Elstrin grinned, relieved. "Thanks," he said quickly, hurrying away. Kana, Vel and Andrew were already there, and Elstrin dropped into the spare seat, smirking widely at their astonishment at seeing him there over an hour early. "Snow let me go on time," he explained. "Well, more like I demanded him to. I'm already the best out of everyone, there's nothing more I can do."
"Really. Wanna bet?" Kana said darkly, voice suggestive.
Vel burst out laughing across the table. "Guys, get a fucking room!"
"Preferably one without a window, so he can't start spying," Andrew added.
Elstrin laughed, realising just how much he'd missed this, the good old hanging out with his bunch of funny, perverted friends. He'd been thinking hard about his own behaviour for the past month, ever since Kana mentioned on that memorable, stormy afternoon that he was too focused on training. He was finally seeing how true that was. He loved training, loved the triumph and personal pride that came out of it, but it wasn't all he was. If it was, if he let it consume him, then he'd never become a better person as a whole. He needed some time off to balance everything out.
So for once, he was part of the group. He was actually able to talk and catch up on all the chat and gossip he'd missed out on over the months. Vel was an endless fountain of rumours and information as usual, and provided most of the highly entertaining stories. Kana seemed generally happy throughout dinner, and near the end he began to impishly stroke his foot up and down Elstrin's shin, which made him jump and blush furiously. Of course Vel caught on immediately, and Andrew spent several fruitless minutes trying to stop his torrent of dirty ideas before just suggesting that Elstrin leave the table pronto, no offense.
Elstrin hastily finished his last bite and left the cafeteria with Kana before Vel could seriously consider that spying-through-the-window plan. It was around seven and the sky outside wasn't even properly dark yet. He would usually still be training at this hour, and seeing the field lights illuminate the empty dirt ground was strange.
Kana came up behind him and placed his chin on Elstrin's shoulder, arms around his waist, leaning their bodies together. "I'm glad you got out early," he murmured. "Dinner's a little uneventful without you around to embarrass."
"Shut up," Elstrin grumbled. "I'm just glad Snow even let me go. Usually he's way more stubborn than that. He's being a bit weird again."
"As long as it's a good weird." Kana kissed the back of his neck and took his fingertips, pulling him towards the barracks. "Come on. Since we've suddenly got so much time on our hands, I can give you a blowjob in the shower."
Elstrin spluttered and blushed anew. "Kana, you are just…" Unable to think of a word to describe him, he settled for following him into the shadowy, unfamiliar dusk.
x
Predictably, Elstrin aced the exams. He actually found most of it nearly effortless, which was slightly alarming, but it made him feel good about himself. Since the exams had been on Saturday, an official party fully funded by the army was held on Sunday night after dinner in the recreational hall, to celebrate their first half year as cadets. The large space had been cleared of tables and chairs and set up with proper lights and speaker systems. The bar in the corner, which was usually empty and unstocked (alcohol wasn't sold in HQ), was for once fully equipped with generic supplies and manned by two responsible-looking lieutenants. They didn't go as far as hiring a DJ, but the dance songs thumping from the speakers were adequate anyway, sounding far better than the cheap portable hardware that the cadets used in their own informal parties.
Elstrin had promised himself and Kana that he'd stop being so wary of alcohol that night and just go all out with the drinks, because he deserved it and because it was free. Vel had assured him nobody was going to dare pass around drugs when there were officers there, and he seemed to be right. After two drinks and half an hour with the crowd, Elstrin was still only pleasantly tipsy and nowhere near the hazy dizziness he'd felt at the quarter-year party. Surprisingly, he was having a lot of fun. He found he still enjoyed dancing even though he rarely did it—and the funniest thing was, it tired him out. Maybe it was just the press of bodies all around him, or the different sort of adrenaline in his blood, or his inexperienced liver struggling to process the alcohol, but he soon felt floaty and breathless in a good way. He gradually lost track of time and the number of drinks he'd had, trusting Kana to keep an eye out in case he did something particularly dumb. He didn't plan to, and he was distantly curious to see how well his self-preservation would hold out against unlimited booze.
