Park could barely hear over the blood pulsing in his ears. Gift was hurt. He was bleeding. Someone had managed to breach security and attack Gift in the one place he should have been safe. Park assumed Gift killed Aspen, which meant Aspen attacked Gift. None of this made any fucking sense.
“You’re bleeding,ouen. You’re bleeding. Where did he hurt you?” Park asked, running his hands over Gift’s body, looking for his injuries.
The boy had a cut on his cheek deep enough to need stitches, and his small hands were coated in enough blood for Park to taste iron every time he inhaled. He also had a three-inch paper-cut thin gash just over his carotid. With just a bit more pressure, that might have been fatal. Gift’s clothes were torn and coated in dark stains that Park could only assume was blood.
Gift blinked sleepily, letting Park jostle him around as he stared down at his own hands like he didn’t recognize them. Park took his wrists, shaking his arms. Gift raised his head to meet his gaze, his movements molasses slow. He looked at Park, but he wasn’t seeing him. He was just existing. His brain was in survival mode.
Jesus.
Rage flowed hot over his skin. He wanted to kill something. Someone. Preferably whoever had hurt Gift. But it seemed like he’d handled that on his own. Park needed Gift to explain what happened before his fury boiled over on innocent bystanders.
“It’s his,” Gift finally said, voice dull.
“What,kon-dii?”
Gift flinched at the term of endearment, then reached up to touch the cut on his cheek, saying, “Well, most of it. The blood, I mean.”
“What the hell happened here?” Boone asked quietly, looking from Gift to Park as Mac and Archer hunkered over Aspen’s corpse.
Gift just stood, still as a statue, fingers on his cheek, until Park took him gently by the shoulders. “Gift, baby, talk to us. Why were you in the gym? Why aren’t you with the others? You said you’d be in your room.”
Gift flinched again, his expression pained. Only then did Park realize how accusatory he sounded.
“What’s with all the swords?” Mac muttered, seemingly to himself. Park took in the two katanas on the ground, the single sai sword, as well as a hunting knife, but he couldn’t even begin to fathom what had happened in there.
Park led Gift to the bleachers and sat down, pulling him into his lap. “Baby, I am not mad at you, just scared and confused. Please, talk to us. Tell us what happened. Please.”
For a moment, Park thought Gift wasn’t going to answer. His eyes were now locked on the body, like he couldn’t understand how it got there. “I got a text from Aspen asking if I wanted to practice,” he said, words thick. “The others were teasing me…about us…about last night…so I agreed just to get out of there.”
Park didn’t miss the exchange of looks between the others. He’d deal with that later. He didn’t have time to explain himself, not that he could put up much of a defense. He was a teacher sleeping with a student. But Boone had all but shoved him into it, so he wasn’t particularly worried. Still, he didn’t like the idea of a bunch of psychopaths picking on Gift about their sex life, though some small part of him was smug knowing Payton now knew to keep his hands off Gift.
“Then what,ouen?” Park prompted, squeezing Gift’s thigh. He grimaced.
That was when Park noted more slices in the boy’s pant legs.
“I’m tired,hia,” Gift muttered. “I just want to go to your room and sleep.”
“I know,kon-dii, but you need to tell us, then I will take you home to rest, okay?”
Gift shrugged. “He said katana swords were like lightsabers and he wanted to test a theory. He said not to worry, that they were teaching blades. That they were dulled down. Harmless. Mine was.”
Park frowned. “Was what,ouen?”
“Dulled down. I felt it myself. Aspen’s wasn’t. I didn’t know that at first. I thought we were just training…sparring. But he was so aggressive… He wouldn’t let me rest. He just kept coming at me, no matter what I did.”
Park’s gaze cut to Aspen, silently imagining beheading him with the sword by his side. Gift must have been terrified with Aspen swinging on him with that giant sword. Christ. The damage that could have been done. It could have been Gift on that floor, but he’d clearly held his own. Because of a…lightsaber? Gift had a lightsaber?
Gift’s fingertips rose to trace the open wound on his face until Park captured them in his own, bringing his hand to his lap.
“I only knew it was real when he cut my cheek. But before I could even react, he was just on me. He kept coming at me, over and over again. I didn’t even have time to do anything but block his moves. But I got tired,hia. It went on forever. I just couldn’t keep fighting him. I-I dropped my sword. Or maybe he disarmed me? I don’t really remember.” Gift’s gaze floated back to his attacker, voice wondrous as he said, “He’s so blue. Like a white walker.”
A giggle erupted from Gift’s lips at the idea before his eyes went almost comically wide and he slapped a hand over his mouth, muffling the laughter bubbling out of him. He didn’t seem to notice the fat tears rolling down his chubby cheeks and dripping from his jaw. Park needed to get him home and cleaned up soon. Gift was starting to lose it.
“And then what happened?” Park prompted, his hand now running soothing circles over his back. Gift’s laughter died, but not his tears. His head fell to Park’s shoulder.
“When I lost my sword, I turned away. Tried to make myself small, I guess. I thought he was going to just run me through like in a pirate movie or something, and I…I just didn’t want to see it coming. But then he d-didn’t.” Gift’s teeth began to chatter. He was definitely slipping into shock. “I’m so cold,hia.”
Park kissed his forehead, holding him a little closer. “I know, baby. We’re almost done. You’re doing great. Just a little bit more and we’re gonna go home.”
