Ash wanted to create a secure, almost secret area on that old piece of land abused by both heavy metal contaminants and human greed. He wanted to fence it off and give it time to heal, until the ground was safe and clean. Cooper knew that Ash had been yearning to make it a green, a true piece of heaven on earth. And most of all, both he and Cooper understood the importance of soothing down the wild flow of ley line energies, and making the node safe for both highly talented people, and for those who never imagined that such energies could even exist.
ASH PARKED COOPER’S bike under the porch in the backyard, and let himself in through the basement door. He walked past the basement shower enclosure on the left and all the mechanics that kept Cooper’s apartment comfortably civilized on the right. Walking up the narrow wooden staircase into the kitchen, he narrowly missed hitting his head on a support beam.
He didn’t hear Cooper move around. They got a lot of work done over the last two weeks, and it was possible that Cooper slept in by accident.
One look around the kitchen, however, told Ash that Cooper had been up for some time. When he surveyed the prepped breakfast ingredients that waited to be cooked, he smiled and turned the water kettle on. Then, very quietly, he tiptoed into the middle room.
Cooper was hunched over the keyboard, with his eyes fixed on the screen, his shoulders tense. Shapes moved on the screen – large gray rectangles floated on a dark blue background, constrained into a mesh of pale green lines that looked a lot like a three dimensional grid.
Ash cleared his throat.
Cooper started, straightened up as he spun around, and looked at Ash with eyes wide in panic. “Oh, hi!” He pasted on the whitest, brightest, fake smile ever. “Let me save this,” he said, and quickly hit a few buttons and turned the screen off.
Ash leaned against the door jamb and gave him a wry smile. “It’s a good thing you aren’t a spy,” he said. “You can’t lie for shit.”
“That’s supposing I had something to lie about,” Cooper said rather defensively. “I just don’t like when people look at my work before it’s ready. It’s like any other art. I like to present the idea all finished, and when somebody doesn’t like certain parts we can fix that later.”
Ash could have pressed him, but didn’t. Instead, he leaned in and brushed his lips against Cooper’s forehead, and murmured. “Thank you for getting breakfast ready. Let me take care of the coffee.”
Ten minutes later, they were into their toast and eggs. Ash straightened up and looked at Cooper very seriously. “Remember how your folks said they have people who could help us? Maybe it’s time to Skype them. Those houses will be done soon, and they mentioned there are a few talented people who might be looking to move into the city. Besides,” he added with a thoughtful frown, “my meditation went really well today. And I realized something.”
Cooper swallowed his mouthful, and cocked his head in a questioning look. “If your meditation went well, why do you look so concerned?”
“Because if this is as good as it gets, even if I get stronger and develop exceptional control, this project is still bigger than the two of us.” Ash gave Cooper a look both resolved and desperate. “I think we need help.”
CHAPTER 6
It took only ten days before Cooper’s relatives, and their friends, began their unannounced invasion. On August 3rd, a small green hatch-back Honda Civic pulled up in front of Cooper’s rental duplex on Mary Street. Cooper was rousted from his deep-focus work by the strange car, because its broken muffler made such a racket, he thought somebody was roaring up and down the street on a Harley with extra-loud pipes.
Spurred by his curiosity, he bolted out of his ergonomic computer chair, flew across the two rooms, and peered out of his open bedroom window with a glare of a genius pulled away from his all-consuming work.
The driver wedged his way between two SUVs, which were parked on the other side of the street, seemingly not caring that the little car was now aimed in the direction opposite of the traffic. Mary Street might have been narrow, but it was not a one-way street.
Cooper saw a dark, short-haired figure check something, possibly cell phone or written directions, and peer through the passenger side window towards Cooper’s house.
The distressed steel of the driver’s side door hinge screeched open, so loud and so in want of oil that it made Cooper cringe. A tall man unfolded himself and crawled out of the car, balancing on the sloped sidewalk and stretching his long arms overhead.
There was something familiar about him. Something that reminded Cooper of water balloon fights and tree fortresses and burnt hotdogs.
