When he finally lets go, they both look faintly nonplussed. Cass doesn’t blame them. They’ve never really been the huggiest of friends, but after the past few days, Cass thinks he’s going to be reevaluating a lot of his priorities in life. “Of course,” Ez says eventually, and she waves awkwardly at JJ and Desi before flicking open a rift. “Later, guys.”
Ez and Obie disappear in a soft swirl of purple-gold, and Cass takes a deep breath, looking down at JJ and Desi. Reluctantly, he says, “Desi, JJ hasn’t really been sleeping much, and you know how humans are with their sleep. He needs to get some rest.”
“Okay,” Desi says, but she doesn’t move an inch, just curling up tighter around JJ.
To be fair, JJ doesn’t look like he’s ready to leave yet, either. His eyes are closed and his breathing is slow and even, like he’s planning to enjoy this moment for as long as possible, but he blindly reaches an arm towards Cass. “We have a few minutes.”
Cass can’t fight back a smile. Carefully, he settles himself on the floor at JJ’s side, braces one leg behind his back, slides the other across JJ’s lap?—
Wraps his arms around both JJ and Desi, just like after Desi’s nightmare so many weeks ago.
This time, though, JJ doesn’t flinch. He just leans against Cass’s chest, rests his head on Cass’s shoulder, and relaxes, the last of the tension draining out of his body.
They end up sitting there for a long time.
26
JJ jerks awake on an unfamiliar bed in an unfamiliar room wearing unfamiliarclothesand is already bolting to his feet before his sleep-addled brain can catch up with him. Ignoring his pounding head rush, he snaps into his fight stance, reaches out a hand for an escrima stick?—
It never appears. JJ’s stomach drops. “What?”
Silence is the only thing that greets him. His racing heart and ragged breathing slowly trend down to normal as his eyes adjust to the darkness, memories of the past twenty-four hours rising to the surface.
Sanctum. Tiger. Rifts. Cass. Desi.
He’s with Cass and Desi. This is Cass’s safe house. He’s safe here.
For now, at least. Gingerly, JJ sits on the very edge of the mattress, glancing around. The bedroom is comfortably dark, blackout curtains over both windows hiding the sun, but there’s a thin stream of light underneath the door. Queen-size bed, sturdy nightstand, tall dresser, empty closet.
And it’swarm.JJ didn’t fully realize how cold the Sanctum’s prison was until he was out of it, until Cass appeared in his cell’s doorway and pulled JJ through that rift and?—
Cass.A rush of heat floods through JJ, lighting him up from the crown of his head to the tips of his toes. Cass, who fought his way into the heart of the Sanctum without hesitation to rescue JJ; Cass, who did everything he could to keep JJ safe and make sure they couldn’t be followed?—
Cass, who held JJ’s hand and told JJ he’d handle all the little details and wore that stupid bedsheet toga just to make JJ smile.
And then, of course, JJ proceeded to have a panic attack and nearly break down crying in Cass’s arms. JJ fights back a wince at the thought. Of course he couldn’t stave off his breakdown until he was in private; no, ithadto be in front of the one person he wants to impress.
But Cass never treated JJ like he was broken. Not once. He realized how overwhelmed JJ was, gave him time to decompress, brought him home to see their daughter, got him into bed?—
Part of JJ—the sleep-deprived part, he insists to himself—wished that Cass had kissed him goodnight. Now that he’s less sleep-deprived, though, he kind of still wishes that had happened.
Firmly, he shoves the thoughts away. Poking around in people’s heads might be Obie’s special power, not Cass’s or Desi’s, but he doesn’t want to risk it.
Taking a deep breath, JJ pushes himself to his feet and stumbles towards the door, straining his now-mediocre ears to listen. He can hear voices wafting over from the other side of the house, Cass’s smooth baritone mingling with Desi’s excited soprano, and JJ smiles as he shoulders his way into the hall.
The voices instantly cease, replaced by racing footsteps. JJ has just enough time to set his feet and brace his core before Desi rounds the corner, grinning brightly. “JJ!” she says, and she hurtles towards him.
This time, JJ only staggers a little when she jumps into his arms. “Desi!” he says, hugging her tightly. “Hi.”
“Hi!” Desi pulls back a few inches, squishing JJ’s cheeks between her hands. It’s such a casually affectionate gesture—and such an impossible one before yesterday—that JJ’s heart squeezes a little. “You were really,reallytired. Cass said you weren’t sleeping a lot.”
“I wasn’t,” he agrees, and he glances up at where Cass is hovering near the end of the hallway, clearly trying to give JJ and Desi some space. JJ shoots him a tentative smile; smiling back, Cass strolls over to join them. “But I’m feeling better now.”
Desi wriggles happily. “Good! We were just about to have cheeseburgers!”
Cheeseburgers?How long was JJ asleep? He thinks he finally collapsed into bed around noon, and he was definitely asleep for more than six hours, so lunch and dinner should already be over, unless— “Was I out for awhole day?I thought it was closer to sunrise than sunset.”
Cass’s lips twitch. “It is. But we demons don’t really play by the same food rules as humans.” He turns around, motioning JJ forward. “Come on.”
