Escape Games

Chapter Eleven

     Mac's lips moved with Jorik's as they continued their kiss.  It lasted for a full minute until Jorik gently pulled away.  Mac let him, not wanting to push him into anything too quickly. 
     "Has anyone ever told you how amazingly you kiss?"  He asked, not knowing what else to say as his heart rate began to slow back to normal.  Jorik let out a short laugh. 
     "I've gotten a 'not bad'," he answered.  "But that guy was very difficult to please with anything, so it wasn't a long relationship. 
     "Some people have ridiculously high expectations when it comes to relationships," Mac said, remembering his own past experiences.  "I personally prefer to talk through boundaries and set lines up to work through issues that could affect the quality of the relationship to avoid misunderstandings.  But that's just me."  He looked at Jorik, watching as the elven gently lifted the still-snoozing Teddy and moved to sit next to him, setting the puppy back on his lap once on the ground. 
     "For me," Jorik told him.  "As long as you continue to show as much care and patience as you have so far, we should be fine."  Mac gave him a smile. 
     "If patience and care is what you need," he said.  "Then I'll do my best to give it to you."  Jorik put his head on Mac's shoulder and made his cooing-purr sound again.  Mac slowly moved his arm to put it around Jorik's shoulders.  The two stayed that way for several minutes until Teddy decided he wanted to wake up long enough to crawl up Jorik's chest. 
     "Hi, puppy," Jorik gently rubbed the pup's head with one finger as Teddy closed his eyes again. 
     "He's taking to you quickly," Mac said.  "He must be very comfortable if he keeps sleeping on you." 
     "I'm probably not the most comfortable thing to sleep on," Jorik said.  "But I'm happy he's comfortable with me." 
     "And I'm happy you're more comfortable with me," Mac said, slowly running his hand up and down Jorik's arm.  "We still most likely have a long way to go before we get out of here, and trust is going to get us further." 
     "I wouldn't have kissed you if I didn't trust you," the elven told him.  He took a deep breath and huffed.  "This is the first time since losing my family that I've felt like someone was really trying to help me in any way.  I can't begin to tell you how good it is to actually feel cared about."  Jorik put his hand over Mac's, and Mac curled his fingers around it.  Mac waited to see if he'd say anything else, but Jorik huffed, seemingly not knowing how to continue.  Mac squeezed his hand gently. 
     "If you need to talk, you can talk," he said.  "Take your time and get your words where they need to be.  I'll listen."  Jorik squeezed Mac's hand back. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly before huffing again.
"My aunt and uncle have disliked me since I came out at the end of eighth grade," he began. "When my family was killed, they were the only ones left for me to go to, and none of us were happy about that. They blamed me for my family's death, even though they knew I'd been at a friend's house for a camp out and had no way of knowing it would happen until I walked in on it the next day. They constantly made a point of reminding me how much it was my fault every chance they got." He stopped and huffed again before taking another deep breath. Mac could see tears forming in his eyes.
"But it wasn't your fault," he said gently, squeezing Jorik's hand again. "It's like you said, you had no way of knowing until you came home."
"I know that," Jorik sniffed, the tears starting to sting his eyes. "But hearing blame every day for ten years doesn't help recovery." Mac pulled him closer.
"You're okay," he said gently. "When we get out of here, you can come stay with me and we'll get you a fresh start away from them. I've got your back." Bear had decided to walk back over after patrolling for a while.
"Bear has your back, too," he added as the dog nuzzled at the elven.  Jorik's free arm went behind Mac for a hug, but he didn't want to jostle the puppy at the same time. 
     "Can I tell you something?" Mac asked after a few seconds.  Jorik squeezed his hand but said nothing. 
     "You're not the only one here who's been blamed for something that wasn't their fault."  He kept his voice gentle, but there were a couple seconds of quiet where he wasn't sure how Jorik took it.  Another squeeze on his hand seemed to indicate for him to continue. 
     "When I first became a hunter," Mac continued.  "I started in the anomaly investigation division.  About two months in, I was put in a squad assigned to help another squad contain a large area of activity, but the leader went rogue and took us over a dozen miles off course to a random house where a family of elvens lived.  He ordered us to round up the family and shoot them.  I was the only one who refused.  I knew the family was innocent and I argued with him.  I'd been trying to put him back on the right course the whole time, but he wouldn't hear it."  Mac paused for a deep breath and heard Jorik huff into his shoulder.  The elven lifted his head and rubbed his cheek against Mac's before looking directly at him.  He squeezed Mac's hand again, encouraging him to continue.
