Page 73 of Seer
I trailed after him, which was probably rude, but I was dying to see what his bedroom was like. And I needed to put his duffel in there too, right?
Except this bedroom was not for sleeping. This was... well, calling it a study or an office didn’t quite do it justice. It wasmore of a command center. He’d set up three rectangular folding tables in a horseshoe shape with four monitors. One wall was covered in white boards, and the window was flanked by some pretty razor-sharp-looking metal replicas of Klingon weapons. One was easily four feet long and curved, with handles in the center of the outer blade. The other was about half as long, and it appeared more like a pirate’s cutlass with an additional blade over the hilt, pointing in the opposite direction of the sword part.
“Was that where you were trying to figure out what the fuck was going on?” I pointed at a white board, which sported phrases like, “NPC”, “DM”, and “bear shifters”.
Cal set the stack of books down on a corner of one of the desks. “Uh, yeah. I like to make lists.” He chuckled, but the sound seemed tentative, like he was waiting for me to make fun of him.
“Smart,” I said, and he flushed again. “And I have to ask. Are those Klingon weapons?”
Cal laughed. “Yeah. The big one’s a bat’leth and that other one’s a mek’leth. Steve gave me the bat’leth when we released theRogues Galleryapp, and then the mek’leth on the first anniversary of our company being founded. When we were kids we used to pick up tree branches, and instead of pretending they were swords or light sabers, we always pretended they were bat’leths and we were Klingon warriors.” He shrugged and smiled as he stared at the blade on the wall. “We thought Klingons were the coolestStar Trekcharacters. We even tried learning to speak Klingon for a while, but most of it didn’t stick.” He jumped a little, then gave me a slightly guilty look. “Sorry. You didn’t ask for a biographical essay.”
I smiled. “No apology necessary. I liked the story. Um, you probably want to get sorted or cleaned up or somethingbefore you try the vision. Can I raid your kitchen for a glass of water?”
“Sure, help yourself.” Cal put his backpack in the gaming chair behind the desk before coming back toward the doorway.
I handed the duffel bag to him then retreated into the living room. Ms. Jackson had transformed themselves into the Ouija board.
“Your form reminds me that Cal hasn’t asked about ghosts yet,” I told them as I passed the dining table. “That’ll be a fun conversation.”
TheYessparkled.
I opened cabinets until I found the glasses. I pulled out two mismatched glass tumblers. The refrigerator didn’t have an ice maker in the door, but a square bucket inside the freezer was full. I filled the glasses with water from the sink.
I didn’t see any coasters or paper napkins, so I folded up a couple of paper towels to put under the glasses and set them on the coffee table. I guessed Cal would want to sit on the couch to call his vision, so I went back over to Ms. Jackson.
“Would you like me to move you to the coffee table so you can watch?”
Yessparkled, so I carefully lifted them and put them on the coffee table with the letters and numbers oriented to be read from the direction of the couch. It probably didn’t matter—they were a magical being after all—but this way seemed more like the board was facing where Cal would be sitting.
I settled into the gaming chair to the right of the couch so I wouldn’t distract him.
He came out of the bedroom. He’d changed into navy sweatpants and a gray t-shirt that read, “And yet, despite the look on my face, you’re still talking.”
I raised an eyebrow at him. “Nice shirt,” I said with a small grin. It was borderline flirty, but I had to start somewhere.
Cal wrinkled his forehead and grunted, then sat down on the other end of the couch and picked up his glass of water. The paper towel stuck to the bottom. “Thanks,” he said, lifting the glass toward me.
“Sure. Um, do you know what you want to focus on for your vision?”
He made a face. “Nothing to do with Wonders. Not for this.”
“That’s understandable.”
He set the glass back down on the coffee table. “I’m going to focus on my friend Steve. He can get into some crazy situations, and I’ve had a ton of visions about him over the years.”
Cal scooted back and wriggled his body so he was half laying on the cushions and his head was supported by the back of the couch. He closed his eyes and started breathing in a regular in-and-out rhythm.
I tried to stay as still as possible so I wouldn’t make any noise. I wasn’t getting any feedback through my connection with Cal, so all I could do was wait.
After a few minutes, Cal’s face started moving through several expressions I couldn’t quite interpret. Was he having a vision? From what I knew, it would be unprecedented for an unbonded Seer to call a vision. Interesting that Mom and Edgar had suggested he try.
I felt a tugging on the connection between us. I looked down, and I could swear it was even more substantial andbrighter. Cal was pulling on my magic to help him call his vision, and as a result the link between us was strengthening.
I smiled, but then I quickly blanked my expression. Cal and I needed to discuss our connection. Maybe today would be a good time for that conversation.
The pull from Cal stopped, and he opened his eyes. “Well, that was a bust.” He sat up and took a sip of water.
“It was? Because you were drawing on my magic through our connection.”
