into a pile of hoarded candy like some sort of cartoon villain, but when he poked his head around the doorframe, he was shocked to see Andy already in his pajamas, drawing quietly at his desk.
“You feelin’ alright?” Logan asked.
“Yeah… why?”
“No reason. You eat?”
“I made a san’wich.”
“You still hungry?”
“Nah.”
Logan nodded slowly. “Alright, then. Uh, good job. Don’t stay up too late.” He started to walk to his bedroom but doubled back just to check— still drawing. “Hey, kid.”
Andy looked up.
“You wanna go fishin’ this weekend?”
—
The next morning, Nia woke up with what felt like a hangover. At one time, long before graduate school, she had been a morning person, a cheerful ray of blonde sunshine with a smile to spare for anyone in need. These days, her studies kept her awake all night and into the first hazy moments of sunrise and she often fell asleep with her cheek pressed to a book (she’d learned, at least, to study in bed to save herself from falling out of her desk). The lack of sleep had been an inconvenience to her in Highwind, sure, but in Sandrock, where the morning sun was merciless in her bedroom window, mornings that had the nerve to happen while she was studying had become Nia’s own personal hell.
She hissed in the light and tried to fumble with the curtains before remembering— again! every morning!— that there weren’t any because Sandrock was an infuriating place filled with early risers. She tucked and rolled off of her mattress, avoiding crushing her work, and landed in her slippers. Their button duck eyes stared faithfully up at her, waiting for her sour mood to pass. Nia stumbled out of rhe room, bleary-eyed, hair a mess, and felt her way down to the kitchen.
“Wow, you are really not a morning person,” Amirah remarked from the table.
Normal Nia would have squeaked and scrambled out of the room like a mouse, as she had the day before. But she had been better rested then, somehow awake before the sun began its campaign of terror. Dissertation Nia had emerged on this particular morning and she was incapable of mustering a response, for better or worse. She trudged to the fridge and reached for her cold oatmeal, then stood over the silverware drawer and shoveled a quivering spoonful into her mouth.
“Would you like some tea?” Amira dared to ask.
Nia gave her a loathsome glance and headed for the coffee pot, which Jensen had left on for her. Thick black coffee sludged into her cup and she took a long drink without Normal Nia’s sugar or milk. On autopilot, she emptied the grinds and started a fresh pot, setting her yellow daisy mug directly under the drip.
When it had filled, she replaced the pot and turned around slowly, startled to find Amirah still sitting at the table, thumbing through one of Ernest’s literary magazines. “Uh— oh! N-no thanks,” Nia held up her mug. “I have coffee.”
Amirah looked up, a forkful of melon halfway to her lips. “Sorry? What was that?”
Nia blinked. “Your tea? You asked if I wanted tea?”
“Right… Nia, that was about ten minutes ago now. You’ve just been sort of standing there.”
Ernest padded out of the downstairs bathroom, freshly scrubbed with his hoodie thrown over his shoulder. “Oh, hi, Nia. Don’t mind us, we’ll be out of your way soon. My love, would you care to join me for a walk? It’s a perfect day for a photoshoot near the oasis.”
“I have commissions to finish,” Amirah said delicately. “Perhaps another time?”
Nia backed out of the room slowly, taking the coffee pot with her. She could admit now that it was a beautiful day— most days in Sandrock were, really— but there was work to be done. When she got back to her room, she opened the window to let some fresh air in and as she passed her vanity, she caught a look at herself in the mirror.
“Gah!” She grabbed a brush and ran it frantically through her hair, trying not to think about how she’d run into Amirah twice now and had looked like a real twit both times.
—
Across town, Logan and Andy had carried their fishing equipment to Vee’s for a tune-up. She was busy detailing Trudy’s new desk set, but she was happy to let them work next to her, sharing her tools.
“Is this your first fishing trip, Andy?” she asked, sanding down a corner of the desk.
“No way, we useta fish all the time, right, Logan?”
“Yeah, that’s how we fed ourselves mostly,” he replied, looking concerned at the state of their traps. “Been a minute since we been, though. Definitely gotta get some fresh bait, too.”
“Take a look through my shed. I have stuff for bait but no one’s asked for any in awhile, so you can just take it.”
“I wanna look in the shed!” Andy said, hopping up.
