Indigo Knights: The Boxed Set

by Jet Mykles

  Then his phone beeped. A text. It’s Cash. Can we talk?

  Danny blinked at the little screen, wondering if he was hallucinating. But the caller ID clearly identified Cash Pattison, although the number was new. Questions flew through his head, but he settled on one. When?

  Tonight? Dinner?

  K. Where?

  Come by my new apt. What followed was an address. Still unfamiliar with much of Chicago, Danny was going to need to get Lance to help him with directions.

  Dinner. With Cash. If this was a dream, it was a pretty good start. Parts of his body that had been dormant for months began to tingle. B there in an hour.

  * * * *

  The building was brick, at least its facade. It looked like a pretty typical condominium complex. A nice one. By the time Danny arrived, day had fully dissolved into night. Mounted lamps threw yellow circles onto the bricks along the first floor. Above, glass balconies looked out over the street.

  Impressed by the location, Danny buzzed number 404 at the callbox mounted beside doors into the lobby.

  “Danny?”

  He startled at hearing Cash say his name so clearly, then smiled at himself. Glancing up, thinking there was a camera, he said, “It’s me.” No camera to wave to, at least not one obvious.

  “Great. Come on up.” A horrible buzz filled the air, and one of the double doors cracked open.

  It was easy enough to find the elevator, and Danny was further impressed by the chrome-and-wood decor. “Cash has moved up in the world,” he muttered to himself, punching number four, then waiting for the cube to take him to his destination.

  Was that what this visit was for? To show Danny that Cash was fine without him? Or had Danny left something behind in the old apartment, and Cash wanted to give it to him in person? Danny didn’t dare hope Cash just wanted to see him again. Not after months of silence. Okay, a small part of him hoped for it. The melodramatic romantic in him wanted Cash to fall all over him with protestations of love, but the realist squashed that firmly. Maybe Cash just wanted to be friends. Maybe he needed a booty call. That one made Danny laugh at himself.

  The hallway was carpeted, and one side looked out on the street. Evidently, public hallways lined the outside of the building, and the condos—at least on this side—overlooked the interior courtyard. Danny found the door marked with 404 and knocked.

  No sound from inside, only the soft whir of air-conditioning and the rumble of cars passing on the street below. Then the knob clicked, and the door opened.

  The person who greeted him was an older female version of Cash. She had the same gold-and-brown hair, although hers was in much better shape, longer and pulled back in a tail. Big dark eyes beamed at him from behind lenses surrounded by purple metal frames with little rhinestone flowers at each corner right next to the arms. She was chunkier than Cash, but not unpleasantly so, and her smile was the same one Cash got when something genuinely pleased him.

  “Hello,” she greeted. “You must be Danny.”

  “I…am. Am I at the right place?”

  “You certainly are.” One hand still on the door, she extended the other. “I’m Rebecca, Cassius’s mother. I’ve heard so much about you.”

  Danny took the hand, unsure what to say. In the six months he’d lived with Cash, he’d never met Cash’s mother. He’d certainly not expected to meet her tonight.

  “Come in, come in. My, you’re just as handsome as your pictures.”

  She ushered him inside, where he was immediately engulfed in the smell of something heavenly. Grilled fish, if he didn’t miss his guess, plus some kind of potato dish. His mouth started to water.

  The interior of the condo lived up to the promise of the rest of the building. The cream walls were boldly blank, and the floors were warm hardwood. Outdoor lamps lit a balcony beyond sliding glass doors. Furnishing was sparse and all new. A couch and two matching chairs sat before a mounted forty-inch television. On the other side of an empty space, Danny spied a swank kitchen through an open door.

  Rebecca closed the door behind him. “May I get you something to drink?”

  His mouth was open to answer, when he heard a voice he’d suspected he’d never hear again.

  “Hi, Danny.”

  Danny swung around to face a hallway that led away to, presumably, at least one bedroom and a bathroom. Cash stood there, but he’d changed his look. For the better. The hair was still longish on top, but none fell lower than his ears. The rest was buzzed close to his head, proving his roots were dark brown. The glasses perched on his nose were not the thick tortoiseshell Danny remembered but rather lenses with narrow, shiny metal frames. He wore a short-sleeved polo shirt and knee-length denim shorts. No comic characters stretched across his shirt, and the shorts looked like they might be new. A wonder.

