Psync by Zile Elliven

Chapter Twenty-Four

Eli

Moving to Haruka’s room took longer than Eli had anticipated. Originally, he’d intended to take the bare essentials, but Haruka took all of Eli’s clothes out of his closet, cleared out his desk, and emptied his refrigerator. When he began to fold Eli’s duvet, Eli said, “You have a comforter already, we don’t need this one.”

Haruka had given him an odd look before dropping the comforter and moving on to Eli’s toiletries.

He had also refused to let Eli carry anything, which Eli protested, but secretly loved. Moving was high on his list of least favorite things to do.

By the time they had Eli moved in to Haruka’s room and stopped by the police station to give his statement, Eli was ready to collapse, but he wasn’t allowed to because Haruka was there, demanding he eat first.

“You’re a tyrant,” Eli said as he covered his plate, shielding it from the chicken skewers Haruka was attempting to load onto it.

“I don’t know what you have against food. You need it to live. Some people actually like it.” Haruka took a bite of the rejected chicken.

“I like it just fine in moderate doses. I’m not a giant like you are, so I don’t need to eat as much.” Eli patted his poor stomach. He’d eaten more today than he had in the past three days. If this kept up, he was going to get fat.

“I’d like to see that.”

“Well, I wouldn’t.” Eli grumbled. He was starting to get used to having his unspoken thoughts answered, even if it was incredibly annoying. He kept trying to maintain enough distance between them to keep his thoughts private, but anytime he stopped paying attention, he found himself draped over Haruka. So far, the man had been surprisingly tolerant of it.

“Hey, why do you think you can hear my thoughts when we touch, but I can’t hear you?”

Haruka’s face shuttered. “I wouldn’t know.”

“Earlier, I wasn’t able to feel you at all, either.”

“Weird.” Haruka stood and began to clear the table.

“Haruka.”

No answer.

“You know how to block me, don’t you?” Eli took his plate over to Haruka.

Haruka continued to put their leftovers away without looking at Eli.

“Haruka.” Eli poked him in the side. “Don’t make me tickle it out of you.”

“You say that like it’s a threat.”

“I’m tougher than I look.” Eli poked Haruka in the side again. “Spill. If you know how to keep me out of your head, you have to teach me how.”

Haruka cocked his head to one side. “Do I?”

“Yes! It’s only fair.”

When Haruka failed to respond, Eli narrowed his eyes. His sister was particularly ticklish at her armpits. Maybe Haruka was too? He dove in without even considering that what he was doing might be a bad idea.

Eli got the pleasure of seeing Haruka’s eyes go wide with surprise when he made his attack. He enjoyed two whole seconds of victory before Haruka had Eli’s wrists trapped in one large hand in a move so fast, his head spun.

“Life isn’t fair, Eli.”

Eli twisted, and Haruka tightened his grip, his eyes never leaving Eli’s.

He was pretty sure he should be freaking out right now. Normally, Eli would be screaming at the top of his lungs, or on the verge of passing out, if someone grabbed him like this.

But he wasn’t doing any of those things. As soon as Haruka squeezed Eli’s wrists, his mind went still and quiet. It was like being wrapped inside something soft, warm, and safe. Like nothing bad could ever touch him there.

Haruka pulled Eli closer, and Eli tugged, testing. The room was so quiet, Eli could hear his own heart beating.

“Don’t . . .” Haruka closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

“Don’t what?” Eli was having trouble remembering what they’d been talking about. Haruka’s hair was free from its usual ponytail and had fallen over his face during their struggle. It was shiny and looked silky smooth.

Eli’s fingers wiggled.

A shudder went through Haruka.

In the quiet, soft space Eli floated in, the words :So innocent . . . I can’t.: drifted past him.

Then Haruka opened his eyes, and they were full of mischief. “Don’t tickle me.”

Then he scooped Eli up and tossed him over his shoulder.

