Redhawk Caldera When lightning crashes the sunrise

A series of very intrusive thoughts crossed his mind just then. If Inkeri saw him as a romantic prospect, might Amalia consider him in that way too? She said he was mature. Did she come with any sort of baggage?

Atreus caught himself and pushed the thoughts away with a strong inward cringe. It was way too weird to think of Amalia that way, which made him wonder if it wasn’t totally inappropriate to engage with Inkeri too. Age was just a number but clearly he was too young to handle a woman that—to put it in the kindest possible terms—worldly.

But he cared deeply for Amalia. She was his best friend. And she was not just providing comfort but sensible advice too, words he would remember and put to use later. He felt a wave of deep appreciation for her, tinged with a fair heaping of guilt. He had come here to whine about his life and he hadn’t even given her goings-on a second thought.

Anyway, Atreus said, a clear indication that he wanted to move on to something else now, how are things with you?