She heard the whole thing out.
That was the part Raizen hadn't expected. She dropped the enormous bag onto the forecourt stone with a sound like a small tower of coins falling down, sat down on the bottom step with her paper cup, and said "go on then, from the start," and Esen — who had refused to look at any of them for ten minutes — told a total stranger everything.
Three weeks. The chosen machines, the allocated budget, the rules he'd written for himself and actually kept. Feris tried to cut in twice and Lay lifted two fingers off her cup both times, shutting Feris both times, which she had never done for anyone in her life.
"—and then I remembered I'm actually a minor," Esen finished. "That's it. That's the whole story."
Lay whistled low.
