“Okay.”
Sage wasn’t sure whether he should move, but Will seemed at ease, even smiling; maybe at the joke, maybe at something else entirely.
The two of them stood in the wild garden, not quite holding hands, but almost.Sage didn’t mind the almost.
The roses watched from their nest of thorns, very much satisfied with themselves.
10
Sage
AftershowingWillthestrawberries and letting him eat his fill right from the plant, Sage had eventually gone back inside, leaving Will to explore the Vert wilderness on his own.
Sage had come to the frankly obvious conclusion that procrastinating rather than invoicing was the way to go, so he dropped onto the couch and switched on the ancient TV he’d personally enchanted to display crisp HD.One of the couch cushions snuggled up around Sage’s shoulders and eased any tension there with a nice, firm massage.
Will joined him after only a handful of minutes, curling up on the couch as well; not right next to Sage, but in the corner.Looks like he’s trying to make himself invisible.Shame.He’s very lookable—a looker.And these are bad thoughts, very bad thoughts.Right?
“What do you want to watch?”Sage asked.
He had no idea what Will liked in terms of shows.The TV had barely been on since Will moved in.There’d been things to do, and a ton of small jobs all over town to complete, and Will had been practicing and reading poetry a lot, doing everything Sage told him to do.
“I’m fine with whatever.”
“That’s not fair.Streaming means there’s everything all at once.It takes me half an hour just to figure out that I can’t decide what I want to watch, and then I end up rewatching that comedy show with the talking cat I don’t really like.Help me out here, Will, I beg you.”
Will scooted a little closer to Sage.“Well, isBeholden to the Moon 2okay?If you haven’t seen the first one, that’s fine though.We can watch something else.”
Sage cocked his head.“That werewolf flick?The one where everyone takes their shirts off all the time for no good reason?”
Will blushed.“I’m sorry.It’s stupid.”
But Sage was already browsing the library to find the action movie void of plot.“I think that’s its appeal.Please do not expect me to keep my comments to myself.”
Will gave Sage a shy grin.“We can rate everyone’s hotness.I think the wolves in the first one were definitely hotter than the hunters.”
Sage snorted and hit play.“You’re just biased on account of your furry side.”
“Not true.”Will shuffled even closer, though he still wouldn’t touch Sage.“I like humans just fine.”
Sage was pretty sure that was a compliment directed solely at him, and for such an offhand one, it made him feel ridiculously good about himself.
Keep cool.We’re just watching a movie together.We’re just having fun here, nothing else to see.
Sage hit play.
The movie, while plotless, was more fun than Sage had had in years.Will turned into a different person when B-movie action was playing out in front of him.He became a cute, green witch who was convinced the big strong hunter would actually want to be mounted by the wolf.
They ended up laughing at nothing and everything, with Will’s feet brushing against Sage’s leg.Sage desperately wanted Will closer, but he didn’t dare make a move.He didn’t want to make Will uncomfortable.He carried a deep and raw hurt, and while he wouldn’t share its weight with Sage, Sage could still tell it was there.He simply didn’t want to add to it by pushing too much too soon.
Too soon?What am I thinking?What am I thinking?I’m thinking there is no rule anywhere that says a consenting apprentice is off-limits, but fuck me, what is Peter going to say?
Halfway through the movie—which was inordinately long and contained an improbable number of fight scenes—Will got up, and Sage hit pause.
“You can finish it.I’ll be upstairs,” Will said.
It hit Sage.Night was about to fall.“Can’t you watch a screen or something when you shift?”
Will flushed.“I can watch screens.I just thought that while you’re here—”
