He hated this stupid power of his sometimes. But he wasn’t thinking about earlier in the restroom. Christ he hated people. Not Noe, though. Chrissy had badgered them like mad – apparently she could feel powers, and was especially attuned to Noe’s.
Noe had actually lied for him, which just meant that Clive really owed him. He’d told Chrissy he’d bumped into someone and lost control, his cheeks burning a light pink and his eyes staring at Chrissy’s shoes. Chrissy had bought it, and ushered them home right away. Clive wasn’t upset about that, even if he wouldn’t have minded a bit more time to shop.
Groaning, he shoved into the mattress hard, flipping himself over to stare at the ceiling instead of trying to smother himself into the mattress. He had a lesson after dinner. Sneering contemptuously at the ceiling, Clive tried to imagine what that would be like. Probably tedious and completely unhelpful, and he’d have to deal with Eric all evening.
Clive gave up hiding – it was boring. He wasn’t going out though, not after earlier. Which he really needed to stop thinking about. He’d go pester Noe, but Noe had disappeared off to go to work as soon as they’d gotten back, his cheeks paler than usual, and his fingers shoved into his pockets as he slipped upstairs quickly.
And then Chrissy had tied Clive up, trying to get more details about the mall incident. Clive had steadfastly ignored her, and given Noe space. He’d gotten a touch though. Clive grinned – he’d held hands with Noe. Snickering at himself, Clive rolled off the bed, contemplating his next move.
He’d take a few liberties, see how Noe reacted. Get Noe used to him being all over Noe’s personal space, if Noe didn’t complain. Clive frowned a little, stripping out of his borrowed shirt. Tossing it off to the side, Clive flicked open the button on his borrowed jeans, and unzipped them. Shoving them down and stepping out of them, he decided he’d shower, and wear some of his new clothes.
He should probably thank Noe again. For the lying. Smirking, Clive dug through his bags, searching for something suitable. He’d wait up for Noe, since Noe worked late. Clive wondered briefly what Noe did with his money, but shrugged it off, tugging off his socks successively. Wandering towards the door with an armful of stiff, new clothes, Clive decided that boring lessons or no, he might not hate his stay here as much as he’d first thought.
Noe sighed quietly, fighting with the headache throbbing in his temples. He wasn’t sure what to blame it on – the high-pitched woman he’d been singing rehearsing with or the entire too-long day. Fighting to keep from dragging his feet, Noe walked up the sidewalk to the house’s front door slowly.
His limbs felt like lead, and he wanted nothing more than to be able to fall into bed and sleep for ten hours. Reaching the steps, Noe climb up to the small stoop wearily, trying the doorknob as his hand slipped into his pocket for the key. The handle turned though, and Noe opened the door, letting his key fall out of his hand, back into the pocket.
Toeing off his shoes, Noe blinked curiously at the living room, light pouring out and into the hallway. It was quiet though and Noe padded down the hallway slowly, still wearing his jacket. The clock on the side table told him it was a little before midnight, which wasn’t too late, but Chrissy and Eric were early sleepers.
Wincing at the light, Noe peered into the living room cautiously, hanging back by the doorway. Clive was sitting cross-legged on one of the couches, a book casually perched in his lap and his head dropped to read. One arm was stretched out along the back of the couch and the other rested near the right side of the book, and as Noe watched, Clive flipped another page with it.
Clive was probably just sitting here because it was comfortable and not his room, Noe reasoned, half-torn. He should go to bed and leave Clive to his quiet concentration. Still, he hesitated – he was worried, that was all. Clive had seemed fine… he still seemed fine, but Noe really wanted to make sure, even if he didn’t know how.
Clive glanced up then, and grinned at seeing him. He shut his book without regard for the page number, and Noe paused, recognizing the slightly worn cover of the book. It was one of the first Eric had given him to read after his first lesson.
