Mirage

Chapter Eighteen

Ryder woke disoriented. 

The bed felt softer than his and the texture of the blanket was different. His eyes snapped open when he realized he was wearing nothing but a hoodie. He was laying facedown, his face pressed into the pillow. 

He grimaced slightly as he pushed himself into an upright position, his breath catching in his throat as his body protested the movement. He blinked the sleep out of his eyes. The room was dark, and he had no idea what time it was. 

He cast a quick glance around, his eyes landing on the metal shelf to his right on the other side of the bed. The nightstand was impeccably clean without a hint of anything personal on it. Whisper's gun lay on it. 

At the sight of the weapon Ryder's shoulders loosened slightly and he exhaled the panicked breath he'd been holding. He should have known. He was at Whisper's place. 

The room was mostly bare. The slot in the wall for laundry was lit up green and next to it the metal panel that would slide open to reveal a closet was closed. To his left the window was blacked out entirely, the Eridani Star System swirling in the pane.

The walls were bare of decoration aside from a set of notched war axes that had been mounted above the door. They carried the military insignia and colors on the handles. A dragon for the military insignia, etched in black. It was a less detailed image of Emperor Sibeum's dragon form. The green stripe on each handle denoted that Whisper had served in the Infantry. 

A single framed picture was attached to the wall next to the nightstand, just above a small display case. Ryder didn't have to look to know the picture contained Whisper and his former squad. 

A few of Whisper's military medals hung in a display case above the nightstand. He had three medals and his military badge. The badge was a black dragon, wings unfurled. Emperor Sibeum in his dragon form, roaring a silent challenge, with Whisper's name and rank etched into the badge. 

The medal closest to the badge was a set of black wings and a red striped cloth hanging below it. The medal was awarded for wounds sustained in combat. Next hung a golden medal with a broken trumpet on it, awarded for killing an enemy with the rank of lieutenant. They were particularly challenging to get because the kill had to be verified. The third and closest medal was red and shaped like chains, a medal awarded to POW's who'd survived enemy imprisonment.   

Ryder pulled himself out of bed, searching for his clothes. His gaze caught on the red medal as he moved towards the closet and he quickly looked away, his face paling slightly at the sight of the medal. 

The green hoodie he was wearing had Infantry stenciled on the front and it barely covered his thighs. Ryder cursed quietly; his cheeks flushed with mortification. Whisper had clearly undressed him last night. Where the hell were his clothes? The scars on his legs were visible and it made him slightly sick. He had several scars from bullet wounds and his ankles had thick scars encircling them along with what appeared to be claw marks on his left thigh. 

"Your clothes were disposed of. They were covered in blood." Whisper spoke from the doorway, his gaze trailing across Ryder's skin with a faint smirk. Ryder could feel his gaze before he'd even turned to face the taller man. 

Whisper was standing in the doorway, his back slouched to make himself appear slightly shorter than he was. His silver hair hung in his face, ruffled and unkempt. His yellow eyes gleamed faintly with arousal. The dark bags under his eyes told Ryder that the man hadn't slept at all. The injuries from the night before were almost gone and Whisper had a medical patch on his nose. 

The patches regenerated skin and muscle on a cellular level and the more heavy-duty ones like Whisper was sporting on his nose could regenerate bones.