Chapter Text
Sunday Oakwood doesn’t know how to love.
Well, that was a huge oversimplification. Coming from the Oakwood family, Sunday had always aspired to be the family head some day when he grew up. But when his grandfather died, the family was in shambles under the management of his aunts and uncles, so now, he’s basically a normal person with a little more money.
Even so, he worked very hard to maintain its reputation. He thought his duties in the student council could at least make him achieve something, but instead it was just another lesson that he could never be enough. Cerydra taught him he wasn’t competent enough. Dan Heng taught him that he wasn’t charismatic enough. Mydei taught him that he wasn’t determined enough. And Aglaea…. Aglaea taught him that even the family name he once was proud of, would never, never be enough.
People look up him, despite him knowing that he failed all of them. People want to be more like him, despite that he knows that he was just another imposter in better packaging.
He graduated last year with no truly close acquaintances. Even Cerydra, the standoffish empress had found her soulmate. Truly, what was he even working for? Even Robin managed to be happy. He could never be jealous of his own dear sister, but it… still stung a little when he saw that how carefree she looked all the time in that café. Fifteen years ago, probably no one in the Oakwood family would have thought of the elegant little Robin Oakwood being a café owner, and here she is. And who knows, this was probably the best for her, and it’s all he could ever ask.
He thought that he would never set foot on this campus again- except for Welt’s job offer a few weeks ago. Due to his excellent grades and contribution as a student, he was scouted back to be an Assistant Professor. He didn’t need the money, but he needed a distraction.
The interview with Welt and the other members on the board went as smoothly as it could, and it was a little late when he left. He decided to indulge in a drink and headed off the the University bar, and as expected, he could already hear the noise from outside.
But that still could not have prepared him for the spectacle he saw when he opened the door.
Robin was chatting to Gallagher about something behind the counter. Meanwhile, a very drunk Cipher and Caelus were singing karaoke, Dan Heng yanked off his shirt and threw darts, while Gepard attempt, futilely, to hold him back. Castorice, Aglaea and Hyacine were playing poker, a young boy with white hair he didn’t knew was giggling and sitting on Mydeimos’s lap, who was… smiling.
He never thought that Mydeimos, the stoic junior could look at someone like that. With those eyes.
“Hey!” The bartender whistled, startling Sunday who was staring at the couple. “Well, well, look who’s here!”
Everyone in the bar turned to look at Sunday. “Who is this guy?” Phainon asked in a way a toddler would ask why the sky was blue.
“Sunday?” Castorice gasped. “I- I wouldn’t have expected to see you here.”
Phainon turned to Castorice, and he scratched his head for a moment, before turning back to Sunday again. “AH! So you’re Sunday!” He held out a hand. “I’m Phainon, nice to meet you!”
Phainon… ah, yes. Mydei’s boyfriend. Castorice did mention him.
He tried to look back at the counter. Robin was discussing the matters of Christmas decorations with Gallagher.
“So, Um… I wanted to put up some cute decorations for the café but I’m worried it would, you know, clash with the bar…”
“Hahaha, we’ll survive, It’s just pink bunny lights or something.” Gallagher dried his hands on the towel. “So, whatchy’a planning?”
“Uhhh…” Robin held up her phone and Gallagher’s eyes shot wide open. “Uh…” He lets out an embarrassed chuckle. “Well, there’s always the curtains, I guess.”
“Oh, hello, Brother!” Robin chirped. That voice… it was the calm in Sunday’s ocean. A haven from his storms. It’s ironic and pathetic that despite him trying to ‘protect’ her, sometimes it felt like the exact opposite. What kind of brother is he if his sole source of emotional support is his own sister?
“Good evening to you, dear sister,” he nodded. He can’t afford to be too casual with her when so many of them are watching.
“Welcome, Sunday.” Agalea didn’t even get up from her chair. “I am quite pleased to see you.”
He didn’t know why he was saying this. “I’ll be working as an assistant for Professor Welt starting from tomorrow.”
“That is excellent news. Welcome back to the family.” Aglaea maintained her usual lukewarm but genuine smile. It’s not particularly passionate, but it’s Aglaea. Even the woman’s authentic self is more graceful than his pathetic facade.
“Hey, should we invite Sunday too?” Cipher giggled. “Seems a bit inhumane if we just left out our ex-president.”