“Be my guest.”
“Be careful in there,” Logan warned.
“Yeah, yeah,” Andy said, waving him off as he scampered to Vee’s shed.
“Thanks,” Logan said, testing out one of the traps whose springs had definitely gone limp over the years. “Real nice of ya to let us do this here.”
“The first step in my communal workshop,” she said. “It’s no problem. Nice to have the company.”
“Your communal workshop, any word on that?”
“Funny you should ask. Wei offered to send me to Atara to talk with their guild, see if maybe we can exchange some ideas.”
“Well, that’s a huge step. When were you thinkin’ of goin’?”
“Fall, sometime.”
“Mm. Y’know, I’ve got some connections out there, been keepin’ Haru well fed, showin’ him around and whatnot.”
“I was thinking about Haru too. I don’t know how much time I’ll have, but I’d love to see him. …What kind of connections?” she squinted at him.
“Er, nothin’ untoward. That you know of,” he said with a sly look. “But you just let me know when, I can make sure you’re taken care of. Big city out there, easy to feel a little lost. Only if you want it, that is.”
Vee smiled as they continued working side by side. What sorts of connections did Logan, the great outlaw, have in Atara, she wondered. The words taken care of rolled around in her head for awhile, too— if anyone would take care of her, she could let Logan do it sometimes. It was nice to be his girl.
—
Later that night, most of the town gathered for a quick Fireside. Logan and Vee, Owen and Mi-an, and Justice and Catori were all gathered together near By the Stairs, where Logan was keeping an eye on the kids as they played jacks on Arvio’s porch.
“Hey—” he said, as Pebbles took a few pieces of half-melted candy from the pocket of his little overalls. “If y’all are gonna gamble, keep it to kids your own age.”
Andy and Jasmine rolled their eyes and handed the candy pieces back to their smallest friend.
“Excuse me… everyone? Hello, we’re ready to start,” Trudy said into the tiny microphone stand on the City Hall steps. Everyone gathered a little closer together, including the kids when Logan picked up Pebbles and held him on his hip.
“Thank you all for joining us for this week’s additional Fireside. I appreciate you taking the time out of your day. We only have one item on the agenda, so without further ado, I’ll hand things over to Heidi.”
Heidi approached the mic— “Hi— nope.” She adjusted the stand to come up several inches. “There we are. Hi, y’all. So, some of you may have already heard, but we wanted to make this news official: Sandrock is taking its next step forward with a real, live schoolhouse.”
Everyone applauded, except for Jasmine and Andy, who exchanged a worried look.
“We’ve looked at a few locations, but we really think the best spot is the one where a former resident of ours used to live… let’s not think about her, folks, we don’t wanna taint this moment, do we?” Heidi held her hands up as the crowd murmured. ”The point is, we think the area near the Church of Light will be the perfect spot. For anyone who’d like to view our plans, we’ve got a copy of the blueprints on display here in City Hall. And while I’m real excited to get things moving, I think the best news is that Trudy’s already put out a notice for a real, licensed professional to come in and teach our little ones. So, with all that said, me and Trudy will stick around for a bit if anyone wants to ask questions— uh, Catori?”
Catori’s hand was already in the air. “When do we think the school will open?”
“We’re hopin’ by mid-Fall. Now I know that’s a real aggressive timeline, but with Wei helping me manage this project, we think it’ll be doable…”
Everyone began to chatter excitedly, except for Andy, who raised his hand solemnly. Heidi looked at him and nodded.
“Do we have to?”
Everyone laughed, except for Logan, who shook his head, and Pebbles, who was now asleep on Logan’s shoulder. Andy laughed nervously and avoided looking back at Logan, but Vee heard him as he leaned over to Jasmine: “Who’s laughin’? I’m serious.”
“Alright, folks. Thank y’all for coming out tonight. Me and Trudy will stick around a bit to answer any other questions, but you know where to find us if anything else comes to mind.”
“What Heidi said,” Trudy said approvingly. “And remember, everyone—”
“Conserve water!” they chorused.
“Krystal and Rocky probably ain’t done with dinner yet,” Logan said to his friends. “I’m gonna get this lil’ fella home.” He kissed Vee on the cheek and called out to Andy to get home before dark.