Surely this was... was that Jared? He had not seen Jared in years. Last time they had one of their outback adventures, both had been twelve or thirteen, and Jared was beginning to show the first signs of family weirdness. Or that’s what Cooper used to think of their powers back then, before he realized that they were not, in fact, just random eccentricities. Well, they were an oddity to everyone else, but within their family, he took the fact that his family members were “powerfully weird” for granted.
Cooper tried not to overthink the fact that his old assumptions held no water at all. Contemplating reality too hard would only give him a headache, and it wasn’t the kind a reishi mushroom extract would fix.
But Jared, here? That was pretty awesome! Cooper didn’t expect their SOS for reinforcements to have such immediate effect. He walked over to the hallway door and opened it, then he flung the house door ajar. The movement of the door opening attracted Jared’s attention immediately.
Cooper waved. “Hey!”
“Hey, Cooper is that really you?” Jared crossed the street without looking, obviously unaccustomed to any kind of traffic whatsoever. Within seconds, his distant cousin was bounding up the few concrete steps and flinging his arms around Cooper’s shoulders in a manly bro hug. “Hey, dude! It’s so great to see you! We were all told you need people, and that you need them, like yesterday, so here I am! What’s the deal? Trouble? You know I am always up for a good adventure!”
The years fell away as though they were still just kids on a summer vacation. Yes, Jared was always good for an adventure. That was not, necessarily, a good thing. Back then, Jared had not been known to be the most restrained kind of a guy when it came to risk-taking.
“I don’t know what people told you.” Cooper cleared his throat self-consciously. “It’s complicated. They tell you about my partner, Ash?”
Jared laughed. “Yeah, I heard you finally found someone. And no surprise it’s a dude, either. I had always thought you were as gay as a daisy!”
Cooper didn’t know what to say to that, so he said nothing. He waved Jared inside, closed the front door, then shut the door to his apartment. “I guess it’s lucky Ash and I didn’t get rid of that extra bed,” he said.
ASH LEFT THE construction site brimming with frustration. They should’ve been done with the whole rebuild by now. All the houses were supposed to be finished and ready for a move-in, with gleaming floors and all the details finished and every stray speck of paint or dust cleaned up, yet he just finished the last of the trim painting.
His ancient van rumbled across the bridge, fighting the height of the rush hour. Once again, he regretted not having been able to bike today, but all those tools he was bringing from the construction site would come in handy at Cooper’s place. Mrs. Klein did, occasionally, ask Cooper for a favor when it came to maintenance. It just turned out the people upstairs had a plumbing issue, and with all they had learned already, both Cooper and Ash were able to step in and replace the leaky faucet.
A whole eternity had passed before Ash was able to make a right turn off the bridge and enter Millvale. He crawled up Grant Street, past the gas station and the bank and the sandwich place, hung a right onto North Street, told himself that the traffic provided a fine excuse for not stopping at the French bakery, and a few turns later, he was at Mary Street. A place he called home these days.
Except he
had no place to park. Why was Mr. Belski parked in Ash’s usual space? And what was that little green Honda doing in front of the Hatalsky’s house?
Ash stopped in the middle of the street, unloaded the tools he needed on the front porch, hopped back in the truck, and rumbled up the steep hill to the turn-around. Mary Street used to be longer than it was today. The dead end that marked its end had been broadened into a turn-around circle, and was all that remained of the paved road. The rest of the asphalt past the chain was broken down, and was currently buried by a lovely, thick humus left behind by many seasons of decomposing leaves.
Weeds bloomed and saplings thrived where cars used to go as nature took back its own, even within the city limits.
Peering into the woods made it easy for Ash to abandon his mental to-do list. Cooper’s earth-sense had told them that there used to be houses up on this hill. The abandoned foundations, basements, and chimneys still gaped like yawning maws in the forested hillside. If Ash squinted hard, he could make out a utility pole that stood abandoned next to a grown chokecherry tree. The snarl of old electrical wiring, which festooned its cross-beam, had once served to light up at home, or several homes, many decades ago.
