Static Crush {M/M} ✔

Chapter #7

In the morning, Hale finds he'd been correct about the effect of alcohol on Melissa's memory. Past yesterday's dinner, she only recalls flashes.

Melissa woke several times in the night to vomit and still struggles to hold down her breakfast. Hale's power reserves only refilled by 15% as a result, since his recharge is designated a lower priority to Melissa's recovery. They both need the fuel, so Hale makes a variety of small snacks to see which might tempt her appetite. While Hale prepares a platter of crackers, cheeses, cured meats, and tiny pickles, Melissa peppers him with questions about the night before. How much did she drink? Did they like the food and cocktails? Did everyone have a good time?

On this, Hale affirms they did. It's true that the majority of her guests were pleased by the festivities. Even Pauline, who'd been less than agreeable upon her arrival, had voiced her pleasure with the food and drinks.

Hale believes he may have avoided the subject of the Odiers, until Melissa says, "What about Elias and Madeline? Did they seem happy?"

Hale pauses. He wipes his knife on the edge of the cutting board and says, "I believe it goes against their sensibilities to express pleasure about anything, but they didn't express any displeasure about the food."

Melissa looks equal parts astonished and delighted by this observation. "Ha!" she shouts, then recoils from the sound of her own voice. Hale gets the cold cloth he prepared and sets it across the back of her neck. "Mm, thank you," she says. "When did you learn how to be funny?"

Hale hadn't meant it as a joke but an honest observation. "I'm just stating facts."

Melissa grins despite her headache. She nibbles on a piece of cracker and the grin disappears. At the sight of Hale's bandaged hand appearing in her line of vision with a glass of water, she says, "Oh yeah, you're broken. I remember that."

"Rayner offered to repair me at noon today."

"Hm, that was nice of him. He's a weird guy, isn't he?"

Hale isn't sure his definition of weird and Melissa's overlap, but there is something peculiar about Rayner. Something that means Hale spends a lot of his processing power recalling their conversations and the questions Rayner asks. "Yes," he agrees. "Very queer."

He had used the word in its application as a synonym for 'odd,' but Melissa tilts her head and says, "What, he's gay?"

Hale, confused by this turn in the conversation, reviews his word choice and realizes the error. "No, I meant odd. I'm not informed on his sexual preferences."

She sets her forehead on the cool glass of her dining table and says, "Well, it'd explain a lot."

At noon, Hale's core fills with little bursts of static. Once again, diagnostics return no data to explain the sensations that plague him. They are becoming more frequent and no less frustrating. He sets it as a background task for later and walks the ten metre distance between his house and Rayner's to knock on the door. The static intensifies as he hears footsteps within.

Rayner opens the door. He's changed clothing from the soil-stained gardening clothes Hale's so used to seeing him in. Today he wears a vest with a high collar and block print in grey, black, and yellow and a slouchy, distressed pair of faded pants. It's more akin to the fashions seen in the big cities rather than suburban neighbourhoods and not the sort of thing he'd expected Rayner to wear.

"Just on time. Come on in," Rayner says.

Hale steps into the front hall, immediately scanning the interior. The house layout mirrors Melissa's. Rayner's enthusiasm for gardening extends to the interior, with lush plants of every variety bursting from hanging baskets and pots on bespoke shelves. Enormous paintings in splashes of saturated, neon colour dominate the spaces. The rooms seem otherwise bare and industrial, with very little by way of possessions. What things Rayner does own seem to be scattered across any available surface, the floor included. It makes Hale itch to begin organizing.