Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.
“I THINK I broke him.”
“Okay. Now go away,” Ry grumbled.
Tikron flipped on the light. “No, it’s not okay. I seriously think I broke Richard.”
The lump beneath the covers next to Ry moved, but before his guest was revealed, Ry snapped his finger and the lights went out. A second snap and Tikron and Ry were in the living room.
Ry flopped down on the couch, propped his feet on the coffee table, and patted the cushion next to him. “Okay, c’mere and tell me what happened.”
Tikron sat next to Ry, shifting so he was facing him, then relayed the story of how he saved Albert and how he’d finally gotten Richard to believe in magic. Through his telling of the account, Ry stared at Tikron with a thoughtful expression on his face, listening intently. When he was done, Ry just continued to stare at him.
“Well?” Tikron prompted.
“I’m impressed. You basically trumped death. That’s a frickin’ herculean effort. I’m surprised you’re upright.”
“Yeah, it zapped me pretty good. I dozed on and off most of the day.”
“You do realize you’re going to have to explain to Mysdus and the rest of the council why you did that. You’ll be lucky if they don’t revoke your mojo card, at least for a while.”
“No, they won’t. I didn’t break any laws. It was a canine, not a human, and besides, this is Mysdus’s fault. Let him try it. I’m sure the council would love to hear the bullshit he’s pulling on me.”
“I guarantee you they already know. It’s total bullshit, but not one of those old geezers has the balls to stand up to him.”
Tikron nodded. It was true, and he couldn’t say he really blamed them. What could they do? None of them were as powerful as Mysdus individually, and getting a bunch of old bureaucrats to work together was a joke.
“Anyway, it sounds like it was a good day with Richard. Nothing you said explains how you broke him. Unless….” Ry waggled his brows. Tikron slapped his thigh. Hard. Ry yelped, then started laughing. “Guess I’m the only stud in this room.”
“Uh-huh. Sure. I wasn’t talking about that. He started asking me all kinds of questions, like if black magic was real and if I had killed anyone.”
“Wow, that’s some deep shit right there. I suppose your dumb ass told him the truth?”
“Of course I did. I’m not going to start another relationship based on lies.”
“There is a difference between omission and lying,” Ry pointed out. “Hank was not your fault.”
Just hearing Hank’s name caused Tikron’s chest to tighten even after all these years. He’d tried to bury that part of his past, and for a while, he had been successful. But perhaps Mom was right. It was time to pull those old painful memories out and deal with them. Because how could he expect Richard to give him his whole heart if Tikron didn’t have the same thing to give in return? Easier said than done.
“It doesn’t matter whose fault it was. The end result is still the same.” Hank was dead, and no amount of wishing, hoping, or magic was going to change that.
“You’re right,” Ry agreed. “But you can’t know he wouldn’t have joined the Union Army even if he hadn’t found out about who and what you were. It was an intense time.”
Tikron went to his feet, nervous energy surging through him, and he started to pace. “I don’t want to talk about it right now. I need to figure out what to do about Richard.”
“Okay,” Ry said gently. “So you told Richard about black magic. What else?”
“I was trying to be vague, ya know. He was asking me about killing anyone and I explained that war made people do things they normally wouldn’t.”
“You told him about all of them?”
“Not exactly. He was thinking I was deployed recently, and when I explained I was a bit older, he didn’t think I was old enough to have served during Desert Storm.”
“Then you blew his mind by telling him about the Revolutionary War? No wonder he freaked out.”
“I did no such thing. Richard just came out and asked me how old I was.”
“That’s just as bad. People don’t take that shit very well. I don’t know why, but most people have a harder time dealing with dating someone three hundred plus years their senior than they do about the magic thingy.”
“I think it’s the combination of both, you dork.”
Ry pursed his lips. “It is not. I get that same crap from other warlocks. ‘You’re so old’ or ‘you’re too young for me.’ Blah, blah, blah. It’s a frickin’ number. What’s the big deal?”
Tikron ignored Ry’s minirant. “Richard really took the fact that I’m a warlock in stride. Albert was the catalyst, so I think Richard’s relief and appreciation helped with that. We were talking, he was asking questions and really seemed interested in learning more. Then, then suddenly he started ranting and raving about everything he’d witnessed since meeting me, then about the dog, the age, and then suddenly he was laughing. You know, one of those crazy, hysterical kinds. The next thing he was hyperventilating.”
“Yup, you broke him. Geeks like Richard can’t be logic deprogramed too rapidly. It short-circuits their mainframe.”
Tikron flopped down on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. “How am I supposed to fix it? I’m not an IT guy.”
“Hey, he must not be that bad off if you’re here.”
“No, really, he was bad last night. I finally got him to fall asleep. The poor guy was exhausted with everything that had happened with Albert and the rest of the crap. I’m not staying long. I want to get back before he wakes up, but I hoped you had some ideas on how to fix him.”
“You can’t. He’s either mentally strong enough to deal with it or he’s not. You know this, Tikron. You’ve seen enough people lose it over the years. Some people just can’t accept it or don’t want to.”
