Page 83 of A Subtle Scar
My fingers were still sticky with the oil, and I wondered whether I could use that to my advantage, reach down and grab both of them by the balls. I wondered what time it was. It felt like the middle of the night, and I was tired. Suddenly, playing with Hermes and Charon felt like too much work.
“You didn’t touch anything that would have triggered anything like that,” Charon said. “And that was not a fugue.”
“We couldn’t get through to you at all. You were completely out of yourself,” Hermes said. Huh. He looked really concerned. His honey eyes seemed to warm when he was concerned, and all of him really looked warm to begin with, warm and golden and soft, and I wanted to snuggle up in him.
That was a bit unusual, wasn’t it?
“Mmnnn, I’m tired,” I said. “Big trance events are unlikely in upward of 98% of all certified magic users.” That was on every Psychic Studies test, ever, wasn’t it? Unlikely in real magic users, widespread in the fake ones. “You look warm,” I said to Hermes. “And your wings look fluffy,” I added to Charon.
I turned on my side and felt around the mattress, hoping they would get the message.
The two immortals exchanged a look, then settled around me. I was sandwiched between them within seconds.
“Is he okay?” Charon asked, but if Hermes answered, I didn’t hear it. I was thoroughly spent, and my body just tapped out at that point.
Waking up sucked. I could tell I had slept a lot—there were birds out, which meant it was morning—but I was tired. Bone tired.
“Nnnggh.”
“Oh, good morning to you too, baby,” Hermes said, his breath warm against my neck.
I wiped the sleep from my eyes, and the blanket shifted. I turned my head, and saw that it wasn’t a blanket at all, but Charon’s wing. He and Hermes were holding hands, their fingers intertwined above me and sheltered by those shiny black wings with that mystic gleam to them. On top of that, my legs were once more anchored by two sets of legs. It was all a bit constricting, and that made me feel something. That something was definitely not panic.
“What—what’s the time? I need to get to work. Fuck. What time is it?”
Charon turned around and looked, presumably at a clock on his side table. “A little after eight or so.”
“Fuck,” I said.
My body wouldn’t kick into gear the way I needed it to. I just barely managed to push myself up on one elbow, but that was so much work, so I dropped back—onto Hermes’s arm, actually. Clearly, there were no guest pillows in this bed.
“You definitely need food,” Charon said. “Trances like that are known to take it out of humans.”
“I don’t do trances. What time is it again?”
Hermes hissed, and he unclasped his hand from Charon’s to put it on my shoulder instead. “You just told him that. Maybe we should take him right to the Dragon Mother for a healing?”
The feathered wing lifted off me, and the cold rushed in. Then Hermes slung his leg over me, and the cold wasn’t all that bad anymore.
“I’ll go make him some tea with honey. We’ll see how he is after that,” Charon said. His wings sort of wavered, and then they were gone.
“That’s odd,” I said as Charon walked out of the room.
“What, Ronny’s wings? If you’ve seen Lucy’s, you know. It’s magic. Different plane of existence or different dimension is what the humans call it, but bottom line, divine magic is better than human magic.”
“You have wings too?” I asked.
Hermes went quiet and still for a good thirty seconds. “Not as such. But as you’ve seen and experienced, my teleportation skills are quite amazing.”
“Huh. No wings. The Devil has both.”
Hermes growled. “Because Lucy is a showoff, and even if he used his for flight on a regular basis, Ronny would still be faster. Also, why are you talking about Lucy? You couldn’t have him even if you didn’t have us.”
I shrugged. That was, I tried to. It felt like too much work, so I just lay there.
“I’m single, you know.”
“Fucking—Ronny! Hurry!” A kiss was planted on my neck. “You’re not single, baby, it’s half past eight, and if you keep rubbing your ass against my dick like you’re doing, I’ll be stranded with a fucking boner I can’t do anything aboutagain, and I have to admit, this is getting to be rough.”
