Elyn couldn't breathe. Michael didn't seem to notice that the sack had fallen off his shoulder and was now spilling beans all over the ground. He walked with a purposeful stride across the square and through the crowds of people. Elyn opened his mouth to say something but no words came out. Michael wrapped Elyn in a hug so tight he thought his lungs might pop.

Wren raised an eyebrow at him as if to question the crowds of people, but Elyn didn't answer. He let out a large exhale when Michael let go and stared at him. His eyes twinkled in the light and his beard had split into a smile.

"When did you get here?" he breathed, scarcely seeming to notice that both Wren and Rannok were with him.

"Who is that guy?" Rannok asked. The spell broke and Elyn gave him a sidelong glance that clearly said we're in public. Michael glanced away and his shoulders drooped a little.

"Michael. He's a friend of mine," Elyn responded for him, and he noticed that Michael's mouth had set into a hard line. He wanted more than anything to give his hand a squeeze, but he didn't. He couldn't, not in a place with so many people watching. "We just got here. Where's Ittra?"

"At an apartment," Michael responded. "She has a lot of friends and she hooked us up. She'd probably let you stay. Probably has a place for the camel, too."

Rannok perked up a bit but Elyn couldn't bring himself to laugh. The glint hadn't returned to Michael's eyes and it made him cringe inside. Michael turned to Wren and gave her a small smile. She returned it halfheartedly and folded her arms.

"What are we going to do with the cart?" Rannok asked as he grabbed the camel's lead. 

"Screw the cart," Michael muttered and he started walking, gesturing them to follow. The crowds parted automatically around them, like a river that grew dry spots as you walked through. Elyn envied the couples he saw traipsing through the square arm-in-arm, as if nothing could ever bother them. If he could even call what he and Michael were a couple. If he did that people would stare in his direction or spit at him or worse, and he wouldn't bring that down on Ittra. 

A few people did stare, but mainly at Rannok and Wren. They were the fleeting sort of stares you did when you wanted to look like you weren't staring. Elyn knew the marked ones would be mostly relegated to the dark corners; the alleyways begging for change or among the sellswords or in the brothels. He wondered if they always stared when they were out for a walk, or if they were doing it just because Elyn and Michael were with them.

Michael led them down a side street. Awnings poked out from the buildings. A woman poured water on a flowerbox hanging out of her second story window and it dripped on Wren's head.

"Hey!" she shouted as she looked up. She turned to Elyn and whispered, "I didn't know buildings could be so tall."

"Well obviously they can," Rannok responded as he ducked under one of the awnings and examined the underside, red wings fluttering. Elyn wanted to laugh. He couldn't imagine not having the city for a memory. The scent of fresh baked bread curled into his nostrils and he inhaled deeply. He remembered when he was a child and his father sent him to the bakery on Fridays for sweets, with a coin his mother wouldn't miss tucked into his fist.

They passed by a stable, recessed into the walls, with the heads of camels poking out of the slatted doors in the front. He knocked on a solid door to the far right and a small man answered. His eyebrows raised over his eyes and he glanced between the four of them.

"Ittra will pay for it later," he said, and the man nodded. Elyn looked questioningly between the man and Michael. "Owes us a favor," he explained.

Rannok looked sad as he handed the lead over, but turned and followed them anyway as they walked off. They turned another corner down a row of run-down buildings with boards nailed into the windows. Elyn shivered. He knew they weren't to keep the windows together but to keep burglars out. The air thickened around them and filled with a musty smell, like rotting planks of wood. He coughed and followed them around yet another corner, this time so narrow that Wren and Rannok had to fold their wings up to fit by.

"Here," Michael said as he undid the lock on the door. It creaked open to reveal a dim room, filled with the scent of burning oil lamps, air thick with smoke. Elyn stepped inside and gave his eyes a moment to adjust to the light.

The apartment was tiny. There was a crate in the middle of the floor to serve as a table with some cushions scattered around it. Two doors on the other end of the wall led into other rooms.

"Hello?" Ittra's voice called from behind one of them. She opened the door and stepped into the room with them. Her eyes widened as they darted around everyone's faces. She touched Wren's arm.

"I thought for certain you had died," she said. She tugged on one of Wren's wings and she yelped and pulled away from her. Elyn eyed her, afraid that she might turn into a wildcat and crumple the old woman in her claws. 

"Ouch. Let go," she snapped as she batted Ittra's hand away. Ittra laughed under her breath and moved on to Elyn. He glanced at Michael as if to ask what to do, but he shrugged his shoulders.

"I see you found your vagabond," she said to Michael as she brushed a hand through her greying hair. She peered at Elyn through her eyebrows, face leaned in close to him, and he took a step back. "He's gotten broader," she remarked. Elyn simply nodded. 

He wondered how long it had taken her to figure it out, because he was certain she knew. If she'd noticed the first time Michael had appeared with a mysterious friend from the nice part of the caravan just why he was there. She'd peered him up and down in the same way and said, in one decisive breath, he's scrawny, I don't like him. Elyn's face had blushed redder than a poppy in spring and they'd scurried out of her tent almost as fast as they had come. 

"And who's this one?" She got close to Rannok and Elyn thought he saw him shiver. His mouth opened and closed as he stood stock still. "Does he talk?" she asked.

"Rannok," Wren said in a clipped tone. "His name is Rannok. He's my friend." Her face flushed and  Elyn gave her a look. She mouthed 'I don't know' at him while Ittra had her back turned. Ittra whipped back around and Wren snapped it shut again.

"Well, they can stay," Ittra said as she glanced between the four of them. "I like Wren and I guess the other two might be able to work something out."

Elyn's face flushed and he glanced up at Michael, whose mouth was still set in that same hard line. His eyes made Elyn want to do something, anything to comfort him. His heart crawled up his throat and Elyn thought he might be sick. His hands shook as he waited for Ittra to say something more. 

Ittra turned back toward the door to the back room. "I'm going back to sleep," she said. "Make yourselves at home. There's plenty of space in the second room or on the floor if you prefer. There's blankets in the closet."

He stroked his beard and reached for Elyn's hand when no one was looking. The warmth crawled up his arm and into his chest. The pounding in his heart lessened as Michael's fingers brushed over his. He gave Elyn's fingers a brief squeeze, then let go. Everything is okay. Elyn sighed in relief.

"What do we do now?" Wren whispered once Ittra had retreated.

"Whatever you want," Michael responded. "She'll probably want you to get a job." His eyes lingered for a moment too long on Elyn's face as he turned and walked out of the apartment without another word. Elyn turned to follow.

They traipsed down the darkened alleyway and turned another blind corner. Michael took a seat on an abandoned crate and put his head in his hands. Elyn sat next to him and gingerly touched his shoulder. Michael leaned into his hand a little bit and the pressure Elyn didn't realize had been building in his chest released like a steam valve.

"I thought you were angry with me," he said after a very long and quiet moment.

"No," Michael muttered.

"Then what?" Elyn responded. Michael looked between his fingers and wiped his eyes with his hand. His eyes looked brighter, ringed with red and bloodshot. Elyn hadn't noticed before. He wondered if it had been as hard for them as it had been for him and Wren and Rannok. If reavers threatened them at every corner and if Ittra threw up because of the blinding heat. If the water ran low and they got into arguments about who should have the last of it. If Michael had to pretend to be strong when inside he felt like a worn out old pelt.

"I thought you were dead," he said. All at once he grabbed Elyn's hand and squeezed it fiercely. Elyn's heart rate rose and he nodded.

"I thought I was too," he said.  

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Michael seems a little bit angry. Why do you think that is? Do you think he's justified?