Chapter Fourteen
FAL WAS in the kitchen with his brother when Elliot appeared in the doorway. Fal put down the wooden spoon he’d been using and folded his arms.
“What do you want?” He hadn’t thought Elliot would ever speak to them again after yesterday and, as much as he told himself that was a good thing, he didn’t believe it anymore.
Elliot swallowed. “I want to offer my apologies to you both. What I said was mean and rude and I didn’t mean it. I’m really sorry.”
Fal’s arms fell to his sides and his eyes widened as he took in the uneasiness and guilt in Elliot’s expression. No Sap had ever apologised to him before and he’d never thought that one would, believing that they would consider it too demeaning. Elliot kept surprising him.
“That’s all right,” Barve said at once, brightening. “It wasn’t all your fault.” He gave Fal a pleading look but, before he could decide how to respond, Elliot spoke again.
“Yes, it was. You both have every right to keep parts of your life and culture private. I should have respected that.” He made a face. “Callie made me see that, after everything Sapiens took from you when you were slaves, it’s only reasonable for your people to want to keep some things to yourselves.”
Fal hadn’t been sure about Callie before, her reactions to him sometimes awkward, but this convinced him she was their friend and, despite himself, Elliot’s words meant a lot to him. He had been more hurt than he expected after the argument and had regretted ever letting the Sap spend time with them, but now he was beginning to understand why Barve liked him so much.
“Forget about what happened,” Fal said to Elliot. “Believe it or not, I can be bad-tempered occasionally too.”
Elliot laughed, the sight of his expression producing a warm feeling in Fal’s chest that he didn’t want to analyse.
“We were making a vegetable casserole, which you’re welcome to share,” Barve said, smiling at Elliot, much happier than he’d been all day now that everything was resolved with the Sap. That was good, Fal told himself, not sure why his own mood lowered at the reminder of Barve’s interest in Elliot.
“What can I do to help?” Elliot asked and they all got to work, chopping up more vegetables. The bowl then went into the microwave for ten minutes while they boiled some rice and then it was ready. A couple of boys came in and made themselves drinks or sandwiches while they were cooking, one of them giving the Neans a sour look while the other treated them like he would treat a Sap, asking how they were getting on with their classes and who they thought the hottest girl in the halls was, something none of them seemed qualified to answer. Fal had never thought any of the Sapiens would treat them like friends or chat casually to them like this. He’d always seen Saps as the enemy. University was changing the way he thought about things which, he supposed, was its overall purpose.
When he, Barve and Elliot sat down to eat, Elliot said, “Eva phoned me yesterday evening, asking if we would help her. What do you want to do?”
Fal tried not to smile at Elliot’s uncharacteristically deferential tone. He explained to Barve what Eva had asked them. The argument with Elliot had put the whole subject from his mind and he wasn’t sure how to respond. He had seen Eva a couple of times in the canteen and, recognising him from the English class, she had smiled at him on both occasions, the friendliness standing out against the hostility of others. “I doubt there’s any big mystery in it but it would be a good way to measure what our combined magic can do.”
Elliot’s face lit up at this and he smiled warmly at Fal. “Great.”