Sora was grinning, happy his joke had been taken so well. I laughed and stuck my seasalt ice cream in my mouth to stop the oncoming fit of giggles, but it didn't work. Sora laughed, because I must looked real comical was I was laughing around seasalt ice cream. But I didn't mind how I looked. We were laughing. And that was all that mattered.
"Really, I didn't think it was that funny." Sora managed to say between chuckles.
I leaned on him and nursed my aching sides. The look on his face as he told the joke was enough to make even Beast crack up.
When I managed to control myself, I turned to Sora. "Hey, thanks for everything. You know, the practice and all..."
"No problem."
We walked in silence. My smiling face became creased with worry as my mind wandered. It seemed alright to run off when I first did it, but now, on the return trip, I felt sick with worry. Surely Nexan wouldn't tolerate it. Surely I'd been punished. I flinched at the mere thought. "Replaceable" as I was, I didn't want to think about it.
Sora seemed to sense my fear and patted my shoulder. "Hey, don't worry Max. I'll back you up."
The doubt only worsened the tightness in my stomach. Nexan didn't listen to Sora. If anything, he'd anger her more. I didn't mention it to him, though.
The longer it took to get back to CO, I better I began to feel. But just when the feeling was almost gone, it came back ten times worse than before. A portal opened in front of us. And out stepped two robed figures.
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