Page 82 of Suffer No Fools
"That's it," Hannah said. "This storm will coat Frost's ice shelf with a blanket of snow to last us until spring. Thank you for your help."
"I'm glad I could."
"I knew it." They grinned. "Klaus bet against you."
"He did?" Tovey didn't have any argument with Klaus. His ability to lay the undead to rest was unmatched. That was all he knew about Klaus, though. They'd never talked outside of meals and the occasional greeting as they passed in the hold.
"He thinks you're too angry to get in touch with your other emotions." Hannah patted his arm. "I used to think that, too, but you've changed these past few weeks. I'm glad."
"Changed? How?"
They studied him for a moment, as though weighing their words with how angry they might make him. He hated it when people did that. Yes, he was an air weaver, but he wasn't always angry.
Unless he was. No wonder everyone carved a wide berth around him. Still, he'd never hurt anyone, not intentionally.
They held up their index finger. "I've got it. You're angry all the time."
He scoffed. "Wow, thanks for pointing out the obvious."
They shook their head. "Your anger clouds your ability to empathize with others. You're more in touch with your joy when you're around Hugo, which is wonderful to see. Now, you're also delving into your own sorrow and pain."
"That's true enough."
"I'm going to tell you something your teachers should have shared when you were a kid." They leaned in and whispered, "You don't need anger to fuel your air weaves. You've been weaving air spells longer than I've been alive. You don't need to fly into a rage to push wind into the sails. Do you know which emotion fuels lightning?"
Tovey frowned as he thought about it. Water was complete calm, so lightning had to be the opposite of that. "Excitability?"
"Anxiety, apprehension, freaking the fuck out." Hannah shrugged. "Call it whatever you want, it doesn't control my lightning. It's how I first accessed it, sure, but now, I can call on it whenever I need it. Good thing, too. Trying to call lightning when you're anxious does far more harm than good."
"Trying to call air when you're in a rage will put holes in your sails," Tovey agreed. "I've never tried to remove the rage completely."
"Aye, but you have." They grinned. "There are times when you're bored as fuck with sailing."
They were right, and the added swearing made him laugh. "True, and the air still obeys me. You have a point, my friend."
They grabbed him around the waist and hugged him. "That's right. We're friends. Don't ever forget it." They pulled away with a deep blush tinging their cheeks.
"Hannah?"
"No. I'll make it weird."
"It's already weird." Tovey waggled his eyebrows, and they laughed.
"Remember when Efren gave me the choice, return to Glamiere to start a new life or join the crew?"
He nodded. They'd broken Hannah out of the stocks in the middle of Luminest, and they'd flooded the port with fog so thick, even Efren questioned how he could leave their dock without hitting another ship. Hannah had glided them to safety, but instead of jumping ship, they'd stayed.
"You remind me of my brother."
He laughed. "You remind me of my brother, too."
Hannah swatted him on the arm. "I'm being serious!"
"So am I! I haven't seen him since my family moved to Glamiere."
Hannah scrubbed the sides of their face. "Mine died of blazing fever a year before I joined the crew."
"I'm sorry." Tovey swallowed hard, trying to find the right words to console his friend, who now had tears streaming down their face.