As the rest of the crowd parted, Catori lingered behind, placing her hand gently on Justice’s arm. “Hey, you got a minute? Or do you need to do Civil Corps stuff?”
“I’m always on duty, ‘cept when I’m not,” he said. “You want to go for a walk?”
They headed down the main street. Catori, never one to beat around the bush, began, “So it’s finally happening. You know I’ve been putting money aside for my son to join me here, but with this news about the school, I think it’s about time to reach out to my Ma and send for him.”
Justice nodded. “That’s really good news, Cat. I’m real happy for you!”
“Well, you say that now… but this thing with us is what I’m thinking about too. With Alo around, it’s gonna change things pretty significantly, y’know? I gotta be in full-time Mom Mode. I owe that to him after all this time.”
“Sure, sure. Um. What is it you’re sayin’ exactly?”
“Well… Just, I hate it say it, but… I mean, I didn’t get into this thinking you would you want to play stepdad to my kid. And with all this time apart, I don’t know, it feels strange to bring people into the fold if…” she trailed off, unsure of how to finish, exactly.
Justice stopped walking and leaned against the little storage shelter at the end of the Blue Moon. He looked serious. “Cat… I admit I didn’t exactly come onto you thinking that far in the future, but I did realize this could be a possibility someday. I didn’t want to make things complicated for you, but you’re right, maybe now’s the time to have this talk.”
“What do you mean?”
Justice sighed. “Listen, I get that you’re a mom and it’s going to take some time, maybe a lot of it, to get Alo settled in. But putting that aside, I want to tell you something. And you can take it or leave it, it’s really up to you. But… I care about you. And I’ve never said this to a woman before, but I thought if I could see a future with anyone, it’s you.”
Catori blinked a few times, looking surprised.
“I mean, am I wrong here? Aren’t you having a good time?”
“The best,” she assured him. “But…”
He nodded again. “But you’ve got stuff to figure out, I heard you. I just want to put it out there that I’m not ready to give up and if you, sometime down the road, think it’s right… I’d be open to trying out what this looks like with the three of us, not just the two of us.”
“But what about the Flying Pigs?”
“Well, that ain’t exactly a sure thing. But we can figure that out like everything else. Frankly, I’ve been doin’ a bit of soul searching lately and I think it’s time for me to move onto the next phase of my life and I want you in it, if you’ll have me.”
Catori clasped her hands together under her chin, eyes filling up with tears.
“Hey, hey. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to put you on the spot like that.”
“No, it’s not that. Do you really mean it? You’d want to get to know my boy?”
“Of course I would. Cat, you’re a real go-getter and a damn fine woman to boot. And I’ve seen how hard you’ve worked for this, getting Alo out here, which means you’re a good mom too. I’d be crazy to just let you go without a fight.”
With that, Catori threw her arms around Justice and began to cry in earnest. “You’re a real good man, Justice. Let me…” she sniffled. “Let me just get my head straight. I need to write my Ma, get all kinds of stuff ready.” She pulled back and looked at him, her long lashes dark with tears. “Thank you for sayin’ all that. I mean it. I don’t know how good a mom I’ve really been, but… for the first time in awhile, I’m really looking forward to the future, you know?”
—
The next evening, Thursday, Logan arrived at Vee’s, trying not to sweat. He dressed nicely in a navy blue shirt and brown slacks, which he’d pressed with care, pleased that he’d remembered, first of all, that he had an iron and second, that he remembered how to use it. He shaved early enough to get a bit of a five o’clock shadow at just the right time and sprayed on a bit of cologne. He was nervous, tapping his heel outside of the Night Shop gate, holding a small bouquet of some flower Nia had recommended at the Moisture Farm, the name of which he couldn’t remember now. Another thing he couldn’t remember: how long it had been since he’d been on a real, actual date. Long before Haru and Andy. Longer still before his father’s illness.
As Vee stepped out of her front door, Logan felt his heart rise up into an ache that sent shivers up his shoulders, down his arms. She saw him across the yard and smiled, closing the door behind her, and walked toward him, hair loose and wavy at her shoulders. She wore a sleeveless lavender dress, its tent-like full skirt skimming her thighs. Something about the simplicity of it, the way it floated away from her body and instead revealed those legs he loved to have wrapped around him…
“Hiya, handsome,” she said with a pretty smile. “Wow, this really is a date.” She leapt gracefully onto the bottom board of the gate. “Turn around,” she said, dropping her voice a few octaves, like Logan’s, when she came close to his ear.
