"Feeling better?" Luke asked.

Kenny nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, I think so." He tapped fingertips against the side of the empty soda can and smiled nervously. "Could do with something a little stronger, though." He eventually pressed both his hands down flat against the table in an effort to stop the fidgeting.

"It scared me too, the first time."

"It's not that." Sighing, Kenny shook his head. "Just... kinda knocks your world view on its ass, you know?"

"Yeah."

The four of them had retreated to the sanctuary of the Growler following the clash with Kasper, and the abrupt enrolment of his friends into the secret world beneath Lasquette Bay. For a while neither Gabi or Kenny had said much, on autopilot as they made their way back to the campus. After an awkward, silent bus ride Luke made the command decision that some sugar and solid food might jolt them out of their brooding. As they ate, he and Oaklynn tried their best to fill in the blanks, explaining the wild river ride of their actions over the past few months.

So far it seemed to have loosened Kenny up, at least.

"I'm sorry you had to see it like that," Oaklynn told him, tucked into the corner chair with one knee curled up to her chest. "With Luke, I had time to prepare, to at least try and make him ready for what he was going to see. With you guys..." She shook her head. "I thought Kasper had more control."

"Oh, you'd be surprised. Your boyfriend can be surprisingly annoying when he wants to be," Gabi chimed in, shooting him an impish smile.

Luke raised an unimpressed eyebrow. "Is that a fact?"

"Afraid so." Then she forced herself to look at the Oaklynn. "But... well, I guess I owe you an apology."

"No, it's okay," the Karkadda replied, shaking her head.

"No, it's not. I said..." Gabi looked sheepishly down at the table, picking at the cuff of her jacket. "I said some nasty things about you, before, you know?"

"You couldn't have known. I know how it must have looked."

"I thought you were stringing him along, and I just wanted-"

"You were looking out for a friend. I get it."

"And... and Luke?" Gabi turned her face to him. "I'm sorry. For what I said."

"Honestly, don't be," he told her. "I just... I couldn't say anything about it. I must've seemed like a total brain case." He leaned round the table and slung and arm across her shoulders, tugging her into a quick hug. "And I'm really happy I don't have to lie to you about this stuff anymore."

"So, let me get my head around all this," Kenny interjected quietly, his eyes flicking left and right, making sure they had no unwanted eavesdroppers. "You and big K, you're both ... you know..." He flapped a hand awkwardly.

"Karkadda," Gabi finished for him. She and Luke eased apart, and she took a huge gulp from her steaming cup of black coffee to steady her nerves.

"Right, right." He drummed his fingers on the table, his brow furrowing. "But he's part of this 'herd', and you're not, yeah?"

Oaklynn nodded. "That's right."

"And you're from another herd? From out of town?"

"From Thunder Bay, yeah."

"Why'd you leave?"

She shrugged. "Just couldn't stay there anymore. I couldn't take the rules. We've got a lot of them and they... well they make it hard to be normal. At least I thought so."

"But what happens if you break them?"

"Depends." Oaklynn lolled her head from side to side in thought. "I've seen some of us exiled. Others they've done the opposite – grounding, basically. If it's bad things can get violent."

Luke felt himself stiffen at that. "Isn't what you're doing with me – with us – pretty bad?"

To his surprise, she laughed. "Oh yeah. Bad news for sure."

"Err... so bad things? Violent?"

"It's okay." She reached out to take his hand, squeezing his fingers reassuringly. "Gallie talks a lot of fire and brimstone, but I don't think she'd ever actually hurt either of us."

"You don't think?" Kenny shot her a worried look. "I thought you guys ended up calling it quits because she made some pretty serious threats."

"She did," Oaklynn admitted. "But, you know I've spent a lot more time with that herd now. They don't strike me as the vengeful kind. Back home..." She sucked a breath through her teeth. "They knew how to hold grudges. That's why I had to come out here."

"So what are you guys going to do?" Gabi asked.

"I'll have to tell them. Then we go our separate ways, let bygones be bygones, and just stay the hell away from each other."

"That didn't work out so well the first time you tried it."

"I think by now they'll have figured out I'm more trouble than I'm worth." Oaklynn smirked; shrugged. "Kasper definitely knows it now."

"Guy was hella into you, wasn't he?" Kenny said, clasping his hands together in a fresh effort to keep his fingers under control. "You see the look on his face when you chucked him? Like, literally chucked him through the air."

Oaklynn's smile faded at that. "I think they thought if I spent enough time around him he'd rub off on me. Someone obviously thought we'd be a good match. I didn't want to hurt him but... well, he didn't leave me much choice."

"No arranged marriages for Oaklynn Cooper, eh?"

She snorted. "Over my dead body."

"Hey, let's not tempt fate here." Kenny grimaced. "There's still the problem of your little poacher friends."