“Yeeeeahh.” Dan Heng hiccuped and collapsed on the sofa, still shirtless. Sunday tried to not stare at him. “You’re a nice guy, Sunday, but all you do is sit in offices and do booooring shit and paperwork. Don’t you need to let off some steam?”
“Captain, I think you may be drunk.” Gepard sighed. “Should I-”
“Mmmfuck, no shit.” Dan Heng waved his hand. “Jing Yuan’s picking me up in 10 minutes.”
Sunday looked around. The group was the same as how he had remembered. The responsible, diplomatic Aglaea. The chaotic, eccentric Cipher, the stoic, blunt Mydei (however not so stoic and blunt now) and… Dan Heng who is either being a gentleman or a drunkard. The only thing missing was Cerydra who would play chess with her girlfriend, Hysilens, or the two of them would just stand next to each other while Hysilens hums songs from her homeland. Those two were replaced by the ‘new’ freshmen whom he never got to know.
“Now, going back to the trip.” Aglaea folded her arms. “We are organizing a trip to Aursolis Island during the holidays, and Cerydra and Hysilens have already confirmed that they will join. I think this would be a great opportunity for him to catch up.”
Sunday thought for a moment. He didn’t think he really had a choice. He’s going to work with Aglaea again now, isn’t he? It would… look terrible if he just flat out refused the first offer upon returning. What would Aglaea think of him? What would everyone think of him? Besides, Robin has plans with her girlfriend already. What else could he do? Spent Christmas alone? Even by his standards, that seems… very lonely.
“Sure, I would be accompanying you.” He nodded. “What would I need to prepare?”
“Just some comfortable clothes and amenities, actually. I suppose you can get most of the things you need from the stores.”
“Understood. I apologize for the abrupt delay, Aglaea, but I think it’s time for me to leave-”
“Hey, come on, come on.” Gallagher laughed. “At least stay for a welcome drink.”
“I’m not sure if I should have alcohol at this hour-”
“Oh dont’ you worry. It’s non-alcoholic. Just a soda mojito I’m working on, haha.”
Sunday remained silent as the drink was slipped in front of him. Gallagher. The bane of his existence. The moment he stepped into the bar, there was something in the man… that captivated him. That made him feel more alive than he ever did.
But that surely isn’t love. He would never fall in love with an older, rugged man like him, besides, not to mention the fact that the social rank-
Shut the fuck up, Sunday. He told himself miserably. You really think anyone except you gives a shit about the Oakwood name now? You know it got fucked up and it was too late to turn things around. Perhaps this old man is richer than you, you miserable little piece of shit leeching on your dead family name. Robin would never be like you.
… Damn, perhaps he should just ask Gallagher to give him something alcoholic. At least, he'll forgive how much of a miserable person he was, even if it was for two hours followed by a head-splitting migraine.
He looked up at the older man’s amber eyes. Gallagher’s smile. For one moment, he wanted to stay longer just so he could look at him just for one more second.
He thanked Gallagher and emptied the class. It tasted like strawberry jam, lemongrass with a bit of bitterness from grapefruit.
“...thank you.” he muttered. He could sense that Gallgher was staring at him, and- no, he can’t stay any further. If he let those eyes tempt him, it would’ve been all for nothing. He grabbed his jacket and left the bar without another word.
“Hmmm.” Gallagher raised one eyebrow. “So this is your answer, president?”
Robin seemed to notice the change in his expression. “What do you mean by that, Gallagher?”
“It’s nothing, really.” The older man shrugged.
“It’s NOT nothing.” The girl let out an exasperated sigh. “Gallagher, I may’ve just known you for four years, but sometimes you’re easier to read than you imagine.
“And I’M not an idiot either.” Gallagher whistled. “Don’t think I didn’t notice that your brother has a huge crush on me.”
“Yeah, I know. He’s not really good at handling this kind of stuff. He really thought… avoiding eye contact with us was a good idea. Oh, poor brother.”
The both of them chuckled briefly on Sunday’s unintentional transparency.
“And…” Robin took a deep breath. “How… do you… feel about that?”
“Honestly, I almost like it.” Gallagher smiled. “Most of to time people date me because they want to fuck, or worse, they want a SUGAR DADDY.” he growled under his breath. “Fuck you mean sugar daddy? I’m 35! But Sunday doesn’t want that. Despite how… confused he is, he seems to want to person that is him. Quite out of character for him, falling for an old man a whole decade for him… but that’s what made me sure he was serious about it, you know.”