During a lull in the song, Elstrin spied Snow standing by the corner of the bar with a small group of lieutenants, his pale hair shifting colours with the dim light. Elstrin found it immensely mesmerising, so he made his unsteady way over to see the spectacle up close. They were laughing about something, but their voices didn't carry over the music, and by the time he got there the other two soldiers had seen him coming and moved away from Snow to make room. Snow held a short glass of what looked like water and ice.
"What's that?" Elstrin asked as soon as he reached them, grabbing the glass and taking a large gulp. His gin and tonic was gone, again, and he was thirsty, and a bit of water sounded good.
He'd swallowed most of the mouthful before registering the taste—bitter and cold before it
numbed and burnt a scorching trail down his windpipe. He choked and doubled over coughing, eyes streaming, as a startled Snow pried the glass from his grip and the lieutenants laughed above him. It was a good minute before he could breathe properly again. The sympathetic barman slid him a cup of water and he emptied it hastily. It didn't help much.
"God, what is that, embalming fluid?" he rasped, disgusted. "How th' fuck can you drink—"
"It's triple-distilled vodka. I was going to tell you, but you just took it and—"
"D'you wanna dance?" Elstrin slurred, not terribly interested in explanations.
"No," Snow replied easily, smiling. He gestured at the crowd. "Plenty others out there."
"I'm askin' you." The two soldiers had cleverly joined another group, leaving the pair of them alone. "C'mon. Jus' one dance."
"No. Dance with your… he's your boyfriend now, right? Kana."
"Oh, he's…" Elstrin waved vaguely at the other end of the hall, where Kana was half-hidden behind a pillar, pressed up against the wall with another cadet, limbs tangled so ferociously it was hard to tell whether they were merely kissing or already fucking. "He is, but he won't mind. He'll be…" He paused for more water. "He'll be busy tonigh'. So…" Elstrin punched Snow on the arm, lightly. "Don' you like dancin'?"
"Not really, no."
"But you're so hot," Elstrin protested, dazedly confused. "Why aren't people lining up to dance with you?"
"Because they know I don't like dancing." Snow grinned. His hair morphed from blue to red to green to purple.
"But… you are, really, superbly—like extremely, pretty," Elstrin said, running out of adjectives, his brain struggling to grasp the impossibility of a creature as beautiful as Snow not dancing at a party. It was wrong.
"You think so?"
"Yes. God, yes. Since day one. Wait. Shit. Oh my god," he muttered, slapping himself on the forehead. "No, no no no Snow, I don't—do not—like you in that way, don' get the wrong idea, I jus' mean, uh. To look at. You're—you're pretty." He peered up at Snow, taking a moment to collect what were left of his wits. "Don' you think so?"
"Me? I…" Snow gave a small shrug. "I don't think about it at all, actually."
"But you are," Elstrin insisted for what felt like the millionth time.
"Okay. I am," Snow said, rolling his eyes, though he frowned very slightly, and his gaze was focused over the crowd instead of Elstrin. He seemed to realise it after a while and glanced back again, smiling at Elstrin's expression. "Fine, thank you. I am flattered. There. Happy? You'd better go pull Kana away before he breaks that poor boy's nose—"
"Aw, he's like a puppy!"
The noisy, rough voice
was followed by a chorus of raucous laughter as a bunch of soldiers approached the bar for their tenth round of drinks. They stank of alcohol, and Elstrin turned to face them clumsily, slumping against the bar as his sluggish legs failed to straighten completely. Snow took a sip from his glass, set it down and nodded towards the crowd. Elstrin didn't move.