He snorted, but complied, hands up slightly. “You approve?”
“I really, really do.” She thought she would very much like to press her body against his, but instead, she pulled him close and kissed him.
“These are for you, by the by.” He said, handing her the bouquet.
She folded back the paper a bit and dozens of perfect spheres made of tiny yellow flowers bobbed back at her. “Craspedia? How—?”
“Your friend Nia’s got quite a little racket up there at the Moisture Farm with all the couplin’ up happenin’ around here. Unusual little guys, aren’t they? She said you’d like ‘em.”
“Oh, these make me very happy. Thank you. Do you want to come in? I should put these in water.”
“Darlin’. All due respect, if we go in there, we ain’t comin’ out.”
She kissed his cheek again, hopped off the fence, and dashed inside. Flowers in vase— check. Mirror check— dress too short? Yes, but just right. She inhaled sharply and let it out in a puff. “Let’s go,” she said to her reflection. One more little spritz of perfume.
She rejoined Logan outside and felt slightly weak in the knees again. Those clothes really did look sharp on him. The second thought— so he owns an iron. Occasional dress-up. Interesting. She gave him her hand as he opened the gate for her and closed it behind.
“So, where are you taking me?”
They headed off toward the main street. “You look real pretty tonight,” Logan said. “I mean, you always do, but that is some dress.”
“Better get used to it, I’ve only got two,” she laughed.
“Well, you’ve made ‘em count.”
“Nia and my mother say I need to try whole shirts sometime.”
“Kindly, they are wrong.”
To her surprise, he led her past the Blue Moon. She gave Pablo, who was on his smoke break, a little wave as they passed his shop too— he wagged his eyebrows at her. They exchanged pleasantries with Trudy, who would almost certainly power walk straight to Krystal’s afterward. Finally, they turned onto the street staircase and as Vee looked back at Martle Square, Trudy was indeed hustling, elbows-out, up the other staircase.
The staircase had been her mortal enemy when she’d first arrived in Sandrock, but now it was nothing. They were still holding hands when they reached the top, he pulled her gently to the left and walked her onto the gondola platform.
“Are we going mining?” she asked.
“You wanna?” He stepped onto the gondola first and then held his hand out for her as she stepped in. Logan securely bolted the little door behind them and then fiddled with the control panel. The gondola started its smooth ride and she expected to feel the wind whip through her hair, but Logan kept his hand on the steering column and guided it very slowly across the line.
“Take a look,” he gestured. “How good is this view?” He slipped a matchbook out of his pocket and wedged it close to the column so it would continue its easy pace toward the Eufaula on its own. He joined Vee at the edge of the basket.
“How have I never thought to do this?” she wondered aloud. They could see the edge of Atara out in the distance, the sun soaking its gray-white buildings in oranges and pinks.
“You move fast,” Logan said, wrapping his arms around her from behind. “I used to see you from the outpost, boltin’ around out there like a jackrabbit. You gotta slow down to catch a view like this.”
“I think I’m really learning that lately,” she said, hugging herself closer to him as he kissed her cheek.
There were low clouds in the canyon. Not the troubling kind, like before, when everyone had turned green from the pollution. Just totally normal, blueish clouds like any other mostly-nontoxic place in the Free Cities. How far they’d come, how quickly.
“I’ll never stop bein’ amazed at this,” Logan said, as if reading her thoughts. “There’s nothin’ like it anywhere else I been. The center of everything, but all this empty space between us and them.”
“A ripple,” she said, coming to a slow realization, looking out at the swirl of canyons and mountains beyond Sandrock. “From the epicenter.”
“My Pa thought that too. Kinda helps explain some things, don’t it?”
Vee went quiet, thinking. Her head rested heavily against his chest as she stared out at the horizon with a strange, small smile.
“Little gol for your thoughts?” he asked after awhile.
“When that ad looking for builders in Sandrock came out, the guild didn’t even run it, did you know that? I’ve been thinking about that a lot lately.”
“What do you mean?”