Someday, Ash would take a little walk and explore the land beyond the chain. Someday, but not now. Now he was stuck parking in the turn-around on top of the hill, wedged halfway into the weeds that were once the old road in an effort to make space for other unfortunate souls who were funneled this way.
He grabbed his phone and keys and locked up. As he trudged down the hill, his thoughts returned back to his paint job, and the way he now had almost no drips. It was amazing how refinishing six houses did wonders for his precision and efficiency in so many areas.
But that didn’t change the fact that he was behind schedule.
He had been hoping Cooper would be here, helping, except Cooper managed to snag a client, and having a client who wanted to build a new house out in Wexford was work that paid in cash instead of in sweat equity. He knew Cooper needed the money, and honestly, even though they didn’t have any kind of an official partnership arrangement, a rising tide on Cooper’s end floated Ash’s financial boat as well.
They were in this together.
As far as Ash was concerned, the work couldn’t have been finished without Cooper’s involvement. The ley lines and the node wouldn’t have even been discovered, had Cooper not been around. Not until it was too late. By then, Ash would’ve been left wrestling that monster all by himself. Having Cooper around was a fortunate blessing, and not only because Ash came to truly enjoy falling asleep in Cooper’s generous arms.
Cooper was handsome and sweet and perfect.
Ash only hoped that he had something to bring into this relationship, something Cooper would find worthwhile.
BY THE TIME Ash kicked off his construction boots in the hallway, he was all set to check the frustrations of the day at the door. Cooper was probably glued to his computer, working hard. Ash quietly opened the door and entered.
Cooper was snuggled into the ratty old sofa, comfortably leaning into a guy closer to Ash’s age. The stranger was handsome in a tall, broad-shouldered way. He had short, light brown hair, and was currently beaming a brilliant smile. And, dammit, the guy’s arm was casually draped over Cooper’s shoulders.
Ash was appalled when a growling sound emanated from his throat. He didn’t mean to act like a caveman – it just happened. It happened, and he didn’t try to stop it.
And there was Cooper, the happy smile that stretched from ear to ear lighting up his face like sunshine. “Hey, Ash! Guess who is staying over!”
The other guy, the one Ash would’ve killed with a single look if he knew how, squeezed Cooper’s shoulders with his arm before he stood up, taking his own sweet time, and extended his hand in his direction.
“You must be Ash! I’m Jared. Cooper and I know each other from way back when.”
“Do you.” Ash’s voice came out as a drawl this time. Less caveman, resembling instead a weak jerk with no manners whatsoever.
He made himself shake the visitor’s hand. A quick glance toward Cooper, and he just knew he was making an ass of himself.
“Are you jealous?” Cooper sprang up from the sofa, pushed Jared out of the way, and pulled Ash into a hug. “That’s kind of... Adorable. In a hot way.” The warmth of Cooper’s eyes didn’t quite manage to disguise his concern. Concern for him, Ash. And, presumably, for his feelings.
“Sorry,” Ash said with just a hint of a laugh. “I don’t do surprises really well, I guess.” He turned to Jared. “Okay, let’s start again. I am Ash, Ash Ravenna. Cooper’s lover. And you are?”
Jared took his hand and shook it, brief and businesslike. “My name is Jared Anaveinen, and I am one of Cooper Anaveinen’s distant cousins.”
Not even the heat of late summer’s day could have possibly accounted for the searing flush which Ash felt spilling across his cheeks.
“Oh. I am so very sorry! Mortified, in fact.” Ash grabbed Jared’s hand and proceeded to pump it hard enough that his current awkwardness outweighed his former awkwardness by good ten pounds.
“If it makes any difference,” Cooper said in a shy, hesitant voice that somehow broke through the whole situation and made both Ash and Jared stop and look at him, “I have never been introduced as anybody else’s lover before.”
