Now You See Me

Twenty-Nine: Influenza

When I went down to breakfast the next morning, I felt exhausted, miserable and lonely. The episode from yesterday had taken a lot out of me, and even baths with salt in them weren't satisfying anymore. The red, flaking patches of skin that had always disappeared completely when I bathed now only faded to pale pink and returned within less than an hour. I had spent a long, disturbed night in the tub, haunted by my memory and longing to escape everything.

Naturally, after such a terrible night, Courtney was the first to comment on how awful I looked.

"Oh my God, Damien," she murmured, getting up and pulling my chair out so I could collapse in it. "Why didn't you come and see someone?"

"Don't you think I've caused enough sleeplessness recently?" I replied dully. My eyes were ready to flip shut, but I didn't want to see what was behind them. "Anyway, I'll sleep like a rock tonight to make up for it."

"Your mum should've been here, really," Courtney continued, as if I hadn't spoken, fussing around the table and getting me together a mug of tea and a light breakfast. "Where is she?"

"At home," I said. "She texted me at five this morning saying she was staying at the flat for a couple of nights. No explanation."

I couldn't help but feel resentful about this; much as I could sense that Mum was going through the mill, I did have a lot on my plate as well. Even if she'd only stretched the truth, it would've been easier to have told me something. At least then I wouldn't feel so stressed about it, and so guilty that I was probably making it worse.

I could tell Courtney didn't approve of it, either, but she seemed careful not to talk about my mother again.

"What happened between you and Lorien yesterday?" she asked instead.. I jerked awake, after beginning to nod off in the conversation lapse, and managed to gain just enough consciousness to feel a little embarrassed.

"I'm not entirely sure, if I'm honest," I said. "He got very intense. He made some sort of sign at me that seemed make him uncomfortable, and then he just left. I didn't know how to respond to it."

Courtney frowned. "Was it like this?"

She replicated the sign in front of her, though it didn't work quite as well with her fingers as it did with Lorien's; his had looked much more delicate. I nodded.

"Oh, that means he likes you," Courtney said, smiling warmly now, "It means he trusts you. I've only ever seen him do it once or twice, so he was probably just shy about it. In old times, that sign was reserved for close family and a mate during courtship. He was just admitting that he saw you as very important to him."

"Oh." I suddenly felt bad for not reacting to it, even if I hadn't known what it meant.

"What's that?" Leia came in, cradling a steaming mug against her chest. "You look like a complete stranger just proposed to you, Mr Smith. Why the embarrassment?"

If there was anyone who could make me feel worse about the situation, it was Leia. Her smirk grew as the silence stretched on, until Courtney tutted.

"Leia, don't be a bully," she said. "That's not fair."

The sorceress feigned indignation. She seemed in an extraordinarily good mood, which was somewhat alarming. "Me, a bully? I never."

"Oh, come off it. You know what you're doing," Courtney sighed, but she was grinning too. Feeling a bit better at the lighter atmosphere, I finally managed to get down some porridge and honey, even though it sat in my gut like a cannonball. Beside the exhaustion, I had the horrid suspicion that I was coming down with something akin to flu, or at least a virulent cold, as my head felt thick and heavy and my joints were aching badly. The tea made my nose run profusely.