"Thank you for that." I smiled more when Jaskier looked uncomfortable. My smile turned to a glare when York yawned.
"I'm ready to get this action started." He groaned, flopping backwards so he can lay flat on the table. "Then I can start training you up and take you out on mission with me while I show you the ropes."
"How long do you think it'll be before I can go out on my own?" I asked York.
He put a finger on his chin. "I guess it depends. It took me a few months before I felt comfortable enough to reap on my own. Jaskier took a couple years, right?" Jaskier nodded and looked a little ashamed. We all learn at different paces. No sense in being embarrassed of yours. "But I know Banks only went on one mission with his guide, and then he said he was ready to do it alone. And he's done quite well. So yeah, one hundred percent depends on when you're ready."
"I see." I turned away and looked around the room a little more. My gaze settled on one of the hallways I'd been eyeing earlier.
"What's that way?"
"That's where Aster makes and keeps body parts for us." I grimaced a little. Tell me there isn't a shelf with eyes and tongues on it in there, please. "Him and Finnegan are the only ones allowed in there." York definitely sounded a little bitter at not being allowed in the body part room.
"Does he keep backups or something?" Both men nodded.
"You'd be surprised how many of us lost a finger or foot while on the job. There are lots of encounters to be had, and while you can't actually die, your body can still be damaged." I tsked a little.
"That seems like a flaw." Jaskier smiled at my snide remark.
"I think the pain we can still feel is a good reminder for us to stay humble." He shot York a look when he said this. "And besides, if you ever get hurt, no matter how small or big, you come back here, and Aster will take care of you. Not to mention, since he is the one who has taken on the burden of staying in this place for so many years, we've all agreed we owe it to him to visit and bring him things when we can." He looked me in the eye at this, making his point clear.
I was now part of this deal. I was expected to visit. I liked Aster okay so far, even though he was creepy as hell looking. He was nice and didn't seem batshit crazy like York. I honestly wished he was my mentor.
I nodded a little and broke away from Jaskier to sit in a chair beside where my actual mentor was still laying on the table. "What's the worst you've ever been hurt?" I asked York, jabbing him in the ribs with a knuckle so he would know I was talking to him. He grunted and smacked at my already absent hand.
"Uh." He seemed to roll his thoughts around in his head for a moment. "Oh! I almost lost up to my knee a few years ago. I cut my portal too soon because I was trying to get away from a herd of zebras. It was literally hanging on by a few tendons."
"Why were you trying to get away from a herd of zebras?" I asked incredulously.
"We reap souls all over the world, my friend." He grinned up at me.
"What about you?" I looked back to Jaskier. He shook his head a little at me before talking.
"I've never gotten hurt too bad. But we have very different styles of reaping." He raised a brow and jabbed a finger towards York, who makes a whiney noise in protest.
"The way you all are talking about me is going to make my new friend think I'm a sadistic asshole." I shrugged a little.
"I didn't need their help in forming that opinion about you." Jaskier cracked up laughing, and York held a middle finger up to me from his still lying position.
Suddenly, the hairs on my arms stand straight up, and my senses woke up. Every one of my nerves is awake and buzzing. The air feels electric, and there's a crackling noise coming from behind where Jaskier is standing.
"Oh." He said, turning around where the noise is coming from. I refrained from jumping back when an ax is suddenly slicing through the air, and a man is stepping through what I can only describe as a slice of darkness.
"Banks!" I glanced down at York, who leaped up from his spot and ran over to the giant man who had just emerged from nothing.
The newcomer was at least six five, with a giant black beard and matching long, untamed hair. He had a very muscular build, like he'd been doing manual labor his entire life. His forearms were thick and exposed with the rolled up flannel he was wearing. The flannel was red and blue colored, unbuttoned and with a tank top underneath. He wore jeans with faded knees, and giant brown boots with square toes.
"Finally!" The new man ignored York, whose response was to jump on his back like a monkey, and headed straight for me. I tilted my head to the side a little at his exclamation. "I was starting to get worried we'd never fill the final spot." He grinned widely at me, and I met his eyes, which almost looked normal, except I can see lines and flecks of gold in the brown irises, and I really think they might have been moving. The circle of gold around his iris seems to be slowly rotating, and the flecks seem to dance around. I blinked, realizing I had been staring into his eyes like a creep.
"Yeah. Here I am." I shrugged a little, trying to produce a smile. I wasn't used to caring if people liked me or not, but for some reason, I really wanted all these guys to be my friends.
I don't know why, but something in me was telling me this was the chance for a family I had never had as a human.