I was glad it was Castor that woke me up. A centaur watched us carefully, but it seemed like Ryan had kept her word.

"Are you ok?"

I nodded, trying to blink myself awake. "You?"

He nodded too. "Better. I saw Juniper."

I sat up more. Castor sat down next to me.

"How is she?"

"Fine."

"Is she mad at me? I didn't know..."

"I know you didn't. She's not mad."

"And you? I'm so sorry. I know that it doesn't change anything, but I'm so sorry."

He nodded. "I know. I'm not mad."

I smiled. "Thank you."

He nodded absent mindedly. "You and that girl. What was her name?"

"Ryan?"

"Yeah. What about us?"

"Are you..."

I picked at my thumb.  "Together?"

"What does that mean?"

"T-O-G-E-T-H-E-R."

"Oh. Are you together?"

"I don't know. I don't know what I want either."

He nodded. "Do you like her?"

"It's complicated." I saw it in his eyes he didn't understand. I finger spelled it for him.

He repeated the sign before he asked his next question. "How?"

"I like her. A lot. But I don't trust her."

He nodded. I needed to change the subject. I was slipping. I didn't know why I trusted Castor and I felt raw and unprotected now that I'd told him something so intimate.

"You and Juniper are together?"

He nodded. "I guess."

The conversation died out. Castor eyed the centaur. Then he was talking. The centaur's nostrils flared, but they kept talking. Eventually the centaur looked at me. He nodded.

Me and Castor watched him walk away. His hooves moved at a leisurely pace. 

"How'd you do that?"

"I need S-U-P-E-R-V-I-S-I-O-N from a M-A-G-I-C-A-L C-R-E-A-T-U-R-E. You're a M-A-G-I-C-A-L C-R-E-A-T-U-R-E."

I signed the words for him. "Why are you nice to me?"

He looked surprised. "We're friends, right?"

Now it was my turn for surprise. "We are?"

"I thought so."

"But why? I haven't been nice to you."

"Yeah, you have."

"When?"

"You talked to me on the S-H-I-P."

"Only because you were first."

"S-T-I-L-L."

I smiled and signed "still," my hands gliding forward.

Then his slight smile dropped. I followed his gaze. Ryan was walking toward us.

"Good morning!"

"Good morning, Ryan."

"Are you feeling better?"

I nodded.

"Do you want to talk about what you said last night?"

Castor stiffened next to me. He'd felt the condescension too.

"Not really."

"Oh. Do you want to me to leave you alone? I can go."

"No, it's fine. You're fine."

Ryan's eyebrows knit together, and she sat across from us.

"I wanted to apologize."

"Okay."

"I lied to you when I told you the plan. I'm sorry. What can I do to make it right?"

"Relationships are built on trust, Ryan. There's nothing you can do."

She frowned. "There has to be something. I really like you. You like me too.  There's no reason it shouldn't work."

"There is a reason. That reason is, you lied to my face."

"But—"

"But what? One kiss means we're meant to be?"

She looked disappointed. "I want this to work."

She looked adorable when she pouted, but I forced myself to focus on Castor next to me. She'd lied.

"I know you do."

She looked at me. "You're serious right now?"

I nodded.

"Wow. I'll get going then. Lunch is in a few hours if you can bear seeing me again."

"We'll be there."

It was like Ryan had seen Castor for the first time. She walked away.

"What just happened?"

"Me and Ryan just got a lot less complicated."

"So you broke up?"

"If we were even together in the first place."

He nodded. He didn't push the matter.

"What's it like in the North?"

"What?"

"What's it like?"

He smiled wistfully. "Cold in the W-I-N-T-E-R."

I signed it for him.

"There are also so many more people in one place. It's more of an H-I-G-H-E-R-A-R-C-H-Y."

I filled in the gap in his vocabulary. "And where do you fit into that?"

"I'm high up there."

"Really?"

He smiled. "I like to think so."

"Does it snow?"

After a brief round of fingerspelling, I got my answer. "All the time."

"Is it cold?"

"Yeah, but it's nice."

"Do you really have dragons up there?"

I had to fingerspell dragon before he got it. "Not anymore. We used to."

I tried to look disappointed, but it didn't work. The idea of dragons sent a thrill through me.

"What happened to them?"

He took a deep breath, his chest swelling. "H-U-M-A-N-S H-U-N-T-E-D them."

I signed the words, but I didn't have anything else to say. The thrill was gone.

"You're a good person, Castor."

He shook his head. "Good enough to make up for being human?"

"It's not your fault."

I fingerspelled "fault" without prompting.

"I feel like it is."

"Humans are just as good as they are bad."

He met my eyes. "You really think that?"

I nodded. "Ryan's wrong about a lot, you know."

"It's not just Ryan."

"No?"

"And I don't blame anyone for thinking it. Just, I wish I could prove them wrong."

"You will, Castor. We both will."

He leaned against the building, staring up at the sky.

"I H-O-P-E you're right."

I hoped I was too. I signed hope for him.

"You're going to be alright."

He swallowed but didn't answer.

When it was about time to eat, I stood.

"I think it's time for lunch."

"Do you want to eat with Juniper today?"

I saw it in his eyes what he needed the answer to be.

"Let's get our food first and then we'll go down."

He nodded and stood. I got my food, only making eye contact with Ryan once. Then we were walking toward Juniper.

Castor handed his plate to her. We both looked at him.

"I'm not hungry."

"You need to eat," Juniper chided.

They argued back and forth for a little while, but it wasn't anything like what I'd just had with Ryan. Both of them came from a place of love, neither of them aiming to hurt the other's feelings. I hadn't been aiming to hurt Ryan, but I got the feeling her last comment was meant to hurt me. Or at the very least make me feel guilty.

Juniper looked at me. "What are you smiling at?"

"You two."

I didn't elaborate, but Castor's cheeks turned bright red and I bit into my burrito with the utmost satisfaction.