"Well, you saw him, boy," the loudest soldier said, while the others guffawed. "Be a good doggie and run along! Seriously, Snow, you've got this one trained! He's the only cadet I've seen to run after his lieutenant like this, right after the exams at a party—how do you do it? Is it a leash? Or do you spank him when he's naughty? Or—"
The smile had gone completely from Snow's eyes, though a cold ghost of it still existed on his lips. "If you must know, captain, Elstrin was only here to get a drink. There's no need—"
"A drink? Drink from what, eh? Your cock?" He threw back his head and howled with laughter. Snow's glare hardened, the change so instant and noticeable that it seemed like the air around him grew hushed and still.
"I advise you to stop talking right now," he said softly. The lights made his hair shift colour again, but his eyes were the same flickering blue and icy as a glacier.
"Oh, what'cha gonna do?" the captain jeered. He didn't seem to realise the others had quietened, and the two lieutenants from earlier on had crept back to the periphery of the group, watching him warily. "You gonna threaten me with the colonel again? Hell, I bet you're leaning it all from him, eh, disappearing every weekend so he can teach you how to be a good little mutt—I bet you spend all your time on your knees in front of him, Snowy, sucking his—"
He got no further. At first Elstrin thought it was a flash of dance lights reflected from somewhere else and landing on the skin of Snow's pale hands—but as Snow brought his palms up, they swirled with a clean blue glow, like luminescent fog eddying about his fingers. The energy crackled and pulsed. Snow placed his hands upon the captain's upper arms, as if giving him a friendly clasp of greeting.
"No—" one or several of the soldiers shouted, lunging forwards, but it was too late. The captain drew in a great gasp of air, spine snapping rigid and eyes shooting wide, pupils contracting to pinpoints in the dim hall. He staggered back a quarter of a step and froze, trembling violently as his stare ricocheted wildly, as if dreaming while awake. A halo of blue-white light hung about his head, releasing dry, tight bursts of static electricity that Elstrin could feel from two metres away. A thin vortex of wind swirled around the two, invisible except for the motes of dust and the single paper cup it picked up, spinning round and round Snow and the choking captain.
The nearby edge of the crowd had stopped, watching the display uncertainly. The soldiers—sober and intoxicated alike—sprang into action, shouting at the cadets to get back, trying to ferry the mass of people away from the spiking aura of energy. A lieutenant grabbed Elstrin's arm and hauled him a safer distance from Snow. The captain still hung in his grip, mouth slack and face shining with fear-sweat as he helplessly endured whatever Snow was forcing upon him.
The music paused. A second later, the lights blinked on. A confused murmur went through the crowd, quietening again as every face turned their direction. Those nearest hurried back instinctively, clearing a wide circle around the two soldiers. A stark drop of crimson blood crawled down the captain's nose to drip slowly over his grey lips.
Just when it looked like he was going to suffer a messy brain aneurysm, Snow lowered his hands. The captain stayed where he was, tense body held up by some unseen force, rasping in frantic lungfuls of air and mouth forming noiseless pleas. Snow studied him indifferently, like he was peering at a mildly interesting specimen in a glass cage. When he spoke, his calm words carried through the silent hall, his strange not-quite-Snow voice echoing unnaturally across the high ceiling. "That is what I do, every weekend," he said, looking steadily into the captain's agonised eyes. "I do it so soldiers like you can train here in safety and comfort. I regret having to hide away while it happens, but without the dome to contain the energy, you would all be ripped apart in a matter of seconds. I did hope you'd understand, captain. I certainly hope you do now." Snow tilted his head, blankly curious. "The next time you insult anybody like that again, I'll let you know exactly how it feels to live as a dog. It's not especially unpleasant, but significantly different. Of course, I'll need to alter the entire structure of your brain to do so, and changing it back might prove a challenge—"
"Snow!" Stag's voice roared, so purely angry that hearing it dispelled some of Elstrin's fear. And he was afraid, very afraid, not understanding an ounce of what Snow had just done, but he'd seen enough to give him nightmares. Stag shoved through the stunned cadets, a drawn pistol in his hand, and grabbed Snow's shoulder roughly. A fountain of sparks exploded from the contact as Stag's bare skin touched the blue light, but he didn't seem to feel it, teeth bared and eyebrows drawn into a dark scowl. "Let him go, Snow. Now."
