Life on the road was perfect. Almost. 

Mav sat by an unwarming fire, grinning at the salmon sizzling over it. He tossed a strawberry into his mouth, savoring the sharp bitterness as he breathed in scents of cooking fish. He checked how the rest of his breakfast was coming along: the miso soup was ready, the tea had steeped, and the rice cooker would be done alongside the fish. 

It was like he was back in training. He and his cohort would wake hours before dawn and undergo their drills while Sergeant Allen continually demanded better from them. Despite the gravity of the situations they were preparing for, Thomas never failed to commentate over everything with his silly one-liners. Koda only ever slightly shook his head at them while Mav and Chalondra laughed, which of course often led to Sergeant Allen forcing the whole cohort to do more exercises. 

But that was the best part! Luna, while smaller than the rest, could outpace all of them in a run – much to Mav’s annoyance. She was never satisfied until she could lap them all, which thankfully never happened. Idris was the only guy bigger than Mav and the only one who kept beating him in weight-lifting and other physical competitions. It wasn’t like Idris was actually stronger than Mav. No. Not at all. Idris could only do more bicep curls because Mav let him; he could only squat more weight because he had a better range of motion with his taller body; he could only bench more because Koda must have broken character every time Mav was at the rack and used his Gift to press the weights downwards, making them feel heavier; and Idris only won their arm-wrestling competition because the sun got in Mav’s eyes! 

The extra exercises brought them all closer together. It also had the added benefit that their post-training meal was that much better. The seven of them were assigned a specific day they had to make breakfast. Mav always enjoyed when it was Mia’s turn. She was almost as big and muscular as Mav and had an even bigger appetite. Of the seven, she made the most. The food itself wasn’t as good as Thomas’ bread – which didn’t make any sense, as it was just bread, but Thomas had done something to it that made it so sweet and delicious – but Mav lived for the eating-competitions he, Mia, and Luna had. The weekends were always a bitter-sweet time, as that was when Koda and Luna had to cook. Whereas Koda made the most boring, bland porridge imaginable, Luna provided them with a perfectly brewed soup that tasted as if it was blessed by every Eternal Titan in the ether. 

So, being on the road in this traveling guild was great! It removed the worst parts of being among the Peace Keepers – like having to torch an entire innocent village – while allowing Mav to help people and keep his Peace-Keeper routine. He’d already helped two people: one in Linick who’d lost her dog, and another on the road who needed help hunting a deer. 

As for the routine, he kept up with his pre-dawn exercises and training, then dry-washed himself whenever there wasn’t a river nearby, and made a filling breakfast. 

Alone. 

The rice cooker clicked; his starch was ready. He made two plates and filled two bowls with soup, leaving one aside. Yeah, joining the guild had removed the worst parts of being a Peace Keeper. But it seems to have also destroyed the best. 

Maren’s tent rustled, then she finally emerged. Without her hair pulled into two tails, the orange frizzy mess fell into her face, which looked gaunt. 

“Morning,” Mav said. 

Maren nodded. “Smells good.” 

It appeared Mav’s food was the only thing that got her out of the tent in the morning. 

Maren took her plate, ignoring the bowl. “See you still don’t know how to wear clothes.” 

Mav was basically only wearing boxers, despite the cool morning. Toughing out the winter chill was a part of a Fire Dancer’s training. “Maybe you can teach me.” 

Maren, as usual, only wore a large tee shirt as her sleepwear. The first night of their journey together she’d made a comment about how she didn’t want him staring. She grew red in the face when he pointed out that she was actually showing less skin than her usual outfit. 

“Touche.” Maren began wolfing down her food, saying nothing else. Like the other three days they’d been together. 

Mav stared at his full plate, echoes of laughter in his ear. 

“What do you do every morning?” Mav asked. 

“Hm?” Maren looked up, a grain of rice stuck to her chin. 

“I always see your light on when I’m working out. What are you doing?” 

Maren’s face fell, then she got back to her food. “Reading.” 

“Reading? At five in the morning?” 

Maren paused, took a deep breath, then resumed eating. 

“Why would you read that early?” 

“One wonders...” 

“Why don’t you work out with me?” 

Maren glanced at him. “I don’t work out that early.” 

“That’s why I’m inviting you! Look, if you’re already up, you might as well –” 

Maren put her unfinished plate aside. “Thanks for breakfast. Be ready to head out in ten. I wanna get on the road quickly.” 

With that, Maren entered her tent, leaving Mav alone again.