Matt looked to Marie. “Is… that maybe how you got into the whole forest ranger job? Getting… away from it all?”

She turned to face him, and gave a tender smile. “Yeah,” she said. “That’s exactly it.”

She leaned back in her seat, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, head turned towards the ceiling. “My parents were into hunting, you know? I couldn’t stand that. They’d come home and parade the dead animals in front of me. Wanted me to watch ‘em skin ‘em. I vomited my guts out.

“I grew more jaded to that as I got older. Would just head into my room right after school. I knew I wanted to do somethin’ with animals, but I couldn’t be a farmer. Couldn’t handle having to see ‘em die or butchered. So I thought of being a vet, but again, too much death for me. Then I decided to become a park ranger.

“It was far away, far from any other humans I’d need tah deal with. I’d get to see animals. Stop forest fires. Maybe keep things alive for a little longer…” She opened her eyes with a distant look. “Now I just look out for fires among dead and dry wood.”

There was a finality in that statement that drove a shiver up my spine. For a few seconds the word hung in the air threateningly, until Marie spoke again.

“Now, I’m doing my best in my new job to stop another place from becoming like that. Desolate and dead.”

“My brother’s actually working on ways to improve air quality on this side,” I said. “He helped engineer a new model air filter recently, that collects the particles instead of just filtering them. They can then be properly disposed of with recycling plants and such. Some of them even make decent fertilizer, in smaller measures.”

Marie smiled at that. “I’d love to get one of those.”

“I’ll let you know when they’re available on the market,” I said.

“Your brother works in air tech, then?” Matt asked.

I gave a non-commital shrug. “Half-half. Engineering degree and working on general environmental issues. He’s also made some improvements to wave generators by another company before. He works with a specialized team and sometimes they’ll design unique things, and sometimes get sub-contracted by other companies for product review and improvement.”

“That’s fucking awesome!” Liam said with a smile. “We need more people like that.”

“Yeah,” I said, wearing a grin on my face. “My brother is kind of a hero, in his own way, I guess.”

Again, there was a brief pause and general hums of agreement. Just when I was about to mention Sarah, though, we heard heavier footsteps turn the corner. Emilia gave us a big smile and a wave.

She didn’t have her scars this side, which is why I was so surprised Liam did. Her face had a couple wrinkles, especially around her eyes, from smiling so much I guessed. Her hair was done up in a bun, and she wore a fake leather jacket as well as combat boots that went halfway up her shins and were laced many times. She also had a couple chains draping from her jeans, and wore multiple rings, though only one of those had a skull motive.

Before she even got to our table she spread her hands wide. “Look who it is! My favourite motley crew of adventurers!” Her grin widened even further, more than I would’ve thought possible.

As she stretched her arms, the sleeves of the jacket were pulled back a bit, revealing colourful ink on her dark skin. I was quite sure it wasn’t the only tattoo she had, though i didn’t know what the tattoos were of, exactly. I filed it away to ask for later.

“Emilia!” Matt said, already getting up to hug her. “You’re looking awesome!”

“I know, right?” She gave a small pose, flexing, her muscles stretching against the jacket. “Not looking to shabby yourself, Matt!”

During her pose, he’d apparently caught the ink as well. “Wait, do you have tattoos? Can I see ‘em?” He asked, without the slightest hesitation.

Emilia laughed, and wrapped him in a hug. “Nice to see you as well, Rat. And yes, yes, I’ll show ‘em off once I’m done greeting everyone.”

I gave her a hug next, and received a tight squeeze in return, getting quite a bit of air outta my lungs, which turned into a choking laugh as she let me go. Marie and Liam of course also got their share of greetings.

She sat down next to Liam, already having ordered at the register apparently, since the waiter quickly brought over a glass. Then she took off the jacket, revealing a black t-shirt with a flaming skull on it.

On her forearm, there was a huge snake coiling around it, up a tree branch with some snow on it. It was a full, coloured sleeve, with a background in it, even. There was a whole wintry forest there.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Her other arm was less done up, with a few smaller tattoos around. A rim around her wrist from which trees spawned up most of her forearm. Some kind of glyph in the crook of her elbow. A skull on her shoulder, and a set of plate armor, kind of like what she wore on Eden, on her biceps.

“I’d show you the others but… I don’t think taking my shirt off in the restaurant would go over well with staff.” She gave a cheeky wink at that.

“No, no, thanks for showing those, though. They’re awesome, really,” Matt said, his first “no” coming a little hastily.

Emilia smiled at him. “Thought you’d like them. You know, I considered plum blossoms for the tree at some point, but then decided on winter instead. Lets the colours of the snake shine more.”

