Torex scowled. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“You told me yesterday that your brother thinks you’re useless. And now I think you’re trying to prove him right.”
Was it weird that Pel wanted to reach out and smooth the furrow in Torex’s brow? It had to be weird.
“Why would I try to prove to my brother that he was right that I’m useless?” Torex asked even as the furrow deepened.
“Because sometimes that’s easier than trying to fight back against someone’s expectations. Because that can be exhausting.”
“I don’t know what you mean,” Torex muttered, but he wouldn’t meet Pel’s eyes.
“I’m the only Unremarkable in this royal family for the last 600 years,” Pel told him matter-of-factly. “My father’s belief that I’m useless has followed me everywhere and permeated everything I’ve done every day since I Manifested twelve years ago.”
Torex’s mouth pressed into a thin line, and he tried to sit a little straighter, though he just sank back into the pillows.
“You arenotuseless!” he told Pel vehemently, eyes flashing with indignation.
Pel smiled faintly at him. “I certainly try not to be. But it isn’t easy when it’s what someone constantly tells you.”
“You have to believe in yourself outside of that person,” Torex told him earnestly.
“Yes, you do,” Pel agreed softly.
Torex was silent for a moment and then suddenly blurted out, frustration evident, “He ordered me not to drink. Or have orgies. Or to captain the guard. What does he want me to do instead? Bond with the wrong person! That’s unreasonable!”
“It must be very frustrating,” Pel agreed.
In a rather drunken whisper, Torex confessed, “Sometimes, I just want to get away from it all.”
“And you made a good effort,” Pel told him. “But the one thing you can’t ever outrun is yourself.”
Torex’s face scrunched up in distaste. “My brother told me that.”
Pel laughed softly. “Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean it’s not true. And it’s not my place to judge, but I’m going to do it anyway and tell you something that maybe you don’t want to hear.”
Torex let out a laugh that sounded only a little raw. “All right. Lay it on me.”
Pel confessed, “I like you better when you’re not drinking.”
Torex kept staring at him for a very long time, and then he blinked, and the furrow reappeared in his brow. The urge to smooth it away was stronger, but Pel pushed it aside.
Finally, Torex said, “That’s what you wanted to tell me?”
“That’s it,” Pel agreed. “Obviously, you have to make all your own choices. You get to decide what you’re going to do with your life and how you feel about all of it. But I still wanted to tell you.”
“That you like me better when I’m not drinking.”
Pel nodded. “There’s a little too much drinking in my life already.”
Torex’s face suddenly cleared. “I understand. I will… stop drinking.”
“Yeah?” Pel asked carefully.
Torex handed him the glass and then gestured with a sloppy wave at the bottles on the bedside cabinet. “I think there’s more.”
Pel gave him the glass of water he’d been holding.
“Drink it,” Pel instructed. “It’s water. You’re going to have a headache as it is.”
