Page 73 -- IX.

Chapter Nine: ‘Forbearant soul, gird thyself for war...’
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With all his new monetary concerns, Hector had nearly forgotten about the invitation to have lunch with Micah and his friends. On the one hand, he was glad that he didn’t end up a nervous wreck through his first few classes, and on the other hand, when he did remember, the sudden fear that came over him was akin to petrifaction.

Micah, Nathan, Janine, Sheryl, and Gregory were all their names; they were quick to introduce themselves. Hector had been less so, but struggled through it nonetheless. His face still throbbed something terrible, but after everything he had been through in the past few days, hiding the pain in front of everyone was easy enough.

“So what do you do for fun, Hector?” Micah seemed to be the resident icebreaker.

“Uh... f-fun...?” The question had him dead to rights.

“Yeah. You know. What do you like to do in your spare time?”

‘Garovel, save me...’ He could hear the reaper laughing.

‘You don’t want to tell them you beat up murderers and drug dealers?’

‘Garovel!’

‘Just pose the question back at them and listen to their answers. Then go from there.’

“Um... what do you guys do for fun?”

“Oh,” said Micah, looking at the others, “well, as a group, we like to go to movies and stuff together, but they’re expensive, so we can’t always go.”

“Yeah, but parks are free. Nathan, Sheryl, and Gregory all have dogs that they like to take.”

“You remember that time when Duro started humping that one lady having a picnic?”

“Duro--that’s Gregory’s dog--he’s massive. That lady was freaking out like you wouldn’t believe. I thought she--”

‘Holy shit, Garovel, you’re a genius...’

‘You’re welcome.’

Micah looked at him. “But you never answered the question, Hector.”

‘Fuck!’