Xaxac awoke, but did not open his eyes.

Lee was in the bedroom cleaning, and though he was trying to be quiet, he wasn’t doing a very good job. Xaxac thought he must care significantly less about waking him than he used to.

This was a perfectly reasonable assumption to make, but it was the perfect morning for Xaxac to learn something about making any sort of assumption. As he rolled over and pressed a pillow over his ears to block the noise and try to go back to sleep, he realized quite quickly that it was not Lee at all.

“Shit,” Lorsan whispered, the sort of whisper one makes out of instinct and instantly regrets.

Xaxac threw down the pillow and sat bolt upright to see Lorsan standing at the vanity going through Agalon’s jewelry box.

“Heeeey,” Lorsan said in his most friendly voice, dragging out the word, “Ain’t you a light sleeper?”

“No,” Xaxac said flatly, “Folks say I sleep like the dead.”

“The walking dead, maybe,” Lorsan huffed as he went back to digging through the jewelry before he apparently found what he was looking for and sat at the vanity to put a pair of earrings through the holes in his lobes.

“Are you supposed to be here?” Xaxac asked him.

“It’s my house, I go where I want,” Lorsan said.

“I’m pretty sure you ain’t supposed to be here,” Xaxac argued, “You’re stealin.”

“You gotta take what you need outta life,” Lorsan said as if he was imparting some great wisdom, “Thought sure you’d have gone with daddy.”

“I’m tired,” Xaxac said, “I ain’t never been travelin before. He wanted me to rest.”

“He locked your ass in here,” Lorsan said, smiled, reached into his pocket and pulled out something small and wrapped in what seemed to be a soft leather case. “Or locked me out. Or both. I think this is a two birds one stone kinda thing.”

“Why are you so mean all the time?” Xaxac lamented, much too groggy and grumpy to pretend niceties with someone he absolutely did not care for, “Why don’t you just go back to wherever you come from? Why you gotta be so aggravatin?”

“Why don’t you go back where you come from?” Lorsan asked.

Xaxac rolled his eyes, picked up the glass of wine on his breakfast tray and sipped it.

“Bet you didn’t do that before daddy got ahold of you,” Lorsan said judgmentally, “bet you’re a rubbin alcoholic. He destroys humans.”

“I’ve seen you drink,” Xaxac said.

“It’s hereditary,” Lorsan quipped, “Besides, if I was you I’d lay drunk. That man’d drive anybody to drink.”

“Why are you so mean to Aggie?” Xaxac asked, “He’s your daddy. He’s got this big house, the fields, all the animals, the people. You’re spoilt.”

“Why am I so mean to Aggie?” Lorsan chuckled, smirked, and said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, “On account of he killed my mama.”

Xaxac didn’t believe this for a second and hoped it showed on his face.

“You ought not be here,” Lorsan continued in the same conversational tone, “But I reckon I oughta be grateful. If it wouldn’t you, it’d be me. That’s why mommy left him, took me with her.”

“That ain’t how that works,” Xaxac said.

“You don’t know how nothin works,” Lorsan said. He stood and Xaxac glared up at him as he approached, but he didn’t make any move as Lorsan studied his face.

“You bought to hit a growth spurt,” Lorsan said.

“No,” Xaxac huffed and reached around Lorsan for a strawberry, “I ain’t.”

“Yeah you are,” Lorsan argued, “cause you’re a fuzzy little bunny.”

He ran a hand down Xaxac’s cheek, and Xac jerked away from the touch.

“Damn,” Lorsan said, “That’s… that’s soft as hell. That ain’t usually what a beard feels like. That’s gonna be fluffy.”

“I ain’t got a beard!” Xaxac snapped.

“Yeah, you do,” Lorsan said and pointed to the vanity mirror, “Look.”

Xaxac glanced at the mirror and didn’t see anything Lorsan could possibly be talking about, so he took another sip of his wine.

“You’re drivin him crazy,” Xac said, “You gotta know my life is so much harder when he’s crazy. Can you get outta my way so I can get my clothes?”

Lorsan turned, took the few steps to reach the vanity, picked up the clothes that had been folded there, and tossed them at Xaxac. They landed in his lap, and Xac was a little impressed with his aim.

“Thanks,” he said, set his wine down, and stood to get dressed.

“You’re welcome,” Lorsan said then took to walking around the room. Xaxac was buttoning up his shirt by the time he spoke again. “That shiftin scared the hell outta me.”

“I’m sorry,” Xaxac said, because he sincerely was. He really hoped that wasn’t what had set Lorsan off, what had made everything so much more unbearable, but he was almost sure it was. “I can’t control it.”

“I know you can’t,” Lorsan said, “And we ain’t got a lot on it here. When I go back to school, head back to the capital, I’m gonna go through every bookstore they got. I’m gonna figure this out for you. They’s gotta be some kinda cure, somethin we can do.”

