Theo greeted JC with a quick smile and took the basket of laundry he was carrying, gesturing at one of the sinks. JC investigated, and under what he devoutly hoped were clean wet towels he found two apples. Gratefully, he scooped one up, and ate it as quickly as he could without choking on it.
Nothing had tasted that good since the apples in their first meal here.
For that matter, until this morning, he hadn't been as hyperaware of every whisper of air against his skin, of the sensual slide of fabric, of the easy agile strength of his own body. Sight and sound, not so much had changed, but taste and touch, especially the latter, quite dramatically so.
Theo helpfully tucked a straying lock of dark brown hair back out of JC's way for him, gave him a kiss on one cheek and a smile before sliding one arm around his waist for a kind of half-hug.
JC had long suspected that part of why Theo liked JC and Des as much as he did was that neither had ever bothered reading anything into Theo's need to touch, just accepting it as Theo being his affectionate and expressive self.
Today, however, the contact sent intense sensation singing along JC's nerves, making him shiver.
Theo drew back instantly, dark-lined blue eyes wide with concern; one ivory hand reached out, but stopped before touching.
*Jace, Theo's worried about you, wants to know what's wrong,* Alison said. *Why's he worried? What happened?*
*Nothing happened. My entire skin is just a bit hypersensitive right now.*
*Hypersensitive like, got a sunburn and it hurts?*
*Oh, it doesn't hurt. Exactly the opposite. Freakin' everything is feeling way too good and that's making it really hard to concentrate.*
*Oh! The other kind of hypersensitive. Okay. Um, you aren't the only one, I promise, mostly my hearing but I'm jumping at everything that moves in my peripheral vision, and my skin some.* A pause. *One at a time, guys. Go alphabetical or something. Des? Erica? Suze? Theo? Zach?* A pause after each name. *Seems to be happening, to different degrees with different senses, to pretty much everybody. I guess the side effects from the bread are wearing off, or something. Let's hope that we can all learn to get used to it. We don't have much choice, short of going back to eating the bread. Let's all just try to be a bit gentle with each other for a while, shall we? Anyway, Jace, Theo says he's sorry, him too but he wasn't thinking.*
*It's okay, I'll live.* It would take a lot more than feeling acutely sensitive to keep Theo from instinctively looking for contact, JC thought wryly. He met his friend's eyes, gave him a smile and a shrug and a quick shake of his head. Theo relaxed perceptibly, though a faint crease between dark-auburn brows suggested that he remained concerned.
JC shrugged again and waved as he headed back upstairs to resume cleaning.
With Felix right there, Zach and Erica carefully paid no attention to JC as he passed; Felix only snarled something half-inaudible about traffic through his kitchen and asking the wizards to alter the house design.
At least the nastiest of the cleaning was long since done, but there were still moments that his skin crawled. Most commonly, that was when he was handling the laundry from Barry's room.
With only one human woman on the island, two castrated wizards, and four men who were presumably intact with a normal sex drive, it wasn't really much of a surprise if masturbating was a regular event. JC, having spent most of his life single with only sporadic relationships, was more than a little familiar with it personally.
However, whatever the others were doing, they left minimal mess for JC to deal with. He didn't remember anything from the initial day or so of cleaning suggesting that Barry habitually made a mess of towels and sheets; there'd been a backlog of laundry to do and few clean linens, sure, but nothing that stood out. Which suggested that it was currently on the rise, and that could mean fantasizing about the new group of faelings, or even enjoying the fact that JC and Theo were going to have to clean up after him every day.
Whenever he did Barry's room, in particular, he found himself wishing all over again for gloves. At the bare minimum. A full hazmat suit would be better. In some sense it might not be as bad as some of what he'd had to do in housekeeping and janitorial jobs, but for sheer skin-crawling ickiness, it was certainly a leading contender for the medal.
He saw nothing of Isabel, the wizards, or Lloyd all day, though Erica and Zach were sent up to Nestor's rooms around lunchtime, each with a platter of food. Lloyd more often spent his days in the library digging through books, obviously doing research, which made JC wonder exactly what his job technically was supposed to entail—research assistant? Secretary? Anything that came to mind involved Lloyd having a better comprehension of magic and wizards and fae and related subjects than the others presumably had or typically displayed.
JC wondered whether he dared sneak into Isabel's study for another look at her journal, but decided that the risk of her going to get something while he was in there was too high. That would just have to wait.
Since Barry stayed outside, Felix in the kitchen, and handyman Gord in his workshop a short way from the house when not dragging around a cart of food, the day passed relatively smoothly for JC—without interruption, anyway, which was probably all he could ask. He really didn't want further distractions in his current state.
The day circled back around to twilight and supper.
They waited meekly while Isabel paid them a brief visit, then she left and the door locked behind her.
This was becoming a ritual in itself, disposing of the tainted food, and splitting what remained.
*Erica says that while Jace does research with someone else as a lookout, maybe Des 'cause it was his idea, a couple of us could gather some extra food so we can actually have more to eat. It's all raw fruit and veggies but we seem to be surviving on it, no one's even got the runs or anything from the change. Can't store it so we'll have to eat it now. I think it's a good idea. There's so much food growing here that a bit more missing isn't going to be noticed. We can stay close. The door opens from the outside without needing your trick, right?*
*Right.*
They discussed plans, then curled up to doze a bit, taking turns staying awake.