“We have trade papers and anyone who’s hiring a builder, all they have to do is contact the central guild and they run an ad. And if you’re interested, you contact your local guild.”
“Okay, I’m with you.”
“Do you know where I saw the Sandrock ad?” She turned around to face him, her back against the edge of the basket.
“I’m afraid to ask,” he said, looking down at her.
“…In the back of a cryptid magazine.”
Logan let out a sputtery laugh. “A what?”
“Um, you know, like those folk monsters—”
“I know what a cryptid is. Monster hunter.” He gestured at himself. “Why were you readin’ one of those? You know they’re just a hunk of junk, right? Buncha fake monster hunters out there—”
“I know, but they’re so good. Sorry. I know. Listen, that’s not the point. The point is, after I saw it, I went through a bunch of back issues of the guild papers. And I mean, I went way back. At no point in the last ten years has the guild run a single ad for Sandrock.”
Cryptid magazines. He squinted at her. “Humor me a sec, but at what point did you look this up? Before you applied, or after?”
Vee smiled, hoping that would be enough to cushion the blow. “….Be…”
“I knew it! You really are a maniac, woman!” Logan looked gobsmacked.
“…fore I accepted.”
He shook his head. “Good Peach, you saw a tabloid rag advertisin’ for this place and you still answered it!”
“Literally no one stopped me, can you believe it? When I contacted my guild, they just said… fine. I’d never applied to anything before so I didn’t know there’s usually a waiting period for them to negotiate salary and work out a contract. But they telegraphed me the next day to say I was hired and I was on a train by the end of the week. Do you know how many people Yan must have bribed for that to pay off? I told Grace before she left but I’m not sure if anything came of it.”
“Just for my edification, darlin’— uh, you don’t have some kinda death wish, right? That’s about the most dangerous thing I ever heard; those rags, they get people killed out there in the wild. Can’t tell you how many folks I’ve had to rescue from real monsters while they’re out lookin’ for fake ones. Moth men. Aliens. Elephants.”
She smirked. “Well, I want to point out that that one— the magazines are a little bit right about dive buzzards.”
“I’m gonna pretend I didn’t hear that.”
“And, two, when I got here, the most dangerous thing was, well… you. Pot, meet kettle. But I promise if I get the urge to do something impulsive again, I’ll check with you first. If you agree to do the same.”
“‘Bout as good as the two of us are gonna get, huh? Deal,” he said, shaking her hand. “Don’t you smile at me like that, you maniac. Always thought you had good judgment, other than bein’ with me… Yeah, now I’m hearin’ it, the, uh, irony.”
She laughed. “As far as I’m concerned, I made two really good choices, case closed. Besides, you know who else answered that ad? Mi-an.”
Logan groaned. He’d finally met his match, alright. He snapped the matchbook out of the gondola steering column and it slowly drifted to a stop about three-quarters of the way to the ruins. The basket bounced very softly as he stepped toward Vee. “So you’re a daredevil.”
“You’re just getting that?” It was a small gondola, they were already toe to toe. But she stepped forward anyway, onto the toes of his boots. “I’m pretty sure you’re man enough to handle me.”
“Not the order this date was supposed to go,” he said gruffly as he put his hands below the hem of her skirt, finding the edge of a pair of little lace shorts. He gripped her ass, squeezing as hard as he dared. She inhaled sharply as he lifted her into a kiss that held the ferventness of four pent-up nights without each other.
He slid down to his knees to the bottom of the gondola and unbuckled his belt, unfurling his erection from his boxers. He ran his hands up her thighs, past those criminally tiny lace shorts, up her ribs, to her breasts— bare below that dress— and gently squeezed both her nipples between his fingers. She sighed, feeling weak in the knees; perhaps she’d been able to sleep better than Logan over the past week, but the feeling of his hands on her, that feeling of oneness not just from him being inside her, but breathing with her, she’d craved it when she was alone and even worse every time she’d seen him since (their quick rendezvous in the factory notwithstanding).
He worshipfully pulled the delicate underpinnings down to her knees and then pulled her down too, easing himself out of his boxers and finally, slowly entering her as she wrapped her thighs around his. One. They were finally one again. She wrapped her arms around his neck and held him tight, wanting to touch at every possible point.
