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“How?” Seong asked him, standing a little taller. “What have I done to be an enemy?”
Danny stared hard at the bathroom door, clearly listening to see if Thomas had reacted to his outburst. Then those angry, bloodshot eyes turned back to Seong. “You don’t think I don’t know how close the two of you are,” he hissed softly. “That I don’t know he looks forward to your bi-monthly meetups more than our dates? He holds back how much he wants to mention you. He talks about you all the time to Mark when they are on their runs together. More than anyone else! More than me.”
“You ever consider the fact that he talks about me all the time because we have things in common and Mark is asking him about those things,” Seong hissed back at him, scowling, not allowing himself to believe the flip flop of his heart. “That he looks forward to meeting up with me because it’s three hours of uninterrupted programming and coding and learning about something he loves with the added benefit of my help on the rare times he needs it? Have you even asked to join us? To show you what he does? Have you shown any real interest in his passions?” His scowl twisted into a sneer. “Or do you just wait until he’s done talking so you can talk about something else? Like baseball?”
“Fuck y-”
Seong crossed the distance and grabbed Danny by the shirt, dragging him closer. “Don’t finish that sentence,” he snarled at him. “I am running on no sleep, trauma, and the need to make sure he is okay. He is the only reason I am here. He is the only reason I am tolerating you.” He twisted his hand in Danny’s shirt. “So either get with the program and play nice or get the fuck out. Because he doesn’t need you making him feel worse when he’s already holding on by threads.”
Danny stared at him, his eyes filling with tears that didn’t fall. “He just left-”
“He didn’t have a choice,” Seong spat. “You don’t seem to get it, Daniel. Those men would have done anything to get what they wanted. Blackmail and kidnapping were just the tip of the iceberg. You think them threatening to give you a little cut was bad? Physically hurting you would have been a mercy. I don’t need a knife to hurt people, Daniel Conor Boyle. I can destroy your life, ruin your reputation, and crush your dreams without leaving the comfort of my bed. Before my feet touch the ground every morning, I could bankrupt you, your brother, even the children you haven’t even decided you want. That was what you were fucking dealing with. That is what Thomas protected you three from.” He turned him around, pushing him back. “So if you can’t hold it together, get out.”
Danny stumbled backwards, catching himself on the edge of the bed. His chest heaved as he stared up at Seong for a moment. Then he got up, his eyes darting towards the bathroom, and left the room.
Seong breathed out slowly as the door closed, his eyes threatening to close and stay that way. Shaking himself, he turned to Thomas’s duffle bag and grabbed the first set of clothing he could find.
“Yeah,” Thomas said, his voice low when Seong knocked on the door.
“I got your clothes,” he said, his forehead against the door. “Is it alright to open the door to set them inside?”
There was a pause. “Th-the shower is glass.”
Seong smiled at the stammer. Thomas vented to him not too long ago about his frustration of the stammer lingering, of it turning up when he was dealing with “normal” stress. Hopefully, that was still the case and not a sign of trauma regression. “I’ll close my eyes,” he promised.
Another pause and Seong started to take a breath to offer another alternative when Thomas said, “It’s okay.”
Covering his eyes with one hand, Seong opened the door. Steam billowed out over his feet and legs, a delicious warmth he was tempted to join. Instead, he kept his eyes down, his face covered so he only saw the bottom of the standing shower. The sound of water was just as soothing as the heat, and he could hear it being interrupted as Thomas moved.
His imagination ran wild with that. He could picture Thomas there, pale behind the clouded glass. His freckles wouldn’t be noticeable through the glass but his hair would still be fiery red. Would he be trying to cover himself, a hand palming his crotch or would be be standing with confidence ready to invite him in—
He swallowed hard, feeling blood rushing south to places it shouldn’t despite his exhaustion. He quickly set the clothes down on the toilet next to the towels. “Take your time,” he told him, already pulling the door shut. “There’s no rush.”
Thomas’s breath hitched, as if he was going to say something. Seong paused for just a moment, the door barely cracked. Nothing followed.
Seong closed the door completely, unable to keep himself from feeling disappointment as he made his way back to the bed to wait.
* * *
Felinus watched through the doors of the main balcony as Danny stumbled back out of the room, pulling at his shirt where it had been twisted near the collar. “Hm.”
“That’s an interesting sound,” Bat said in his ear, the wet crunch of bone accompanying him. “Is the soap opera starting yet?”
“You take entirely too much pleasure from watching people struggle in their love lives for a man pining after one of his best friends,” Felinus told him bluntly.
“Oof, low blow, Cat. Low blow.” There was another crunch, metal clattering to the ground. “But is it?”
“Snake would not step over a boundary,” Felinus reminded him.
“Of course he wouldn’t,” Bat agreed, grunting with effort. The wet tear of flesh separating from bone filled the air. “But I poked my head out for their reunion. That was one head tilt away from being a ‘thank God’ kiss.”
“Hm.” Felinus didn’t disagree. The fact that Seong didn’t kiss Thomas full on the mouth after hearing the gunshot and seeing him safe was an act of self control Felinus didn’t think he possessed. “How much longer will you be?”
There was another grunt. “Hold that for me, big guy.” A second grunt and more tearing. “I’ve gotten him into segments but Mateo said he needs to be smaller,” he said, panting slightly as something thudded into metal. “Something about choking his pets. Why don’t we feed pets like this?”
“First, because we have plenty of woods to use instead while they only have so much land,” Felinus pointed out. “Second, do you really want to become a butcher as a second job?”
“Hmmm, not really,” Bat admitted. “It’ll probably put me off helping my Nono with the pig slaughter next time I visit him. And you know it makes the old man happy that one grandson isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty.” He grunted again, something breaking apart then he laughed. “Hey, Dog, look! The tendons stayed on!”
