by Lina Langley
Just thinking about it was exciting him. He didn’t have much time to focus on it before Jesse stepped through the door and looked at him.
“Hey, did you rest? Do you feel better?”
“I feel fine. Thank you.”
“Alright,” Jesse said. “I brought you some breakfast. I don’t really cook so I won’t be offended if you spit it out.”
He set a plate of food in front of him. “You are so kind.”
“And horribly shallow, I’m sorry to say,” Jesse replied. “If you didn’t look like you do, I probably wouldn’t be this nice.”
“Maybe I am meant to be a companion,” Puck said, more to himself than to Jesse.
Jesse laughed. “No offense, sweetheart, you’re gorgeous but no one is paying you to teach you how to do stuff. And I’m afraid I took the most valuable thing you had to offer last night.”
“My garments?”
“No,” Jesse said. “Your virginity.”
“Oh,” Puck replied, wondering if he should ask what his host meant. He spoke in riddles. He wondered if that was part of being in the earth realm or if it was simply the fact that he was addressing someone so below his station. “That means I am unable to contribute.”
“Contribute to what? Eat,” Jesse replied.
Like he had been taught, Puck started to grab the food with his fingertips.
“Whoa,” Jesse said, moving the plate out of his way. “What are you doing?”
“Eating. Like you taught me to.”
Jesse shook his head. “You have to use a knife and fork to eat scrambled eggs, not your hand. It’s not pizza. Here.”
He grabbed the metallic adornments next to the plate and stuck them in Puck’s hands, grabbing Puck’s fingers and wrapping them around them. “Are you sure you didn’t hit your head? Will you let me examine you after you eat?”
“You may do whatever you want,” Puck replied, taking the trident-like implement and sticking it into the food.
Jesse looked at him and blinked.
“You don’t know how to use a fork.”.
Puck looked back at him. He didn’t really understand the expression that he was wearing on his face. His brow was creased and his mouth half-open. It was making him uncomfortable. He swallowed before speaking. Maybe asking him a question would get him to change his expression. “What’s a fork?”
“Okay.” Jesse moved the plate aside and putt it on the floor. “How many fingers am I holding up?”
“Two,” Puck replied. The expression was gone and he was relieved, though he wasn’t sure why he was being asked such stupid questions. Maybe that was part of the placement test in this realm.
“Good. Good. Don’t close your eyes, okay?”
He grabbed the rectangular object from his pocket and conjured up light into his eyes. It was dazzling. Puck could hardly keep his eyes open while Jesse did that.
“Dude, your eyes are so weird,” Jesse said. “But your pupils are the same size and they responded okay. So maybe we don’t have to go see the doctor. Still, it’s weird that you don’t know how to use a fork, or know your name…”
“Puck,” he replied. “My name is Puck.”
“What year is it?”
“Year?”
Jesse nodded and swallowed, looking away. “Alright. You do need to see a doctor. Do you know what a doctor is?”
Despite the feeling of dread that was building up inside of him with every question he was asked, Puck knew it was a bad idea to be dishonest in placement tests. He felt like he was disappointing his kind host. “I am sorry. I don’t.”
“I’m taking you to see my friend Peter. He’s the best neurologist at the hospital I did my placement at last year. I’ll see if he can squeeze you in today.”
Puck nodded. “Does it bother you?”
“Does what bother me?”
“That I can’t understand you. “That I can’t use a… fork.”
“Bother me? No,” Jesse put his thumb under Puck’s chin and tilted his face up. “No. You’re not bothering me. You’re scaring me, though.”
“I’m sorry,” Puck said. “I don’t want to frighten you.”
Jesse nodded. “Seriously, Puck, don’t worry about me, okay? Worry about yourself.”
CHAPTER THREE
“There’s nothing wrong with him,” Dr. Peter Richardson said. “Nothing we’re able to see from the tests we did. That said, you know that the brain is a complex organ. We have to report him to the police, he could be a runaway.”
Jesse nodded, looking at Puck through the glass. He was wearing a hospital robe and his thin black hair looked coppery under the hospital’s electric lights.
Jesse paled. “He could be a minor?”
“Yes,” Peter replied. “Did you sleep with him?”
“I thought he was a performance artist,” Jesse replied. “I thought it was weird that he kept it up while we were, you know, in the middle of it, but it was fun. He was definitely inexperienced, though.”
“Are you serious? Jesus, Jesse—”
“I know, I know. It was Friday night near the commons though, and you know what that’s like.”
Peter scoffed. “You’re smarter than that.”
“Obviously not,” Jesse sighed.
Peter shook his head, letting the silence hang between them.
“There’s something else,” Peter said. “I have a feeling he’s severely anemic. I could get a blood sample but he’s already freaked out enough. I think he’s never been to a hospital before.”
“Why do you think he’s anemic?”
“He’s almost translucent, Jesse. His hands were freezing. Does he eat okay?”
Jesse looked down before he exhaled through his mouth. “He doesn’t know how to use a fork.”
“What?”