Tikron continued to stare upward, but he was no longer seeing the ceiling. Instead it was the fear he’d seen in Richard’s eyes as he laughed hysterically that haunted him. It had been the oddest sight. As it went on and on, Tikron had felt helpless. He’d only been able to take Richard into his arms and hold him until the hysteria had drained Richard and he collapsed. Still Tikron had held him. Suddenly, it was all he wanted to do. All he needed to do. All he could do. He rolled his head to the side to find Ry looking at him with a concerned expression.
“Unfortunately you’re right,” Tikron agreed. “There is nothing I can do and it sucks big-time. I better get back.”
Ry moved down the bed and kissed Tikron gently on the forehead. He rested his hand on Tikron’s chest above his heart. “Because of this, I know you’ll do what you can for him. Don’t give up just yet.”
“I won’t,” Tikron assured him.
“Good. Now go be with your man and try and get some sleep. I’ll be over later with breakfast and coffee. Together, all three of us will get through it.”
Tikron patted Ry’s hand. “Thanks,” he whispered. Then he was gone.
Richard was right where Tikron had left him, curled up beneath a black-and-red checkered throw, Albert lying at the foot of the bed. Tikron ran his fingers through the soft fur on Albert’s head. “It’s going to be all right,” he whispered, more for his own sake than Albert’s. The little dog licked Tikron’s hand, then settled back down to sleep.
Carefully, Tikron crawled onto the bed and moved up close behind Richard. He wrapped the smaller man in his arms and buried his face in the soft curls at the back of Richard’s neck. Richard stirred momentarily, hugging Tikron’s arms, holding them against his body. Tikron instantly felt a sense of peace wash over him. This was where he was meant to be. He lay there, holding Richard for an immeasurable amount of time, until Richard’s warmth and slow rhythmic breathing lulled Tikron to sleep.
A COCOON of warmth surrounded Richard. He slowly opened his eyes. The early morning light streaming through the window of his bedroom stung his eyes, and he closed them again. He turned his head and burrowed farther into the warmth. His senses filled with the unique scent of Tikron. It took his sleep-addled brain a few seconds to realize he wasn’t dreaming but that his head was resting on not his mattress, but upon Tikron’s broad chest, and it wasn’t the blankets keeping him toasty but Tikron’s strong arms.
Slowly, the events of the night before came back to him. It concerned him how quickly things had escalated and how the stacked discoveries had short-circuited his brain and taken him to the brink of madness. He was also embarrassed as hell. His only consolation for the difficult events from the night prior was he’d awoken with a whole new world of possibilities set out before him.
Isn’t that what I’ve strived for all my life?
He’d studied probabilities, possibilities, and logically and mathematically worked them until he found the solutions. The difference now being rather than a series of numbers and totals at the end of an equation, he found an even more satisfying solution—magic.
Richard couldn’t help but smile. Magic. It explained so much. He snuggled further against Tikron. Richard had been given a great gift—higher knowledge of the world around him—one which few would ever have the privilege of experiencing. He’d be a fool to toss such a gift away because of doubt. No one had ever accused him of being a fool, and he’d be damned if he’d give anyone a reason to do so now. He planned on learning everything he could about Tikron, his powers, his family, and this new world.
An ache in Richard’s hip had him shifting. Tikron instantly tightened his arms around Richard. The feeling of being protected filled him. No one had ever made him feel that way. First it had been himself, then him and Albert against the universe. He’d locked everyone out of his life. He’d blamed the fallibility of the human relationship as the reason. They were statistically destined to fail. He never did anything when there was a high probability of failure and had never understood why someone would set themselves up to fall. It was ludicrous. Or at least he’d thought it was. Now… now he wasn’t so sure. Now he wanted nothing more than to have his prior beliefs proven wrong.
“Good morning,” Tikron said, his voice deep and husky from sleep.
“Morning.”
“How are you feeling?”
“Torn,” Richard admitted.
“It’s to be expected. You were dealt quite the shock yesterday. Not once, but several times.”
“Yeah, I was, but that isn’t what I am torn about.”
“No?”
“Nope.”
“Okay, care to share?”
Richard lifted his head and looked at Tikron. “I’m torn between leaving this nice warm bed and having to get up and use the bathroom.”
“I see the quandary.” Tikron chuckled.
“You could always… you know. Wiggle your nose,” Richard suggested.
“Sorry, that’s beyond the scope of my expertise.”
“Seriously? You can heal the sick but you can’t empty a bladder or make a mouth minty fresh?”
“Oh, I can help with one of those.” Tikron lifted his hand, rotated his wrist, and suddenly a red-and-white peppermint candy appeared between his fingers.
Richard snatched the candy, opened it, and popped it into his mouth. “I prefer spearmint, but this will do.”
“For what?”
“This.” Richard pressed his lips to Tikron’s and gave him a quick morning kiss without having to worry about offending Tikron with morning breath.
Richard rolled from the bed and padded to the bathroom with a huge smile on his face.