Robin couldn’t help but chuckle. “Wow. That’s all… wow. I don’t know what to say, but… I take that you two are mutually attracted to each other?”
“Oh, I never said that.” Gallagher whistled. “Though I must say he does look really cute, even when he’s brooding… I mean, of course, I wish that he’d do it less, but he does look really cute. I’d be lying if I said that I don’t have a crush on him at all.”
“Ah. ahhhhhhhhhhhhh.” Robin blushed and looked away. Gallagher dating his brother seemed like a fucking horrible idea, but somehow, she could see it working. Perhaps Gallagher could be the father figure missing from Sunday’s childhood-
No, no, no. She should stop thinking about it. Ew. “Well… then I’ll wish the best for both of you. I- I just want him to be happier. After- everything.”
As the group watched Sunday vanish into the night, it became evident that a few of the freshmen were…curious.
“Who’s that?” Hyacine whispered.
“Sunday.” Castorice deadpanned. “Bit of a loner, and looks like the rumors were true… he’s… not being doing so well.”
“What does that- ah.” Hycaine lowered her head a little. She didn’t know the details, but from how Castorice worded it… “I… hope he’s doing fine.”
“He’ll be fine.” Aglaea swirled her wine. “He put up with Cerydra’s antics for two full years without a single meltdown; he’ll be fine. Besides, that’s what the trip’s for.”
“So…” Phainon scratches his head. “Does anyone know why Sunday’s so… sad?”
Aglaea facepalmed. “Sunday Oakwood. You idiot. The freshman called you out in 2 minutes.” she whispered under her breath and then turned to Phainon, speaking in her usual tone.” Phainon, it’s a… very long story, that’s all I can, and should say.”
“Hmmm… oh, then what about Cyrene?” Phainon’s smile beamed. “I can’t believe you’d arrange for her to come with us, too! I phoned her last night and she’s really looking forward to see you guys!”
“Everything is arrangeable if you’re the one paying.” Aglaea gave a slight nod.
“You ready for the best tropical island trip you’ve ever had?” Mydei grabbed Phainon’s hand.
“I can’t wait-” Phainon giggled as Mydei pulled him in for a kiss.
“Which reminds me, we’ll be spending twelve days on an island with… them?” Castorice cringed.
“Wait till you see the… thing that is Dan Heng and Jing Yuan.” Aglaea sighed with a displeased expression.
The night before the trip, Sunday spent 4 hours packing for every single conceivable situation he could encounter on the island. Naturally, his luggage was overweight. He’ll just pay the fee. He booked a taxi at exactly 10:30 a.m. and arrived at the Okhema International Airport at 11:12 a.m, 7 minutes later than he would have liked, but he could put up with it.
The first challenge was checking in all by himself. For the past twenty-four years of his life, whenever he took the plane- usually for a trip for his competitions, or school trips- his butlers would do everything for him. While watching and learning did help him a little, hauling his heavy luggage around the airport proved to be a physically demanding task. The next was going through security and locating the gate. Normally, this shouldn’t be a problem, but without his guards to divert the crowd, Sunday was forced to navigate the crowds by himself and winced when someone’s backpack smacked him in the face.
He was exhausted by the time he arrived at the gate. His shirt was wrinkled and he was sure his hair looked disheveled. Great. So much for presentation. Making sure nobody else had arrived, he entered the washroom to freshen up and bought coffee. However, when he returned, he would never have anticipated what was coming.
A girl with beautiful pink hair at nearly waist-length, wearing a pristine white dress, was reading a story to a crowd of children- no, not just children. Some adults were also present. And among the crowd, he could see Mydei leaning against the wall, listening with a tranquil smile on his face. He could see Aglaea occasionally looking up to the girl with a knowing smile. He could see Cipher leaning against her chair and listening with a smirk.
He walked closer to take a better look, and he could slowly hear what the girl was saying.
“And so, the gray kitten took out her secret weapon- the magic potion from the wise green peacock and wise brown deer turned the big bad dragon into a tiny rainbow ant! The ant then fled from the forest and was never seen by the animals ever again. The friends living in the forest then held a celebration- everyone was there, wishing for the happiness of the yellow lion and the snowy puppy. From that day forward, the west winds of the forest would bless the puppy, his lion, and all their friends to be happy, forever and ever. But before that, the golden nightingale is holding a party where everyone could have as much ice cream as they wanted! The end.”
