Page 48 of In Your Light

Hadeom shook his head. “No. It’s... complicated.”

Oh.

Fyn understood then. “If you don’t want to live with me, I’m sure there’s another house. There’s a few, I think. Sawyer suggested mine because it’s so close to the forest so I can run.”

“Sawyer,” Hadeom murmured.

Fyn tilted his head. “You know him?”

He closed his eyes for a moment before he nodded.

Oh.

Fyn didn’t really understand...

Hadeom looked at him then, his dark eyes sharp. “It’s not that I don’t want to see your house, Fyn, or stay in your house with you. Like I said, it’s very kind of you to offer. It’s just that I will probably not be welcome there. I cannot tell you the reason. It’s a very long story. And they cannot know that I’m staying here. You haven’t told them?”

“I haven’t,” Fyn said. “I won’t. Cern said it had to be a secret.”

Hadeom sighed. “I don’t want you to have to lie for me. I’m sorry.”

“I haven’t lied for you. Or to you. And I haven’t lied to them either. They’ve never asked for your name, or who you are, or anything. They know you’re a friend of Cern’s and that you’re here to rest and recuperate, that’s all. And the truth is, I couldn’t tell them anything anyway because I don’t know anything. Not really. I know your name, and that’s it. But I know that you’ve started to smile more. I know that you look better now than when you first got here. You seem better.... Happier.”

Hadeom stared at him for a long beat before he looked away and his brows furrowed again. “I feel better. Not fixed. I don’t know if I’ll ever be fixed. But I feel better than what I did when I first arrived, certainly. And I think I have you to thank for that.”

“Me?”

“Yes. You’re like sunshine.” He looked up at the sky. “I swear it only stops raining when you’re here. You bring warmth.”

Fyn grinned at him. That was the nicest thing anyone had ever said to him. “I like you, Hadeom,” he said. He felt bold, but he’d always been open and honest. “I like seeing you smile.”

He shook his head a little, his cheeks flushing pink. “I like you, too, Fyn.”

“Then I’ll keep coming by,” Fyn declared, happier now. “If you won’t come to Tenebrae, then I’ll come to you. Every second day, so let me know if you need something. I have to see Zaq again in two days, so I’ll come by after.” Then Fyn remembered... “That reminds me. Have you heard from Cern lately?”

“Only when I hear his voice on the wind, mocking me.”

Fyn laughed. “Ah, you’ve been listening?”

“Yes. To the wind and to the trees. Like you said. It was very helpful, thank you. I’ve been practicing more. It’s been good for me.”

“I’m happy to hear that. Did you have any luck with your true form?”

“Kind of. Not fully. But I can see it in my mind now and feel it in my bones. Not quite ready for the final shift yet, I don’t think.”

“Something’s holding you back,” Fyn said.

“You sound like Cern.”

Fyn laughed again. “Don’t rush it. It will come to you.”

He nodded and almost smiled again. “Did you need Cern? Is something wrong?”

“Not sure. I need to tell the others what Zaq and I saw.”

“What did you see?”

“Humans.”