“You’d think they were lifesaving.” Heir shook his head.
“Vitamin deficiency can cause long-lasting issues,” Echo said, tilting the box toward Heir. “Take one.”
“I’m good. Ate all my greens, drank my milk, all that.”
“I feel like I’m being mocked,” Echo said, pulling the box back to themself and snapping the lid closed. “Am I being mocked?”
“Mocked is a strong word,” Trace said, placing his giant paw on Echo’s shoulder, making them slide down the sofa with the weight of it.
“Teased,” Saint said. “Lovingly. We’d never want anything to happen to you.”
“Coulda fooled me.” Echo sank back into their cardigan and flapped their hand around. “Go on, then. He’s been sitting there for ages, staring, and it’s making me jittery.”
“Air makes you jittery,” Eerie said, twirling one end of his bow.
“Your face makes me jittery.”
“Good.”
“See?” Heir said to Teddy, pointing at everyone. “This is what meetings look like when you’re out of commission and Stress Ball and Sleep Paralysis Demon are in charge of running the team.”
“Hey!” Echo said.
“I do like that.” Eerie smiled, feral and cold.
“All right, everyone shut the hell up,” Trace said. “Damir, we need to talk.”
“Yeah, I figured that out myself.” Teddy flinched internally at his official name being said out loud. He never felt like a Damir. It felt like a mask he was wearing. Someone else’s skin. “What I can’t figure out is this ‘out of commission’ nonsense.”
“Look.” Saint’s voice was kind and welcoming as always, but where it usually soothed Teddy, now it just made him wary. “We understand there are things about you we don’t know.”
“I’m not hiding—”
“Please,” Saint said, placing his palm on Teddy’s knee, “just hear me out.”
Teddy swept his gaze around the room and caught each member of his team watching him with a mixture of concern, fear, annoyance, and curiosity in their eyes.
He slumped back into his chair, crossing his arms over his chest.
“No need to be defensive,” Heir said, pointing to his stance.
“I’m not defensive.” He uncrossed his arms and tried to arrange them in a way that would convey relaxation. He ended up letting them flop uselessly by his sides.
Eerie quirked a dark brow at him before huffing.
“We know something went down in Slatehollow,” Saint said softly. His palm was warm through Teddy’s jeans, and he wanted so badly to be comforted by it.
The scent Saint carried due to his specialty in animal cursework sometimes had a familiar undertone. Never exactly the same. Never correct enough for it to truly work, but on good days, on days when Teddy felt grounded and calm and like he fit in his skin, it felt like a gift.
“A lot went down in Slatehollow.” Teddy swallowed hard against the tide of emotions rising inside of him. He wasn’t ready to talk about him. He wasn’t ready to let them all know. “I don’t know if you all heard, but a cursebreaker got cursed.”
“Don’t act dumb with us, man,” Heir said. “You came back all gloomy and have been moping around the house ever since. It’s not just about the fucking curse.”
Teddy looked at Trace and found him staring back unblinkingly, expression hard and lips pinched tight. Teddy held his gaze, begging him to understand, to get him out, to stop them from asking for too much.
“We’re just worried about you,” Trace said. “You came back all fucked up and we’re used to you keeping this thing together.”
“I’m not fucked up,” he said, curling in on himself.
