Phoebe

The race stables were eerie late at night. The stable complex was never closed, and Phoebe’s pass allowed her 24-hour access, but the vast majority of team personnel would be in their hotels right now. Phoebe had been, but sleep had proved elusive. She was tired, and her legs were stiff from the not-quite-set-right harness, but the silence of her phone had been deafening. It had been over a week since the last time Thessaly had even messaged her.

She walked along the press gallery, conscious that her sneakers were squeaking slightly on the tile floor. Although the day’s heat had lingered as she crossed the car park outside, air conditioning had kept the building cool and now it was chill with its emptiness. None of the security personnel challenged her, but she still felt like she was intruding on something.

Pushing open the door to Tenebrae’s stable did nothing to alleviate that feeling. The lights were lowered inside – Soot could sleep just fine in direct sunlight, but some old tradition or other held that turning stable lights down was better for dragons. Gloom hovered in the air like mist, Stefan’s desk with its black screens and Tamra’s workstation hunched to the sides where the light was warmest.

Phoebe hesitated. Coming to see Soot had felt like the right thing to do, or at least a better option than anything else she could think of, but now she was standing here looking at him… he was asleep, what was she going to do? Dragons were typically sound sleepers, so he probably wouldn’t know she was here, even.

She crossed the floor to stand near him, anyway. With the light low, there wasn’t even the spiderweb-shimmer of reflections off the edges of his scales to break his dark colouration. She could barely make out the stubby, round line of his jaw, folded round where the tip of his snout rested under the curve of one folded wing.

Phoebe resisted the urge to throw herself on him like a giant plushie. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, relishing the surge of warmth and emotion rising through her. Carefully lowering herself to her knees, she reached out a hand and stroked his scales. He didn’t like it when she hugged his neck, but the temptation to do so right now was almost overwhelming.

Instead, she leaned closer, turning to rest her back against him. He shifted slightly but didn’t stir. Phoebe took another long breath. Sixth wasn’t where she wanted to be starting in the race tomorrow, but the six hundred pounds of dragon behind her were wonderful and reassuring. He could make up a lot of the deficit, provided she didn’t let him down.

Almost without realising what she was doing, Phoebe took out her phone and opened Thessaly’s messages again. Her latest unsent attempt at a reply was another dissembling lie, and she deleted it. The screen was a solid block of Thessaly's messages, stretching back now almost a month unanswered, first worried, then plaintive, then slowly losing their emotion.

Phoebe clenched her free hand into a fist, driving her nails painfully into her palm. How could she say anything that would make up for this? Maybe she should give up, maybe the mermaid would ignore her if she messaged now anyway. It wasn’t like it was a civil hour to be texting someone.

Listlessly, she scrolled back further, to their last actual conversation, the night before the race at Aletsch Gorge. Another night when Phoebe had been overwhelmed and afraid, when it looked like the team might fail, when she’d qualified poorly for a race she desperately needed to win. What’s the best that could happen? The mermaid had asked.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Well, ok, what was the best that could happen now? She messaged Thessaly and was forgiven easily? She messaged the mermaid and Thessaly was awake and waiting to hear from her? They forgot about the interview where Thessaly had called Phoebe her celebrity crush? Or they didn’t forget, and the crush was real, and-

Phoebe didn’t know how to think that far ahead.

Wasn’t that what it came down to, though?

> Hey, sorry I went quiet, I freaked out when I heard your interview|

Could she just say that? It felt like the truth, at least, in a way few of the things she’d tried to write over the last two weeks had. What’s the best that could happen?

> Hey, sorry I went quiet, I freaked out when you said I was your celebrity crush|

Maybe that was too much.

> Hey, sorry I went quiet, I freaked out when you mentioned me in that interview|

She pressed send, and then almost threw her phone at the wall. Hunching her shoulders, she curled to her side and pressed her cheek to Soot’s scales. Her hands were steady, but she felt like she was shaking from within. On the screen, the little speech bubble with three dots in it popped up next to Thessaly's name.

Phoebe stared at it like a snake. Why did she have to be awake right now? Why couldn’t she be asleep like sensible, civilised people? Was she struggling to sleep too? Was it just the idol workload keeping her up late?

[Thessaly]: Are you ok?

That could mean anything. What was Phoebe going to say back? Which question should she answer?

> I’m doing better now, really busy and stressed with the races

[Thessaly]: I saw you had a bad race last time

> Yeah. Sorry I didn’t reply, I didn’t know what to say

[Thessaly]: So it wasn’t that you started dating Mynah Darling forgot all about me?

Phoebe curled tighter around her icy gut. Soot stirred slightly. Maybe Thessaly was just teasing. She hoped the mermaid was just teasing.

> Why does everyone think I’m dating her?

[Thessaly]: Wait are you not?

Oh, god, did she really believe it?

> No! I just met her at a party, that’s all

> I might be signing with the same PR company, that’s all

[Thessaly]: Didn’t she just come and see you at the race yesterday?

Phoebe’s lungs let out a sound like haunted plumbing. Someone must have photographed Mynah on her way to the Tenebrae stable or something. How did this stuff spread so fast?

> She came to meet Soot

> She said she couldn’t have pets and seemed sad about it, so I invited her

[Thessaly]: Oh my god, you really don’t know how all this works, do you?

> What do you mean?

[Thessaly]: It’s probably a setup.

[Thessaly]: By the PR company, I mean

Phoebe put her hand over her eyes. Of course, on some level, she understood that that was what PR companies did. But why would they set someone as big as Mynah up with her? She was just a rookie dragon racer. Was Thessaly trying to signal that her ‘celebrity crush’ was also a PR move?

Mynah had seemed so sad, both times they’d met. Just really, deeply lonely. And the way she’d greeted Soot had been so kind and gentle and keen. Maybe she wasn’t aware she was being manoeuvred. She definitely wasn’t interested in Phoebe, though, Phoebe was sure of that.

Maybe there was a way…

> What if you came and met Soot next race?

[Thessaly]: Really?

> Yeah, I’d like you to meet him

> He’s not scary, I promise

[Thessaly]: The next race is Costa dei Fiori, right? In Calabria?

Phoebe bit back surprise. She knew the course name? She’d have been a little surprised if the mermaid had even known where the next race was. Most racing fans didn’t even know the actual course names, and just called the race ‘Calabria’, or maybe ‘Sanremo’ if they’d actually been there in person and stayed in the nearest town.

> Yeah

[Thessaly]: Maybe that works, actually.

[Thessaly]: Perfect Storm’s doing pretty well down there, I have some shows booked

[Thessaly]: I’ll ask my manager

> I hope you can, Soot will love you, I’m sure of it

[Thessaly]: And you?

Oh god.

Despite Soot's warmth propping her up, Phoebe suddenly felt like a person-shaped icebox. She didn’t even know how she felt about seeing Thessaly again, never mind how she should answer. For a moment she considered not replying right now, pretending to go to sleep or something. Probably she’d have an even harder time actually sleeping than she had before.

> I want to see you again

> I missed talking to you

> I’m sorry I didn’t for so long