“How’s your shoulder?” Andraeon asked finally, when the silence began to become too heavy.
“Better.” Jones touched his shoulder lightly, where under a clean shirt borrowed from Shiki there were fresh bandages. “I just need to rest it.”
“Are you going to?”
Jones looked at him, then smiled a bit. “For now.”
“I’m glad you found me.” Andraeon leaned against him, smiling as he felt Jones’s hand settle on his head, stroking his hair. “I missed you.”
“Mmm. I’m sorry I left you.” Jones’s hand drifted down to touch the collar around Andraeon’s throat. “Can we do something about that?”
“Shiki said he might be able to, but he’d need the time to examine it and he’s been busy. It’s not bothering me much, I’ll wait.” Without thinking Andraeon turned and pressed a kiss to the warm skin just above the collar of Jones’s shirt. He felt Jones shiver and hesitated just a moment before sitting up and turning Jones’s face towards him.
“Drae,” Jones started, but Andraeon shut him up by kissing him.
Jones breathed in sharply, his mouth opening slightly under Andraeon’s, then he slid a hand around the back of Andraeon’s neck and pressed him down on the bed. Andraeon felt a jolt of anxious excitement go straight through him, grounding out in his belly, even as he pressed up against Jones. He slid his hands under Jones’s shirt and up his back, tracing up the curve of his spine.
“Up a bit,” Jones murmured, urging Andraeon back so they could both stretch out fully on the bed. “You all right?”
“Yeah. Just a bit...” He gave a sheepish smile. “A bit nervous.”
“Maybe we should stop.” Jones started to push himself up.
“No.” Andraeon didn’t let go of him. “I don’t want to stop, okay?”
He saw the doubt in Jones’s eyes but after a moment Jones leaned down and kissed him again, gently this time, as though testing it out. Andraeon deepened it, shivering a little at the touch of Jones’s hands pushing his shirt up. They broke apart long enough for Andraeon to pull his own shirt over his head and help Jones to remove his. He gently touched the bandaging across Jones’s shoulder then pressed a kiss to the bare skin beside it, sliding his hands down Jones’s sides. He could feel scars under his palms, and the half-healed scrape across Jones’s ribs.
“Is this all from your work?” he asked, tracing a scar just above the waistband of Jones’s jeans.
“Most of it.” Jones smiled slightly and pointed to a scar across his upper arm. “That’s from falling out of a tree though.”
“Why were you up a tree?”
“I had a treehouse as a kid. I used to spend all summer up there, practically. Until I fell out and my mother decided it was too dangerous.”
“What does she think of you doing mercenary work?”
“Don’t know. We haven’t spoken since I joined the military.” He must have caught sight of the look on Andraeon’s face because he smiled. “Don’t look so upset. Trust me, it’s better this way.”
“It’s just a little sad, that’s all.” Andraeon kissed the corner of his mouth, letting Jones turn in towards him. Jones’s hands went to the button and zip on his jeans, and he lifted his hips in response, feeling his heartrate speed up. Part of him wondered if Jones was just trying to shut him up now and distract him from their conversation, but it wasn’t long before he no longer cared.
Much later, he lay curled up against Jones’s side, watching the first dishwater grey light of dawn creep in through the window. He could feel Jones breathing, his chest rising and falling in even rhythm as he slept. Outside he heard the first noises of people waking up and beginning their day, but inside the bedroom it was still quiet and peaceful. Closing his eyes, Andraeon tried to doze off, hoping no one would bother them for at least a few hours.
He slipped into a dreamless sleep and when he opened his eyes again the sun was shining brightly through the window and the other side of the bed was empty. He put a hand out, feeling the coolness of the sheets, then got to his feet and padded naked to the adjoining bathroom to have a shower. When he was done he pulled on his discarded clothes and went out to see if he could find Jones.
The cabin was empty and Andraeon began to feel a sinking sensation in his stomach. He fought off the little voice that told him Jones had left him again, willing it back into silence, and left the cabin, squinting a little in the glare of the sun. It was around noon and the heat lay like a heavy wool blanket across the clearing. He could see no movement except for a dog that lay sprawled out in the shade of a tree, panting gently in the heat. As he passed it, it thumped its tail against the ground and raised a cloud of dust, but otherwise didn’t move.
