Spell Break: Part 10

Here you go, another episode!  

The end is drawing nearer but we're not quite there yet.

Tune in Thursday for Episode 11 

10

            Kelly apparently felt that Jason needed to be schooled in the art of hand to hand combat and the task of teaching him had fallen to Liam.  It wasn’t because Kelly wasn’t proficient or able to teach.  No, the reason Jason was under Liam’s tutelage was because Nola threw a hissy fit every time Jason and Kelly had tried to spar.  Literally.  She didn’t like them throwing punches at each other.  Kelly said it made her nervous, that she was concerned for both of their safety.  Jezebel, on the other hand, couldn’t give a rat’s ass if Liam and Jason tried to beat the crap out of each other.  In fact, she probably cared more about rat’s asses than she did about them working.  Rats were her favorite meal.

            She curled up in the corner in Liam’s sweatshirt and watched them spar without much interest.  They were in Kelly’s house, in the space in his basement that was dedicated to a home gym where Jason learned magic from Kelly.  Strix wasn’t overly fond of the fighting, even if it was in the name of education, and had taken the opportunity to perch in the alder.  In fact, whenever they were at Kelly’s house, Strix could be found in that magnificent tree.  Jason really couldn’t blame him. 

            After Jason managed to successfully throw Liam for the third time in a row, Liam called for a break.  They leaned against the far wall, drinking from their water bottles and toweling sweat from their exposed patches of skin.  When Liam slid down to sit on the floor, Jason followed suit.  He studied the big man out of the corner of his eye.  Liam was a good looking guy; he was at least six foot four or five, with broad shoulders and thighs like tree trunks, his black hair was cut almost military short, and his green eyes provided a startling contrast.

            “So,” Liam said conversationally after taking another large swallow of water.  “You and Kelly seem to have worked things out.  How’s that going?”

            It had been, in fact, going great.  The last week had been amazing.  Whenever, Jason wasn’t working at Beans, he was here.  They’d spent every night together; having a quiet dinner, sometimes working on Jason’s magic, before falling into bed and fucking each other silly.  And then they fell asleep wrapped up in each other, as close as they could get to one another.  They didn’t usually stay that way, Kelly was a human furnace and Jason usually ended up rolling away from him in the night, but Kelly never let him get too far, always having a hand on his head or hip or thigh. 

            “It’s been good,” Jason answered with a smile.  “He’s opening up to me—“

            “I don’t need to hear about your sex life!” Liam interrupted playfully.

            Jason flicked him with the towel that was in his hand and rolled his eyes.  “I just meant that he’s telling me things, a little at a time, sharing things I know he doesn’t particularly like to talk about.  We’re working on it.”

            “Good,” Liam said with a decisive nod.  “That man needs you in his life.  I’m glad he finally got his head out of his ass.”

            Jason laughed and they lapsed into silence as they both chugged more water.  He watched as Jezebel uncurled herself and slithered across the floor to wrap herself around Liam’s thigh.  Liam absently rubbed one finger on the top of her triangular head and Jezebel closed her eyes in contentment.

            Kelly had been opening up, it was true, but there was one thing that they hadn’t talked about and Jason was reluctant to bring it up.  But it had been weighing on his mind and he took the opportunity that presented itself.  Sitting here in the quiet with Kelly in another part of the house, Jason turned towards Liam.

            “Hey, Liam?  Can I ask you a question?”

             “Sure, kid. What’s up?”

            Jason took a breath and dove in.  “Kelly said he had no idea what Gray was doing and I believe him.  But I don’t understand how he couldn’t know something was up.  Gray wouldn’t have had a familiar.  That would have been a red flag, right?”

            Liam went still.  After a long moment, he said, “You really should be talking to Kelly about this.”

            “I know.  It’s just…”Jason trailed off and took a deep drink from his bottle, trying to get his thoughts in order.  “I know Kelly still feels guilty about it.  I know he hasn’t healed from it completely.  And I don’t want to rip open that wound, you know?”

            Liam nodded, staring off into space before blowing out a heavy breath.  “I think you should talk to him about the particulars.  I think it would be good for him.  Sometimes, ripping open old wounds is the only way to get them to heal properly.”