“You wanna cure me?” Xaxac asked skeptically.

“Look, Xac,” Lorsan said with great sincerity, “You ought not have to live like this. Life is hard enough. I know you don’t like me, but I like you. I wanna help you.”

Xaxac thought of what Alex had said; once you can fake sincerity, people would believe anything.

“I don’t know that I need your help,” Xaxac said as he laced up his shoes, “But thanks.”

“You knit,” Lorsan said, “I seen it in the sittin room. I know daddy ain’t took it up.” He paused, stood with his hands on his hips and looked down at Xaxac, “Y’all are… y’all are too smart. There’s a lotta critters just… too smart. It’s weird. Humans, fairies, some dragons it’s… if it can talk, if it can make stuff… it seems… ain’t that weird?”

“I ain’t that smart,” Xaxac said as he made the bed, “There’s a hell of a lot of humans smarter than me.”

“Ain’t that the truth?” Lee asked from the doorway, “Young master Lorsan, what an absolute delight to see you up and about and wearin Master Kailu’s nice earrings that he normally reserves for social functions. You must be feelin right social.”

“You gonna go runnin?” Lorsan asked.

“I’m too old to go runnin to anybody,” Lee huffed, “I’d send a messenger. He ain’t gonna be happy you’re out.”

“He ain’t never happy,” Lorsan said dismissively.

“Actually he’s had a spring in his step since Xac started workin,” Lee said, “If he could pull his head outta his ass he’d have a good job here.”

“You be amazed what I can get outta my ass,” Xaxac smirked as he worked to detangle his hair.

“Classy,” Lee huffed, “He shouldn’t let you spend time with Alex. You’re pickin up bad habits.”

“I think I am a bad habbit,” Xac sighed and leaned forward to look into the mirror, “And Lorry’s right. Goddamn it…”

He couldn’t see it from a distance, but Lorsan had been right. Small brown hairs were scattered along Xaxac’s jawline and clustered even more thickly on his upper lip. He ran his fingertips over the mustache and thought about how badly he didn’t want to add something else to his already time-consuming routine.

“You reckon he’ll notice?”

Lee walked briskly to his side and stared down at him.

“He’ll absolutely notice,” he sighed, “alright. Just stay here. I’ll go get the kit and show you what to do.”

“Aaaaw,” Lorsan mocked, “Look at that. Fuzzy little bunny.”

“Young Master Lorsan,” Lee said, “You might wanna go ahead and watch your mouth around this’in. He’ll have a razor and he’s got that simple strength.”

“I ain’t simple,” Xaxac said, “I just ain’t real bright. I got walkin around sense. Lord.”

He didn’t really feel the need to defend himself, he just wanted to prolong the conversation. Truth be told, as he got more used to Lee he saw those jabs for the affection they were. It was nice to have friends.

“I think y’all ought have beards,” Lorsan said, “You don’t look so much like elves with um.”

“We don’t look like elves without um,” Xaxac said.

“Xaxac,” Lee said as he turned to leave, “Don’t finish that wine. Alcohol thins the blood. You cut yourself it’ll get everywhere. And you are gonna cut yourself. It takes a minute to get the hang of it.”

“Perfect,” Xac said.

“One of these days,” Lorry said as he walked toward the window and pulled back the curtain to stare out at the fields, “I’m gonna run away.”

“Why put off till tomorrow what can be done today?” Xaxac asked while he stared at his facial hair.

“I mean it,” Lorsan said, “I gotta get outta here.” When Xaxac made no reply he continued, “It’s gettin cooler. Come the fall I’m goin back to school.”

“Military school?” Xaxac asked.

“You listen when folks talk,” Lorsan said, “You’re always listenin.” He walked to the doorway and Xac stared at himself in the mirror.

“You wanna see a magic trick?” Lorsan asked.

“I guess,” Xac shrugged and turned to look at him.

“Come here,” Lorsan said, “Watch this.”

He held up something that looked like a twig or leaf, and Xaxac recognized it as belonging to the sort of plant that Agalon kept in the various planters around the house. Then, he turned and walked into the sitting room so Xaxac followed him, but he didn’t stop. He walked out of the sitting room and into the hall.

Xaxac tentatively stepped into the doorway and stuck his head out.

Lorsan was standing in the hall next to one of the planters, smiling from ear to ear.

“Come on,” he said.

“I can see it from here,” Xaxac said.

Lorsan shrugged and stuck the twig back to the plant Xaxac suspected he had broken it off of. The stones in his ears glowed with a soft green light, and when he took his hand away the twig stayed put.

“I healed it,” Lorsan said, “I cured it. I’m a medic; that’s what I do.”

“Wouldn’t Aggie a medic?” Xaxac asked as he turned his back on him and walked back into the sitting room.