She closed the storybook. Adorned on the cover were stickers of cartoonish drawing of animals in vibrant colours. The kids began to ask for me, but Cyrene politely reminded them it was almost time to board the flight, but told the kids to look for her book in the stores. This seemed to satisfy them, as the crowd eventually left.
As Cyrene put her book back into her backpack, her brother sat beside her. “That was amazing, Cyrene!” Phainon’s eyes lit up. “You turned our story into a fairy tale?”
Mydei also came over, his figure towering over Cyrene and Phainon’s. “I’m usually not a fan of children’s literature, but… your stories have depth, Miss Cyrene.”
Cyrene laughed, covering her mouth. “Don’t call me that. I’m younger than you! Besides, you’re my brother-in-law now, soo…”
“Uh, yeah.” Phainon blushed as Mydei pecked his cheeks.
“You look even larger in person!” Cyrene exclaimed. “Phainon always told me he wanted a big and strong boyfriend, and… I’m very glad that his wish came true.”
“About that.” Castorice brushed her hair. “Big and Strong may be an understatement. Your brother-in-law is a skyscraper as a college guy and we are eternally doomed to crank our necks looking at him.”
“Oh, you’re always so funny, Castorice!” Cyrene stood up. True to Castorice’s word, her head did not even reach Mydei’s shoulders, and the man looked three times as thick as him.
Caelus suddenly came running to them, with Moze trying to slow him down. He shouted something beyond the line of, “Come on, the gate’s open!” and everyone packed their bags to follow him.
Sunday watched the six of them walk to the gate when a familiar voice called out to him.
“Hmmm. It’s just been a year, and Mydeimos has somehow gotten larger- Curious how that's even possible.”
Sunday turned back to see Cerydra leisurely strolling across him, accompanied by the ever-present Hysilens. Finally, people whom he actually knew, he was dying under the pressure- “Good morning, President Cery-”
“It’s just Cerydra now.” She waved her hand. “Let it go. I have resigned from the position for two years already. Sunday, you have to learn to let things go. We were the presidents, we did our job, we passed it down to Aglaea who is a capable and worthy successor. That’s it.”
Hysilens gave a light nod. “As anticipated, your reunion with Sunday was not heartwarming in the slightest.”
“Hmph.” Cerydra looked away. “As if you have the right to educate me on the matter, Hysilens. We’ll catch up on the plane- I’m also fairly curious about the new freshmen. See you later, Sunday.”
Sunday watched the two of them walk towards the boarding gate as another voice called out to him. “Oh Sunny~~~!” It could only be one person. He turns to look at Cipher, grinning at him. “Hey, why the long face, ex-Prez? You look totally out of it.”
Aglaea gave a warm smile. “Good morning, Sunday. Please forgive Cipher. She’s just checking on your health, although her methods may be… somewhat confusing, I’d admit.”
Jing Yuan walked up to them, a low, authoritative chuckle resonating from his throat. “Ah, this is already reminding me of the pleasant days of my time as a student.” The man had a formidable, mature, composed presence despite the fact that he was just 23.
“Was it the insomnia? You should try that herbal tea Jing Yuan recommended to you.” Dan Heng was holding Jing Yuan’s hand, and from the way he looked at his boyfriend, this soccer captain looked like he was three seconds away from committing public indecency.
“I am simply a bit tired. I woke up rather early this morning; I’ll grab some rest on the plane.” Sunday put a hand on his chest. Bullshit. Everything’s already going wrong. He could only hope nothing else happened for the rest of the day.
Sunday watched the four of them leave- that should be the last of them. He then joined the queue without another word.
Aglaea had brought the first class seats for all of them, as ironically, due to her connections, this would be less expensive than economy class. (“And I wouldn’t want you to cause a PR incident. If you HAVE to, close the curtains.” She glances at Dan Heng, who is already sitting on Jing Yuan’s lap.
Sunday threw himself on the seat, reclined himself, shut his eyes tight and took a deep breath. Maybe if he fell asleep fast enough, nobody would have to talk to him. That would be for the best. He was almost asleep when he was jolted awake by the heavy footsteps of someone walking down the hallway.
“God fucking damn it,” a large man wearing a suit complained to himself. “Of course the traffic only sucks when I need it. Typical.” He hauled his luggage into the space and sat down next to Sunday-
Wait a minute.
