57. Jumping Turnstiles

The empty subway station and the cracked concrete pillars looked especially worn that day. Isaac tapped against the tablet screen as he waited for the train to arrive, absentmindedly taking in his surroundings. It really was a near perfect imitation of Chrowall City’s stations, from the scattered benches covered in dirt to the holes visible beneath the rails where suspiciously large Chrowall City rats liked to live. The main difference, of course, was the lack of people. In terms of construction, Underside stations also had no turnstiles. He found his gaze drifting towards the empty space between the pillars where the metal things would usually be, mind wandering.

Isaac had always jumped the turnstiles for as long as he’d rode the subway. When he was young, it was simple to duck under them, and once he’d gotten older and taller, he grew adept at hopping over.

It was an easy task. He strode forward without breaking pace, hands shoved in his pockets as his eyes casually darted about the station to check for onlookers. Lloyd had chosen an odd hour for this “bonding meal,” as he’d called it, and as a result the station was more than sufficiently empty.

There hadn’t been any guards, either, despite the recent notice that all Chrowall subway stations would feature increased security. Isaac snorted at the thought. It had been obvious bullshit when it was announced, and this just proved it.

With confident steps, he strode up to the metal barriers like he owned them. In one fluid motion, he placed a hand on the side where one would usually swipe their card and used it to boost himself over. He landed lightly and wiped his hand off on his pants, satisfied. It was oddly pleasing to jump turnstiles successfully, he’d found. All things considered it was a minor thrill and not particularly challenging after so many years of practice, but he’d take all the excitement he could get.

“You should stop doing that.” A voice interrupted his thoughts.

Scowling, Isaac spun around to face the speaker. Lloyd was frowning at him from a few feet away, glancing around uneasily when he wasn’t leveling Isaac with a disapproving look.

Isaac rolled his eyes. “It’s fine. I’ve always done this and I haven’t gotten caught yet.”

Lloyd let out a little huff that reminded Isaac of their mother. On the rare occasions he actually saw her, she was usually making exasperated sighs like that. Small, contained gestures that managed to exude disapproval and superiority. “That’s not the point.” Lloyd shook his head. “I—We have money now. If you didn’t have a subway card, you should’ve told me.”

Isaac could see the way his brother visibly forced the tension in his shoulders to relax and softened his tone, the same way those particularly annoying teachers used to talk to him back then when he got in trouble as a kid. He narrowed his eyes. Lloyd’s clothes were simple, but neat and tidy, and his posture was perfectly straight. His brother wouldn’t look out of place as one of those teachers at all, Isaac thought.

He hunched further and burrowed his fists deeper into his pockets. “You know a lot of people jump the turnstiles. It’s not just delinquents,” he said, making his voice as snide as possible. He rolled his eyes. “Let’s hurry up and go already. You’re the one who wanted to do this shit.”

Lloyd’s eyebrow twitched. Ah, there it was. As much as his brother tried to hide it, Isaac could always see the irritation that simmered in the man whenever the two of them talked, carefully kept below a boil. Isaac turned away and stepped further down the platform. In moments like these, it was almost a relief to be able to draw that agitation to the surface, to break through the shroud of civility even if for a moment, just to prove that it was really there. That the resentment went both ways.

The sound of the approaching train snapped Isaac out of his thoughts. He cursed under his breath and shook his head, turning away from the cement columns. He felt a sting in his fingers and looked down, realizing that he’d been gripping the tablet so hard that his knuckles were turning white. Isaac loosened his grip, took a deep breath, and strode into the train once its doors slid open.

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He sat down and ran a hand through his hair, sighing. Fucking Casimir, he thought. The angel’s words were bringing up unnecessary memories. “Waste of time,” he muttered to himself. He stared out the windows at the passing blur of the tunnels, willing the train to move faster and reach the destination already. Had it always been this slow?

He sighed, looked away, then back up. He continued this process with growing agitation before he finally stood and resolved to start pacing instead of just sitting there and doing nothing.

Isaac had just gotten up when the glowing of the tablet screen interrupted him. He hit the button and sat back down faster than he’d like to admit.

“Good day to you, Isaac dear! I know you’ve missed me!” spoke a familiar voice. The woman laughed to herself, bright and warm. “Well? How’s the tournament been?”

Isaac felt his muscles instinctively relax. While most of the time Lilith’s voice was grating to the ear, there was an inherent soothing quality to it that was apparent when she wasn’t giving unreasonable orders. “It’s been…something.” He huffed. “Fable’s barely done any actual commentating, by the way.”

“Ah, but you see, Isaac, I didn’t really expect them to.”

He shifted into a more comfortable position on the plastic seats and snorted. “Yeah, that’s probably smart.”

“But enough of that, Isaac dear, your descriptions disappoint me! ‘Something’ is so terribly vague. Surely you can do better than that!”

He frowned. “I mean, the obstacle course and stands and stuff all work really well.” He furrowed his brow. “How much magic did you even use for all that?”

“I’m a god, silly. That’s unimportant. What about the competitors?”

“There were a lot of people, both watching and participating. Uh, I think I saw people from every realm except, like, the obvious ones.”

The woman hummed. “Good good, I’m glad people are taking this seriously! What else?”

Isaac paused, eyes fixed on the pulsing golden glow of the tablet screen. “You’re really invested in this.” It was more of a comment than a question. Upon closer inspection, the woman’s voice wasn’t quite as bubbly as usual, a bit more even and muffled through the tablet connection. He frowned. “Weren’t you watching through the screens?”

He heard the woman release a long sigh. “Of course! But as they say, watching’s quite different from experiencing, hm? Which is why I must ask, Isaac, are the lovely Underside inhabitants having fun?”

He stared down at the tablet for a bit, thinking up a response. His gut instinct was to bring up the obvious lingering feuds that had already made themselves known in the first event, but the longer he sat in the silence, Lilith waiting patiently for an answer on the other end, the less inclined he felt to respond with that. Isaac sighed.

“Yeah,” he finally said. “I think they’ve been having fun.”

He could practically hear the woman beaming. “Wonderful! Absolutely marvelous, stupendous—“ She kept listing adjectives, and Isaac just shook his head in amusement, silently waiting to see how long she could go on.

It turned out to be quite long, as he could already see the orange line platform up ahead by the time the god was finishing up with “effervescent” and a few other adjectives that didn’t actually fit the definition. He stood up, tablet in hand, ready to exit.

“Oh goodness, silly me!” Lilith suddenly exclaimed, interrupting herself. “I almost forgot to ask about my favorite Traveler! How have you been enjoying this serendipitous tournament so far, Isaac dear?”

The door slid open and he strode outside the train, moving forward through the station without giving the surroundings a second glance. He could already hear the murmurs of the crowd outside the station, both familiar yet distinctly Underside in its quality, in the layers of noises and voices. They were louder than they’d been when he left, he noted; had the other events started already?

Isaac walked up the stairs in steady steps as the familiar words, [CURRENT LOCATION: THE OLD LANDS] flashed across the screen. “It’s been fine,” he told her.

“Is that all? Just fine?” The woman released an exaggerated sigh. “You’ll admit to having fun one of these days, Isaac dear. It’s coming soon, mark my words!”

He smiled slightly as he finally exited the station.

“We’ll see.”