Matt nodded. “I like the plum aesthetic, but it surely isn’t for everyone.”

Emilia nodded, then loudly clapped her hands once. “So! How’s everyone been? Surely I’m not late yet, am I?”

“Just on time,” I said, checking my phone. “Twins should be here soon, too.”

“I’m kinda surprised they decided to come,” Liam interjected. “They haven’t really been with the team for very long, yet, you know?”

Once again, Emilia nodded. “Yeah, same. I respect it, though. It’s good for team building.”

Matt shrugged. “I guess. Dunno how easy they’ll be to talk to.”

“We have spent a couple weeks with ‘em, ya know?” Marie interrupted him. “Surely y’all grew at least a little closer during that whole journey?” She accompanied the sentiment with a raised eyebrow, eliciting noncommittal grumbles from Matt.

“I’m glad they decided to come,” Liam said. “Reya seems kind.” He paused. “And funny,” he added.

A smirk found its way onto my face. “You found her swearing funny, didn’t you?”

He gave a wry smile. “Yes, I admit it. I found it entertaining. Can’t imagine how annoying it must be to constantly have to talk through her brother. I tried to learn a bit of sign language over the last days, but I really can’t do much more than introduce myself, lol.”

Marie blinked at him. “Did… you just say “lol” out loud? Is this some kind of new generation thing?”

At the very least, he had the decency to blush. “My friends in school said it all the time. It’s been… wearing off, now that I’m talking to people older than me more often.”

“Hehe, it’s alright. I was just surprised, don’t worry about it, yeah?” Marie said.

Liam smiled. “Alright.”

“My parents would kill me if they heard me say that,” Matt said, crossing his arms behind his head and leaning into the couch. “They hate it when I use modern language. If phones weren’t so necessary for everyday life these days, they would break theirs without hesitation. My dad more than my mom, though,” he added.

I chuckled. “Your parents are way too intense, Matt.”

“Like you’re one to talk,” he countered. “Your mom is scary, Fio, seriously! We were talking to her three on one and it was still hard to get words in against her!”

“Hahaha, alright, alright, I concede that point. She is… well, as Marie put it, a stubborn old goat.”

“I can relate to that one alright,” Emilia said. “My dad really loves putting his head through brick walls. My mom is a lot softer, though, at least on some things. Not when it came to the dancing though,” she shivered.

Liam put a hand on her shoulder. “Glad you got away from that.”

She froze for a second, then loosened up and shook her head with a smile. “Me too, Liam. So much pressure in that. It’s not for me. People constantly pushing you to do better, turning every tiny fuck-up into a huge deal…” her voice grew both mournful and full of spite. “Would rather face monsters than that. Quite literally.”

“Apparently, all of us would,” Matt commented with a light chuckle. “Seriously. Isn’t that a crazy thought? The fact that this place is so shit, we would rather go somewhere else entirely, risking our lives, just to not have to be here, specifically?”

I giggled. “Yeah. That is kind of messed up.”

Liam shrugged. “I don’t… hate it here. I just don’t feel like I can do as much good as I would’ve liked. And, of course, I don’t feel like I really got to love the industry I got into, either.”

“What do you mean by that?” Emilia asked.

He shrugged. “Cooking. It was… fine, I guess. I loved it when I cooked for people I cared about. But… restaurants aren’t that. You don’t do it for the love of the food. Well, maybe some do, but I don’t cook cause I love food, I cook cause I love making people happy. Didn’t realize that core difference until I was in the thick of it, and crying about the job every day.

“If I could have a go at it again, I’d pick a different path.”

I gave him a look. “What would you like to be?”

He blushed a little. “Ah, well, of course, the whole… thing I’m doing right now is pretty sweet. But, I guess, I’d like to try a couple things…”

“Like what?” Matt asked, but Marie interjected again.

“Tell us when you feel like it, Liam,” she said, smiling.

“I will, thank you.” He returned the smile.

“If I could be something on this side, I’d wanna get into something that feels important. Foundational. Maybe construction, or something,” Emilia said. “No more hopping around in front of people with more money than sense, or trying to appeal to people I don’t care about. I wanna create places people like to live.”

“Construction seems like a bit of a bleak industry, though,” I said. “You know. So many people dying, so many houses standing empty…”

At that, each and every one of us at the table grimaced.

“Yeah,” Emilia said. “That… does kinda put a damper on it. I guess I could be installing cleaner units or something, though.”

“That would work,” Matt said.

We all sipped our drinks again, though Emilia’s still hadn’t come. The delay became clear, when the waiter showed up with her drink, and two more, for the twins who walked in. Reya and Eric.