an unkindness of ravens

dix-huit

— dix-huit ; eighteen —

HENRI WAS STILL A little drunk for morning practice, but considering he was allowed to take back his position of dealer, he could at least hold his own on the court. His movements were more sluggish than usual and he was sure the Master would have punished him for it, if not for Lucas and Loren. They were far more unsteady during drills as their bodies handled the alcohol even worse than his did, and after Lucas ran off court to throw up again, the Master dismissed them both from practice. Henri was relieved Soren managed to convince him it was the flu — if the Master knew they had been drinking, they'd all have hell to deal with.

They managed to wake up Jude for practice and even Henri wasn't suicidal enough to go near him after what happened. He didn't regret knocking him to the ground, but as the alcohol left his system and he came back to his senses, he was supremely glad he hadn't broken his arm. What had felt right to his drunken self was clearly a mistake to his sober self. Jude was probably going to try and kill him later, but for now, he couldn't do much with the Master watching. Henri pretended not to notice each time one of the upperclassmen had to push him back and made sure to keep his distance.

"Hey, American psycho," Matthias said, clapping Henri on the shoulder when they were released to the locker room. "Or should I say French psycho. You always been this crazy?"

Henri shoved his jersey into his locker. "Probably."

"That was more than crazy," Kit said, looking at Henri with a look that was either wariness or awe. Possibly both. "Crazy would be flying at him with your fists. There was controlled thought in the way you brought him down to the floor. How did you do that?"

"Pressure points."

Kit opened his mouth to reply but abruptly broke off when he spotted someone over Henri's shoulder and took a step back. Henri didn't have to turn to know it was Jude who had come out of the showers but he wasn't stupid enough to leave his back turned to him. Jude went straight for him and KJ didn't bother holding him back this time, not when their coach wasn't here to stop him. Henri let him come close enough to grab his shirt then caught his shoulder, pressing on the pressure point just hard enough to make Jude wince. When Jude went to throw his hand off, Henri caught the other hand and twisted the thumb back.

"Get the fuck off me," Jude snarled.

"Then let me go. Or I'll break your thumb instead."

"Soren," Benjamin said, irritated. "Leash your pet."

Henri didn't risk looking away from Jude but addressed his next words to Benjamin. "He's the one who grabbed me first so anything that happens as a result is his fault."

"Seriously?" KJ shook his head. "You're the one who was seconds away from breaking his arm out there."

"Because he was a striker but aimed for me more than the goal. I wasn't going to stand there and let him pummel me with an Exy ball."

"So you punch him," Matthias said in disbelief. "That's the appropriate response. Not snapping his bones."

Henri shrugged. "Matter of opinion."

Jude shoved him against the lockers and Henri pressed down harder in response, both on his thumb and shoulder. The pain in Jude's eyes told him it was sheer force of will still keeping his hold on Henri. It was a stalemate neither of them were willing to back down from. Henri wouldn't actually break any bones this time, not now that he was sober and his temper wasn't flaring, but the upperclassmen didn't know that. They weren't willing to risk it last time and he didn't think they'd take his bluff this time.