Sunday turns his head in horror and sees Gallagher sitting RIGHT THERE. Yes, the hair is combed and less unkempt. The suit is TIDY (WHAT THE HELL???!!!) and for once, the man is cleanly shaved.
Don’t look at me. Don’t look at me. Don’t look at me. Please don’t look at me. DON’T LOOK AT ME.
Gallagher turned his head and locked eyes with a panicking Sunday. “Oh, hey. Hi.”
FUCK.
Caelus got up to ask the attendant for more orange juice and gasped when he saw the bartender! “Gallagher, Hi!” The volume was normal, but Sunday felt like Caelus was shouting that through a microphone. “Wow! You’re sitting next to Sunday!”
There goes my chance of staying off the radar. Sunday thought. He wanted to slap Caelus. Or maybe throw himself off the plane. He didn’t know.
“Passengers. This is your captain speaking. We are about to take off. All passengers and personnel, please fasten your seatbelts.”
There goes his escape route. But it’s fine. He can deal with this. It’s just Gallagher, he can STILL sleep through the entire flight without anyone noticing.
“Oh wow, we’re on a trip with the cool bartender!” Dan Heng shouted from the aisle on Sunday’s left. He crossed his arms and a smirk was slowly and surely manifesting on his face. “Hey President! Wanna catch up on how Cipher blew up a car with rainbow foam? We can talk all about it if you want! Gallagher also knows what happened; he can give you all the details-”
And before Sunday could process, Phainon chimed in. “Uh, Sunday, we haven’t met before, but Aglaea talks about you a lot, and I want to get to know you better, too! Mydei also mentions you once in a while- are you guys friends?”
“ ‘Friends’?” Mydei laughed. “I don’t really know about that. Didn’t know much about the guy, honestly. Barely even talked to him- he's a busy man."
“And this is why it was such a good idea to book the entire first class area.” Aglaea passed a bunch of sleeping bags to Cipher. “Now the boys can chatter as much as they want.”
“Aww, how thoughtful of our rich queen Aglaea Goldweaver!”
“Your theatrics won’t work on me, Cifera.”
Sunday has just acquired multiple reasons to lock himself up for the entire trip. Quick- what tropical diseases can he think of?
No. No no no, YOU CAN DO THIS, SUNDAY OAKWOOD. PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER. “I appreciate your company, but the plane is taking off. Perhaps it would be preferable if we continued the conversation once the plane has settled.”
“Sure,” Mydei shrugged. “No problem.”
Sunday made a mental note to thank Mydei later. He can always rely on the jock to be reliable.
The announcement plays, and the plane is set in motion for what feels like the hundredth time for Sunday. He had departed from this airport so many times. This time shouldn’t feel different.
But something was off. Fuck that. EVERYTHING was off. His tinnitus rung like an alarm clock in his brain, mixed with the chattering of his… acquaintances, and Gallagher’s silent yet deafening presence existing one feet away from him. He closes his eyes and tries to doze off, but it felt more like ‘fainting’ rather than a comforting nap.
Before he could even get any proper shut-eye, he was rudely awakened by Aglaea talking about the island.
“Arsolis is the largest island on the Golden Apple Archipelago, and is one of the most renowned global tourist destinations.” She clicked on her tablet. “It also belongs to the Teyvat Continent, but it’s also popular among Amphoryan tourists, too.”
“Like us?”
“Yes, Phainon.” Castorice chimed in. “Of course, it’s far away so the flight takes seven hours-”
Aglaea’s tone suddenly dropped as her face morphed into a displeased expression. “Eight now since I was just informed of a storm in the flight path. Luckily I booked the morning flight- we would still have plenty of time to prepare before dinner.”
Sunday didn’t mind delays- until he remembered this means he would be stuck with the hottest DILF in campus for sixty for minutes. It seems like even the weather gods have a problem with him.
“Who gives a fuck if it’s eight hours?” Cipher shrugged. “We’re in a first-class seat! We can play whatever we want and volia! That time is gone.”
Cipher smirked as she pulled out a bag. “Well, we can play Pictionary for our warm up-”
“Just to be clear,” Mydei growled, “Cyrene here is fucking SIXTEEN years old so if you give us any fucked up topics, like ‘evisceration’ or ‘circumcision’ like you love doing all the time, I’ll fucking break your neck.”
