Broken

.23.

Ani and I walked towards the Centre, the service stairs were almost darker in this part of the ship and I repressed a shiver. Ani had her arm looped through mine and we walked in a comfortable silence. After we had gone shopping and had put everything away, we had sat down and talked about meaningless things for hours. It had felt good to talk to someone even if it was about nothing important. The endless flow of conversation helped take my mind off the ache that was slowly building in my chest.

"You are probably going to have to take your translator out." Ani's voice cut through the silence and I glanced at her. Her face looked pale in the poor lighting and I gave a small nod before pulling the translator out of my ear and sliding it into my pocket. "The teacher here is kind of an asshole."

I bumped her slightly with my hip. "I think it is easier for you to tell me who isn't an asshole on this ship." I smirked as she laughed loudly.

"Well, at the top of the list is me." She batted her eyelashes and winked at me.

I rolled my eyes and tightened my arm on hers. "Of course you are." I truly liked Ani, she was easy to talk to and it helped that she seemed to make it her mission to keep me from dwelling on the separation I had with Rhex.

"Hey, so you were saying last night that you and Rhex were going to use this time apart to get to know each other. You do not speak or read Orrian so does that mean I get to be privy to all of your relationship talk?" She wiggled her eyebrows and I smiled in amusement. I looked at her, thinking about what she had said. I hadn't thought about that aspect of our separation.

"You know, that would probably be a big help, Ani." I looked at her and her face brightened considerably as we pushed open the door to the Centre's floor.

She gave a small fist pump. "Yes! I get to practice on you two and that means I will be an expert by the time I find my own mate." She looked so excited that I couldn't help but laugh. Ani was a bubbly person, being around her was like a mood booster.

"Well, as long as I can help you out. So do we share the same types of classes?" I tried to ignore the strange stares we were getting and Ani nodded.

"Councilwoman Nadila put you in all of my classes. We will not be separated." Her tone was reassuring and I gave a small nod, trying not to let the nervousness fill me as the Orrian chatter filled my ears. I missed the translator and I had to resist the urge to put it back in my ear. I didn't like how I couldn't understand what they were saying. Ani took a step closer to me and leaned her head towards mine. "They are not talking about you. Actively avoiding you is a good term." She gave a bright smile to the Orrians around us and they all turned their backs or looked away. "See?" There was laughter in her voice and I smirked.

"I must say I prefer avoidance to attempted murder." I kept my tone light and she threw her head back and once again laughed loudly.

Her hand pressed to her stomach as she leaned forward, taking deep breath in. "Don't we all?" She wiped at her eyes and I chuckled.

"I didn't think it was that funny." I almost stumbled as she pulled me towards a door without warning.

"It is not what you said. It was how you said it. You have some serious deadpan humour." She pushed open the door and drug me inside. "This is our classroom. We will be here for pretty much the entire day. Our instructor is Mr. Dahgme, he is a total hard ass and does not particularly like humans." She pushed me towards a table and I sat down with a raised eyebrow.

"I told you it would be easier to tell me the people who liked humans." I watched as she set down her bag and sat beside me.

"Well it is hard. I am still trying to figure out who is on the list." She looked almost peevish at the thought and I chuckled. It wasn't a long list, I knew that much. The door opened again and more people poured in. They actively took the seats far away from us except for one man. His face was cold and his grey eyes were far too familiar. There was a sneer of disgust on his mouth and Ani tapped my shoulder as he took the table to the left of me.

"Switch seats with me." Her words were a hushed whisper and I quickly switched seats with her. After we had settled she looked over at me, her eyes wide. "That is Kher." There was a large amount of fear in her voice and I felt my shoulder instinctively roll forward. I could feel his pointed glare on me and Ani shifted so she was blocking his gaze.

"He is acting weird and scary." Her words were mumbled and I silently agreed with her assessment. "I have never noticed it before. He was always intimidating but this is a whole new level of crazy coming from him." I couldn't help the small snort of laughter that escaped at her words. I covered my mouth and stifled the rest of the laughter that wanted to escape. I wasn't sure if I was laughing because I was scared or if it was just plain ridiculous.

The door opened again and an older man with dark eyes stepped in. He looked like he was permanently angry with how low his eyebrows were over his eyes. I watched as he scanned the class, his eyes immediately zeroing on me. His eyes were cold and he barked something out in Orrian.

"He wants to know your name." Ani's voice was low as she nudged my arm to get my attention.

I swallowed thickly. "Liviya Burch." I stated it loud enough that he could hear and he gave a look of distaste.

"Liviya Burch, agun slegrnd." The words were harsh and I felt Ani stiffen beside me. I knew the reason, she didn't have to tell me what he had said. It had been spit at me more than enough since I had been on the ship.

"I am not translating that." She sounded pained, her form tense.

I gave a small shrug. "I already know what he said. That's a favourite for Orrians." I tilted my head and stared at the teacher. I smiled suddenly remembering what Rhex had said to me in the tunnels my first day on the ship. "Mehba illeehd sirbaht onshe halh." Ani's head whipped toward me and her gaze was wide with shock.

"Where did you learn that?" Her voice was a hushed and straggled whisper as she grasped my wrist.

I frowned slightly. "From Rhex. I think it's what our medallions say. Love is never easy." I shrugged once more. It was one of the very few Orrians words that I knew.

She gave a small frown, shaking her head. "That is not really what it means. Well that is the easiest translation in English. The literal translation is 'The first of many loves will never be easy for the winds of change blow harshly.' It's part of our history, from when the Source started to experience the universe." She shook her head slightly. "Can I see your medallion?" I took it out of my shirt and she picked it up with a raised eyebrow.

"I never knew the Source had a sense of humour." She let the medallion drop back onto my chest and I tucked it back into my shirt. It felt strange as she studied my face, like I was something under a microscope that she was inspecting. A slow smile crossed her face as she started to shake her head. "The first of many loves. Let's hope one of those 'many loves' finds its way towards me before I break down and turn on the cleaner again." She wiggled her eyebrows playfully and I pressed my hand to my mouth, not wanting the chuckles to escape.

"You have a filthy mind." I smiled to take the bite out of the words and she let out a huff of pretend irritation.

"Oh I forgot, you have a mate. Leave me to my steamy affair with the shower and enjoy your mate." She rolled her eyes and pulled out two notebooks and handed me one with a pencil.

"Steamy affair?" I bit my lip to keep from laughing out loud and drawing unwanted attention to ourselves.

"Pun intended." She chuckled as she flipped open both the notebooks. "Mr. Hardass won't be speaking English at all in any of the subjects so I'll take the notes and translate them for you later. You doodle and distract me and cause trouble. Maybe if you do you can get us both kicked out and we can do something fun." She winked at me and I bit my lip harder to keep the laughter from bubbling out. Ani was one of a kind.