“Wait! No! I’m injured! My head hurts!” Eli lied. His head had stopped throbbing hours ago, and Haruka was being more than gentle enough to keep from agitating it past their bond’s ability to soothe any lingering pain.

“No, it doesn’t.” Haruka said over his shoulder as he walked over and deposited Eli on the bed. “But I’ll be nice this time. Next time you won’t get off so easy.”

Eli peered up at Haruka through his tousled bangs. The odd tension between them was broken, but Eli was breathing like he’d run up five flights of stairs. He chewed thoughtfully on his lower lip, wondering if this was another effect of the mental connection they shared.

Haruka took a step toward the bed, stopped, turned around, and went to his closet. “I’m taking a shower. You go to bed.”

Eli watched as Haruka slung a towel over his shoulder and walked out of the room stiffly.

“Guess I’m going to bed then,” Eli said to himself.

He stripped quickly and put on the first set of pjs he could find, a limited-edition Sailor Moon set. The top was a white, long-sleeved shirt with Luna, Sailor Moon’s cat, winding around the torso. The shorts were black with Artemis, Sailor Venus’ cat curving around one hip.

He crawled under the covers and expected to pass out as soon as his head hit the pillow. The day had been long and exhausting—even with his impromptu nap. But his mind wouldn’t stop spinning. Flashes of Ash, pinning him to the desk, chased him as he sought oblivion. As soon as he banished them, thoughts of today’s classes jerked him to full wakefulness. Eli flipped over and buried his head under a pillow. He hadn’t even contacted his professors!

He threw the pillow across the room then had to get up and retrieve it.

Haruka was taking a long time, wasn’t he?

Eli scooted to the middle of the bed and began tucking pillows and blankets around himself, then curled up in a ball. He clutched the small gray cat in his hands and breathed in Haruka’s unique scent from his pillow. Only then was he able to slide into sleep.

In his dreams, he felt hands rearrange his body until he was draped over something warm and safe. Something his.

There was a light touch on the top of his head, and Eli sank deeper into oblivion.

✽✽✽

Eli wandered through a gray world. He turned around to see how far he’d travelled and saw blossoms of color in the shape of his footprints. He kneeled down and traced a finger over a gray flower and marveled at the way it burst into a vibrant red. He ran his hands over everything he could reach, enjoying the greens, blues, and yellows that rippled out like waves at the brush of his fingers. Every color of the rainbow was his to command, and he couldn’t get enough of it.

Music broke into his world and pulled at him. Eli tried to cling to the beautiful landscape he’d created, but the music grew louder and more persistent.

Eli opened his eyes and glared in the direction of the music. It was across the room, and if he wanted to make it stop, he’d have to get out of his cocoon—which was a terrible idea because it held traces of his dreams and the comfiest blanket in the world.

He groaned and tried to burrow further under his blanket. If he went far enough, maybe the music would go away.

Then his blanket moved. And it was poking him in the hip.

That was when Eli realized he had a bigger problem than shutting off the alarm he didn’t remember turning on.

He didn’t need to panic. It was a totally normal guy thing—he should know since he was currently experiencing the same issue.

He tried to wiggle out from under Haruka, but the arm around him pulled him in closer, and Haruka buried his face in the back of Eli’s neck. Eli gasped as his hipbones were pushed intimately against the mattress. He ground against the friction without thinking.

Eli felt Haruka freeze, then sit up slowly, prying himself away from Eli’s back. He propped an elbow on one knee and yawned as he rubbed his eyes. His hair curtained most of his face. “Sorry, I just woke up,” Haruka said in a voice thick with sleep.

“M-me too.” Eli sat up, facing the edge of the bed. He tried to stand, but one of the sleeves on his baggy sleep shirt was trapped underneath Haruka, causing the neck of his shirt to slip over one shoulder.

Haruka gazed at him for a long moment before shifting his weight to release Eli.

Eli got up and pulled the hem of his shirt down. “I have to go to the bathroom!”

He ran for the bathroom, making sure to keep the front of his body facing away from Haruka.