And now, when Ash gave Cooper a closer look, he was delighted to see the tops of his cheeks darken in an adorable blush.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Jared.” Ash looked around the apartment. It was obvious that Jared was intending to stay. The pile of boxes and bags in the middle of the floor that was Cooper’s dining room office attested to that fact. “I see you’re staying.”
Now he was feeling like an idiot. Jared’s last name, and that certain touch of family resemblance between him and Cooper, should have hit him like a clue-bat. Jared was one of the talented reinforcements sent by Cooper’s family, and Ash had to start out on the wrong foot, acting like an idiotic, jealous fool.
He produced a smile, attempting to project both a warm welcome and gratitude. “Any cousin of Cooper’s is, of course, most welcome. I’m glad you were willing to drive down and give us a hand.”
CHAPTER 7
The pristine, freshly painted walls of the second row house represented Cooper’s idea of open spaces and built-in storage perfectly. Sun streamed through the living room’s open windows, lighting up a space that would serve as a home to a talented family. Or, maybe, to an individual with a roommate. The fresh morning breeze brought the scent of wildflowers from the wild lot across the street inside, a reminder of why they were here, and what they were trying to accomplish.
And now they weren’t alone.
The first reinforcement had arrived. Cooper could hardly contain his excitement. Jared was here, a trusted conspirator from years back. When Jared was around, excitement followed. “Hey, remember that one time we tried to build a teepee in the woods?”
“Yep,” Jared said with a wide grin. “It’s amazing they let us stay out there for a whole week without supervision.”
“How old were you?” Ash couldn’t contain himself with curiosity. Over the last two days, he was doing all he could to find out about Cooper’s childhood past.
“Oh, I don’t know, just kids.”
Jared chimed in. “Ten or eleven. At that point we were allowed to camp outside without supervision. As long as you’re careful with the fires, you know.”
Ash let out a wistful sigh. “I’m jealous. I lived in a pretty populated area. It was also the ’burbs, you couldn’t even bike to the library or to the beach safely because of the traffic. But that’s California for you. And there weren’t many of us out there, either.”
“That’s not surprising.” Jared picked up a sanding pad, and attached it to the hand sander used for detailing the edges of the old, hardwood floors. “I mean, after all, California doesn’t have a lot of groundwater. I wouldn’t expe
ct too many ‘water whisperers’ out there, y’know? I’d expect the fire-born, or, I don’t know, earth-sense, with all that seismic activity. Not water, though. My family got to travel from place to place a lot, and it’s as though people with talents are matched to the environment where they were born. You’ll probably find air-born popping up spontaneously in places where you have the danger of forest fires or severe weather. Kansas, definitely. It’s not that they cause them. The environment simply requires them.”
Cooper realized he was standing in the middle of an unfinished living room floor, as still as could be.
“Wait. Are you saying that... That I have earth-sense because for some weird reason the earth wants me to have it?” He shook his head in disbelief. “That’s backwards. The world doesn’t work like that. We are not being controlled from the outside.”
Jared gave him a side-eye. “Hey, just because I believe in it doesn’t mean you have to knock it!”
There was no missing Jared’s combative stance and the tension his shoulders. Likewise, Cooper sensed the way Ash stiffened and turned only half of the way towards them, as though he wasn’t really part of this, but he didn’t want to miss out on anything either. This here, this was one of those issues that drove talented families apart from each other.
The philosophy that a gift was a talent that had to be trained in order to be controlled – versus the idea that it was somehow given for a higher purpose.
Cooper didn’t believe in a “higher purpose.” He was an engineer and an architect. To him, the world was a compilation of forces and masses, vectors and axes of balance. It was all logical, and tidy, and perfectly explainable.
Except he liked Jared. He had always gotten along with him, and right now, he didn’t want to offend him not just because he didn’t want to cause hurt feelings between them – he didn’t want Jared to stalk off in a huff due to their different worldviews, because they needed him. They needed all the gifted friends and allies they could possibly get. Making enemies based on matters of faith didn’t even begin to make sense when faced with a rogue node.
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