The gondola rocked gently as they held on tight, letting their murmured promises to each other carry over the canyon. When she closed her eyes after awhile, feeling herself build to an imminent release, Logan brushed an emerald lock out of Vee’s eyes and said softly, “Look at me. Stay with me.”
Her cheeks flushed with effort, she looked into Logan’s eyes and saw desire there, his brow knitting as he felt a surge of affection for her and the ripple of their release. They came together, watching each other gasp with prolonged org*sm and as they finally came down, Logan kissed her, pressing her body to his. When he’d had his fill, he sank down and rested his cheek in her collarbones, listening to her heart pound.
Vee was still catching her breath a bit and she looked up at the sky, stroking his hair. They were still clothed, but she shivered, knowing she’d just seen him at his most naked. She burrowed her nose into his hair and whispered, “Forever,” feeling him nod his head.
They needed a minute, maybe a few, to get their bearings before descending the staircase at Gecko Station. They spent most of that time kissing as she leaned against the balcony, Logan still adjusting his clothes here and there. When they finally made it to the bottom landing, he took her hand and led her a bit north, to the edge of the Eufaula.
The exposed rooftops of hollow Old World buildings came up only to their knees as they passed through what was colloquially known as the Ghost Town. When they reached the end, she saw Rambo’s stoic silhouette just off in the distance and as they approached, she realized he was guarding a little blanket weighted down with rocks on the corners.
She looked at Logan with excitement when they reached Rambo, seeing a basket tucked in the shade of one of the rocks. She patted Rambo, whose little tail twitched happily, though he wasn’t a nuzzler like Merle.
“Good boy,” Logan said, reaching for the basket. He pulled out a foil tray of roasted rutabaga and set it on a nearby boulder for Rambo to enjoy. “Can’t believe he didn’t go after that thing while waitin’,” he said. When he turned to her, he looked surprised. “What is it?”
“Logan,” she said, looking up at him with huge eyes. “This is… a very good date.”
He looked amused, but also slightly relieved. “Well, you say that now, but I gotta tell ya I’m the one who catered this affair, so hold your praise. You, uh, take a spot there. I’ll get the fire lit real quick.”
“What fi—” she turned and saw the little pyramid of dried wood just off to the side of the blanket. Of course.
It wasn’t Logan’s first time at the rodeo, the fire was lit in seconds with a flint. He kicked off his boots at the edge of the blanket, next to her sandals, and joined her in the center. “So,” he said, reaching again for the basket. “Nothin’ too fancy, but I’ve been workin’ on those skewers and I think I’m gettin’ a bit better.”
He pulled another tray out of the basket and laid it before them, opening it to reveal a stack of skewered yakmel beef studded with fruits— cantaloup— and vegetables. Everything looked golden, not blackened, and juicy.
“Hey!” Vee exclaimed. “This is amazing.”
“Didn’t want us to waste time havin’ to make ‘em on the fire, hope that’s okay. There was, uh, a plan of sorts.”
The skewers had, in fact, been sitting in their own juices for awhile and tasted great. “This is perfect,” she said, popping a cherry tomato into her mouth. “Seriously. Also, sorry I ruined your plans.”
“Wasn’t a complaint,” he said, leaning over to kiss her on the cheek.
They watched the sun finish its long descent across the canyons and by the time it was dark, the fire was roaring and their dinner was finished. Logan sat with his legs stretched out, while Vee lay on her side with her head on his thigh. They stared out over the rift, watching the Sandrock lights glowing across the way.
“Your parents weren’t worried about you leavin’?” Logan was asking.
“Completely. The only news out of Sandrock was always bad and everyone thought I’d lost my mind coming out. And I didn’t even tell them about the magazine.”
“If Andy ever tried that kinda thing, I’d probably stick ‘im in that Civil Corps cell for the rest of his natural life.”
“Me too,” she admitted. “I felt a little bad and I know they still worry, even now. But I write as much as I can.”
“What do they do, your parents?”
“My dad’s a cataloger at a museum and my mom was a teacher. She retired a few years ago to take care of my grandmother, though. My dad’s mom.”
“Small family,” he noted, having already learned that she had no brothers or sisters.
“Just us and my Uncle Henry. That’s my dad’s brother. He travels a lot, though, so my mom really stepped up.”
“What does Uncle Henry do?”