  “Wow. You look great.”

  “Thanks.” Cash gestured toward Rebecca. “This is my mom.”

  “We’ve met,” she piped in, circling Danny toward the kitchen. “Now, I’m just going to take the fish out, and then I’ll be out of your hair. I hope you don’t mind my hanging around, Danny, but I so wanted to meet you.”

  Danny watched her disappear into the kitchen, then looked at Cash.

  “Sorry about that. She’s been teaching me to cook. I didn’t mean for her to stay this long, but she wanted to meet you.”

  “You cooked?”

  Cash smiled. “Mostly. She helped. A lot. But I’m getting better.”

  “I thought we were going out?” Surprise made Danny speak without thinking.

  Thus the fallen expression on Cash’s face. “We can, if you’d rather do that…”

  “No, no, no, that’s fine. It smells awesome. I’m just…surprised. In the whole time we lived together, you never made more than mac ’n’ cheese and grilled cheese sandwiches.”

  “Yeah.” He pushed his glasses farther up his nose in a familiar gesture that made Danny’s heart ache. “That was getting old.”

  Danny smiled at this new version of Cash, approving. Cash was talking to him. He looked like he paid attention to how he looked. He had cooked for him. His mother had wanted to meet him. Strange things were afoot, and Danny had to wonder again what tonight was about. Then he decided to not think and to go with it.

  Danny looked around, taking a few more steps across the empty wood floor. A dining table was needed. “Nice place. You’ve moved up in the world.”

  “Yeah.” Cash glanced around like he was seeing it fresh. “My mom helped me pick it out. And, um, most of the furniture. What there is of it.”

  Danny stroked the padded top of one of the upholstered chairs. He recognized the titles on the gamer and computer magazines spread across the coffee table. “Bet you picked out the TV.”

  “Well, yeah.”

  “Job must be working out for you.”

  Cash stepped up behind the other chair and held on to it with both hands. He looked toward Danny but not directly at him. “It’s good. I really like it. I can pretty much keep my own hours, and I work a lot from home.”

  “Sounds great.”

  “It is. Yeah.”

  “All right.” Rebecca bustled from the kitchen, pulling her purse onto her shoulder. “The food is all ready. You boys should sit down and eat soon.” She put a hand on Cash’s shoulder and kissed his cheek. Then she turned to smile at Danny. “I want to thank you for being such a good friend to my Cassius.” She held out her hand, and he shook it, dazed. “I hope you enjoy the dinner and that we see each other again. Soon. I’ve heard your music, and I actually really like it. I’ve got my quilting group almost convinced to go to one of your concerts!” With that bomb, she smiled at her son again, then left.

  Danny wondered where, exactly, he’d crossed over into the Twilight Zone.

  “She, um, knows. About, uh, us.”

  Oh? “What does she know?”

  “That we were…” Cash flushed. “I told her I’m gay.”

  Danny dug his fingers deep into the chair�
��s cushioned back, aware they were both using the chairs as props. “Are you?”

  “Yeah. I think so.” Cash nodded, but he might have been trying to convince himself. “I’m pretty sure.”

  Danny’s eyes narrowed as an ugly spear of jealousy chilled his chest. “You test that theory with anyone else while I was gone?”

  Cash’s face shut down, and just like that, the unreadable mask was back. “No.”

  It was just as well. They needed to get things straight before Danny could entertain eating. “Why am I here?”

  Finally, Cash met his gaze, giving no clues what he was thinking. “Dinner?”

  “That. And what else?”

  “There has to be something else?”

  “Yeah. You haven’t talked to me in months, and suddenly tonight you want to make me dinner?”

  “I couldn’t talk to you when you were in another state.”

  “My phone number hasn’t changed. And I e-mailed you.”

  There went Cash’s gaze. “Yeah, well. That was a…weird time.”

  “A weird time? So weird you couldn’t even write me back? Not even to tell me to go to hell?”

