Page 45 of Hummingbird and Kraken

Geir followed his gaze. There wasn’t much over there. Just the faded walls of his home and a small window that looked out into the night.

Then he noticed the windowsill. Lined up on a little scrap of shimmery blue fabric was a bit of driftwood. A pinkish rock with a ribbon of sparkly quartz running through it. A daisy in a little cup of water. A pair of acorns, stuck together at their caps.

He smiled. Declan had been keeping all of the little things he brought him.

Declan wasn’t smiling, though. He needed to make that better. He put down his own fork.

“I answered your cell phone,” Declan finally blurted out. “I mean, I wouldn’t have normally. But the number said it was the garage. So I answered it.”

“Alright.” Geir had forgotten about the phone. He wasn’t sure why this was important.

“My car is ready. They said it was going to be almost three thousand dollars.”

Geir nodded. He still wasn’t sure why this was important. He’d thought that Declan would be pleased to have his car back, especially since he’d heard several times about how all of his books were inside.

“That’s a lot of money.”

Geir shrugged. It didn’t sound like much, but he didn’t really keep track.

Declan looked the other way. Geir couldn’t see anything of interest except for Declan’s backpack, leaning against the couch. Declan kept his sketchbook and pencils in there, and usually took it with him when he went out.

If this was a puzzle that Geir was supposed to solve, he was doing a poor job of it. His mind didn’t move quickly like Declan’s. He needed more clues.

Finally, he had enough and walked around the table to pull Declan into his arms. He’d expected a fight, or at least a sarcastic remark, but Declan only seemed relieved.

He sat down on the couch and pulled Declan sideways across his lap. Declan squirmed restlessly and, taking a risk, he partially shifted to wrap his two tentacles around him. After the first day, he’d only done this once, when Declan seemed to ask for it and fell asleep in his arms. He was trying to keep things normal, he supposed.

But Declan was upset, and until he figured out why, he wanted him close.

Declan tensed up when he was first restrained, and then his whole body went limp. “Thank you,” he murmured.

Declan gave an experimental shift, and Geir tightened his tentacles and arms. He didn’t mind letting Declan wander or dance away as long as he was happy, but when he wasn’t, he wanted him close.

“This week has been like a dream,” Declan finally murmured.

“A good dream?”

Declan nuzzled his chest. “The best dream. Thank you.”

That sounded good. “I’ve enjoyed this week as well.” There weren’t words enough to explain how he felt alive again with Declan in his home and in his arms.

Declan only sounded a little morose when he spoke again. “Are you allowed to tell me what you do for work? Or is that forbidden, too?”

Had that been part of the conversation? Geir was going to have to start thinking faster to catch up. Or maybe Declan would be patient with him. “I don’t work. I mean, I used to fish and trade with the neighbors.” How long ago had that been? “I helped build things sometimes, when someone asked.” He couldn’t remember the last time, though.

“So, should I get a job do you think?” Declan seemed to be begging for something with his questions, but Geir didn’t know what it was. “Maybe I could go back to programming, though I never liked that as much as I thought I would. Maybe editing or proofreading? Or I could be one of those medical transcriptionists in all of those internet ads.” Declan laughed darkly, but Geir had no idea why that was funny. “I wanted to get back to doing my art, but I suppose that will have to wait until there’s more financial stability.”

Geir felt his chest tightening up. He didn’t know what most of those careers were, but there certainly weren’t jobs like that nearby. The medical job sounded like something at a hospital. And he had only a vague idea of what programming was. He realized that Declan hadn’t ever actually said he was staying. Was that what this whole conversation was about? Was Declan leaving?

He looked at the backpack near his foot. It looked ominously full. “So, you’d go to Cleveland or Toledo?” he asked hesitantly.

It would be a two hour drive each way. Or maybe Declan would just move there. Could Geir move to a city? Would Declan even want him to?

He was so lost in his own thoughts, he didn’t notice at first that Declan was pushing out of his arms until he roughly shoved the tentacle that was coiled around his middle. Geir loosened it to let Declan escape, even though it was the last thing he wanted to do.

He jerked his head up to find Declan standing trembling and gorgeous, his tight shirt and tiny shorts doing more to display than cover the round, red welts and little scratches that covered his body. Geir’s marks.

Though they were starting to fade.