Hal had for ages been among my best friends, but he was neither comforting nor reassuring.Hal had for ages been among my best friends, but he was neither comforting nor reassuring. He wasn't Dave. Dave's brain was still right next door; I could, if I wanted to, take an axe to his insides. But he had decided to move all of his sensory input to Reedhon until further notice. For all intents and purposes, he lived there now. I swallowed hard and decided that, whether I hated the idea or not, I had to talk to Aaden. "Hal, please connect me to Aaden Satpulov." "Hello?" the voice on the other end of the line made me ache with memory and need. "Aaden?" I said, softly. "Ken?" he replied, surprised. "Is that you?" "Yeah, it's me. Look, could we, uhm, you know... talk?" Aaden didn't say anything for almost a minute. "Ken..." "No, not over the phone. On the beach. By the boulder to the north. Could you meet me there?" I couldn't believe how tight my chest felt. Tears formed in my eyes hearing his voice. I needed him. I needed to touch him and hold him and remind myself that he belonged to me, once. "I can meet you there," he said. "One hour," I said softly, breaking the connection manually before I broke down and cried, dropping tears one-by-one onto the keyboard. When I felt done with crying, I didn't feel any better. He walked up the beach slowly, looking left and right, scanning for me. I waved at him, a small, cheerless wave, just enough to show him where I was. He sauntered over to the rock I sat on, standing just in front of me. "Hi," he said softly. "So," I said, looking up at him, holding myself back from any thought of holding him, touching him. "How long have you been a paederast?" He smiled gently. "Let's see. I met Rudin in 212, and he was my first. I definitely wasn't looking for him, or anyone, back then. I was studying botany back then, working especially on soil- related illnesses, and I decided, on the advice of my mentor, that I look for some assignments to put my knowledge to good use. |