Chapter 58: edit eidt

By the time they returned the rented chairs, Dante had discovered that Honey could win an argument with beach staff without raising her voice. She simply found the sentence on their own sign that explained why she was right.

They received their full deposit, including the amount the attendant had tried to keep for sand. Dante offered her a senior position in his future government as they climbed the path toward the winter garden.

“I’d need to see the salary,” she said. “Your current staff seem to receive unusual amounts of homework.”

The others had gone upstairs to change for dinner. Honey wanted to check one practice answer first, so Dante followed her into the lodge reading room, a quiet space beside the garden doors. Lamps floated above wide tables, and a squat repair golem collected books with split bindings from a trolley.

It held one damaged book open, pressed the spine between warm stone palms, and returned it to the shelf. When Dante touched the repaired cover, the golem held out its hand for the book he was hiding behind his back.

He had not intended to hide it. He had merely hoped the bent corner of his borrowed study guide might repair itself through shame.

Honey watched the golem take it. “Even the furniture expects you to admit things.”

“I was about to make a voluntary report.”

“Before or after we graduated?” she asked, sitting beside him.

They finished the exercise together. Dante explained the supply line correctly this time, including where it ended when the operator released the control. Honey checked the answer against the printed example before putting a small tick beside it.

He liked earning that tick more than he intended to admit. Her praise had edges that made it feel different from ordinary politeness.

“You took this seriously,” she said. “Even after the exciting part was over.”

“I needed to understand what you were asking. You tended to notice the question everyone else hoped would go away.”

Honey looked down at the page. For a moment, he thought he had given a poor compliment, until she touched his wrist beside Posey’s ribbon.

“I liked that you listened,” she said. “I didn’t always make it easy.”

Dante wanted to tell her that an extraordinary mind deserved extraordinary attention. The words arrived dressed for a ceremony, and he suspected she would charge them admission.

Instead, he asked whether she would show him the plant outside that she had stopped to inspect earlier. Honey smiled, closed the guide, and led him through the garden doors.

The path followed a narrow stream down the outside of the glass building. Beneath a covered bench, water turned a small wooden wheel connected to the lamps overhead. Two water pixies pushed fallen petals away from its blades, while a third sat on the bank wearing a petal as a hat.

Honey rose a little above the path to inspect a flowering branch. Her wings gave a soft golden flicker, then slowed as she lowered herself beside the bench.

“Still tired?” Dante asked.

“A little. I could sit down without making a whole tragedy of it.”

He sat first and made room. A man capable of directing an expedition could certainly direct himself onto a bench, although his council offered several unnecessary thoughts about how close her leg was to his.

Honey settled beside him, moving one wing past the wooden back. She explained that the flowers closed when the air cooled, protecting the center without waiting for frost. One folded while he watched, its pale edges curling inward until the yellow middle disappeared.

“That was clever,” he said. “You’d noticed it while everyone else was deciding where to eat.”

“I also wanted dinner. Scientists can manage two interests.”

He looked at her mouth before looking back at the flower. Honey caught him, of course. Her glasses seemed capable of detecting bad decisions before he had finished preparing them.

“Does your extraordinary government have a rule about kissing someone before she has to write a formal request?” she asked.

Dante felt every imaginary adviser in his head stand at once. It was an appalling way to run a meeting.

“Failing to respond would reflect very badly on the entire administration,” he said, then let the joke settle. “Could I kiss you, Honey?”

Her answer came softly, with her hand still around his wrist. “I’d like that.”

[lol, insert kissing scene here]

After their first kiss, Honey stayed close enough that her glasses brushed his cheek. Dante had several excellent statements prepared about the importance of the moment, but none survived her smiling at him from that distance.

One wing caught the bench when he tried to put his arm around her. He stopped immediately, and she freed it with a small, embarrassed laugh.

“The furniture clearly opposes us,” he said.

“The furniture has done more for college romance than your entire government,” Honey replied, rearranging herself against his side. “Try blaming your elbow.”

He accepted the correction because the new arrangement was considerably better. They remained there until the lamps brightened above the stream, talking about her stubborn plant and the library corner she missed. He offered to help move the pots when they returned, then allowed her to explain why most of them should stay exactly where they were.

At dinner on the outdoor terrace, Honey chose the chair beside him. Her knee rested against his under the table while Rhae defended a bowl of hot noodles from Jett’s attempt to add half his barbecue plate.

Lucan said the combination might work. Dante distrusted this willingness to support chaos, though Jett looked delighted to have found an expert.

Beyond the terrace rail, lanterns floated over the lake. Posey asked Honey about the flowering branch, and Anika offered a temperature note from her own class. Dante listened to the three of them build an experiment while Rhae stole one of his dumplings and insisted it was a fair consultation fee.

Later, Honey returned to the room she shared with Anika and answered Mira’s call beside the closed window. The others were still downstairs, giving her a few minutes alone.

The director could stand, Mira said, but fine work remained difficult. Northline had refused to cover his missed shifts while it reviewed the incident. The demonstration was finished. His lost pay had only started.

Honey opened her saved message to Dante, with the warning photograph still attached.

“Did he know who was in that chair?” Mira asked.

Honey could still feel the place where Dante’s thumb had rested against her wrist. She had wanted that kindness again, and the photograph on her phone threatened it. She opened his name above the unsent message, knowing he could still be downstairs laughing at something Jett had said. Telling him required one small movement of her thumb. She answered Mira instead.

“He still doesn’t know. I had another chance to tell him, and I let it pass.”