Chapitre 43: The Star-Spangled Boy with a Plan, Part 1

A memory flashed in my mind; me sitting on a park bench next to a beautiful redhead who was wiping a stain from my young cheeks while giggling at how dirty I'd gotten. It was a nice memory, one that carried a lot of lost feelings with it that I had no clue how to manage. Luckily for me, this vision of childhood happiness fritzed out in the seconds it took for time to rewind and life to sputter back into me. When my eyes flew open once more, I'd mostly forgotten what it was that caused a tear to roll down my cheek.

"I didn't slap you that hard," Liara said as she noticed that stray tear.

"You hit like a Valkyrie..." I sat up and rubbed my eyes.

"And you look—"

"Like I've got a troll's extra-thick skin," I recited as if I'd just read her mind.

Liara frowned. "How did you—"

"Everyone has secrets," I answered coolly. "Maybe one day I'll tell you mine..."

I rose to my feet on wobbly knees with my head still aching from that phantom pain of having my skull split open.