“Hey.” Clive greeted, and Noe stepped into the room hesitantly, squinting a bit against the bright light. The carpet was soft underfoot and sank slightly beneath his weight, and Noe smiled tentatively, ignoring the way his head seemed to pound all the more for it.
“Hi.” He murmured, glancing off to the side, carefully examining the wall to his left.
“How was work?” Clive asked, and he sounded back to normal, so Noe really didn’t have to worry.
“It was okay.” Noe allowed, not moving from his spot a step or two inside the doorway.
“Oh, come on, give me more than that.” Clive told him scornfully, his mouth smiling still. Noe blinked, carefully breathing because it felt like breathing too hard would jar his head apart.
“I sang.” Noe told Clive quietly, amused as Clive made a face at him.
“Really.” Clive muttered under his breath and patted the couch cushion beside him. “Come sit.”
Noe hesitated. He should just go to bed – he was tired and Eric would drill him tomorrow for his ‘lapse’ today. “Okay.” His feet were moving forward before the word left his mouth, and Noe crossed the room with small, precise steps because he was too tired to do anything else.
Clive smiled cheerfully, disgustingly wide-awake. Noe hesitated for a second before sitting down next to Clive. The couch was as soft and deliciously comfortable as usual, and Noe relaxed before he meant to, his feet aching out their protest of being used so much today.
“So how good of a singer are you? You’re employed, so I suppose you have to have some level of skill.” Clive peered at him curiously, his eyes back to the startling bright green. His hair had been washed at some point, and the curls looked fresher than they had earlier.
“I’m okay at it.” Noe shrugged, resisting the comfortable pull of the couch. He wasn’t going to fall asleep here. Blinking slowly, he wondered why he’d even sat down because the prospect of getting up now promised to take more energy than he had left.
“Plan to go solo at some point? Working your way through the hierarchy?” Clive grinned, and Noe completely ignored the yawn that was tugging at his jaw.
“No.” He murmured, then offered a little smile. “Isn’t it my turn for a question?”
Clive laughed, flashing a grin at him. “Sure, why not.”
Noe blinked, fighting an unexplainable blush. “Um, did you have a lesson?”
“Yeah.” Clive frowned thoughtfully, glancing down at the book in his lap. “I did.”
“How’d it – how was it?” Noe asked tentatively, remembering his own first lesson. It had been a painful and terrifying lesson, cut short when Noe had accidentally knocked himself into a wall hard enough to knock himself out.
“It was… interesting.” Clive replied slowly, before favoring him with another grin. “I got homework.”
“You usually will.” Noe confirmed quietly, curling his hands into his sleeves because for some reason the traitorous limbs wanted to reach out and smooth the curls that fell in Clive’s eyes off his forehead.
“Fun.” Clive drawled, stretching his arms up slowly. Noe could hear a few tangible popping noises as Clive moved, and he wondered how long Clive had been sitting here bent over the book. He was half-through with it already, which was relatively impressive.
“Oh, hey.” Clive turned back to the book, flipping back a chunk of pages. Continuing to page through the book, he continued, “Maybe you can explain this to me – here.”
Turning the book towards Noe, he displayed the pages. Noe paused for a moment before leaning forward, focusing on the book. Scanning the page where Clive indicated, Noe shook his head.
“Don’t worry about it.” He leaned back, letting Clive move the book away. “It won’t be applicable to your power. It’s only for tangible manifestations.”
“Oh, okay.” Clive accepted easily, flipping back to his page. “So you had what? Three questions there?”
Noe shrugged, smiling a little. He hadn’t kept count and he couldn’t really remember what he’d asked. His head pounded a little more insistently, and he wondered why he hadn’t made excuses yet. Settling a bit more comfortably, he waited patiently as Clive thought up a question. He really hadn’t meant to start the game up again.
“How long have you lived here?” Clive asked, turning to sit sideways on the couch. His right leg folded up under him, and he shut the book, holding his place with a finger inserted into the pages.
