Chapter 1.26 - In which Percy explains his selfishness

Percy

Month 11, Day 28, Saturday 5:00 a.m.

Percy was able to find a wheelbarrow with a shaky wooden wheel that seemed intent on popping off if he pushed the contraption in the wrong direction or at the wrong angle. By the time he’d tinkered with it and heaved Viv into the tub, the coppers had arrived and joined the fighting.

Percy was not interested whatsoever in getting involved any further, and so he pried away the boards nailed to the warehouse’s back door and rolled Viv out. He kept his head down as they struggled away, thankful that those in the area seemed more interested in what was probably a gang fight than Percy and Viv, despite their bedraggled state.

He threw his whole body into controlling the wheelbarrow so that it did not tip over or lose its wheel with every bump in the cobblestones. The sun had yet to rise and so the streetlamps—rare as a working light crystal was in this part of town—were still on. He noted the complete lack of moths attracted to their light. Perhaps bugs went to sleep sometime during the night, too.

Viv began to shift and grumble incoherently at the uncomfortable bumping.

Percy lost an underlying tension that he hadn’t even realized was gripping him.

In another couple of blocks, the bumping woke her. She struggled to sit up within the wheelbarrow tub, looking around in confusion. “Percy?”

He gave her a tired smile. “I’m glad you’re awake. What is your address, Viv?”

She rattled it off quickly, and he actually stopped and sagged over the wheelbarrow’s handles with relief.

“What happened?” she asked.

“You don’t remember?”

“The last thing I remember is… I was toasting those nobles with liquor worth its weight in gold.” A hint of a grin flitted across her face but couldn’t overcome her concern. She looked around, and then down at herself, her fingers gingerly probing the bump on her forehead and the filth covering her uniform.

Percy resumed pushing her while reciting the events of that night. Several times, Viv blushed brightly, and once even buried her head in her hands as he recounted her embarrassing actions.

When he felt that they were a safe distance from the fighting, he hailed another hackney carriage. Viv’s legs were still shaky, so Percy helped her climb in, abandoning the wheelbarrow on the sidewalk.

“Where to?” the driver asked, eyeing them with jaded fatigue.

Percy looked to Viv.

She hesitated. “I think I should see you home first.” When Percy shook his head, she added, “I’m a lady. It’s only proper. And it wouldn’t be right to send you home to explain all of this on your own.”

Percy hesitated. “Well…do you think we could adjust the story a little, then? For my parents’ sake.”

Viv sagged, sucking in a deep breath. “Oh, thank the Maiden. Yes, please. I don’t want them to think I’m a horrible influence on their son.”

The driver cleared his throat loudly.

Percy gave him his address.

He had no idea where they currently were. While he would have been able to navigate to his home eventually through basic understanding of the four cardinal directions, he was glad that all he had to do was tell the driver his address and sit back. The saved effort and time were well worth a handful of silver.

Along the way, Percy and Viv came up with a slightly modified explanation of the night’s events that was less embarrassing for Viv and less worrying for his parents. They also agreed that neither would be volunteering any information to the coppers, both because they didn’t know anything truly relevant and because it was not safe to get involved in anything related to the gangs. Not if you didn’t have to.

“Thank you for…taking care of me,” Viv said reluctantly. “I realize it would have been much easier for you to leave me, multiple times. It sounds like I was more hassle than I’m worth.”

Percy shook his head rapidly. “That’s not true! And, besides, it’s not like I was being truly unselfish. If I were, I would have let you win in rock-paper-scissors.”

She snorted with amusement.

“And…not just that,” Percy admitted. He was loath to bring up the obvious, but his conscience wouldn’t allow him to remain silent. “I could have just given up the camera obscura to the Morrow lookout when he demanded it.”

Viv nodded slowly. “I heard the story about that camera obscura from some of the others. That’s the artifact you got for chasing down three gang thieves who had stolen enough product to put an old man’s shop out of business. I heard they almost killed you, but you wouldn’t give up until you got the stolen goods back.”

“That makes it sound way better than it actually was.”

“And I also heard that when the old man tried to gift you that artifact as thanks, you turned right around and ordered enough enchantments put on the thing to cover its cost.” She turned to him and raised a pointed eyebrow. “Enough to keep him from taking a loss on the gift. Sounds like that whole thing was more hassle than it was worth, too.”

Percy blinked down at the Vista. “I think you’ve only heard one part of the story. I wouldn’t have had to chase down the thief if I’d realized the man was breaking in earlier. I was afraid people would think I was an accomplice. And then, when I actually ended up catching them, I realized how stupid I was being. I didn’t fight them for justice or anything. I was fighting for my life, and I probably would have lost anyway if the men were at all competent. But it was like they just had…bad…luck.” Percy trailed off, frowning down at the Vista as the events of that day played through his mind again.

Viv raised a hand to her mouth, ducking her head so that her hair fell forward and hid her expression.

“And I need every one of those enchantments for safety’s sake. I am really clumsy and prone to accidents,” he added.

Viv cleared her throat and lifted her head again. “Interesting. It’s strange how I haven’t noticed that at all. In fact, I’m quite certain that I once saw you catch a delicate ceramic bowl with your foot. And when Mai tripped the other day, you were looking the other direction but still managed to catch her by the back of her vest before she hit the ground.”

“Well, that’s—”

“Just a coincidence, right?” Viv said, cutting him off. “But, what about that first day? Why did you stop Bobbart?”

“Who?”

“The man whose job you took. He was sneaking liquor, and then when I called him on it, he tried to escape from the Kaiseki Ryori with a whole platter of fancy beer? And I mentioned how my job was on the line.”

“Oh! Well, I just thought I might be blamed for it if he spilled the beer and broke all that expensive glass.”

She let out a choked, “Ah,” then looked away. She seemed to be coughing…or maybe crying.

Percy placed his fingertips lightly on her shoulder. “I’m sorry,” he offered. “I know it must have been really scary to wake up like that. I wish I had done a better job helping you when you needed it.”

Viv looked back at him, but though her eyes were a little shiny, there were none of the tears Percy had expected to see. In fact, her face was red, as if she had been holding her breath, and the corners of her lips kept twitching with suppressed emotion. “I’m not mad. I’m thankful. Even though I can see, now that you’ve explained it, how none of the things you’ve done have been out of altruism. I suppose it’s the result that counts, right?”

Unsure exactly what was going on in her mind, Percy shrugged cautiously.

“So even though you didn’t give up that extremely expensive artifact as soon as the man threatened me, which might have backfired if he decided that he wasn’t actuallyjust going to let us go free and unharmed after you did what he wanted…” Viv trailed off.

Percy’s eyes widened. He hadn’t even considered that possibility.

“Well, it turned out okay since you ended up fighting him off, all by yourself, in the dark, even though he had a battle artifact and was maybe trying to kill you with it. Even though you probably could have run away easily and escaped on your own.”

Viv’s expression was serious, but Percy kept catching twitches that suggested her feelings differed from what she was actually saying. He wanted to ask her but wasn’t sure how to word the question, and then the carriage slowed to a stop in front of his house and the moment was lost.


Author Note: I forgot to post this yesterday. Sorry for anyone who was looking forward to and waiting for it!