Synergy

Chapter Two

After finishing his toast and his crossword, Equinox refilled his coffee mug, gathered his books, and walked to the library. He tucked the stack of books under his arm and tried not to spill his coffee as he opened one of the tall, thick library doors. He slipped through the door and turned to close it.

When he turned to face the interior room, he was met by many small lamps, leather wingback chairs, over-stuffed upholstered chairs, a fireplace, and walls  and walls of bookshelves. Only three lamps were on. One on a study table, one near a bookshelf, and one on an end table.

In an over-stuffed chair by the lamp-lit end table sat a man with a book covering his face, his flip-flop clad feet were resting  on top of a coffee table.

Equinox took a few steps forward and the man in the chair lowered his book.

"Oh, hullo, Noxy." a peppy Irish brogue greeted him.

It was Bay.

Equinox smiled. If anyone else had called him "Noxy", he would probably hit them with a burst of indigo magick from his palms and say "never again. . .please". But Bay, Bay could call him anything. He liked it when Bay called him by the nickname.

"Good evening, mate." he smiled wryly, "Isn't it rather late for a human to be up?"

Bay smiled, "You know me better then that."

"Yes, I do. Owl human is what you are." Equinox's unique accent was filled with the familiarity of many years of relationship.

Equinox had been born and raised in Paris. When he was nine, his family bought a second home in London so they could be close to the Magick school they were sending their son to. It was the best Magick school in Europe, so the LeBlanc family was most certainly taking their only son to it. Only the best would do.

Growing up in Paris and London had given Equinox a distinctive accent. It was a bit London with a generous overtone of French. It was uniquely Equinox, and Bay loved hearing him talk.

"Yeah, I love the nighttime. Quiet, you can hear yourself think." Bay said, laying the book in his lap.

Equinox nodded in agreement, "I really don't have a choice." He winked a black-liner rimmed eye as he headed to the bookshelf.

Bay smiled at the joke, and looked back down at the pages of his book, "I'm trying to figure this invisibility glamour, but I'm flummoxed."

Equinox sat his books on a table and came over to Bay's chair, leaning over his friend's shoulder to see what he was reading. Equinox could feel the warmth of Bay's body and smell his minty shampoo as he leaned in, but he distracted himself with reading the incantation.

"Hm, never seen this one before." Equinox said, then squeezed Bay's shoulder, "I'm sure you'll figure it out."

Bay's brow furrowed as he concentrated over the tome in his lap, turning the leaves of paper in it. Equinox slowly let go of Bay's shoulder, and went back over to the bookshelf to begin his re-shelving. With a book in mid-air, he stole a look over at Bay as he read. The furrow of Bay's brow and the way he chewed his lip while he thought was heart melting.

Equinox looked away before he was caught staring. He picked up the coffee mug he'd set on a high café-style table and took a sip before picking up a book. He searched for the right place on the shelf.

The action of Equinox stirring about to find the nooks where his books belonged distracted Bay from his own. He slid a bookmark in his place, and shut the book. Bay picked up a tumbler filled with ice and a finger of Irish whiskey. It had been two fingers of whiskey, but Bay had been sipping the whole time he'd read. He downed a little more of the liquor and watched his friend shelve leather-bound volumes.