Page 64 of Psync
“It doesn’t look that bad, does it?” Eli hadn’t looked at himself in the mirror yet, but if he looked as bad as he felt, it probably wasn’t pretty.
“You look like someone slammed your face into a wall!” Nate exclaimed.
“It was a desk, actually.”
Nate got up and began to pace, while Eli explained what happened. He tried to leave out the gory details, but when he did, Haruka stepped in to fill the gaps.
“And Haruka stopped him?” Nate looked at Haruka appraisingly.
“He did.”
“And the two of you . . .?” Nate pointed between the two of them with an eyebrow raised.
“Aren’t fighting anymore,” Eli said hurriedly. He wasn’t ready to try and explain the complicated and unbelievable connection he had with Haruka to someone else, especially since they hadn’t discussed it yet.
“Oh.” Nate deflated a bit as his anger began to leave him. “What a fucking asshole. I hope you beat the hell out of him, Haruka.”
Haruka’s face darkened. “Not as much as he deserved, but yes. I gave him many good reasons to never come near Eli again.”
“You’re going to press charges, right?” Nate asked.
“Yes,” Haruka answered.
“I can answer for myself, thank you,” Eli said coolly. “If I pressed charges on everyone who shoved me around, I’d spend my entire life in court.”
Court wasn’t his favorite place. He’d spent far too much time there when he was a child, dealing with the fallout of his kidnapping.
The room went deadly quiet, and the steady hum of Haruka’s presence cut off abruptly.
He was still touching Haruka, but he couldn’t feel anything from him.
Oh.
He’d been touching Haruka while thinking about the Incident.
“Nate, I think Eli needs to rest now.” There was something wrong with Haruka’s voice.
There was a beat of awkward silence before Nate stood. “I’ll go tell Alice what happened, just . . . stay with Eli for me, okay?”
“I’m not going anywhere,” Haruka said solemnly.
Nate went to Eli and crouched down. “You should use your friends more than you do. It’s what we’re here for.” He reached out slowly but was blocked by Haruka’s hand. Nate gave a wry smile. “I think you’re in good hands right now. I’ll talk to you soon.”
Nate’s departure left a vacuum in the room.
“I don’t need to rest right now.”
“Hn,” Haruka said noncommittally, but Eli took it as an acknowledgment that he’d used Eli’s injuries as an excuse to get rid of Nate.
Eli picked up the little gray cat and poked at its feet. Haruka’s gaze was a tangible force pressing against him, but he didn’t look up. “I can’t feel anything from you right now.” Eli nudged Haruka’s leg with his arm.
“Good.”
“Good?”
Haruka sighed. “I don’t want to hurt you more than you’ve already been hurt. You don’t need the weight of my reactions right now.”
“So, it’s okay for you to deal with my stuff, but I’m too fragile for yours?” Eli rolled his chair away. “I don’t know what this”—he pointed back and forth between them—“is, but I don’t think it’s here just for me. I may not pick up as much from you as you’re getting from me, but I’ve seen some of your dreams. You aren’t any happier than I am. You just deal with it better.”