            Jason nodded, knowing Liam was right.  He just didn’t want to cause Kelly any kind of pain.  Kelly wasn’t that man anymore; it was plain to see he’d changed and did his best to be a good person.  The thought of reminding him of a time he’d rather forget turned Jason’s stomach.  But this was one of those kinds of talks you had with the person you were in a relationship with. 

            “Look, I’ll tell you this; familiars are healthier and hardier than regular animals, and they live much longer than their non-magical counterpart, but they can still die.  Just like any animal can.  There can be a freak accident or a fire or something to take a familiar away.  So, while it’s unusual to find a good practitioner without a familiar, it does happen.”

            Jason took a moment to absorb that information and what it implied.  Obviously, that was the story that Gray had used to explain the absence of his familiar.  But the reality of it made Jason’s blood run cold.  He couldn’t imagine his life without Strix in it.

            “What happens to the practitioner?  If their familiar dies from an accident like that and the practitioner is left alone?”

            Liam gave a sad sort of smile.  “I’m told the grief is unimaginable.  A familiar is a stabilizing force as well as a constant presence in your head and losing someone that you are that entwined with has got to be unbearable.  But a person can recover from that kind of grief, given enough time and help.  I’ve heard that a strong enough practitioner can call another familiar when their ready, too.”

            Jason didn’t even want to think about it.  If anything ever happened to Strix, Jason would be inconsolable.  The owl in question must have felt Jason’s distress at the thought because he suddenly swooped in through the high window and landed on Jason’s shoulder unerringly.  His presence was calming, his thoughts soothing, and Jason lifted a hand to run them over Strix’s feathers.  He tried his best to convey his gratitude and appreciation for the bird and he felt Strix’s love pouring back down their link. 

            Jezebel looked up in interest at the tiny owl, her tongue flicking out to taste the air.  Liam gave her a gentle admonishment and sent her back to her little nest in the corner.  Jason watched her go, admiring her beautiful yellow and white coloring.  Strix gave an indignant hoot and soared back outside, his talons digging in just a little harder that normal when he took off from Jason’s shoulder.  Jason gave a little chuckle; he supposed he deserved that for admiring an animal that really wanted to swallow Strix whole.

            “Talk to Kelly, kid.  You can’t afford to let this fester between you, all right?” Liam said seriously.  Jason nodded, knowing he was right.  Liam gave a playful grin.  “Good.  Now get up and let’s get back to work, yeah?”

***

            Kelly had to force himself to focus on the work in front of him.  When he’d first set up his own business, it had been ideal to work from home.  He’d never had a problem making himself concentrate and always got the work done in a timely and efficient manner.  But that was before Jason.  It had never been a problem when Jason wasn’t in the basement gym, working himself into a sweaty mess with someone else.  God, the man looked good when he was exerting himself.  Kelly once again wrenched his mind back to the work and away from the fantasy image of Jason all flushed and sweaty.  If he could just immerse himself in the account he was working on, he’d be fine. 

            Eventually, it worked and Kelly was so absorbed in what he was doing that he didn’t notice Jason enter his home office.  When Nola suddenly stood from her preferred perch on the corner of the desk and started making that particular chirruping noise she only made when talking to Jason, Kelly abandoned his computer and turned quickly in his chair.  There was his man, in clean sweat pants and a tight t-shirt, looking all warm and inviting, his hair still wet from the shower.  The grin formed on his face and he didn’t try to stop it.

            Jason looked damn good like this too.

            “All done?” Kelly asked conversationally and Jason’s rolling gait carried him further into the room.

            “For now,” Jason said with a nod and didn’t even hesitate to climb into Kelly’s lap.  Kelly had never been so grateful that he had splurged on the wide seated leather desk chair that he was when he saw how well they fit together; Jason straddling his lap, his knees tucked between Kelly’s hips and the arms of the chair.  Jason’s kiss was affectionate and deep and way too short for Kelly’s liking.  When the man pulled back, Kelly was going to protest.  But then he saw the look on Jason’s face. If the lip nibbling and puckered brow was any indication, his lover had something important to say.  Kelly wrapped his arms around Jason’s waist and gave him a soft smile.

            “What’s up, Jay?”  Kelly reached out and gently pulled that lip out from between Jason’s teeth before the man worried a hole right through it.

            “You’re all in, right?” Jason said after taking a deep breath.  “No more holding back?  This is real between us?”

            “Yes,” Kelly answered a little hesitantly, not quite sure where this was going and not liking where he thought it might be.

