Artifice - Man x Man - Book Six

Chapter 18

I had hoped for smiles and gentleness, after all, he married her. But, seeing that, if anything, he was even more hateful than he was usually, it was a little disappointing. 

Was this all I could hope for, for our future? Was I getting the dumbed-down version? Surely not. As they leave, he exhales, and I watch his shoulders sag. It's the first time I've noticed he's in borrowed clothes, a pair of older style jeans with tears in the knee and grit stains coupled with a shirt that is not nearly long enough for his torso, stretched across his chest in a feeble attempt to cover the broad man. 

Barefoot, the pants hanging loosely off his hips, exaggerating the gap between the two articles of clothing. "Only you can look like that in someone else's clothes," I comment, shifting uncomfortably in the shorts I've been provided. 

He responds with an amused look, plucking at the material of his shirt as if he were seeing it for the first time. 

"I was told wandering about naked was frowned upon."

I can't help but scoff. "It's always been. I didn't realize you cared." I flinch at the pain in my temple and press my palm to it to offer counterpressure. "You're being very distracting. I'm not supposed to get my heart rate up." 

Verando makes an amused sound, dabbing at the corner of his mouth with his thumb to check for blood. 

"Did you get hit in the face?"

"Naturally, by my ex, if you remember. Kicked is the better terminology. Lucky she didn't take a tooth-" My face makes him pause, and he approaches me, sitting on the couch beside me. "Sorry." 

I don't know what he's apologizing for, the fact that now the thought of him being married to someone else is raw again, or the fact that he seemed so casual. At least he never had children with this one. I haven't even had the mental capacity to unpack this, deal with all of this, and decide how I feel. 

I raise my hand, stopping him. "Just don't, please. My head feels like it will explode, I just want to sleep."

"I'd rather  you stay awake for a few more hours, head injuries are rather tricky." His head cocks to the side as he watches my eyes though his attention quickly shifts to my forehead. "How about a bath?" 

What I had hoped for was my usual coping method, him alone and me at his disposal, but what I got was dunked into a porcelain basin that chilled my ass to the core while I waited for the tub to fill up. At least it was deep. 

The water pressure here was none too decent, and I found myself more interested in looking at the water quality since I wouldn't get my other wishes satisfied. As the sulphury mix covered my cuts, I found that it brought on a whole new form of pain, causing me to leap out of the tub with such enthusiasm that it nearly knocked my companion over. 

"Too hot?" He raises a brow, wondering if I've lost my mind. 

"No, it burns!" I snap at him as if somehow it's his fault. I feel fit to explode, like this was the last straw. "God, this place is just awful!" I finally manage when I can muster it all into words. "I feel like I'm not getting clean at all, and now the water burns like hell's fury! There's no drain on the floor, so I can't even bathe out here." 

I can't help but feel overwhelmed with all that's happened today, he sits on the edge of the tub to take me in. This wasn't how it was supposed to go, getting our asses kicked by unknown forces. We were supposed to return the weather to normal, which is another situation where the people involved weren't truthful. 

If I had known, I probably would have still come, perhaps I would have been less encouraged to run around the city. "I had thought the scariest thing out there was a lycan, besides dragons, that is, but these cat things-" I shake my head.