Breaking Through Limits (Larry Stylinson)

Chapter 13

Once again he found himself in the mixed-up room with graphs and flow charts on the metal walls and soft, deep blue carpeting and pastel air cushions on the floor. Trying to keep close to Tomlinson, Harry accepted a few greetings from the other Needlers with less difficulty than he had feared. The trick was, he found, if someone aimed a kiss at his mouth, he only had to turn his head at the last minute for it to land on his cheek. And although he couldn't bring himself to actually kiss back, he found that kissing the air beside a person's cheek seemed to be good enough. It was the way he'd seen his mother greet her women friends the entire time he was growing up and he'd never dreamed that the technique might come in handy for him personally. But now, as he air-kissed his way through the Needlers' lounge, he blessed his mum for all the boring garden parties and soirees she'd dragged him to over the years.

As they worked their way through the lounge, he found himself observing the other Needlers. Though it no longer freaked him out to see two men kissing or touching, it didn't do anything for him either. That feeling -that lack of reaction- relieved him greatly. I'm not that way, he thought, following his tall partner through the crowd. I don't have the urge to do anything with any of these guys. I only want to do it with him. With Tomlinson. He didn't know if only wanting one man instead of many made him gay or latent or what but it made him feel better in a way he couldn't define. Maybe there wasn't anything wrong with him after all? Or maybe not as much as he had thought.

At last he found a spot beside Jimmy and Timmy Turnix, who were sharing a pale green air cushion with their arms thrown around each other as usual.

"Hey, Styles-" one began.

"Looks like your hair is starting to grow back."

"You gonna-"

"Get it cut again?"

"Uh, no. Don't think I am. My, uh, pilot likes it long." Harry stole a quick look at Tomlinson who was standing a few feet from him, talking to Webs and his partner Harwood to see if he had heard but the tall, dark cadet gave no indication one way or the other.

"Good think it-"

"Grows fast then."

"Looks better long," the twins said together.

"Well, uh, thanks." Harry smiled, liking them despite their weird method of communication.

"Your hand looks-"

"Better too." The twins pointed to his right hand at the same time and Harry nodded.

"Yeah. The med tech put a bone growth stimulator in it. Fixed it right up." He flexed his fingers and grinned. "Now as long as that son of a bitch Burns stays out of my way, I won't have to break it on his face again."

The twins' eyes widened. "Yeah, we heard he was who-"

"You punched," they said. "You oughta be careful, Styles. Don't you know-"

"Who his father is?"