“A year.” Noe murmured, staring down at the couch’s stitching. He was sitting on the end cushion, and Clive, sitting sideways took up the next cushion. Clive’s knee was a few inches from his thigh, but Noe didn’t really care which surprised him a little but he was tired enough that he could let it go.
“Wow. I thought the normal training period was a month.” Clive’s eyes widened. “Do you think it’ll take me that long –”
“No.” Noe glanced up swiftly, his eyes wide. “It’s not – I mean, you’ll do fine.”
Clive stared back at him curiously. “Can I help?”
“What?” Noe whispered, tense even against the insidiously comfortable couch cushions.
“Help.” Clive repeated. “Here.” Clive flipped his hand out towards Noe, and paused, palm up. Noe stared at him uncertainly, not sure what Clive was talking about.
“I don’t–” Noe started, but cut himself off. “What?” He repeated, feeling like he was missing something he really should know, like he had earlier with Carlos and Jakey and thinking about that wasn’t really helping him calm down.
“You have a problem with touching people, right?” Clive asked, pausing. “Not a problem. You don’t like to.”
“I-” Noe took a deep breath. “I have a problem.”
“Okay. Can I help?” Clive repeated, flexing his fingers in a ‘give me’ motion. “Hold my hand.”
Noe flushed. “You – it won’t help.”
“You never know until you try.” Clive persisted. “Come on, I promise it won’t hurt.” He winked, one bright green eye disappearing from sight for a second. Noe uncurled his hands because he rather thought they were going to dig through the skin on his palms before too much longer.
“I try. I’ve tried.” Noe mumbled, his breathing faster even though he didn’t want it to be. “I can’t, it doesn’t work.”
“Noe.” Clive commanded, and Noe’s eyes jerked back to Clive without permission. “Trust me.”
“I –” Noe frowned miserably, attempting to draw himself closer. Why was Clive pressing this?
“I want to help. You helped me earlier.” Clive tried, his hand never faltering from where it was, extended towards him. “I don’t – I won’t pressure you, and really, it won’t be much. It’s not like I expect sex or anything –”
Noe flushed, doing his best to sink into the couch.
“Please?” Clive asked, and Noe took a deep, calming breath, and didn’t think, letting his eyes shut and holding out his hand. Clive shifted closer on the couch, the slide of his new jeans against the couch preceding the warmth of his hand, closing over Noe’s colder fingers. Noe fought to relax – Clive was just touching his hand - holding his hand, and it wasn’t a big deal. They’d done it earlier – hell, Noe had initiated it and broken it and he could break away at any time.
“Thank you.” Clive murmured quietly, and Noe blinked his eyes open because he was supposed to be thanking Clive for helping him, right? Though he hadn’t asked for help. Noe stared, confused, and Clive just grinned. “Next step is we sit here.”
“What?” Noe asked, not bothering to hide his confusion. “Why?”
“To get you comfortable with this.” Clive replied cheerfully. “We can talk, or I can read and you can just sit there and be bored.”
Noe blinked, letting Clive settle their hands against the couch cushions. “Um.”
“Um?” Clive prompted, still smiling widely. As though just holding hands with Noe was something to be proud of. “Do you work tomorrow?”
“No.” Noe replied slowly, still confused. He could feel every point where Clive’s hand was wrapped around his, and where his hand touched the couch, and it was odd because he didn’t normally think about how or what his hand was feeling and Clive’s hands were kind of rough, compared to his.
“Cool.” Clive smirked. “Wanna go out?”
“What?” Noe asked, the word leaving his mouth quickly enough that Clive laughed, squeezing his hand. Noe ignored it – he was ignoring it so it was okay.
“Well, I can’t imagine it would be fun to hang out here all night.” Clive drawled. “I spent the night reading.”
“I like reading.” Noe murmured, wondering if excusing himself now to go to bed would be considered running away from Clive’s touching. Probably.
