The Autumn Prince

36. The Druid's Staff

"Our lawn." Katherine replied, adjusting her own covering. I quietly decided long, modest bathrobes would be perfect Christmas gifts.

"What will the neighbors think?" Rachel said dismissively, then called out, "Becks, you can come in, Tom's eyes are glued to the wall."

"Are you sure?" returned a quiet, muffled voice.

"If he tries to peek I'll kick him in the nuts."

"He won't look even if you ask him to," Katherine moved to open her towel and I snapped my eyes shut. "See?"

"You're the one who told me it would be safe to hide in here."

"Your definition of safe is different from mine. This is our home, Thomas. Even in a place this size, you're bound to get an eyeful once in a while and you can't just make it weird every time."

"How hard can it be to respect each others' privacy?"

Rachel snorted a laugh. "You've never lived in a dorm."

"That's different, your dorm wasn't co-ed."

"That only applied to room assignments, it didn't stop dudes from hanging out. I walked in on one using our shower room a month back."

Katherine giggled, "Amelie's boyfriend, I remember that. He's lucky he left with all his bits attached."

"Nah," Rachel said, "he was respectful and it wasn't my job to cock block anyone. I just wanted to keep the Rob Fosters out."

"The who?" I asked.

"Guys who think a girls' dorm is a vending machine for hookups."

"Rob tried to date Kennedy's older sister for a while," Katherine explained, "then he tried to get with Ken after she graduated. Classic creep."

Rachel nodded. "He tried to break into the building while everyone was sleeping. I cracked his tibia with a baseball bat and he spent the night in the precinct for trespassing. Everyone's decent, Tom, you can turn around."

"Baseball bat?" I said, shifting in my seat, then averted my eyes again while Rachel finished pulling on a pair of underwear beneath her towel. "That's harsh even for you,"

"Harsh my ass, he deserved it."

"He'd have been expelled if you didn't break his leg," Katherine said, "but it all worked out in the end. He didn't press charges and never tried it again."

"Only because he knew the next time I'd aim for his pecker."

I accepted the second mention of testicular injury as my cue to leave the girls and take a turn under the shower. Their vague silhouettes dressing beyond the makeshift curtain stirred my imagination, but I took a breath, stripped off my sweats, and washed quickly before anyone could surprise me, accidentally or otherwise.

More school work, mostly acclimating to the online format, helped the morning pass quickly, followed by an emergency load of laundry. I was still limited to one change of clothing in addition to the denim coveralls the Fae provided, and Katherine was only slightly better off, with a handful of white gowns and the articles Becca had borrowed. Everything else we owned was in the apartment, and the apartment was off limits.

By that afternoon I understood that Katherine's preoccupation with beautifying the island had more to do with boredom than a genuine concern for aesthetics. Against a backdrop of shocking revelations, a near fatal injury, and magical beings surrounding us with wonders, the daily life of a college student felt drab, even with a chef's kitchen and an indoor theater. It wasn't as though I craved a return to the excitement of the week before, but being forced into hiding with no clothes and a limited budget made everything I'd ever taken for granted stand out. When the subject surfaced again, I was better prepared to listen.