“Yeah,” he replied, rubbing his temple. “He ate two slices of pizza last night. He was eating as much as I was eating, watching me to see how much he was allowed to eat. You don’t think…”
“Who knows? We still have to inform the police. You should stop sleeping with him.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Jesse replied. “If he’s a runaway and a minor, will he be returned to whatever crazy place he escaped from?”
“He has to be at least seventeen,” Peter replied. “I don’t know how it works but I doubt he’d be returned to an unsafe environment. We do need to find a place for him to stay.”
“Can’t you have him as a patient here?”
“I could refer him to psychiatry, but honestly, the administration would never go for that. He’s an unidentified person, possibly a minor. You know how long the waiting list is. Unless you think he may have hurt himself, there’s no recourse.”
Jesse put his head in his hands. “So what’s going to happen to him?”
“I don’t know. Rayne will probably put him in a halfway house or a youth hostel,” Peter replied. “If there are any placements left for the month. You know how bad summer gets. There’s another possibility—”
“Don’t say it,” Jesse replied.
“It would only be for a couple of weeks. While Rayne finds a placement for him.”
“You know my life is complicated enough.”
“Your life is easy compared to his,” Peter said. “And you’ve been the recipient of the kindness of strangers before.”
Jesse nodded and licked his teeth. “No, I get that. But I already enrolled for a few summer classes and I think he needs someone watching him all the time.”
“She can probably find something for him to do while you’re in class. I can help you, too, for a few weeks, while we decide what to do.”
Jesse sighed. “Alright. Thank you for your help again. I don’t know what I would do without the two of you. And thank you for squeezing us in.”
“Of course,” Dr. Peter Richardson said before he rose and walked around his desk, wrapping Jesse in a tight hug.
* * *
Puck watched them. There was a fan right
above where he was sitting, blowing onto the back of his neck. It felt like it was seeping into his veins.
The healer had touched him, too, but it hadn’t been pleasant. It had been uncomfortable. His hands were calloused and warm and he barely looked at him while he was doing so. It was nothing like how Jesse touched him. It put him on edge, but holding Jesse’s gaze had allowed him to sit still despite the urge to run away from the healer. If Jesse trusted him, he must be one of the most desired experts in the realm. Still, he seemed to have done nothing for his hands. Instead, he had urged him to take his clothes off and sit still in a giant metal machine. Now his head hurt and his scratches weren’t any better.
“Hey,” Jesse said as he stepped out of the office. “How are you doing?”
Puck looked up at him. “Fine.”
“Alright,” Jesse replied. “Do you have any other clothes? Other than the ones you wore here?”
“No,” Puck frowned in confusion. Jesse had already asked him if he wanted to borrow some of his garments, but it had seemed disrespectful. He wondered why he was repeating the question.
“Please,” Jesse said. “You have to wear something else. I really think mine would probably fit you. We could back to my apartment and I can get you some.”
Taln looked up at him. “Why? I like my clothes.”
Jesse looked down at the clothes that Taln had on his lap. “I don’t know. It’s kind of hard to explain.”
“I need to know,” Taln said. “Why you want me to wear your clothes instead of mine.”
“Can’t you just trust me on this?”
“I trust you,” Taln replied. “I like my clothes.”
Jesse sighed. “Look, if you’re going to keep wearing the one outfit you have, people are going to stare at you. And that’s okay, if that’s what you want, but it may not be. Also, your clothes probably need to be washed.”
Taln thought about this for a few seconds. He supposed it made sense. “Fine. But I still don’t want to wear your clothes.”
“If you won’t wear my clothes, we’re going to have to go shopping,” Jesse said. “You can’t keep wearing that.”
Puck touched his jacket, which was on his lap. It felt like the only part of him that he had left.
“You can keep them,” Jesse said, sitting down next to him. “You just can’t wear them all the time.”
Puck looked at him, not saying anything. A person got one garment to wear per year. That was how it worked.
“We’ll go home, get some grub and then go to the mall. How does that sound?”
Puck nodded. He had no idea what Jesse was talking about.
* * *
“This is the mall,” Jesse said, pointing from inside the transport. The world looked slightly distorted from inside of it. “Open the door.”
Puck did as he was told and set his eyes on the towering building in front of him. They were surrounded by many other similar transports around them. People were coming in and out of the white and brown building holding bags and talking loudly to each other. Some were holding hands. Children were on their parents’ shoulders, wrapped around their waists. Puck had never seen anything like it.
Puck closed his eyes and leaned back.
“Hey,” Jesse said. “You’re okay.”
Puck nodded, opening his eyes again. “That’s the mall.”
“Yep,” Jesse said. “And I have a Benjamin Franklin with your name on it. Thank you for wearing what I told you to. You don’t want to call any more attention to yourself.”
“I will do whatever you request,” Puck replied.
Jesse sighed. “I wish you wouldn’t. You look nice in jeans and a t-shirt. Are you comfortable?”
“My skin tingles.”
“I bet it’s weird wearing denim for the first time,” Jesse said. “Open the glove compartment.”
Puck looked around the small vehicle. He would be able to spot gloves, but what kind of compartment would have them? He hated disappointing his host. He liked Jesse, but he also knew he needed somewhere to live. He didn’t know if he could make it outside in this strange world. Jesse frowned and leaned over, unlatching the compartment in front of him and taking a small black hat out.