“It could be worse.” Clive grinned. “But we could go out and if I bring you, Chrissy and Eric probably won’t mind.”
“So I’m an excuse.” Noe interpreted, curling the fingers of his free hand around the bottom cuff of his shirtsleeve.
“I’d probably go out anyway.” Clive shrugged, and then grinned widely. “Or we could stay here and work on your touching.” Clive leered playfully, and Noe coughed quickly to cover an inappropriate little laugh. Clive smirked, as though he knew what Noe had attempted to conceal.
“Um, ask tomorrow?” Noe offered, deciding he was far too sleepy to be making that kind of decision right then.
“I can badger you tomorrow, sure.” Clive agreed cheerfully and Noe seriously wondered how Clive was still awake, let alone so brightly cheerful.
“Thanks.” Noe muttered under his breath, only half sarcastically. Clive smirked at him, and Noe sagged against the back of the couch, deciding he wasn’t moving until noon tomorrow. Unless Clive didn’t let him go until noon tomorrow.
“Hmm, so what do you do hobby-wise?” Clive asked, his fingers shifting to a more comfortable grip on Noe’s and Noe shrugged, fighting another of those inexplicable blushes. Though he was holding hands with Clive and that held more than a few romantic overtones.
“Why are you doing this?” Noe asked, unable to help it.
“Well to be perfectly sappy…” Clive paused, giving him a grin, and Noe’s heart beat just a few beats per minute faster. “… I’m a succubus-type person. Touching is what I do, and well, I can’t imagine … I think everyone should enjoy it. You don’t so I want to fix that.”
Noe blinked, staring at Clive incredulously for a moment before starting to laugh. Smothering his mouth with his free hand, Noe dropped his eyes, his shoulders shaking as he tried vainly to suppress his laughter.
“Hey!” Clive protested, but he was grinning, a quick glance showed, and Noe smothered his laughter after another moment, a smile lingering about his lips. “You’re not nice.” Clive sulked, but somehow cheerfully, his lips tilting up even as he pouted, and he really was pretty. Noe could notice that and not have it mean anything, he decided because he sometimes found inanimate objects pretty so Clive could fall into that category.
Lapsing into thought, Noe wondered how this had happened. It didn’t make any sense because if he was categorizing Clive right, he was a new patient, he was a touch-driven creature, and he was rather persistent in giving Noe attention, any of which would’ve had Noe fighting panic if it were anyone else. Watching Clive curiously, he tried to figure out why Clive was different because maybe that was the key to actually becoming normal.
“What?” Clive asked, looking faintly uncomfortable, and Noe flushed, realizing his was staring.
“Sorry.” Noe mumbled, dropping his gaze to his lap, and Clive shifted on the couch, leaning closer and Noe looked back up in alarm to find Clive’s face inches from his own. Jerking back, he stared wide-eyed when he hit the couch arm and couldn’t go any further.
“What were you thinking?” Clive demanded, peering at him intently. Noe’s mind blanked, and he opened his mouth, shutting it with a click half a second later. The couch arm was pressing into his back comfortingly and Clive still hadn’t let go of his hand, and Noe sucked in a quick breath.
“Well?” Clive grinned, still not backing off even though he was just leaning closer and not actually touching Noe.
“I –” Noe started, then shook his head just a little. “Why?” He asked, ignoring the helpless tone to his voice.
“Why what?” Clive pressed, his voice as gentle as the grip he had on Noe’s hand, and Noe accidentally looked for the door (accidentally because he didn’t need an escape route but his mind insisted on searching for one anyway). “Hey –” Clive let go of his hand and Noe’s fingers twitched nervously against the couch cushion, but he didn’t move, half terrified he’d done something wrong.
“Noe.” Clive commanded his attention, not backing up but reaching out with his recently freed hand – his other one was occupied, Noe noticed abruptly, with keeping his balance. It was shoved into the seam between the couch cushions and Clive was tilted towards him a lot more than Noe had really thought, still mostly on his couch cushion.