He went to Shiki’s cabin and knocked on the door, then pushed it open when Shiki yelled for him to come in. Relief washed over him when he went into the kitchen and saw Jones sitting at the table with Shiki and Shasta. Unconsciously avoiding getting too close to Shasta, he walked around the table and pulled up a chair next to Jones, giving him a hesitant smile. Jones absently ruffled his damp hair, most of his attention on some sheets of paper he had in front of him.
“Morning, Drae,” Shiki said. “We were just talking about your whole situation.”
“Any ideas?” Andraeon asked.
“You’re pretty safe here but Jones doesn’t seem interested in staying. You can if you want.”
“I’m going with Jones.” Andraeon couldn’t keep a slight note of panic out of his voice as he added, “Right? You’re not leaving me behind again, are you, Jones?”
The look Jones gave him was both ashamed and angry, though Andraeon didn’t think the anger was directed at him; but his voice was calm when he said, “No. You can come with me for as long as you want to.”
“Besides, you’ll have me with you this time,” Shasta added, then laughed at the look Andraeon gave him. “All right, not as reassuring as I meant it to be. Look at it this way. Better I’m with you than chasing you.”
“I’d rather have option C: neither,” Jones said. “You got me here and Drae was here, fine, thank you. Your big fuck you is done.”
“This isn’t even a little fuck you. I’m planning to go much bigger.”
“Do it without us.”
“Look,” Shasta said, pushing himself up from his seat, “I can help you. I’m not asking to be your bosom buddy, have sleepovers and braid each other’s hair, but we have a common cause. The Collector’s as much my enemy now as yours, not to mention Nevin’s going to be after your boytoy here, and who knows who else.”
“Sit down, Shasta,” Shiki snapped, yanking Shasta back down into his seat. “I still need proof about Nevin before I let you do anything, or support you in it.”
“What more proof do you need? Tell him, Drae.” Shasta looked at Andraeon, eyes stormy.
“She called him Nevin,” Andraeon said reluctantly. “Miss Vivian, the woman who... bought me.”
“See? I’ve been telling you for years, Shiki. If you’d just listened to me...”
“You don’t have a lot of room to talk,” Shiki said. “If you hadn’t been chasing them, they wouldn’t have ended up in so much trouble.”
Shasta opened his mouth then shut it again, his cheeks going a dusky red. “You’re right. Sorry.”
“It’s a moot point,” Jones said, pushing his chair back and getting up, taking the papers with him. “Thanks for your help, and the information on Edgemount, but it’s time we left.” He headed for the door and Andraeon hurried after him.
“Wait a second, damn you.” Shasta came after them and grabbed Jones’s shoulder, making him wince in pain. “First of all you can’t even get out of this world and second—”
Andraeon hit him then, a pure burst of power that flung him the length of the front hall and shattered every window on the ground floor. He heard Shiki yell, but the actual words were lost under the hammering of his own heartbeat and the anger rushing through him. He advanced on Shasta, who was still lying dazed against the chair where he’d fetched up, but halfway there the runes on his cuffs began to glow and burn. His legs seemed to turn into lead and he couldn’t take another step; it was only with an exhausting effort that he managed to turn his head enough to look at Shiki.
“I am really sorry about this,” Shiki said. “Shasta’s an idiot but I love him, so I can’t let you kill him. Calm down.”
For a moment the anger only surged harder, then Andraeon took a deep breath and forced himself to relax. As he did, the runes began to fade and he found he could move again. Shasta was picking himself up by then, watching Andraeon warily, but Andraeon ignored him in favour of turning back to Jones. The movement turned into a jerky almost-run when he saw Jones down on his knees by the front door, eyes dazed and blood dripping steadily from his nose.
“Look at me, Jones, look at me.” He caught Jones’s chin and made him look up, relieved to see comprehension was beginning to come back into his eyes. “Are you okay?”
“I think.” Jones wiped at his nose and grimaced at the blood on his hand. “What the hell was that?”
“That was Drae,” Shiki said, kneeling down on Jones’s other side. “I think you both need to stay, before Drae ends up killing you.”
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