Breathe in the Embers

Part 36

In the end, of course, he went to dinner.

It took some very insistent stomach rumbling to make Martin move. That, along with the anxiety of being left alone in Margaret’s room, drove him quickly toward the cafeteria. He wasn’t sure if she’d thought about leaving him there at all, but he was pretty sure it’d be awkward if she came back and he’d stayed the whole time. Which left either a retreat to his own room, or to proceed as planned.

Unfortunately, he was quite hungry.

It only took a couple of minutes for him to decide to go, the door locking automatically behind him. Hopefully Margaret had remembered her key in her rush out the door. Only a few minutes had passed since the kiss when Martin reached the cafeteria downstairs, but Margaret was acting like nothing had happened at all.

Collecting his meal of macaroni and cheese and a couple of hot dogs, Martin joined her. Margaret glanced up and smiled as he sat beside her. She’d opted for the chili, which she had slathered over a couple of her own hot dogs. A pile of steamed broccoli beside it added some actual nutrition to the otherwise questionable health value of the meal.

“Hey Marty.” she greeted. Martin couldn't manage to dredge up any words for a reply, so nodded instead.

They ate in silence for a scant few moments before they were joined by Tessa. Her arrival was beginning to seem inevitable to Martin, particularly at times where he had no interest in socializing.

“Sup guys.” Tessa greeted, her plate a horrific combination of Martin’s and Margaret’s. A pair of hot dogs sat there, but topped with macaroni rather than with chili or ketchup. The outright glare Margaret leveled her way seemed to bounce right off that tooth-decorated hood, as did Martin’s withering disapproval. “Enjoying your dinner?”

“I was.” Margaret muttered.

“Yes.” Martin replied more politely, only the brevity of the reply hinting at his irritation.

“Sweet. Glad the food here is decent. Rather starve to death than eat the swill at my old school. So, Mary, Maggie, Margaret, what can you do?” she asked, indicating Margaret with the vague wave of a spork.

“What?”

“What…can…you...do?” she repeated, grinning at Martin, clearly taking joy from repeating the same sequence from their own encounter. “Y’know, what powers do you have? Why are you at Azimuth?”

“Well I don’t have powers or anything.” Margaret replied defensively. “I’m here to study magic.”

“Just magic eh?” Tessa replied doubtfully, glancing sidelong at Martin with a knowing smirk. His cheeks heated, and the flush in Margaret’s face was obvious. “Well, nothing wrong with that. Plenty of interesting things to study here, right Marty?” she winked at him.

Margaret and Martin busied themselves with studiously keeping their gazes away from each other and Tessa, the hooded girl looking back and forth between them with that amused, toothy grin. They all returned to eating in silence, though the energy had drastically changed. When it had been just the two friends, the silence had been comfortable due to familiarity, but also uncertain following the kiss. With Tessa, there was a nervous, excited edge to the atmosphere. Anticipation. Of what, Martin couldn’t possibly guess.

“So… no one wants to ask what I can do?” Tessa eventually prompted impatiently, practically bouncing in her seat.

Margaret ignored the statement, but Martin couldn’t bring himself to. Not with how excited Tessa was. “What...can...you...do?” he asked eventually, using the very same words Tessa herself had.

“Thought you’d never ask.” Tessa replied, teeth flashing. Then her eyes flashed too.

They flashed neon pink, bright enough that Martin was left blinking, and it took him several seconds to notice that it wasn’t shadow encroaching from the edge of Tessa’s hood. Her face was disappearing. It spread rapidly across her skin, leaving nothing behind within the hood save that toothy smile, then the clothes began to slowly be devoured by this strange, creeping absence. Only seconds after it had started, Tessa was completely gone.