"The reason the Hunter's Association puts at least one psychic on anomaly investigation squads is because we can sense how threatening or non-threatening other beings are," Mac continued after a few seconds. "You didn't need to be psychic to know that family was harmless, but my squad leader that day wanted them dead all the same. He was on a power trip and nothing would bring him back. No mater what I did, he'd have their heads. I broke his nose, I yelled in his face, I put myself in between the family and the rest of the squad. I even threw up a strong energy shield that would've held long enough to stop the bullets, except someone knocked me out before I could do anything more to fight back. I only woke up after the one surviving family member put smelling salts under my nose."
He stopped again, gazing at the ground lost in his memories. Jorik was watching him with an odd look in his eyes. He looked like he wanted to say something, but was too interested in anything more Mac had to say.
"I know the family wouldn't have blamed me," Mac said after a moment. "But I still get kept up at night once in a while wondering if there was anything I could've done differently to prevent their deaths. I was the only one of the squad who wasn't punished afterwards, sure, but I also lost people I thought had become friends due to the fact I didn't listen to the leader at the time. They blamed me for his and their getting punished, and I ended up moving to the Hostile Control Devision shortly after because I was scared they'd do something in retaliation. I may seem stoic and calm on the outside, but I can still be haunted by certain things the same way anyone can." He met Jorik's eyes, quieting again as he waited for the elven's reaction.
Jorik huffed and let out a quiet, canine-like whine. He took a moment to speak.
"Mac," he said. "How long ago did that happen?" 
     "About a decade ago," Mac answered.  Jorik buried his face in Mac's shoulder. 
     "So that was you all those years ago," he said as Mac's free hand touched his back, trying not to squish the puppy still resting against Jorik. 
     "Yeah," Mac answered.  "That was me.  If I'd realized how bad you'd have it after, I would've tried to keep better contact."  Jorik shook his head against Mac's shoulder. 
     "You're here now," he said.  "That's all I care about.  I know you'll do your best to keep me safe." 
     "Bear will help, too," Mac told him.  "I didn't have her last time, but she's got our backs now."  Jorik let out a long, contented breath.  Mac let the quiet settle in as he listened for anything that might try to sneak up on them, but the only noise for a moment was the birds chirping and the stream babbling.  Bear lay down to rest her head on his lap, gently rustling some leaves.  Jorik was quiet for several moments, and Mac almost thought he'd fallen asleep. 
     "You're a good dude, Mac," he suddenly said quietly.  "I hope you never change that." 
      "I don't plan to," Mac gently rubbed his back and the elven cooed.  Teddy chose that moment to bark in his sleep and yawn before stretching and raising his head. 
     "Hi, puppy," Jorik said, leaning back against the tree but still against Mac.  "Is nap time over?"  He used one finger to rub the top of the puppy's furry head.  Teddy tried to lick his finger, rolling onto his back. 
     "He must be hungry," Mac said as Jorik gently rubbed Teddy's belly.  "Who knows how long he was stuck in that hollow stump." 
     "I'm a bit peckish myself," Jorik admitted. 
     "We can all have something to eat," Mac dug into his backpack and offered a bit of jerky to the puppy.  Teddy sniffed it before taking it and eating it.  He gave another piece to Bear before offering some to Jorik and eating some himself. 
     "We should probably think about taking a short nap ourselves," Mac suggested as Teddy decided to crawl off Jorik's lap and wander over to Bear.  "It's hard to tell how much time is passing in here and we don't want to get too tired in case we need to deal with anything." 
     "Fair enough," Jorik said.  "But I want to keep watch this time.  I don't want to be caught off guard if something sneaks up on us."  Mac sighed. 
     "Understandable," he said.  "But you need sleep to heal quicker.  If I let you keep watch, you have to wake me up after a little while and we switch out.  I'd feel better knowing we both had a good sleep."  It was Jorik's turn to sigh, and he huffed after. 
     "Fine," he said.  "But you sleep first." 
     "Okay," Mac said.  "Just wake me up when you want to sleep."  The elven nodded and Mac leaned back against the tree and closed his eyes.