Crane tilted his head back and yawned. "Ahh—"
"Fuck you."
He turned slowly back to Singed.
Without a word, Crane reached up and wiped the blood-stamped kiss from his forehead.
It had been a good day. Now it was a bad one.
Singed opened the cage.
"I take it you hate cats?" he asked, mildly surprised.
"I hate the timing," Crane muttered, letting his bag drop to the ground.
Any other day, I'd just be mad. But today was good. Now it's ruined.
He turned toward the door.
"Actually, I won't stay to make tea," Crane said, already pulling it open. "I'm supposed to be somewhere today."
As the door creaked open, he hesitated.
Damn… I should probably talk to Jayce about going into the undercity.
While he was lost in thought, the cat padded over—light on its feet—and rubbed up against his leg.
Crane stared down at it.
Then stepped out of the lab and closed the door behind him without a word.
————————————
Crane was running through the undercity.
Why today?! he thought, limbs pumping.
It was a good day! It hadn't even finished yet! What have I done to deserve this punishment?!
He sprinted into a crumbling elevator shaft, too fast to stop.
Bang!
He slammed straight into the back wall, the impact crunching his nose.
"Ah—damn."
He hit the ground hard, flat on his back.
His nose snapped back into place with a wet pop.
Groaning, Crane rolled over and pushed himself upright.
"Ugh. What happened?" He staggered to his feet, wobbling. "Didn't think I ran that far…"
He reached behind his neck and cracked it loudly, then stood up straight, blinking.
I've gotten faster, he realized.
He snapped his fingers.
"Cool," Crane muttered, stepping up and pressing the elevator button to ascend.
———————————————
Chalk scratched faintly on a blackboard.
Jayce stepped back to study his notes, one hand thoughtfully under his chin.
"Hmm…"
"It's wrong," said a voice from behind him.
Jayce flinched and turned around. "Jonathan!"
"That is my name," Crane replied.
Jayce exhaled with a half-smile. "I'll tell you what happened with Heimerdinger—but first, how is it wrong?" He gestured toward the board.
Crane stepped up beside him, squinted at the equations.
"Oh, I don't know. I just felt like saying that."
Jayce blinked. "…Okay. Well, about your prosthetics—"
Crane raised a hand. "Wait. Before we get into all that, can I ask something?"
Jayce nodded, cautious. "Sure—"
"Good. I was going to ask either way," Crane cut in. "Do you have any plans to go to the undercity?"
Jayce looked confused. "Actually… yeah. I was planning to."
Crane tilted his head. "Why?"
"To get supplies," Jayce said, still watching him. "Why do you ask?"
"When are you going?"
Jayce shrugged. "Couple days. Whenever I'm free."
Crane stayed quiet, thinking.
So this is the week he's heading down… to buy from Benzo's shop, probably.
"Jonathan?" Jayce waved a hand in front of his face.
Crane blinked out of it. "Huh? Yeah—what?"
Jayce frowned. "Is something wrong in the undercity? Should I not go?"
Crane hesitated.
Wait… isn't letting him go more evil than stopping him?
"Nope. Nothing's wrong," Crane said, a little too quickly. "If anything, you'll probably find everything you're looking for down there."
"Yeah, I thought so," Jayce said. "So now that you're done interrogating me, I'll tell you what Heimerdinger said."
———————————
Now sitting at a desk, Crane rested his chin in his hand, mulling over Jayce's words.
"It sounds good," he said eventually.
Jayce nodded. "I know the deal's solid. But Heimerdinger also mentioned—if you're up for it—helping design or repair equipment."
He leaned forward slightly. "Specifically for hospitals. It'd be easy money for you."
Crane sighed. "To be honest, I stopped caring about money."
Jayce blinked. "Really?"
Crane gave a small shrug. "I know—surprising. Just the other day, I liked money. But I like where I'm at now."
Jayce tilted his head. "So… I take it you don't want to work on the equipment?"
"What I want," Crane said, leaning back in his chair, "is connections. I want to be known."
Jayce lit up a bit. "That's exactly what we're doing with the gemstones." He opened a small box, showing a cluster of glowing blue stones. "If this works, we'll be pushed into the limelight—where connections are born."
"In my opinion," he added, "fixing that hospital equipment would actually help with that. Good press, good reputation—especially once the gemstone project kicks off."
Crane straightened up. "You're right. Heimerdinger did ask me."
Jayce snapped his fingers. "Oh! He also said something about possibly enrolling you in the Academy."
He tilted his head. "Is that something you'd want?"
Crane considered it. Me? At the Academy? Then he nodded. "Yeah. Going to school sounds fun."
Jayce opened his mouth, then paused. "Wait… were you being sarcastic?"
Crane shook his head. "What? No. I actually want to go to school."
Jayce laughed in relief. "Glad we're on the same page."
——————————-
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