“How can you do that?” Noe blurted out, shutting his eyes as Clive dusted a few bits of hair off his forehead. It was a soft, almost comforting touch and touch hadn’t been comforting since Noe had been too young to really remember it.
“Do what?” Clive asked gently, and he wasn’t gentle, he was harsh and bleached and yet somehow managed to burst into Noe’s bubbles.
“I should be trancing.” Noe replied quietly, trying to sink into the couch cushions. If he tried enough, maybe it would seem like they swallowed him. “You – I don’t go shopping, I don’t – I don’t talk to patients –” Noe’s eyes widened at his slip. “Students, I don’t talk to students,” Noe corrected, realizing his was babbling and shutting his mouth abruptly.
“I’m special.” Clive winked, unaffected by Noe’s outburst. His fingers were gone, back to Noe’s hand, and he’d wrapped Noe’s cooling fingers back into his bonier ones.
“You’re not using your power.” Noe hoped, the words coming out slightly higher-pitched than he would’ve liked or was normal. He wasn’t normal, he wasn’t, why was he trying to fool himself into believing he could ever be?
“Nope.” Clive confirmed, not seeming at all put-off by Noe’s mini-panic. “I think it’s related though.” He watched Noe expectantly, and Noe blinked, thrown again because he couldn’t figure out what Clive meant by that, and Clive didn’t seem upset at all (and he didn’t seem to have noticed Noe calling them patients or was ignoring it).
“What?” Noe finally asked after a short pause, his headache fighting its way into the forefront of his thoughts and scattering anything he could’ve picked out of it.
“Well…” Clive drawled, quirking a smile at him, and Noe flushed, his face burning hotly, and it was probably the living room, being too warm. “I think it’s my personality.” Clive grinned, looking pleased that Noe had asked or more likely that Noe wasn’t messily panicking with him right there having to deal with it.
“See, I think my stellar, confident personality is influenced by my powers as a soothing seduct…or.” Clive paused, seemingly weighing his word choice for a moment before shrugging a bit. “Like I think yours does to you. You specialize in shields and defensive telekinetics. From what I’ve seen anyway, I could be wrong. But you’ve also got a bunch of shields and defenses on your emotions. And I’m good at breaking through that type of shield so there’s a bit of my personality that can worm in and seduce yours into accepting me.”
Noe stared blankly at Clive, processing as Clive watched him expectantly.
“What?” He asked helplessly, confused and Clive laughed, bouncing back onto his cushion.
“My personality is seducing yours.” Clive obligingly repeated, smirking at him a little, and Noe flushed, completely off-balance because what was he supposed to say to that? Or feel, really because he wasn’t sure he wanted to be seduced. Or have his personality seduced?
“It’s called making friends by normal standards.” Clive tried again, making a face. “But we don’t have normal standards so we get the fancy phrasings.”
“Oh.” Noe accepted. Friends. He could do that, right? “I – okay.”
“Good.” Clive grinned, and tugged on his hand a little before bending towards the floor, where Clive’s book had toppled to in his moving around. “Did you know that bastard Eric is making me read this entire thing before tomorrow night?”
“Eric’s not –” Noe started, then flushed a little, cutting off his words. He shouldn’t disagree with Clive, because then Clive would change his mind and they wouldn’t be friends.
“I don’t like him.” Clive shrugged, frowning a little but not at Noe. “But that’s probably because I have a problem with authority.” Clive grinned, tilting his head towards Noe.
“Oh.” Noe murmured, blinking once at Clive. It made sense, at least a little. Clive’s uncle had probably been rather strict in his attempts to get Clive to use his power for him, and Clive vehemently detested his uncle.
