John surprised his partner by taking the compass off him with a weary sigh.“Good grief.I teach this to my Year Nines.Come on, everyone.I have a feeling they’ll lay on a full English breakfast if we make it back in good time.”Even Nikolas felt slightly impressed and motivated, and he grinned at Ben as John strode confidently off toward the tree line.
He went up to Samuel.“What size shoes do you take?”Samuel seemed particularly defeated.Nikolas recognised the signs of withdrawal easily enough.
“Nine.”
“Nine?”Was it possible to have feet that small?“Fuck.”He reluctantly took off his shirt.He didn’t want to expose either his physique or his scars, neither of which added veracity to his pretence of being a florist, but Samuel couldn’t walk in bare feet.Much to the younger man’s astonishment, Nikolas tore and wrapped, tore and wrapped, until a comfortable and very acceptable pair of foot coverings was created.Nikolas looked up from his crouch into a pair of agitated, pale blue eyes.He murmured, “How long?”
“I don’t know what you’re—”
“How long?”
“Yesterday, in the bathroom.Just before you came in.”
Nikolas shook his head.“Then it appears you’ll be doing rehab and therapy at the same time.Can you walk?It’s daylight now, and you can watch where you put your feet.”
Samuel nodded.Nikolas flashed him a smile of approval, and on that one shared moment, Samuel walked the whole way with his improvised shoes and withdrawal without a murmur of complaint.Nikolas had practised the art of leadership in far harsher circumstances than this.
* * *
He and Ben fell naturally to the rear of the walking group so they could monitor their small flock, even if they couldn’t appear to be doing so.It enabled them to chat, too.Now relieved from the slightly oppressive thought they were being watched, they fell back into old habits and were actually enjoying the early morning exercise.It was still misty, the air was cool and fresh, and other than not being clean and shaved it was much like many mornings they’d both spent over their lives.“Do you think this weird therapy might actually be working?”Ben was staring thoughtfully at John and the way Mark was teasing him about his map reading—clearly they were very happy and gaining confidence from the situation.
Nikolas nudged him and indicated the quietest of their group.Lincoln and Lester, the soon-to-be newlyweds, weren’t quite so complacent and smug now—and they certainly weren’t holding hands.
Ben watched them for a while.“But you could say it’s working there, too.I mean, there didn’t seem much point them being here yesterday, did there?They seemed so sorted—so sure of what they wanted.But now this has put strain on them—maybe for the first time—taking them out of their comfort zone—and look at them…”
Nikolas sighed exasperatedly.“I could have told them that for less than six thousand pounds and sore feet.I gave them a day married.”
“Liar.”
“I did!It was obvious.No one holds hands unless they are seriously sick and insecure.”
Ben gave him one of his most derisive looks.After eight years, he was quite good at them—they actually stung.
Nikolas pouted.“I should run this fucking course.”
Ben snorted.“You could combine it with your survival skills training…”
This was a sore subject between them and a low blow on Ben’s part.Nikolas had once thought to use their skills and knowledge to run survival courses.Their experiences in the Russian wilderness had reminded them just how much they did know and, conversely, how much most ordinary people didn’t.But Nik’s first course had attracted an…unusual…set of applicants.They all had shaved heads and army fatiguesbeforethey’d arrived, and almost to a man they were able to boast of large collections of tinned goods squirreled away in lock ups or garages for…and then there was a lot of nodding and winking.For what?Ben knew Nikolas had been bemused by them.Unilaterally, he’d decided he wouldn’t be responsible for teaching any of them to kill and gut anything and had refunded them their course fees and sent them home.
Ben could see he’d scored a rare point with Nikolas and pressed home his advantage.“You could advertise to gay men only next time.They come on your survival course and…” Nikolas seized him around the neck in one strong arm and knuckle-rubbed the blond spikes until Ben begged for mercy—genuinely: Nikolas never stinted when punishing Ben and made sure it hurt.
After a while, apparently suffering under a stony silence from Ben, Nikolas deviated from the path they were following, bent and turned back with a flower, which he presented to Ben.“For you…sweetheart.”
Ben batted it away.“You don’t even know what it is, and you’re supposed to be—”
“And as usual, you’re wrong.It’s a dandelion.See?Black belt in flowers.”Nik chuckled.“I liked your cooking analogy.The shelling especially...given all these nuts…”
Ben snagged his belt once more—not that he needed to tether Nikolas; he’d recovered from the fear Nik was about to break out; he just liked anchoring him close anyway—and nodded at Samuel.“What’s with?”
“Coke.He was stuffing it up his nose yesterday just before I went into the bathroom.”
“Recognised the signs, did you?”
Nikolas sniffed and ignored this.“He’s probably missing it more than the lovely Noah.”
“Fuck.Are we there yet?”
Nikolas smiled and seemed willing to let the profanity go.
