Page 55 of Natural-Born Cullers

“Huh? What?” Simon eased up, taking Light up with him as he got to his feet. His look went to the laptop, then his head came into Light’s as he gave the hardest sigh.

“What game you playing with me now, hm, Light?”

Light pulled back a little, his look levelling on Simon’s.

“You want to know what’s got me staying up lately,” Simon said quietly. “Just ask. Don’t, and I mean don’teveruse me to get access to my laptop.” Hurt was there, but Simon tried to bury it so quickly. “I’ll tell you what I can, just not when there’s no trust between us.”

Light shoved him away, knocking him back over the table, spilling the goddamn coffee, then he turned away. “Not fucking playing here.”

Brin met him, a black particle grip on his arm trying to pull him towards the bedroom. “Fucking leave it, bro.”

Simon tugged him back the other way, or at least tried to as Light tugged out of the tug of war. “Notfucking playing here, Si,” snarled Light.

Hurt hit Simon’s eyes. “How would I know for sure? I mean….” He threw his hands up in defeat. “How would I really fucking know what it is you’re doing here? Period.”

Brin groaned. “Bro…don’t—”

“Shut it,” Light growled back at Brin. Then back with Simon, to his frown. “What the fuck’s that supposed to mean? What the hell did I ever do to you?”

Simon ran his hands through his hair, laughed. “Fuck,” he added quickly. “The day of the bombing, you wanted to leave. Yet you wore the jumper I’d tagged with a tracking device. You knew I’d follow. And the only reason you wanted me to follow was because I’d told you I’d found out your father was a culler. You wanted more information on the cullers, nothing more. You didn’t want me. So you being here, doing this?” He shrugged a look around the summerhouse. “You still got what you wanted. You still got access to me. And now you think I’m that stupid I’d fall for you the first instance you bat those beautiful dark eyes of yours my way, all so you can get access to my laptop? You think I’m a fuckingwhore?”

“Oh fuck,” mumbled Brin. “He’s stressed. He’s working on something here he can’t let you see, nothing more. And he’s right. You did leave wearing that jumper knowing it had been tagged, and there’s what you’ve been doing since, what…. Bro, don’t bite, please don’t—”

“I’m thinking you’re fucking stupid….”

“For fuck’s sake, Light.” Another pull came at his arm off Brin.

“Fuck you,” Light snapped back at him, then at Simon—“I really am just here for the food,mate.”

Simon shook his head a little, confusion creasing his brow as he glanced behind Light. “Whothe fuckare you talking to? And what the fuck is that even supposed to mean about the food? You keep saying it.”

Light looked him up and down. “If I have to spell it out at any point to you, we’re really fucking done.”

Simon took a step closer, and Light tilted his head, watching the movement. “Back. Off.”

“Goddamn it, Light.” Simon creased his brow, glasses pushed up his nose more in frustration than anything. “I’m not your threat, despite it looking as though everyone around you is at the moment.”

“Being stupid doesn’t make you my threat, it just makes you a disappointment.” Light turned away.

“Yeah, and that attitude right there, that’s what got you into this mess in the first place, right?” said Simon so quietly. “What was it Brin said? How you always think you think faster, stronger, harder than anyone else?”

“Oh fuck,” murmured Brin, and a breeze blew his particles to nothing.

Light stilled, his look lowering, then he went back in so close to Simon.

“Okay, now I’ll bite.” His breath shifted Simon’s fringe. “See you, you’re just here for the food too, right?” he said quietly. “And with it, you’realwaysgoing to be stuck here trying to check the rim of your mug for the traces of poison I’ve used or to find the explosions I’ve hidden.” Light searched his look. “D’you want to know why?” He narrowed his eyes slightly. “Because you seem to need this pointing out to you.”

Simon frowned.

“You’re nothing but an MI5 rank whore,” said Light. “See, where I know how to fuck won’t ever make me your whore—” A smile. “—you’ll always be my father’s, right? I mean, that’s whyyou’rereally here? You fuck the boss’s son, keep him happy, and the boss lets you slip under MI5 director bedsheets a little further down the line?”

Simon’s look hardened as he pulled away a touch.

“Ah. And you’re not denying.” Light snorted a smile. “Yeah, there we have it. The real reason why you’re stuck here, with me. You’re on a promise with my father, staying here for the food, passing the time as—”

Hurt crashed through Simon, and a mass of shifting colour suddenly exploded around him, all his lie caught in a single breath.

Light suddenly stopped and pulled back.

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