  “I didn’t…” Cash’s head shot up, and he searched Danny’s face for a moment. Then he took a deep breath. “I need to show you something.” He released his chair and headed for the hallway.

  Danny was impelled to follow.

  First door on his right was a bedroom. Had to be where Cash slept, judging by the clothes strewn and piled instead of folded and put away. Danny was relieved to see the bunk beds had been replaced with a thick mattress and box spring and even a frame. The blue sheets on the bed showed no trace of any type of comic character.

  Next door was a bathroom, surprisingly roomy, with both shower and tub. Pale green tile matched neatly hung towels. It looked oddly unused.

  The last room put a smile on Danny’s face even though he was still antsy. It would be considered a bedroom only if computers needed beds. This was clearly where Cash spent most of his time. Where others would have slept in the bigger room and set up the smaller bedroom as the office, Cash had gone the other way. An open door beside a closed closet was another bathroom that showed more use than the first. A new, massive corner desk was set up on the far wall, one side under a wide window. The same monitors Danny remembered stood sentinel, and the hum of hidden towers filled the room. The one item that surprised Danny was a new stereo unit set up on the opposite wall. It seemed oddly out of place. “Well, nice to know some things never change.”

  Cash paused at his office chair to glance back at Danny. He understood Danny’s point and shrugged. “Yeah.”

  “Yeah.” Danny waited. “So?”

  Cash sat and pulled up to his desk. “Right.”

  “More porn?” Danny asked, trying a joke to lighten the mood just a little.

  Cash smiled, but it was strained. “Not this time.”

  Danny came forward as Cash put his fingers on his trackpad. The monitor came to life to display the fan site Gordon had shown them a few weeks ago.

  “I’ve seen that site.”

  “Yeah?” Cash clicked on a flashy page that officially announced the Indigo Knights would be touring with Heaven Sent.

  A few feet behind Cash, Danny stood very still. Anger drained from him, and tension held him motionless. Like the calm before a storm. “Gordon’s been trying to find out who runs it.”

  “Yeah. I know.”

  Danny stared at the back of Cash’s head. “You know?”

  Cash nodded. “It’s mine.”

  When Danny didn’t say anything, Cash turned his chair around to face him.

  “Yours?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Why?”

  Cash watched his own finger trace the frayed edge of his chair’s padded arm. “Before you left, you asked me what I was passionate about. It started to bug me that I didn’t have anything.” He glanced toward the monitor. “So I started this.”

  “Why?”

  Cash shrugged. “At first it was just a little fun. Sites are easy to set up, and it was something to do. And the girl who runs that special Heaven Sent site’s pretty cool. Turns out I kind of know her. Online. She gave me a lot of good tips.” He turned back around fully and started to click. “I kind of got caught up in it.” Danny saw his grin in profile. “It’s fun.”

  “The forum.”

  “Well…that.” Cash’s hand hovered over the trackpad before he drew it back to his lap. “And I got to keep track of what you were doing.”

  Danny’s heart swelled. But he didn’t let himself grab Cash like he wanted. “You were keeping track of me.”

  “Yeah.” Cash sighed. “It wasn’t, like, romantic or anything. I mean, not…” He sighed again, frowning at himself. “I…missed you.”

  Danny took a step forward. “Missed me.”

  “Yeah.”

  “You could have called.”

  “Maybe. Didn’t know if you’d want to talk to me after I blew you off.”

  He was right behind Cash now. “You should have called.”

  Cash shrugged.

  Danny grabbed the back of Cash’s chair and spun it around. With it propped against the desk, he leaned on both arms, bringing his face more on level with Cash’s. “Why’d you want to keep track of me?”

  Still no eye contact. “I missed you.”

  “How much?”

  A frown waved over Cash’s face. With clearly monumental effort, he raised his head to finally meet Danny’s gaze again. “I missed you. I-I want you.”

  Struck, Danny froze. His feeble brain couldn’t process what he was hearing fast enough.

  Cash reached up to touch Danny’s jaw with tentative fingers. “You probably moved on. I get that. But, um, maybe if…when you’re in Chicago…we could still see each other? Sometimes?”