“Besides, it’s fun to see what the adults will do when you flub the rules at them.” Clive grinned, shifting again to turn back towards Noe. “My uncle would get so mad when I snuck out, but he never could keep me in no matter what he tried. I’m curious though, and don’t sketch out on me for this or anything – what was your uncle like?”
“Um.” Noe blinked rapidly, slightly thrown but he supposed it was a simple enough question. “I don’t know.”
“But you lived with him.” Clive persisted, his eyes narrowing in confusion. “Explain.”
“I think I’ve met him a dozen times.” Noe shrugged. “It’s not – I never really knew him. He didn’t want me but he was the only one who could take me so… yeah.”
“Oh. So what, you got a nanny or something? How’d you end up here from there?” Clive pressed, his green eyes bright with curiosity. Well, they were bright anyway, the color a shockingly unnatural shade. Noe wondered how Clive had gotten them, if his uncle wasn’t in favor of his clothing choices.
“He owned a manor.” Noe shrugged, distantly remembering. It had been a mansion, huge and empty and echoing. His uncle had lived in the left wing, and he’d had a stiff, cold tutor who’d drilled him in the proper manners and then in coursework. The housekeeper lived there, and she was just as cold and stiff. “There were – I had a tutor.”
“Interesting.” Clive murmured thoughtfully. “So you ran wild the rest of the time?”
“No.” Noe denied immediately. “There was no rest of the time. I woke up and breakfast was a lesson in manners. Then I read books in the library until noon, which… was also a lesson in manners. Then the tutor would teach, sometimes grammar, sometimes history, sometimes business etiquette. He would stay for dinner too, and I can set up and use at least a dozen different dining settings.”
“Wow.” Clive stared. “And after dinner?”
“Homework.” Noe shrugged, remembering day after day shut inside the bland, echoing rooms of the manor. The library had been a reprieve in the morning, and most of what he learned had been… interesting. “I can speak French and Chinese and read Latin.”
“You’re a little brainiac.” Clive marveled. “Wow, now I feel stupid. I didn’t even graduate high school.”
Noe flushed, shutting up. He was letting Clive… letting Clive’s personality seduce his again.
“So how’d you end up here?” Clive asked, and Noe shrugged.
“I lost control.” Noe murmured, the blood rushing from his face. “I – my mother knew, but she didn’t say anything and I had it under control, really. No one knew, there. My uncle might have, but I saw him a dozen times. He’s an archeologist and he was either ensconced in his study or off on some dig or another. We had meetings once a year, on my birthday, and he never – he was like a stranger. He was a stranger.”
“And then?” Clive prompted, and Noe relaxed his fingers because he’d been squeezing Clive’s hand tightly without meaning too. Twisting his fingers away from Clive’s hand absently, he crossed his arms, tucking his hands close to his stomach.
“And then… I turned eighteen.” Noe shrugged, staring at the far wall without really seeing it. “That dinner… on my birthday, it was different. He told me I was going to university, across the country. He’d pay for it all – expenses, tuition, books, everything – and I would graduate and not expect anything more from him. I didn’t – I didn’t need that, I told him. I didn’t want that. He asked what I wanted.”
“And?” Clive asked quietly, and Noe smiled weakly.
“I told him I wanted to sing.” Noe murmured. “It was… one of the rewards. When I would do my studies well, when I finished a paper or something, I would get a lesson in something musical or artistic. It was stupid, though.” Noe sighed, tilting his head back against the couch. “He thought so, anyway. He was derisive, which wasn’t – how was that right? He hadn’t cared before and he’d made it clear he didn’t care now. He just wanted his responsibility bought off.”
Pausing, Noe turned to look at Clive thoughtfully. “I think you’re right.”
“What?” Clive blurted out, taken back. “I mean, right. But what about?”
“I haven’t told Eric or Chrissy this.” Noe told him solemnly, throwing caution to the wind. He was tired, and it didn’t seem to be working well anyway.