Snow's empty gaze slid to the seething colonel. "Sir, I haven't finished explaining to the captain— "
If possible, Stag got even angrier, fingers tightening around the gun. "Let go. That's an order." "Of course, colonel." Snow flicked his wrist, and the captain tumbled down, limp as a sack of
flour, rasping weakly and nearly unconscious. The whistling wind and wispy glow died away. A pair of soldiers darted forward and tried to help the captain up; he folded again and retched against the wall, coughing up his dinner laced with thick blood. Snow watched on without comment.
Stag holstered his gun and took a deep breath, balling his hands into fists. "Right. You, Snow. Go to my office, now, and wait for me there. Do not take a detour to Rem, or I swear to the old gods I will just fucking shoot you and be done with it. Go."
Snow nodded once and started to make his way out of the hall. The cadets gave him a wide berth as he passed them steadily, looking straight ahead. Soon he was gone; a team of medics jogged in, unfolded a stretcher and lifted the captain onto it. Blood continued to drool from his lips as he curled up and gripped the edge of the stretcher until his knuckles turned white. He caught Elstrin's eyes as he was carried away, his stare still frenetic and terrified despite his fluttering eyelids. "I'm sorry," he whispered feverishly, voice shuddering. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."
"Is anybody hurt?" Stag snapped, scanning the crowd. The captain's mantra faded when he too was brought outside beyond earshot. The cadets shook their heads timidly. Most appeared merely shaken and shocked, but a few, including Kana, were pale as a sheet and looked like they'd been doused in ice water. Elstrin glanced around for the rest of his friends and found them scattered amongst the crowd, Vel still holding his drink numbly. "Okay, good. Party's over. Get back to the barracks. Lights out in twenty minutes. Report to training tomorrow, and anyone late can wave goodbye to weapons privileges for a month."
Everybody trooped out. Elstrin located Kana and they linked hands without speaking. His fingers were tense, palm damp and cool. Elstrin wound his arm around Kana's and lent him some warmth. They joined the murmuring press of other cadets and slowly filed into their building. Elstrin opened the door, and Kana drifted in to perch on the edge of his bed, wringing his hands together absently, chewing on his lip. Elstrin joined him quietly.
"What's wrong?" he finally asked.
Kana stared at him, gulping thickly, his face even whiter than usual, looking abruptly like he had a fever. Concerned, Elstrin draped a blanket over him. He pressed his hand to Kana's forehead and was surprised to find it clammy. "I'm okay," he muttered when Elstrin handed him a glass of water. He took a sip anyway. His eyes were intense and heavy with some emotion—fear, Elstrin realised a second later, fear and deep unsettlement.
"What's wrong?" he asked again, squeezing Kana's knuckles.
"Snow," Kana whispered, the glass in his hands trembling. "He's—he's sick."
Despite everything, Elstrin felt compelled to defend him. "That captain was—"
"No, no," Kana interrupted. "It's Snow, it'
s his magic—it's broken. Everything about his energy, it's all messed up, like some kind of thing on a dissection table, he's—I don't know how he's still alive. Just now, it wasn't even him doing that, it was… another being speaking through him, like he was a puppet. But all that power was sick, didn't you feel it? It was—god, it was horrible." He shuddered and hunched over. "I just caught the reverb of whatever spell he cast, the echoes of that energy, and it's making me ill. Imagine what that captain must feel like. I don't know how Snow can even handle using it, having it run through him like that."
Elstrin was too stunned to speak for a while. "But… but he's fine, when we train and stuff. He's completely fine. He even has magical shields, he told me."
"Yeah, but he should be dead. He almost killed a man in less than a minute. I don't know what he did but it looked like he was just making a simple memory transfer—and that almost killed the captain. No human body can hold all that twisted power and survive."
"But… he can," Elstrin insisted dumbly, not knowing what else to say.
"Yeah." Kana took another drink and put the glass down. He shrugged off his shirt clumsily, shivering. "I need to lie down."
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