Chapter 45: Brief reunion

He rarely saw the other five, and with his own problems weighing on him, he didn’t care enough to go looking for them.

Despite how impossible his circumstances seemed, he still held on to hope, but the uncertainty was eating away at him, weighing on his shoulders like a mountain.

A part of him kept whispering that it was all futile and hopeless, that perhaps he really was just in denial, and that he would never manage to get stronger.

Every day, he wrestled with that voice in his head, trying to keep it from wearing down what little hope he had left.

Frost let out a slow breath, turning the tab between his fingers before a soft knock sounded at his door.

He sat up on the bed, wondering who could be visiting at this hour, then wrapped the coin in a thin cloth and tucked it into his pocket. With a slight frown, he walked over to the door and opened it.

He hadn’t expected to see her here again, but there she was, glancing down the street as she brushed a few locks of blonde hair behind her ear.

The strong wind kept blowing her long hair loose and tugging at her pleated military-style skirt, but even as she struggled to keep her hair out of her face, she looked impossibly beautiful.

"Jennifer?" Frost exclaimed, staring at her in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

...

"So, how’ve you been?" Jennifer asked, looking Frost up and down from across the table, though she couldn’t see much below his torso. Frost grumbled, shifting slightly in his seat.

"Fine, I guess..." he said, though his gaze was already drifting towards the food in front of him.

Jennifer had brought him here without explaining why and had even ordered a scrumptious meal for both of them without asking, not that he was complaining. As far as Frost knew, this was the most expensive place to eat in the slums.

He picked up his fork, finally getting to enjoy his first proper plate of food since coming to this world.

There was meat in a thick stew, with actually edible vegetables mixed in, and although he didn’t know what creature the meat had come from, he could make an educated guess. Not that he cared, of course; he dug in without wasting another moment.

Jennifer watched with a dumbfounded expression as he ate like an animal, while she took small bites of her own meal with quiet elegance, occasionally glancing at him.

Unsurprisingly, Frost finished rather quickly, and only then did he realise what a mess he had made. He hurriedly wiped his mouth and cleaned up the spilled food before noticing that Jennifer was still staring at him.

"What?" he asked, trying not to look too embarrassed. Jennifer cleared her throat and glanced down at her plate.

"Nothing," she said, though Frost wasn’t entirely convinced.

His gaze followed hers, and he noticed that she had barely touched her food. From the way she had set her fork down, it didn’t look like she was going to finish it either.

"Are you going to eat that?" he asked, brushing the side of his nose with his fingers as he tried to hide his embarrassment. Jennifer looked at him for a moment before sliding her plate across the table.

Frost went on to demolish her meal as well.

Once he was done and the dishes had been collected, a rather long silence ensued between them.

Jennifer seemed to be waiting for him to say something, while Frost was quietly trying to recover what little dignity he had left. Eventually, she cleared her throat.

"Ahem... I guess I should start with why I’m here," she said, and Frost nodded, quietly agreeing.

Now that the hunger gnawing at his stomach had been taken care of, he finally took a moment to look at her properly.

If he had to say, she had definitely changed a lot.

It had been five weeks since he had last seen her, after all, and her clothes were certainly different, much closer to this world’s fashion than anything one would normally wear on Earth.

They were something between casual clothing and a battlesuit, which made sense in a place where danger was always looming. An evolver needed clothes they could fight in, even when they weren’t wearing full armour.

Jennifer’s outfit was lighter than what most of the evolvers he had seen wore, with metal plates covering her shoulders and elbows, but little armour beyond that.

The top upon which the plates rested seemed to be made from a synthetic material, clinging tightly to her like a second skin.

It was black and long-sleeved, and Frost only had the grace of gazing upon it after she removed her thick grey coat, which had been set aside on the chair she was sitting on.

Her military-style pleated skirt was made from a material somewhere between dull leather and soft cotton. It sounded contradictory, but somehow, that was the best way he could describe it.

Her slender legs were wrapped in tight black leggings that vanished into her short skirt.

"Frost," Jennifer called, and he realised he must have zoned out. He raised his gaze to her face, blinking.

"Sorry, what?" he asked, and she sighed, crossing her arms over her chest and angling herself away from him.

"I know I’m beautiful, but at least try to keep the staring at a minimum," she said, giving him a disapproving look. Frost could only stare back at her dubiously.

"I wasn’t even looking there," he said, but she ignored him and continued.

"Anyway, I was saying that Harod tells me you were claiming to have an affinity for the void. Is that true?" she asked, and Frost immediately perked up.

"I guess I did say that a while ago, but I’ve come to my senses," he said seriously. "I realise I was being a bit delusional and in denial as well."

Jennifer raised a brow, her eyes narrowing slightly. "Is that so?" she asked, taking a sip from the glass of water in front of her.

Frost shrugged, settling back in his seat. "Yeah, I’ve finally come to terms with my situation."