Vee sighed. “Don’t laugh.”
“Uh…”
“He’s a chess master.”
Logan snorted. “Uh huh.”
“No, seriously. That chessboard I have, he played on it in a tournament he won the year I was born.”
“Stop it,” he laughed.
“Logan,” she said, laughing nervously. “I’m serious. It has a little label on the bottom with his name on it and the year and everything.”
Logan paused, remembering there was indeed a little worn silver label where she kept the pieces strapped inside, but he hadn’t read it carefully. “And yet… he didn’t teach you? Like at all?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
He nearly fell over laughing. “Madness. Absolute madness.”
“And to think, I used to love hearing your laugh,” she said.
“Ahah. Oh, boy. I’m sorry.” He wiped away a tear. “It’s just, you’re so good at everything else. Suppose it’s nice to know you’re human after all.”
She punched him lightly in the leg. “I think we’ve already established that my tactical foresight is questionable at best.”
“We’ll work on it.”
“Oh, hey.” She sat up and reached her hand into her dress pocket. “I have something for you.”
“For me? What for?”
“Just a little token,” she said, echoing his letter, which she still fished out from under his pillow and read every night. She took his hand and turned it over, dropping the tiny gift into his palm.
“What is this?” he asked, holding it up in the firelight. Dangling on a thin braided leather cord was an inch-long golden vial with an engraving. As he peered closer, it appeared to be a delicate hyacinth stalk with tiny dotted flowers.
“Be careful when you open it. There’s perfume inside. Not much, but I thought maybe… you know, a little something for when we’re apart.”
Carefully, Logan untwisted the vial and waved it near his nose. It was her, alright— that creamy, rosemary scent with a hint of hyacinth. “This is awful nice,” he said softly. “I mean it, thank you.” He slipped the cord around his neck, letting the vial hang against his chest. Logan reached out to her and pulled her in for another kiss, one that was longer and sweeter than any they’d shared so far that night, and there had been a lot of them.
Her heart was pounding as she scooted closer on the blanket. When they finally came up for air, she said, “I can’t even tell you how much I love you. I think about you all the time.”
“Me too,” he said. “You know, I never brought anyone to this spot before. I come out here sometimes by myself to look over at Sandrock. Especially at night during the dark years, I’d come and keep a watch. But I feel like it’s full circle or somethin’ now, bein’ here with you. We can come back anytime you want.”
Vee chewed on her lip, sensing they’d have to leave perhaps sooner than later. “When do you need to get back?”
“Let’s just enjoy this a little longer,” he said, drawing her into a hug. But she slid out of his grasp and lay down on the blanket again, pulling him gently by his collar.
“A little longer,” she agreed. “Just a little.”
And so they did stay a bit longer, making love— less feverishly this time, but with equal passion— under a blanket of stars that stretched across the Eufaula.
When Logan arrived home that night, he was more or less close to the time he’d promised Rocky, who was asleep in the downstairs armchair.
The sound of the door woke him and he blinked at Logan, who sidled into the door looking a bit flushed.
“Hey, man. Good time?” Rocky asked, yawning.
“Yeah. Hey, thanks for stayin’ with Andy, I know I’m a little late.”
Rocky looked up at the clock. “Nah, it’s nothin’. Krystal and the kiddo came by not too long ago to say goodnight. Andy’s been out longer than that.”
“I owe y’all one. Probably more than one. You can head on home and thank Krystal for me too.”
“When me and Krystal first had Pebbles, my old man was still around and did a good deal of sittin’ for us. Everyone needs help sometimes, brother. Besides, we know we can count on youse when we need another date night. Krystal’s real happy with both of us lately,” he grinned. He stood and held out his hand.
They shook and Rocky headed home, closing the door softly behind him.
Logan headed upstairs and peeked in on Andy, who was fast asleep with one leg on top of his blankets. All seemed well there. He closed the door and headed to his own room. As he undressed, he felt the little golden vial settle against his chest.
He turned to look at his closed door, even though he knew he was alone. Satisfied, he opened the vial and dabbed a single drop of Vee’s perfume onto his fingertip and gently touched it to his pillow.
It wasn’t quite as good as the real thing, but between that and what was— without a single doubt— the best date of his life, Logan managed to fall into a deep sleep for the first time in four long nights.
