Page 27 of A Barista's Guide to Love & Larceny
“Yeah, that’s what I suspected,” she said. “That’s why I haven’t been able to touch it with a ten-foot pole.”
“Touch it?” Oliver asked. “Wait, are you guys, like, hacking into the OneiroLabs system?”
Katya and Silva exchanged a look. “We have experimented with exploring their digital network, yes,” Silva said. “Purely in the hopes of finding details that could help us piece together the formula.”
“And now we know why we haven’t turned anything up,” Katya said. “Their high-clearance shit isn’t something I can just waltz past from out here. We’ll need to find out who exactly has that clearance.”
Dani was starting to feel like she didn’t want to be part of this conversation or where it might lead. Silva must’ve sensed her unease because she held up a hand, saying, “That’s for me and Miss Novak to discuss. As for you, Miss Lionet, you’ve done everything I asked, and I couldn’t be more grateful. You’ve earned the rest of your payment.” She reached into one of her desk drawers and pulled out an envelope.
“Thanks,” Dani said, taking it. “But what about Oliver?”
“I’ve got the charm ready, as promised. I’m hopeful that it might keep some of the symptoms at bay, though it’s not a permanent solution. I’ll consult with some of the arcanobotanists in my organization as well—although I suspect Mx. Izumi’s input may prove to be more useful. After all,” she said to Oliver directly, “you are in the unique position of experiencing this firsthand, while also being a fledgling arcanobotanist yourself. In fact, if you have a few minutes, perhaps you can stay a bit longer to talk it through?”
Oliver nodded, the tension in their face easing slightly. Dani couldn’t help but feel a little relieved, too. She’d begun to consider Oliver a friend, and didn’t know what else she could do to help, besides making them a mean cup of coffee.
“You’re free to go, Miss Lionet,” Silva said. “Thank you again.”
“Oh. Um,” Dani said. She looked at Oliver. “Do you want me to wait for you outside?”
They started to shake their head, then stopped themself. “Actually, that would be nice, but only if you’ve got time?”
“Of course,” Dani said. “I’ll just be in the lobby.” She tucked the envelope into her back pocket and stepped out into the hall, breathing a little easier once the door closed behind her. Katya showing up had been a bit of a mind-warp; it felt like this thing was getting bigger and bigger, drifting further out of her control. But hey, at least her part was over, and she could feel good about having helped Oliverandhaving made some extra money. There was nothing wrong with that, right?
She went to the lobby, which was mostly abandoned except for a couple of students on their quartzpads. Seeing them on their devices reminded her; she perched on a chair and pulled her own quartzpad out of her bag, booting it up with a hopeful bubble growing in her heart. It swelled against her breastbone when she opened her inbox and saw, sure enough, a new message from none other than Kass, subject lineParty details. Inside was the promised address and one sentence:I hope you’ll be there:).
Dani turned off the quartzpad and hugged it to her chest.
“Hey,” came Oliver’s voice, and she glanced over to see them emerging from the hall, smiling. “Thanks for waiting for me.”
“For sure,” she said, getting to her feet. “Today was kind of a lot. Hey—I’m supposed to meet my friend McKenna at the dining hall. Do you maybe wanna grab some dinner with us? She’s cool, I promise.”
“I’d love to,” Oliver said. “I signed up for one too many classes this semester, and now with all this happening, I haven’t had much chance to hang out with anyone other than my roommate. Sadie’s lovely, but she’s a music major, so we don’t run into each other much outside the dorm.”
“I feel that,” Dani said. She’d expected a friend group to materialize around her the moment she set foot on campus; the reality, of course, had turned out quite different. “Well then, shall we?”
The rain hadn’t yet started up again, which meant they didn’t have to rush the ten-minute walk from the OS building. Oliver showed her the charm Silva had given them—a small glass bottle filled with crushed amethyst, a hummingbird feather, sea salt, and a coin with a sigil carved into it—that they now wore around their neck. Oliver already had a few ideas about herbs that could strengthen its properties, and seemed excited by the prospect of heading to the arcanobotany department’s private library to do some more digging.
“So you’ve been into plants all your life?” Dani asked.
“Oh yeah,” Oliver said. “My brother always talks about trying to stop me from putting plants in my mouth as soon as I could crawl. He says I was already showing promise as an arcanobotanist, but I think I was probably just being a baby.”
Dani laughed. “You were conducting scholarly research.”
“That’s exactly what my brother would say.”
“What’s he like?”
“Asa’s the best.” Canary yellow spread its wings across Dani’s mind as words came tumbling out of Oliver. “He remembers everything, and he can make pretty much anyone laugh. He could’ve been a stand-up comedian if he wanted to, but he was too busy providing for me and my younger siblings after our parents died.”
“I’m so sorry,” Dani said. “That must have been hard.”
“Yeah, thanks,” Oliver said. “It was—especially for Asa, but he never showed it. He’s always seemed basically invincible to me.”
“How many siblings do you have other than him?”
“Three younger,” Oliver said. “Charlotte, Milo, and Emi. They’re amazing. I miss them all the time.”
Dani could almost taste the cerulean of Oliver’s wistfulness. “I bet you do,” she said.
