“Loxley!” a voice called.

Loxley turned towards the voice.

“Aytaç? What is it?” Loxley asked looking back to where the girl with the dark hair had disappeared to with her friend.

“Why aren’t you back at the dig site?” Aytaç countered evenly.

“Needed a break,” Loxley shrugged. “Didn’t know they were letting people into the fortress with the dig still ongoing.”

“They’re students from the university,” Aytaç answered.

Loxley nodded absently still wondering whom the girl with the dark hair was.

“You seem distracted sir,” Aytaç commented.

Loxley hummed in reply and Aytaç fell silent beside him. After a long silence that most would have considered awkward, Loxley spoke.

“Something must be wrong at the site for you to come looking for me,” he told Aytaç. “What is it this time?”

“Fin’s gone and hurt himself again,” Aytaç replied.

“Bloody hell!” Loxley cursed.

“If it weren’t for the fact that I knew you were from the Isles, I would have thought you were English,” Aytaç chuckled.

“I did study at both Oxford and Cambridge so it’s no surprise you would think that,” Loxley remarked offhandedly.

Aytaç looked to him surprised.

“How bad is Fintan this time?”

The man beside him shrugged, meaning he’d left before Fin was evaluated to alert Loxley of the injury. Loxley wasn’t really surprised. The boy was the clumsiest person he’d ever met and was prone to accidents. Out of all the people working on this dig, only Fintan had been injured albeit multiple times. Though to be fair, most of the injuries were minor. Things that didn’t have to be reported because it was his own clumsiness that caused most if not all of his injuries.

“How bad?” Loxley sighed.

“Why do you always assume the worst?” Aytaç grumbled.

“Because with Fintan, anything is possible,” Loxley snapped. “I don’t even know why the director insisted he work on this dig!”

By now, they were back at the site. Loxley rubbed the spot between his eyes in annoyance as he listened to the onsite medic tell him about Fin’s injuries.

“The dunderhead hit his head and now has a concussion,” he muttered under his breath. “Fin go home and take someone with you to keep an eye on you.”

“But don’t you need me here?” Fin protested weakly.

“Maybe, maybe not but doctor’s orders are not something I can go against as site director, nor do I want to, Fin,” Loxley explained.

It was like he was explaining it to a child.

“Despite who your mother is, Fin, I cannot afford a lawsuit and neither can this dig. The best thing you can do is listen, for once, and rest. Let your body heal. Come back tomorrow and do try to be more careful. Oi! Pay attention! This is why you have to go home and rest! And you’re not paying attention again. Fan-fucking-tastic.”

“Sir!” Aytaç hissed. “You mustn’t say things like that!”

“It’s ok Aytaç, he’s right,” Fin sighed. “I’m a klutz and I’m protected because of who I am. But if I stay, I put the rest of the team in danger. I could cause another accident that’s fatal and this dig wouldn’t survive the ensuing lawsuit. Not to mention, Loxley’s career would effectively be ruined before it had a chance to begin.”

“Fin, that’s honestly the smartest thing I’ve heard you say in a long time,” Loxley told the boy.

Fin chuckled sheepishly, “I do have my moments Dr. Eames.”

“I told you, please call me Loxley,” Loxley sighed. “Get going Fin. And please try to be careful tomorrow.”

Fin nodded once and vanished out the monument’s entrance. Loxley watched him go with a rueful smile. He was so focused on making sure Fin left the site that he didn’t hear the footsteps until he heard the soft curse behind him.

“Fuck!” the voice was certainly female. “Of all the times to have only an hour to sketch! What I wouldn’t give to have unlimited time, paint, and canvas! It’s not fucking fair!”

She sounded like she was whining to Loxley’s ears.

A second voice laughed, “Come on Seona, you say that about all of our field trips!”

“I most certainly do not!” the first voice, which must be Seona, exclaimed in indignation.

There was a beat of silence before a grudging reply came from Seona.

“Just La Gran Mezquita de Córdoba and the Alhambra.”

The way the Spanish rolled off Seona’s tongue told Loxley she was at least familiar enough with the language to pronounce the names of these World Heritage Sites correctly. The second voice laughed. It was a full out belly laugh.

“Shut up, Inerys,” he heard Seona grumble halfheartedly.