Page 88 of Earth-Bound

Randall sniggered as he looked up into Broadmire’s eyes. “You’re still doing nice things and pretending you’re not.”

“Not nice.”

Randall put his hands on his hips. “Don’t argue with me, Broadmire. You know that doesn’t go well.”

Broadmire – to my surprise – relented. He grabbed Randall’s hand and practically dragged him out of the roomto do goodness-knows-what more privately. He called over his shoulder, “Choose a place you want and I’ll give it to you.”

Joe met my eyes and I could see the excitement shining in them.

“Our own house, huh?”

“Yes. I cannot wait to build it together.”

Chapter 36: Joe

We chose a perfect spot for our house. It was just beyond the hill where Terrund’s apple tree stood. We both wanted to stay nearby, Terrund because that apple tree was important to him and me because I’d first seen my fantasy man walking out of that tree and I liked the idea of seeing it every morning.

“Are you sure that you want this place?”

We were both standing there, looking around us. I couldn’t see anything wrong with it and I didn’t get any bad feelings in my gut, which was usually how I decided where I wanted to stay or not.

“Yes, I’m sure. Unless you don’t like it, in which case we can keep looking.”

Terrund got that far-away look in his eyes that meant he was sensing the earth, looking with some part of him that wasn’t his eyes. It was at times like this that he looked particularly ethereal. There was a gentle mistiness in his gaze and the way he held himself was somehow delicate. I longed to protect him when he looked like that.

I saw the moment he came back to me. The focus in his eyes became sharp and he smiled.

“It’s a wonderful place. The earth is friendly and will be good to build upon. Are you sure you are happy being this far away from Randall and Broadmire’s house?”

I snorted. Broadmire was a man who liked his privacy and I was a man who didn’t like being punched on the nose, so I figured that worked out well.

Not that I thought Broadmire would do that any longer. I’d seen the softer side of him, the side that longed to take care of Randall and spoil him and make him happy, and the side of him that gifted land to his friends so that they could build their lives together near him. It was hard to be scared of the man once I’d seen that inside him.

“Nah,” I said. “I just like being able to see your tree, that’s all.”

Terrund wasn’t fooled. He knew I loved that tree but he also knew I loved our new friends, too, and that I got a warm, unfamiliar glow every time I thought of the fact that I actually had friends.

“We will see Randall every day, I believe.”

“I know. And we really don’t need to be closer to them. Besides, I think they get loud when they have sex, and we don’t need to hear that.”

Terrund gave a soft chuff of laughter. “In which case, I believe we have chosen wisely.”

I reached down, already knowing that my fox would be there. My fingers stroked along her head and scratched behind her ears and she leaned heavily against my leg. She’d taken towandering round with me and I didn’t have a problem with that. Everyone else had just got used to seeing me with a pet fox, no matter how many times I told them she wasn’t a pet.

“Shall we go and tell them where we have chosen?”

I grabbed Terrund’s hand. That still hadn’t got old. “Yes, let’s do it.”

???

We stood outside our house and looked at it.

Terrund’s arms were around my middle and he leaned against me from behind. I loved that we were the same height. I could wrap him up in my arms and feel like he was mine, that I was surrounding him with myself and cherishing him, and yet he could do the same to me, and he was so solid and earthy that I felt completely encompassed.

It was a new feeling for me. I had never liked being trapped – not held, not being inside four walls, not staying in one place too long – but now it didn’t feel that way. I never felt trapped with Terrund. I felt free.

Even the idea of living inside a house didn’t freak me out. In fact, I was looking forward to it. And I was proud of what we were building.

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