"Please tell me you've come to take over?" I asked Clarke. He eyed the duo and grinned.

"No. But that looks fun. Can I do it, too?"

Why did I expect anything different?

"What's up, kid?"

"I just — " The kid gave a small, awkward shrug. "I just wanted to say thank you."

I blinked at him. "For what? Gracing you with my amazing personality? Gonna have to be a little more specific than that, kid — Lumen, take that brush out of your mouth."

Clarke's eyes jumped to where the paint-sucker had frozen, green paint dripping from his lips. He took the brush out, grimaced, spat in the...