Chelen City: Chapter Nine, Part Two

 Notes: Well, I don't have pink eye anymore, so that's nice. I do have a respiratory illness that's got me doubled over and hacking (not Covid according to two different tests, plus I'm vaxxed and boosted, but arggg) yet on we go. Meh. 

FYI, next week I'm on vacation, so probably no post then. We're going to do some camping, have a little road trip...should be fun! As long as I don't hack up a lung!

Title: Chelen City: Chapter Nine, Part Two

***

Chapter Nine, Part Two

 

The rest of the interview was as incisive as Elanus expected, but he was ready for it. Fritz could twist and turn all he liked; Elanus wasn’t going to be giving away anything he didn’t want to. At the end of their time together, he viewed the process as an unequivocal triumph. If the frown on Fritz’s face was anything to go by, he thought Elanus had done well for himself too.

“One more thing,” he said once the show had stopped recording. “I was asked to pass something on to you. Normally I’d tell anyone making a request like that of me to jump off a tube, but in this case I was willing to make an exception.” He passed a card over to Elanus like it was made of gold. “A reply was also requested, so if you don’t mind…”

“I’m sure I could reply on my own,” Elanus said, but he went ahead and opened the card. The moment he saw the writing, his air of blasé fell away. “Caria is hosting a party.”

“An extremely exclusive party,” Fritz confirmed. “And I believe I’m correct in thinking that you haven’t been invited to one of her soirees for…years now, am I right?”

Elanus didn’t reply—he didn’t need to. His break from Caria was well-known, after she came to the defense of her former protégé Deysan in a very loud, very public way when Elanus split paths from him. Caria had always been friendly to him before that, and was enormously influential. Staying on her good side would have been smart, but also impossible.

And yet here she was, opening the door. Elanus had been planning to look into her anyway, but…even if this was a trap, he needed to consider it. Needed to take it.

“Your lover is invited too,” Fritz pointed out when he saw Elanus hesitate. “If that’s what stopping you. I’ve got to say, I learned more about him today than I thought I would. I’m looking forward to meeting such a paragon.”

“What do you mean?” Elanus asked, still distracted.

“Are you kidding me? The lovesick way you talk about him, how you phrase the things he did…it’s clear you’re head over heels for him.” Fritz smirked. “I only hope he’s as comfortable sharing these parts of his life as you seem to be. I don’t think it likely, but apparently he’d do anything for you, so…”

It took a second for what Fritz was saying to settle into Elanus’s head, but when it did it sank his mood like a lead weight. Shit. Oh, shit. He was so used to being open about himself, about almost every aspect of his life, that he didn’t even think to stop and consider how open he should be about Kieron’s. The man was already going through the wringer in therapy, being forced to share things with an outsider. How exposed was he going to feel after this interview aired?

Yet Elanus couldn’t take it back; he’d come here with the understanding that what he said was game. Everything that could have been negotiated should have been negotiated before it all started.

“Is this already live?” he asked.

“Sure is,” Fritz replied smugly. “Maybe your darling is watching it right now.”

Oh, he definitely is. Shit, shit, shit. Elanus didn’t say anything, just got up and turned on his heel, heading for the door.

“Caria wants an answer—will you two be there? Elanus. Elanus, I need an ans—”

The closing door cut off Fritz’s increasingly loud pleas. Ryu, for once having a sense of tact, just kept pace with Elanus to the tube, where they left without the assistance of Aloia, who was fluttering behind them like an anxious red piece of gauze.

The first half of the trip progressed in perfect silence before Ryu finally said, “It’s none of my business, but—”

“Then don’t bother talking about it.”

“But he might not be as angry as you think he’s going to be,” he went on. “I mean, he knew what he was getting into becoming your partner, didn’t he? It’s not like this level of scrutiny is unusual for you. Kieron needs to know this is going to be his life from here on out.”

“He’s going to hate it.” Elanus didn’t know why he was opening his heart up to Ryu, of all people—maybe it was just because he was there. But he needed to speak, to purge the worst of his guilt before he started trying to make it better. “He was used to almost total anonymity before we got together. Now he’s being pulled into a media storm that’s dredging up not just my past, but his as well. He’s going to fucking hate it.”

Ryu thought for a moment, then shrugged. “I guess the question is, will he hate it more than he loves you?”

No. Of course not. Elanus was sure of that. But that didn’t mean Kieron was going to feel good about it. It didn’t mean he was going to settle in better to Gania and its way of life by beginning his stay here utterly hounded. Elanus was going to have to do damage control…he just didn’t know what kind yet.

He could reach out with his implant to talk to Kieron, but that felt too impersonal. No, he needed to do this face to face.

When they got back to his house, Ryu immediately bolted to his room. Elanus reached out with his implant to check on the girls, who seemed to be putting together some sort of…symphony? They’d certainly gotten musical lately. And Kieron was…

Not in the house.

Wait.

Fuck.

Not in the house? How was that possible? He should have been informed the second Kieron got into a tube.

And that’s problematic too, isn’t it? Look at how closely you’re monitoring him. Doesn’t that seem excessive to you?

“Catie babe,” Elanus said, working hard to keep any negative emotion out of his voice, “where’s Kieron?”

“Hi, Daddeeeee!”

“Hi, Elanus,” Lizzie added.

Well, at least they seemed unperturbed. “Hi, girls. Where is Kieron?”

“He wantedddd to look at the rooooof!”

Elanus’s blood chilled. “The roof?” There was nothing to see on the roof, not a single fucking thing—it was cloudy almost all the time, especially this high up. All that was on the roof was cold and wind and a truly terrifying drop.

No. He wouldn’t.

He fucking well wouldn’t.

“Ah.” Elanus didn’t dare slam a query through his implant right now, not while the girls were so attuned to him. The knowledge didn’t stop his hands from shaking with unspent adrenaline. “I guess I should go say hi to him, then.”

“Okay, Daddeeee!”

Would they notice if he ran at this point?

It didn’t matter. Elanus sprinted for the stairs, gripped by a fear so primal that it radiated right down to the bone.

Be okay.

Kieron had to be okay.