            Jason took another deep breath and let it out in a rush as he blurted, “I need you to tell me about Gray.”

            That wasn’t what he expected.  His immediate reaction was to outright refuse.  That was part of his past, a part he wasn’t proud of, and it was painful, too.  Why the hell would he want to tell Jason anything more about it than he already had?

            “Kelly, I know you don’t…” Jason trailed off and shook his head.  “I didn’t want to bring it up anymore than you want to talk about it.  But we have to talk about it or it’s always going to be between us.”

            Kelly blew out a breath.  Logic.  Jason had to go ahead and use logic at a time like this?  He wanted to say that the past was better left in the past.  He wanted to ignore it and pretend it didn’t exist.  But Jason was mostly right.  If they left it unspoken, it would always be between them and that wasn’t fair to either of them.

            “What do you want to know?” Kelly asked warily.

            “Anything.  Everything.” Jason immediately answered.  For a few minutes, they just sat there. Kelly couldn’t bring himself to start talking.  When the silence had stretched too long, Jason softly entreated,   “Silence kills relationships.  Please, Kelly.  Talk to me.  ”

            So, Kelly did.  He sucked in a deep breath, ordered his thoughts, and told his lover all about the last relationship he had.  How he’d been newly recruited to work for the Tribunal and he was proud to have been chosen.  How a minor fender bender in a parking lot with a good looking man had led to an exchange of information.  How that had somehow translated into a date for coffee and quickly progressed to an exclusive relationship.  He told Jason how sad he felt when Gray had told him the story about how he’d lost his familiar, a cat like Nola, when his apartment building caught fire and the cat had been trapped and unable to escape.  Gray had been so convincing when he spoke of his misery, when he said that he hadn’t fully recovered from the loss, that they’d fallen into bed that night together because it was the only way Kelly knew to offer comfort.  That, for three years, he saw the man every night, shared a home with him, and had no clue that in the time Kelly was away at work, Gray was sucking the magic from other practitioners in heinous ways.  That Gray had taken great pains to cover his tracks so that when the Tribunal had given Kelly the file, even they had no idea that Kelly was in a relationship with him.  Gray had hated the fact that he worked as an assassin for the Tribunal and it was only after the fact that Kelly fully comprehended why. 

            He explained that it had taken him years to get over Gray.  He had loved the man and had been betrayed in the worst way; not only had the man lied and taken advantage of him, but Kelly felt like a fool for being so trusting and gullible, for not having seen what kind of man Gray truly was.  And he’d been the one to end the evil practitioner’s life, which had affected him far worse than any of his other missions had.  It had been the thing that Kelly had needed to reevaluate his life.

Kelly had returned home to Boulder a broken man.  Nola hadn’t forgiven him yet for getting so wrapped up in the thrill of the chase, of the kill, that he’d started to threaten her life.  Together, they’d begun to heal from the whole ordeal, but it wasn’t until he officially resigned from the Tribunal that Nola forgave him.       

Even though it was now ten years in the past, even knowing he was no longer that naïve and somewhat power hungry twenty five year old, Kelly was not proud of that time in his personal history.  The emotional toll it took to talk about it was evident in his tone and body language.  But he talked until he had told Jason the whole story, comforted by the man’s kind eyes and warm weight on his lap.  When he was done, his throat felt raw and he couldn’t tell if was because of his verbosity or the tears that were building that he refused to let escape. 

Jason didn’t interrupt once and, when Kelly was finally finished, Jason simply leaned forward and hugged him tightly.  A few tears did leak out then, but they were tears of relief.  Jason wasn’t running, even now the he knew the full extent of what Kelly had done.  He was offering comfort and support.  They sat without saying a word, holding each other tightly.  Kelly felt clean somehow, now that it was out there in the open.  He felt better than he had in years.

            It was a long time later that they finally got up and left the office.  They made dinner together and ate amidst quiet conversation.  They didn’t openly acknowledge the tough conversation they had had.  Just the act of being together, the small touches and soft looks, was enough for both of them.  They both understood the enormity of the situation.  After the kitchen was cleaned up, they went outside and cuddled at the base of the alder, absorbing the peace the tree emanated.  And when they went to bed that night they did nothing more than hold each other close, lying wrapped up in each other’s arms.

 © 2013 all rights reserved