Still Falling DEAD WEIGHT
Morning toward Highschool A still carried a thin strip of chill before the day warmed.
Mei matched his pace without trying. Xian had left early on some clan errand, so the walk was just the two of them. Mei nudged his shoulder when the gate line ahead slowed.
"You're not skipping again this weekend, are you?"
"Define skipping."
"Showing up late and pretending the queue moved on its own." She smirked. "School first. Then whatever you're plotting."
Val laughed. Ahead of them, the gate queue was already arguing about whether yesterday's assignment had counted and which teacher would complain first. Mei threw in her own guess about the cafeteria running out of something edible before second period. He answered when she needed an answer and let the rest drift.
The cafeteria roared at the edges. Val and Dawn had claimed a back table, trays between them, knees angled toward each other like they had done this a hundred times and meant to keep doing it.
Mei and Xian sat with their own cluster on the far side, laughing too far away for Val to catch a word. He and Dawn fell into the same easy back-and-forth they had been finding lately: homework complaints, who had claimed which corner, nothing that needed measuring out loud.
Something older pulled at him when she smiled anyway. He ate, he listened, and kept his voice light on top of it.
Dawn leaned in, eyes bright. "So. Sleepovers."
Val raised a brow.
"And who gets you at lunch when I'm not looking." She grinned. "Just curious."
"Jealous?"
"Observant." She twirled her fork. "You disappear into corners a lot lately."
He laughed and tossed the question back with a joke about her own calendar. Dawn groaned. Neither of them pushed past the joke.
Classes let out into stretched gold light. Mei had already peeled off with a few other friends. Val caught up with Xian alone on the familiar route toward the school-town house, sidewalks long in the afternoon.
She ruffled his hair hard enough to mess it, flashed a grin, and said, "Still carrying me, or did Mei finally swap you out?"
"You're lighter than you think."
She laughed. He didn't bristle. A month ago he might have.
The walk had room in it: pavement, afternoon light, not a briefing or a crowded table. Mei owed someone a poke about her notes. Xian had homework due. Val kept his voice even and didn't mention the weekend. Sunlight cut between the buildings all the way to the school-town house gate.
"Night, dead weight."
"Night."
He walked off still grinning.