"Then why would I say it?"
"To see if I cared, perhaps. In case you still don't know by now, it is very difficult to manipulate me. You'd save some trouble by just being direct with me."
"All right," Gabriel laughed, words slightly muffled against the pillow. "Why am I tired, then?"
"You've been hiking with Gille."
"What?" Gabriel propped himself up on his elbows to stare at Snow disbelievingly. "How did you guess?"
"You have blisters on your feet."
"You can't even see my feet."
"I did. And there are scratches on your arm. Right here." Snow traced the faint red lines that adorned Gabriel's forearm. "Did you make him angry?"
Gabriel collapsed back on the bed with an incredulous laugh. "Stepped on his tail. Accident. You're crazy, Snow."
"So I've been told." Snow turned his eyes to the ceiling. "I should visit him."
"Yeah, you should. We went hunting up in the mountains. He's so fucking fast now, I couldn't even keep up after five minutes. You'd probably fare better."
"Mm." Something to do. A reason to get up when it got light outside. Snow let his eyes drift shut, giving in to the temptation to rest at last. He knew he ought to try and find Rem, but maybe it could wait a day. It would be selfish of him to ignore everything else that still needed him. He wasn't exactly thrilled to go out and face more questions, but it was probably necessary. "Let's sleep."
"Finally. Thought you'd never say that," Gabriel muttered happily.
Snow frowned. Those words seemed oddly half-familiar. Maybe he'd heard them in one of his countless fever dreams since Rem's disappearance. The feeling left after a brief moment, and he gave it no further thought. He rolled over and exhaled slowly. Gabriel slung an arm over his waist, squirmed up close and stopped moving. Each steady breath he took whispered over Snow's neck, barely there but a constant reminder of his presence. Snow couldn't recall the last time he'd slept like this and felt so comfortable, or so tired. As Gabriel had once put it, his default human urge to find someone to be close to had always been partly fulfilled by Rem. And that pale, lonely boy who Snow had thought for such a long time was the other half of his soul, the boy he had sworn to protect before he even knew what loyalty or morality meant, was no longer here.
"Snowy," Gabriel mumbled almost inaudibly.
"What?" Snow asked, just as quietly. The whole world was quiet, and he was not used to it.
"Stop thinking. Go to sleep."
"All right."
"Yes," Gabriel said, sounding utterly convinced despite being nearly unconscious. "It will be.
END
Dragon Bone Page 43