“Chillax, Mydei. Of course, I’m not going to do that to your sister-in-law, but it’s not like teenagers don’t make dick jokes anyway- but a request is a request, and I can make this ‘interesting’ in a million other ways.” She wrote something on the card and handed it to Mydei.
Mydei raised his eyebrows. “Well that’s easy.” He doodled something down in less than a minute. He raised his head and gasped in horror as he realised Caelus and Phainon were next after him. Fantastic. This is fucking fantastic.
(5 minutes later...)
“Hmmm.” Aglaea held her hand to her chin. “I think… this is a porcupine.”
Castorice groaned in despair as Cipher burst out laughing. Mydei got up from his seat and screamed at his stupid boyfriend and his stupid boyfriend’s stupid himbo best friend. “IT. WAS. FUCKING. TOILET. PAPER. How the FUCK do you mess up toilet paper??!!!!”
Caelus scratched his head. “It wasn’t measuring tape?”
Phainon shrugged. “Well, it seemed like a fence…”
Dan Heng sniggered and patted Phainon’s shoulder, “Oh, so you were drawing a fence? It looked like someone dropped a barrage of chopsticks on the ground, so I assumed you were drawing a sea urchin.”
“Phainon’s…” Cyrene giggled. “Not so good at drawing. Maybe we should play something else? Something Sunday could join!”
“We could do a Truth & Dare again-”
“Cipher,” Aglaea grabbed her girlfriend’s hand. “We are still on a plane. Remember that before you attempt the soda fountain incident.”
Phainon tilted his head. “What is the soda fountain incident?”
“Look- I can tell you. But not now. Not with witnesses.”
“Hmph.” Cerydra passed by. “I see you have gathered your own group, Aglaea? Excellent. Keep up the good work.”
“Well, thank you, Cerydra.”
What… did… Cerydra… just… say… ????????
The Cerydra in Sunday’s memory would have never said something like that. She probably would have scolded Aglaea for failing to… curate her social circle, so now why is she- no- that's impossible, why is EVERYTHING impossible today??!!
“Speaking of which,” Caelus stood up, “Where is that… Sunday guy? He’s not playing with us.”
Sunday’s ears rung a little at the mere mention of his name. So much for staying under the radar. He will have to refuse them as politely as possible… only to find out that he can’t. If he went for a diplomatic approach, Cipher would see through his bullshit. If he pretended to be friendly, Mydei and Dan Heng would be raising eyebrows. If he were direct, Aglaea definitely wouldn’t be happy.
So he would have no idea but to-
“Sorry, guys. He’s watching a movie right now.” Gallagher smirked as he opened his soda.
“Oh, that’s fine! Later then, Sunday!”
Sunday froze in his seat. He had no idea what just happened- when the realization hit him, he scowled at Gallagher. “What was that supposed to be?”
The bartender glanced at him and stretched on his seat. “Look, I’m sorry for stepping out of line. But I just have a thing for stopping people from sabotaging themselves?”
“Sabotaging?” Sunday gritted his teeth. “You do realise that you are making a complete baseless accusation, right?”
Gallagher turned his head away. “You can fool the dumb soccer boys. But if you can’t fool even me, you can’t fool Cipher, let alone Aglaea.” Gallagher instinctively reached for his lighter and suddenly remembered it wasn’t on him. He shuffled his hands back on the armrests. “Look, I get what you’re doing, but Aglaea doesn’t hold a grudge towards you. You’re not her ‘rival’, you’re not her ‘business partner’- you’re just a senior she knows. What makes you think she’s going to keep tabs on you?”
“I failed her.” Sunday choked out. “I left the student council to her, and-”
“That was ages ago, Sunday! Caenis was a bitch who fooled everyone! Besides, Cipher already taught her a lesson. Fuck- something’s wrong with you, birdie. You’re living in the past despite being 24.”
The nickname threw the usually stoic man off his guard. “Birdie?”
“You know, uh.” Gallagher shrugged. “You feel like a pigeon- no, that’s not right- ah, a dove. Yeah, you feel like a dove. No idea why, though.”
Sunday repeated the nickname in his head. ‘Robin’ is also a kind of bird. A pure coincidence, perhaps.
“What do you want?” He clenches his fists.
“I help out the kids on my turf. You’re just another one of them.” Gallagher leaned back on his chair. “I’m not trying to fix you. I’m trying to put a stop to the destruction so you can fix yourself. You’ll figure it out. Young people like you always do.”
Sunday covered his face. This was going to be a very, very long flight.