SIDEKICK

Chapter Sixteen: Uncovering Uncharted Territory

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Uncovering Uncharted Territory

Hot water sprays onto the back of my neck, a sigh escapes my lips in satisfaction. The shower block in the Hold is all connected to each bedroom, which means that I am showering in the same place as all the guys.

“Hey Pete,” Oliver talks over the water from his own little, private cubicle. “Where’d you get that?”

From where I sit on the wet bench in my cubicle, I can see everyone’s heads turn. Pete looks down over his shoulder.

“Dunno,” he replies.

“It looks nasty,” Oliver comments. “You better get it checked.”

“Yeah, maybe.”

I hear the door open and another blonde head walks in. Joseph strips and gets into his cubicle.

Pete turns his attention to his brother. “Hey, you’re feeling better?”

Joseph grins. “Yeah. Pretty much healed up.”

“But you nearly died yesterday.”

“Shit happens,” Joseph shrugs as he pours shampoo onto his head. “But fuck it. We have a big day today.”

“Oh yeah,” I say. “You’re going to the Den, right?”

Joseph pulls a sour face. “Going there is a pain. But Lance is anal about the whole near-death experience.”

“What does that make now?” Oliver pipes up. “Six?”

“Seven,” Joseph corrects him. “This one was count six for Rusty.”

Oliver turns off his tap and dries off. “You just like getting her into trouble, don’t cha?”

Joseph scrubs hard onto his hair which is covered in bubbles. “Shaddup.”

I see Peter pull a mournful, is that the word? Probably, but maybe longing expression onto his face.

I think he’s the sad, jealous type.

I turn my own tap off, and grab the towel hanging over the ledge. I dry myself off, pull on pants and rearrange myself comfortably back into my chair. I ruffle the towel over my head as my eyes catch on something both on Oliver and Joseph’s bodies.

“You guys have tatts?” I suddenly bring up.

Oliver strolls towards me, his pants on and looks at the heavy tattoo on his arm. “Oh yeah,” he exclaims like he suddenly remembered he had one. “Joey, is that a new one?”

Joseph looks down at his chest. As I wheel over to the sink, I notice all these symbols traced down his neck, chest and arms. He points to the one on his collar bone.

“This one?” he asks Oliver.

“Yeah.”

“Oh,” he replied. “Lance marked it on last night, as punishment or whatever it is.”

I begin to shave, and glance at them through the mirror, “What’s the point of the tatts, anyway?”

Peter gets out of the shower and Oliver’s finger traces over the tattoo on his arm. “They’re symbols. This one’s my first; I got it when I turned into a fully-fledged Casuist. It means ‘matured’.”

He turns around, and I see his entire back covered in different symbols, words similar to the tattoos on my hand. “The others,” he continues. “Are protection charms and defensive spells.”