  “Sometimes? Like, sex?”

  “Yeah. That.”

  “Just that?”

  Cash shrugged. “Well, yeah. I know you’ve got…others.”

  Frustrated, Danny grabbed Cash’s shoulders and hauled him to his feet. While Cash yelped and grabbed Danny’s waist to steady himself, Danny framed his face and forced him to look at him. “Is that what you want? Sex?”

  Surprise made Cash’s eyes wide and parted his lips. “I—”

  “Because I can give you that.” Danny stared hungrily at Cash’s mouth. “Gotta warn you, though, might be a little wild at first. Because I haven’t had sex since I left Chicago.”

  “I… Wait, what?”

  Danny shook him a little. “I haven’t been with anyone since I was with you.”

  “That’s…impossible.”

  Danny’s laugh sounded a little bit like crying. “Believe me, it’s possible.”

  “But…all those people. They had to be all over you.”

  “They were. I turned every one of them down.”

  Cash frowned. “But…why?”

  Danny threaded his fingers through Cash’s hair above either ear and tugged. “Because I’m fucking in love with you, you idiot.”

  Fingers dug into his sides just as his dug into Cash’s hair. Dark brown eyes searched his face, disbelieving. “But… I…”

  “But what? What, Cash?”

  Cash swallowed, searching Danny’s face. “I didn’t expect you to…”

  “I didn’t expect to either. But I didn’t want anyone else.”

  “But…no one?”

  “No one. Just me, my right hand, and thoughts of you.”

  “They said…”

  “They who?”

  “Online.” His eyes focused on Danny’s mouth. “They lied?”

  “It happens.”

  Cash bit his lip. “No one?”

  “No one.”

  “Fuck.”

  Then they were kissing. Danny didn’t know who started it and didn’t care. His mouth was open and accepting of the tongue that awkwardly stroked his. He hoped he got bruises from the punishing grip of Cash’s ha
nds at his sides, proof this was really happening. In sliding his hands through Cash’s hair, he managed to hook his thumbs on the arms of Cash’s glasses. He got them off without breaking the kiss and held them carefully as he wound his arms around Cash’s neck.

  Eventually they had to breathe. Cash broke contact but swayed into Danny to tuck his forehead into the curve of Danny’s throat. His hands slid up to spread on Danny’s back. “I didn’t expect this.”

  Danny held him close, closing his eyes, tipping his head up, smelling his freshly washed, clueless nerd. His. “What’d you expect, baby?”

  “Didn’t know if you’d be mad. Didn’t know if you’d even come.” Fingers dug into his back. “I didn’t know what I was doing without you.” He trembled. “I missed you so much.”

  “I’m right here.”

  “Danny.”

  Danny tipped his face down, nuzzling in the vicinity of Cash’s right ear. “I love you.”

  Minor tremble became major shake. “Danny.”

  Still keeping Cash’s glasses safe in one hand, Danny inserted the other between them to stroke Cash’s clean-shaven jaw. “I love you so much. Tell me we can make it work.”

  Cash nodded into his neck. Hugged him closer. “I want that.”

  “Do you, baby?”

  “Yes.”

  “Tell me.”

  Cash stilled. Swallowed. Carefully he lifted his head. Danny’s heart caught to see the tears that welled in those huge brown eyes. “I want to make it work. I-I don’t know how…”

  Danny shook his head. “Later for that. Give me the words, baby.”

  Cash sucked on his bottom lip as one fat tear fell down his cheek. “I love you.”

  The world could not contain the joy that spread through every cell in Danny’s body. Smiling, he brushed the tear from Cash’s cheek. “Say it again.”

  Cash’s nostrils flared. Then, slowly, he smiled. “I love you.”

  “How much do you love me, pumpkin?” There was the frown he wanted. He felt a minor pinch at his side.

  “Don’t call me that.”

  Stroking Cash’s jaw, Danny closed the distance between their lips. The kiss was light at first, exploratory. Lovers leaning each other like it was the first time. “Sugarplum?” Danny’s breath wafted with Cash’s.

  Cash nudged him toward the door at his back. “No.”