Page 20 of Guiding Desire
“No. What happened? I was falling.”
“Telekinesis. Works on things and on people.” He put Orrey down with the kind of care Orrey had never once associated with Guardians. “I’ll make you some food. You a coffee person?”
“Where are my things?” Orrey said.
Senlas frowned, his blue eyes looking shadowy. “In the hallway outside.”
“I am meant to live here then. Starting right now.”
Senlas sighed. He sat next to Orrey, took Orrey’s hand, much like he had at the parade yesterday.
“Let’s try something easy. Some channeling. Would that be okay? Do you consent?”
Orrey hesitated, then nodded. “Yes.”Perhaps nothing will happen.
“All right. Close your eyes and breathe. In, out. In, out. Yes. I’ll try something, right…now. Can you feel that?”
The warmth of the Guardian’s hand changed in quality, almost as if Orrey was suddenly holding it under warm water. Only what he felt reminded him less of the flow of water and more of an electric current, of the countless times he’d zapped other people accidentally. Instead of a brief discharge, whatever Senlas was doing was prolonged, like flames dancing over Orrey’s fingers. It stopped as abruptly as it had started.
“What was that?” Orrey asked, his eyes flying open.
“Technically, forced channeling, which I’d never do without asking permission from you first. It’s possible with any Conduit who’s compatible, always possible between a Guardian and the one he imprinted on. It didn’t hurt, did it?”
Orrey shook his head, which aggravated his headache despite the painkillers. Lots of dramas talked about forced channeling, and it was usually a romantic thing there, something that helped the Conduit realize their feelings for the Guardian that did the forcing, and on occasion making said Guardian imprint.
But apparently, not so in real life. In real life, the imprinting came first. Orrey wondered if this single instance of channeling was going to make him fall for Senlas now.
“Follow my words, Orrey. It won’t ever hurt. It really doesn’t, not the channeling, not anything else. The protectors made a rush job out of this, which…well, they are protectors. We’ll find you something you’ll enjoy doing while you learn your own powers.” Senlas brushed the short hair on the side of Orrey’s head, and Orrey didn’t mind it, not really. “Coffee?”
Orrey nodded. He didn’t trust himself with words, not right then.
7
SENLAS
Senlas,byandlarge,had never been uncomfortable in his own skin, never reluctant to let people know his mind. Yet the Conduit half-asleep on his couch made Senlas doubt himself, made him feel insecure.
Orrey looked over when Senlas started grinding the beans. Senlas liked a simple, old-fashioned mechanical grinder for that, one that was operated by hand, something not very fancy that had still cost a pretty decime.
Orrey looked back to the screen soon enough, keeping his eyes on the fireworks. Senlas had looked into his Conduit last night. The research, while made interesting for the simple fact it pertained to Orrey, had not taken very long.
On TingDing, Orrey had generally liked more images than he’d posted, and what he had posted had been small, insignificant things, a summer drink, a sunset sky, an especially nice restaurant meal, his uniform neatly folded atop his boots.
WebSocial had some more posts, few with photos, many about being done with exams and looking forward to what came next. Senlas had found one interesting photo on there, Orrey, surrounded by friends from his cohort at uni, smiling for graduation day. He’d gone farther back and found a similar image for school.
What Senlas had not found were any romantic interests, although he had taken the time to check the profiles of the people in the graduation photos with Orrey, particularly the one standing closest to him.
Senlas had been looking for Orrey in their posts, and he had come across the odd lunch photo, the odd photo of a cramming session. In a way, Senlas had been relieved. On another level, he was left profoundly curious.
Compared to Senlas’s own taste and social postings, Orrey’s presented as very tame, possibly even boring. Orrey absolutely wasn’t boring to Senlas, and even if he was going to judge his Conduit by the social media traces he’d left behind, the lack of posts reminded him of Vin, and the A-classer was a shallow pond with unknown depths who had once posted the color he’d chosen for his walls. On his walls. With nothing else in the picture.
Consequently, Senlas had wondered whether Orrey was really just quiet and unwilling to share himself or truly tame as far as experiences went. Either way, the resulting questions about what his Conduit liked in a partner had Senlas frown as he cranked the coffee grinder.
“Any food preferences?” Senlas asked. “Any allergies?” he added in an attempt to make his Conduit feel seen.
“Didn’t you get access to my medical file?” Orrey asked. He sounded tired.
“You know I did. But I haven’t read it.” Senlas stopped grinding. “Not because I’m not interested. I am. I simply hoped we could talk more.” Those words out of his own mouth surprised Senlas. Unnecessary chatter had always failed to attract his interest until this point.