“My personality is as irresistible as I am.” Clive purred, winking, and Noe laughed a little. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d laughed, really. Clive’s face fell into a pout, and Noe stifled a smile. Laughing was bad enough, after all. “Okay, but then what?”
“He wanted me to go into a real field. He didn’t have a good deal of appreciation for the ‘soft’ arts, which was ironic really considering he studied cultures and civilizations. But he had great disdain for ‘artistry’ practiced today. He thought it was a waste of time and completely impractical.” Noe continued, not pausing to think about it. “He got mad, and I got upset and then the dining room collapsed.”
“Are you shitting me?” Clive demanded, wide-eyed. Noe sighed, slumping against the couch and resting his head against the back. Staring at the ceiling, he shrugged a little.
“No. I mean, the walls crumbled, the table broke, the dishes shattered but I didn’t actually hurt him.” Noe smiled wryly. He hadn’t hurt his uncle, it was true – after he’d realized what he’d done he’d managed to shield the man properly. But that had taken the rest of his energy and, well, he hadn’t been shielded.
“I bet he wasn’t happy about that.” Clive grinned. “Damn, I don’t think I’ve ever done anything like that. Is that why you were sent here?”
“Sort of.” Noe murmured, uncrossing his arms and clasping them in his lap. “I didn’t hurt him, but I managed to get semi-crushed by a chunk of ceiling, so I was in the hospital for a while.”
“Ow.” Clive told him with frank sympathy, and Noe mustered a little smile.
“I didn’t mind?” Noe shrugged. “It was just a broken collarbone, a concussion and a few bruises.”
“Yes, just.” Clive grumbled, eyeing him solemnly. “Are you a masochist?”
“What?” Noe’s eyes flew wide and he stared at Clive, startled. Clive just smirked at him, leering a little. “No.” Noe denied finally deciding that Clive was teasing. He hoped.
Clive snickered. “Alright, alright. Then what?”
“I healed?” Noe shrugged. “I didn’t go back to my uncle’s place. I was afraid I’d do it again, so I skipped out of the hospital early and started walking. I think I slept a few nights in the park, since I had no money. There was an alleyway, too, and I don’t know what I was thinking.”
“You’re insane.” Clive agreed. “I mean, there’s plenty of warm beds out there –”
“Shhh.” Noe shushed Clive before he could say anything bad. Staring at Clive distrustfully, he waited a minute before continuing, Clive smirking with amusement. “It was one of those nights in the park where I met Eric.”
“Oh, a late-night attempt for –”
“Shush!” Noe flushed, crossing his arms and turning away from Clive. “I won’t finish.”
“I’m quiet.” Clive protested innocently. “Tell me more?”
Noe shook his head, smiling a little. “Um, I met Eric. He provoked me a little, because I wasn’t stupid enough to go with him easily. I flattened a few bushes but not him – did he show you his power?”
“Yep.” Clive sulked a little. “More like anti-power.”
“Right, so he didn’t flatten and so I went with him.” Noe shrugged. “That’s it.”
“I could’ve done without that bit.” Clive decided, winking and Noe wondered if he was going to pass out with Clive still talking to him. Giving up trying to sit properly, Noe curled up onto the couch, facing Clive and resting heavily against the back cushions. Clive looked thoughtful for a long moment, and then nodded decisively.
“Wanna hear my life story?” Clive asked cheerfully.
“Mmm.” Noe murmured agreement, letting his tiredness catch up to him again. Clive eyed him warily for a moment before standing up abruptly.
“Tomorrow then. Off to bed with you.” Clive ordered, scooping up his book. Noe blinked at him blearily, before nodding.
“Okay.” Noe agreed, hesitating as Clive held out a hand. Probably to help him stand up, and Noe accepted it after a second, feeling Clive’s warm, rough skin against his palm.
“I’ll walk you.” Clive deigned, not letting go of his hand, and Noe sighed, but let him lead him across the living room (even if he was wondering where his sanity had gone).
