Gift did not get those two.
“Another hundred says it’s someone else’s ear,” Jay added.
“I expected better from you,” Remi said, giving him a withering look.
“Chastise your boyfriend, but leave me out of it,” Jay taunted, gaze flicking briefly to Drake.
“Wha—? He’s not,” Remi stuttered, hastening to add, “my boyfriend.” As if his statement had been unclear.
“Hurtful,” Drake mused, tone devoid of all feeling. “Denying our love in front of the whole pod.”
Remi rolled his eyes, but his face was crimson.
Jay ignored the entire exchange as if he wasn’t the one who started it, lounging with his elbows resting against the riser above him.
“Focus, people,” Aspen said, pinching the bridge of his nose.
“You should focus,” Luca fired back, “On the klutz holding not one, buttwo, deadly weapons.”
Gift wasn’t a klutz. He wasn’t. But he hadn’t been raised around weapons, especially not ones like these. But he was used to their teasing. It was no secret that Gift had been all but banned from weapons training. But Aspen was new, another of Kendrick’s pets that he’d brought in thinking he’d be a spy on the inside.
“Have you ever used those?” Aspen asked, a tinge of concern edging into his voice.
Gift frowned, getting comfortable with the weight in his hands, before walking to the center of the mat. He twisted his wrist in a complicated motion, not unlike what he’d done in his bedroom yesterday. These really weren’t much different. He tested the other one, twirling his wrist, watching the blade spin.
“You get those aren’t training blades, right?” Lennon asked, a tiny bit of fear creeping into his tone. “Like, if you cut yourself—”
“Or us,” Persephone added.
“Orus,” Lennon clarified, “Someone is going to bleed.”
“Don’t listen to them, baby!” Morgan shouted. “The dork in you has been training for this his whole life.”
“That’s right, you got this!” Dove shouted, like a mom cheering on her kid at his soccer game.
Drake snickered. “Fuck, someone is definitely going to the hospital.”
“Shut the fuck up,” Remi muttered, shaking his head and scooting away from Drake like he didn’t want to catch whatever it was that made Drake…Drake.
“Aspen, aren’t you going to chastise him for his language?” Drake asked, pointing an accusatory finger at Remi.
Aspen rolled his eyes. “Drake, shut the fuck up.”
The whole class tittered, but Gift was only half listening. He’d used that lightsaber as stress relief for months, but it was too long to do some of the trickier moves he’d seen. He spun one, then the other while his classmates watched.
Aspen approached him. “If I may?” he said.
Gift looked at him and nodded. Aspen came to stand beside him, and Gift was suddenly very aware of how much taller he was.
Aspen took the sai sword and repositioned it in Gift’s hand, wrapping his thumb around one of the curved edges. He took the other to demonstrate the move. The sword started from under Aspen’s arm but then spun outward, using the thumb hooked to guide it.
Gift mimicked the move. “Like that?”
Aspen nodded. “Not bad.”
Aspen spent the last fifteen minutes of class demonstrating movements and making Gift repeat them. The moves Aspen showed him were really nothing like his lightsaber, but he found himself adapting his grip easily. Finally, Aspen clapped him on the shoulder.
“Alright, that’s lunch,” he said.