“Tilt your head down,” Jesse said, putting a hat on his head. It was tight and warm. “Your hair is an identifiable feature. If you’re running away from someone, you definitely want to keep it covered. Plus, you look cute in a baseball cap.”
“I’m not running away. I have been banished. I may return after I have learned my lesson.”
Jesse frowned. “Is that what you want? What is it like where you’re from?”
“It’s dark,” Puck said. “And beautiful.”
“Do you have malls there?”
“No,” Puck replied, eying the building in front of him. “We have no such thing.”
“So what do you have?”
Puck closed his eyes and tried to remember. The images of Minburry Citadel were starting to fade. He put his face in his hands and rubbed his eyes. “Rules,” he said. “We have rules.”
CHAPTER FOUR
Jesse laid back on the sofa. His head hurt. He had told his unexpected guest, in detail, how to use everything in the bathroom. That had been an uncomfortable conversation, but one that needed to be had. If he didn’t know how to use a fork, there was a chance that he couldn’t do other basic things.
Rayne was expecting them early in the morning. He heard Puck moving around in the bathroom. He had taken his clothes off in front of him again. Jesse had averted his eyes, trying to focus on the tile behind him. Puck had asked him if he would stay and Jesse had to leave the bathroom without saying anything to him. He wondered if he had upset him. That was probably better than taking advantage of him, if that was what he was doing. It probably was.
He wanted a glass of wine but that would only impair his judgment. The effort he had to make to walk away from Puck just a few minutes ago was superhuman and he didn’t think drunk him would be able to do it.
He thought about what Puck had said about where he was from. He seemed sad when he spoke about it so Jesse didn’t want to push, but still. There was something so intriguing about him. He was falling asleep before he heard someone banging on his door.
“Stay in there,” he said to the closed bathroom door, hoping that Puck could hear him in the shower.
He dragged his feet towards the door.
“Why aren’t you taking my calls?” Jon crossed his arms.
Jesse sighed. “Because I don’t want to talk to you. Obviously. And you can’t come over here without announcing it.”
Jon nodded. “You would have known if you had been taking my calls. I brought vodka.”
“You can’t stay, Jon. I’m sorry,” Jesse said to the floor.
“Is this a joke? Are you joking?”
“I’m not,” Jesse said. He was trying his best to look away from the bathroom door. “You have to leave.”
“What the hell, Jesse? Is there someone here?”
Jesse shook his head. “I told you I would call the police if you came over. Please leave before I have to.”
“You’re not calling the police on me,” Jon stepped into the house.
“Stop,” Jesse said. “Seriously. This isn’t funny.”
Jesse looked at Jon’s foot. He was tall and slim, his hair brown and wavy. There was nothing threatening about the way he looked. The way he acted was a totally different story. “This is my house,” Jesse said. “You’re not welcome here.”
“What the fuck happened? You were happy when I was here last weekend,” Jon said, narrowing his eyes and showing Jesse his teeth. He had a crooked incisor which Jesse had once found very attractive. Jon had been acting erratic ever since they had broken up, more than when they were together, and now it scared him.
Jesse sighed, taking a step forward. He wasn’t looking forward to this. He wished he could just get Jon to stop. “You know what happened.”
Jon nodded. “It w
as a misunderstanding.”
“It wasn’t a misunderstanding. Cheating on someone isn’t a misunderstanding.”
“I told you. I thought we were in an open relationship,” Jon said. “I get it. We weren’t. Now I just want to spend some time with my boyfriend, please.”
Jesse rubbed his temple. “Jon, you don’t have a boyfriend. Or you do, I don’t know, but it isn’t me. Please leave.”
He held his ex’s eyes for what seemed like forever. It couldn’t have been longer than five seconds. Jon looked away before he did and as he was about to leave, looked up behind him.
Shit. Jesse turned around, his mouth falling open as he set his eyes on Puck. His skin glistened with droplets of water, his hair plastered to his forehead. His eyes were huge but his brow was furrowed.
“You’re not welcome here,” Puck said, looking right at Jon. “Jesse just told you to leave.”
Jon looked him up and down, biting his lower lip as he did so. “You heard him,” Jesse said.
“Damn,” Jon said. “Who is that?”
Puck looked up at him. As he stepped forward into the light, Jon looked into his eyes. They were amber-green, almost yellow, and his irises were huge. A black limbal ring made them look alien. He was busy watching Puck’s eyes as the boy spoke. “Jesse said to leave.”
His voice seemed to break the spell and Jon shook his head before he looked at Jesse. “Enjoy,” he said before turning on his heels and walking down the steps.
Jesse closed the door behind him. He didn’t look at Puck before he spoke. “Why aren’t you wearing any clothes?”
“You needed help,” Puck replied. “He was not leaving.”
“You can’t leave the bathroom without putting your clothes on,” Jesse said, careful not to look right at him.
“Why?”
“Because people aren’t meant to be naked around other people unless... Well, because you could get in trouble. It can also make other people feel uncomfortable.”