"One thing at a time." Gabi ran a finger around the edge of her coffee mug, lip piercing wriggling with discomfort. "What are we going to tell Kyan and Aliyah?"

Kenny straightened up sharply as though he'd just received an electric shock. "Crap, what are we going to tell them?"

Luke's lips twisted in thought and he looked to Oaklynn, gently lacing his fingers between hers. "What do you think?"

"I'm not sure."

"I think they need to know," Gabi said. "Kyan earned that much. He stuck his neck out for you without knowing any of this. And Aliyah will understand. She's got the coolest head on campus."

Oaklynn tapped a boot against the table leg; have a small nod. "We'll figure something out, then. But before that I need to sort things out with the herd." She started to rise, but Luke kept a hold of her hand.

"You know," Luke said. "I'm pretty sure Kasper'll do the telling for both of us. Do you really need to do this face to face? Maybe we can just... I dunno, send them an email or something."

"They deserve to hear it from me," Oaklynn laughed weakly and pulled herself upright. She gave his hand a light tug, giving him a hopeful look. "Walk with me?"

He nodded and stood up, glancing back at the others. "You guys gonna be okay?"

"We'll muddle along somehow." Kenny made a shooing motion with one hand. "Go mend some bridges. We'll be here."

Luke let out a long breath, his shoulders sagging before he allowed Oaklynn to lead him away. He chanced one more backward glance towards them, in time to see Kenny's head loll forwards and press against the table. Gabi put a hand on his shoulder; her shoulders shook with something that might have been mirth.

A passing waitress hid them from view for an instant, and he found himself pulled back to the path ahead, following Oaklynn out of the Growler and onto the campus once more. Evening was settling fully now, the sun an orange-red smear across the horizon. He took a breath, the cold rattling in his lungs as he took stock of another crazy day. Never in all his wildest imaginings did he think his first semester of college life would have turned into... this.

You wanted a bit of an adventure, buddy, he reminded himself. Looks like you got it.

"How're you doing, Luke?" Oaklynn asked, pulling him to face her and taking both his hands in hers. "How's your arm?"

"Feels like I've been in a bullfight," he laughed. "But I'll live."

She grinned. "And how're you doing with... well, everything else?"

"I'm dealing."

"I didn't want to turn your life into this, Luke. I just wanted it to be you, and me, doing what we wanted to do." She blew out her cheeks in a weary sigh. "So much for simple plans, right?"

"Tell me about it." He leaned forward and planted a kiss on her forehead. "Worth it though, don't you think?"

"Absolutely." A blissful expression flitted across her face before she met his eyes again. "You know, Luke, about all those things Gallie said..."

"We don't have to think about that now."

"It's just, you need to know," she said quickly. "It's not all just blind superstition. Human and Karkadda aren't always a good mix – physically, I mean – it can be dangerous."

"How dangerous."

"Well, I'm not sure exactly." She pursed her lips awkwardly. "But there are stories, bad ones, passed down through the herds. You know, with the change, we're not always in full control. You saw what happened with Kasper when you made him angry."

"And that can happen to any of you?"

"With the right trigger." Oaklynn looked up at him, the grey of her eyes glimmering in the encroaching twilight. "Rage, grief, shock... love."

"Love?"

A shrug. "It's hard to predict. My point is, we'll need to be careful, if you're serious about this."

"This is probably the most serious I've been about anything." He motioned with his head back towards the Growler. "As serious as Kenny and his arcade machine."

"That's pretty serious."

"Look, if you're in, I'm in," Luke continued earnestly. "If we need to be careful, we'll be careful. Just lead the way, alright? Don't let them get in your head. It's up to us, for better or worse."

She yanked him forward and kissed him so fiercely it made him gasp. Their hands clutched tightly together and he could suddenly feel a rush of her emotions, filling him like an a well. Gratitude, longing and relief all rolled up into one ungainly mass that threatened to overwhelm him. After a few seconds their lips parted and she rested her forehead against his chin.

"Thank you," she whispered.

He eased his head down, pressing his lips against the top of her head and breathing in the scent of her hair. "So what now?"

"Now I'm going to talk to Gallie." Oaklynn stepped back, releasing her grip and sweeping her hair back behind her ears. Straightening up, she exhaled a short, sharp breath. "Wish me luck."

"Do you want me to come with you?" he asked. "You don't have to do this on your own."

"Honestly – and please don't take this the wrong way – but I think it would just be harder if you were there." She placed her hands on his chest and gave him an apologetic smile. "Bad enough to hear it from me, without having you watching the whole thing. I'll keep it short and sweet and be back here before you know it. Then it can just be us, for real this time."

"You're really going to do this – to risk all of this – for me?"

"Yes I am. And do you know why?"

"Why?"

"Because, Luke Arbor," she said quietly. "I think I might just love you."