eunoia ; malum

11

MICHAEL SAT AT THE KITCHEN TABLE, BITING HIS LIP. He listened to his not-really-Mum and not-really-Dad talk about their next ambush on the diploids, trying hard not to get upset about it. When he got upset, he lit things on fire.

"We need more hunters, Steven. They seem to be killing all of them." His mother said, letting out a frustrated sigh as she sipped her wine.

"We don't need more." He said in an exasperated tone. "We just need to be smarter than them."

It was quiet around the dinner table. Since the death of Michael's adopted brother, there were no more conversations about how great he was to fill the silence. It was now just him and his parents at the table, and they usually left Michael out of the conversation because he didn't want to be a hunter anymore.

But, desperate times called for desperate measures.

"What do you think, Michael?"

Michael looked up from his empty plate. "Um, how can you make hunters know more about the breed they're hunting when you never know what they're power is before stepping foot in the joint?"

"Good point. But we can't just sit and watch them all day."

Michael sighed. "I'm going out."

"At this hour?" his mother raised her eyebrows, looking at the clock. 7:49PM. "Where to?"

"There's a party going on down at Frankie's."

That was true. He wasn't lying about that. He was going to go there later in the night. He just needed to visit the other diploids first.

Hesitantly, his mother waved him off, and Michael left to go to the institution. When he got there, he saw that only Calum and Jackson were there. Michael groaned, walking over to the Maori and sitting across from him.

"Do you want to come to a party with me instead of doing homework?"

Calum looked up. "Not with you. I don't trust you one bit."

I said I was sorry, what more could he want? "Please. It'll be fun. We can get drunk and dance and – "

"And then what will you do when one of your hunter buddies asks what you're doing with me?"

Michael stopped smiling, and frowned down at the table. "Oh."

The Maori shot him a snide look, knowing he'd won. "Yeah, 'oh'."

Jackson groaned, getting up. "Why don't we just get drunk here?"

With a little help, Calum was completely convinced that it was a great idea. Jackson didn't know how long his charm would last, but Calum was too drunk to even remember how bad of an idea it was.

The three boys were laughing their heads off. Jackson had invited a few people over, thinking it was okay because Jack wasn't there. He was going to regret that decision in the morning.

Michael and Calum stayed by the sidelines of the small party, talking to each other like they were best friends. The Maori didn't seem to notice when the pale boy put his hand on his thigh, which kind of pissed Michael off.

"Come on, Calum. Notice the fact that I'm horny!"

The smaller boy raised his eyebrows in surprise, nearly choking on his drink. He put the bottle down and went straight for Michael's lips. The pale boy tried to support him the best he could.

Michael – extremely excited and unaware of how to control his emotions – burnt Calum's hips. He looked down at the place he had burnt and watched the diploid walk to his room. Michael followed after him, frowning.

"'m sorry."

"It's okay." Calum mumbled, grabbing one of his dirty shirts in his room and wetting it. His skin seemed to be unharmed, but that was just his thing, like Ashton's fingers. "It just hurt a little."

"I want to help, but I can't see it." The redhead said, his hands behind his back. He walked over and kissed Calum softly, the drunkenness telling the Maori that it was okay.

"It's okay." He repeated. "You didn't hurt me bad."

Michael sighed in relief.

"I'm tired." Calum whined, already sitting down on the mattress. "Come cuddle me."

The redhead grinned. "How about fucking you instead?"

"You'd burn me alive."

Michael frowned, and wanted to touch him, but was too afraid. "I think I'm gonna go down and ask Jackson to stop the party. It's getting pretty late."

It was nine-fifty, but Michael just wanted an excuse to leave the awkwardness. Calum knew that. Of course he did. He could hear Michael's thoughts from a mile away. He could even hear Ashton's, and he was over at Luke's having sex. He tried to block his ears, but it didn't help.

"Fucking hell," he mumbled, hearing the music getting turned off. It only made Ashton and Michael's thoughts louder, everybody else's being a dull roar.

His head was never quiet. There was always someone thinking from the moment he woke up to the moment he went to sleep. It was just whether he could attempt to ignore them or not.

Michael's thoughts were loud as he pulled the heavy door open to reveal Calum. He smiled, the drunk effects wearing off as he sat down next to the Maori's mattress. The olive-skinned boy lifted his head up, only for Michael to put it on his lap.

"'m sorry. How bad did I hurt you?"

"Not badly. I'll call up Mel tomorrow." Calum mumbled.

"I have to go, but I'll see you at school."

"You'll see me but you won't talk to me." The younger boy said, pouting.

"I'll come here after school."

"Whatever." Calum yawned, putting his head back on his mattress. "See you at school, Michael."

The pale boy nodded, sighing. "See you at school."

Sorry the chapters are so short.

thoughts?