Phoebe
[Thessaly]: Hey moony, how ya doing?
[Phoebe]: Moony? Hey fishy :P
[Thessaly]: Are you ok? You seem stressed
> I'm fine, it's just my partner's sick
Phoebe sat in the driver's seat, knees up against the wheel, spine curled way tighter than she should, glaring at the input box on her phone's texting app. What could she say instead of 'partner' so that Thessaly didn't get the wrong idea and think she was talking about, like, a boyfriend? She didn't want to lie to the mermaid, but she couldn't risk letting on that she was a dragon racer. She thought she could trust Thessaly, but it had only been a couple of weeks since they'd met…
> I'm fine, it's just an animal I work with
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She couldn't say that about Soot, that was just wrong. But she was starting to need to come up with a response. Thessaly's greeting had been waiting for her when she pulled up outside the magic shop, and she'd responded as soon as Phoebe replied. That had been – she looked at the clock on the phone – almost fifteen minutes ago. How had the mermaid known? Phoebe's message was only three words long.
Movement caught her eye outside the car: Adelie teetering out of the shop's door, arms wrapped around an enormous and evidently pretty heavy brown paper bag. Hurriedly, Phoebe pushed herself back up to sitting and tapped out a new message.
[Phoebe]: Just a messy situation at work
She reached down and pulled the trunk release.
[Thessaly]: Wanna talk about it?
[Phoebe]: It's pretty gross, you probably don’t want to know
It took Phoebe so long to type it that by the time the message sent, Petra was opening the passenger-side door. Fumbling, Phoebe jammed the phone back into its holder.
[Thessaly]: I can handle gross, you should tell me about it sometime.
"Who are you texting?" Adelie asked, tone just sharp enough to tighten something between Phoebe's shoulderblades.
Hurriedly, Phoebe slept the phone screen. "Nothing, just a friend."
She didn't look at Adelie, but she could feel her attention on her hard enough to set her hand trembling as she turned the ignition.