Isabel made a surprise inspection, coming in deep in the night to check on them; the intrusion woke them all, but they carefully stayed motionless where they were, giving her no reason to believe them anything but deep asleep.
After all, if they'd been eating the meat, they'd've had no choice.
After she left, they gave it a while so she could go back to her rooms, and then got up.
JC opened the door, growing smoother and more confident each time he did this, though it still couldn't be rushed.
JC and Des headed for the house; Erica and Zach went looking for food.
No stars, just a near-black expanse above. Not even a real subsitute for the moon, either, but there was a large crystal or glass globe at the very top of the fountain, elevated even further on a six-legged support of what might be glass. If you didn't actually look at the source, the gentle blue-white illumination it cast after dark could pass fairly well for the light of a full moon on a clear night.
Otherwise, with the house dark, the only light came from the row of wooden poles, each topped with a glassy globe that radiated soft bluish light, lining the hard-packed dirt track that curved gracefully from near the house to a forbidden location near one of the arcs of red brick wall. It didn't add up to all that much, when you were used to living in a city where it was never genuinely dark.
Despite that, JC could still see general shapes and outlines, and was sure he could keep from running into anything. Clearly, something had changed in his vision, beyond not needing glasses anymore.
Des, interestingly, seemed more sure of himself—maybe able to see better? Not much of a stretch, all things considered. JC dropped back half a step, orienting as much on his friend as on the few lights still on in the house. Des' dark skin and hair blended into the night, all but invisible, but the yellow of his clothes showed. Once or twice, JC thought he caught a faint animalistic eye-shine, but it might have been a trick of his own eyes.
Huh. Naked, you wouldn't be able to see him from a few feet away in this light, I bet. As bad as his cats when you get up at night...
Why am I thinking about Des naked? Especially when Des doesn't look like Des, he looks like a way-too-beautiful and sexy... oh, whoa, just stop that whole train of thought right there.
Stopping the thought didn't make it possible to ignore the rush of heat that had gone through him, focusing around an area between his legs he'd been trying not to think too closely about.
No no no no no, just stop. Books. Research. Getting home. The important stuff.
In the shadow of the house, something moved; both froze, tracking it. Human in size and overall shape, but JC was certain that was a female silhouette. Isabel was the only human woman on the island, and that wasn't her.
For one thing, Isabel's eyes, he was pretty sure, didn't have a faint red glow in the dark.
Des laid a hand on JC's arm, stopping him from backing away.
*Jace? Des says, you can't see her very well, can you? See who? What the hell's happening, you two?*
*No, I can't, just a general outline.*
*He says there's no way she's human, she's covered in fur, but she's not an ape or anything, she's upright like a human. Oh my god, are the fae that Gord's taking all that food to running around here on the loose at night?*
*Apparently. And we have no idea what they've been through, or whether they remember anything, or how friendly they are. Does she look threatening?*
Alison repeated that. *Des says no, just curious. Des can see that much better in the dark?*
*Apparently, because I sure can't make out details.*
*Erica, Zach, please be careful, you aren't alone out there.*
If either answered her, JC didn't hear it and Alison didn't pass it on.
The red-eyed figure made a dismissive gesture, so expansive it was visible even to JC in the darkness, and walked away from the house, out into the green land around it that was all gardens and orchard trees. Something about the gait looked subtly wrong, or was that a tail? She was out of sight before he could figure it out.
JC realized abruptly that he'd been holding his breath; he let it go, and inhaled deeply.
Was that one possible fate for them? Lurking somewhere during the day, prowling around at night? He shivered, and wrapped his arms around himself, with only a vague sense of dysphoria over the pressure that put on his breasts.
Des slid a hand along one arm until he could twine his fingers into JC's, then urged him towards the house.
The doors weren't locked; what would be the point? They went in through the kitchen, and passed the swinging doors with care that they make no sound. At least the squeaky hinge had finally reached a volume that annoyed Felix, and he had badgered Gord into oiling it, but Des eased that side open slowly regardless.
Des motioned JC towards the library, and headed for the stairs himself on silent bare feet.
The library shelves were all evenly spaced and finished to match, lining the walls with precision, and the books were all organized and had small labels. Not a single book was sitting crosswise on top of others, and there was no hint of dust or the comforting smell of old books.
Even though the utter chaos of Niko's shop made JC twitch, the haphazard wooden shelves and the dust stirred up by moving the overflow boxes of books on the floor, the trio of widely-spaced peeling wooden chairs that looked about to collapse but never did, he loved it there anyway. Many of the best moments in his life over recent years had been while hanging out there with Niko, browsing idly through the shelves while Niko was busy and getting into deep and often equally chaotic and random conversations. Not liking Niko's tendency to eat whatever was quick to prepare, JC brought lunch or supper, work schedule allowing, at least three times a week, and Niko insisted on at least paying him back for ingredients used.
There was just no comparison between there and here. Although he had to admit, it was unlikely Niko had any books around that would contain the information they currently needed so badly.
