“Is there some sort of cockblock tracker attached to both of us?” Danny lamented, letting his hands drop but staying on the floor.
Cho laughed as he pulled the phone from his back pocket. “For the record, she chose that ringtone for herself.”
“Oh, I believe you.”
“I’ll keep it brief.”
“I sure hope it’s the only thing you’re planning to keep brief.”
Smirking, Cho answered the call, “Not a good time, Luce,” but his smile dropped as he listened to what she had to say. Holding up a finger, he moved out of the kitchen to talk with her in private across the room.
Damn it.That meant it was important. Getting up from his knees, Danny watched Cho wander toward the slit windows behind his desk, his words hushed and sharp. This called for more wine. Grabbing both of their glasses, Danny set them on the island, where he leaned his elbows next to the cookies and ate one before polishing off more of his drink.
The disruption had a sting of anger swirling through him, making his grip on the glass a little too tight. Danny needed this. He needed something he could lose himself in without interruption or complication. Cho was the one thing in his life making any sense right now. Why did something have to keep breaking into their time together and pulling him down from his high?
Noticing Cho turn back to him, even though he was still on the phone, he raised his voice for Danny to hear as he shrugged helplessly, “I’ll meet you in a half-hour. On the nose, I swear. Am I ever late?” then turned toward the windows again, muffling his words.
Half-hour? That wasn’t enough time. Danny spent at least eight hours at the precinct most days, countless hours patrolling, not to mention the time he’d lost lately trying to balance family and friends andsanity. It was as if the universe didn’t want him to have even a moment to himself.
One day. Justone day, one single day, enjoyable from start to finish, without anything to upset the delicate tightrope walk between happiness and losing hisgod damn—
“Danny!”
It was Cho’s voice that brought Danny back, not the wetness of the spilled wine on his hand or the pain of the glass embedded in his skin. “Oh shit,shit.” Standing up straight, Danny stared at his bleeding palm and the mess all over the counter. “I am so sorry, I just…” Had he really squeezed the glass so tightly or had his powers erupted enough to shatter it?
“Here, give me that.” Cho was suddenly beside him, the phone gone, presumably back in his pocket. When had he hung up? Danny couldn’t remember hearing anything. Cho pulled him over to the kitchen sink, and Danny followed along in a daze.
“My mind wandered and I…I…” He couldn’t gather his thoughts. How could he explain? He was so angry at Lucy for calling and stealing Mal away from him that he shattered a glass? That sounded crazy. Too intense. Too…frightening.
“Relax, Sparky, it’s just a glass,” Cho said. Turning on the faucet, he let cool water run over Danny’s palm as he carefully picked out the larger pieces and either set them on the counter or let the barely visible ones run down the drain. It stung and Danny hissed at the sharp pain he hadn’t felt at first, but Cho’stouch was gentle. Practiced. One hand on his wrist to hold him steady while the other set to vigilant work.
There was still a mess of glass left on the island, too near the cookies, which meant those would have to be thrown away. What had Danny been thinking? His thoughts felt as fractured as the shards in his skin. He needed to salvage this, needed to focus.
“Now isn’t that interesting?” Cho said as he brushed his thumb over Danny’s palm. All of the cuts were superficial, nothing deep enough to require stitches in a normal person, so for Danny, the damage was already healing.
He focused on that, clung to it, and summoned a smile. “You know I heal fast. How else could I handle your blasts of ice so well?”
Cho nodded but didn’t say anything more. He stood very close to Danny as the water ran over their connected skin. For the most part, Cho’s blue eyes watched the healing cuts in fascination, but his gaze was soft yet heated whenever he looked up.
“Your pulse is high,” he said as he thumbed Danny’s wrist.
“It’s always like that.”
“I meant high foryou.” Cho smiled but seemed curious. “That must have been some violent daydream.”
“No,” Danny said too quickly. “I mean…sorry. It was just…” He trailed again, which he had to stop doing, he had to organize his thoughts or else Cho would know that he was broken and all of this would be ruined. But he couldn’t lie. Maybe it was okay to be a little vulnerable to accomplish his goals. Not that he expected Cho tocare, but he couldn’t stop the words from leaving him. “It’s been tough. Lately. Stressful, you know.”
“I figured. You’re here with me. Had to be some sort of crisis in your life.” Cho never ceased the gentle swirls of his thumbsover Danny’s skin. “You take on the responsibility of protecting an entire city, Danny. It’s understandable.”
Everyone kept saying that—that it was understandable why he’d be upset lately—but that just made it worse. Like it was normal, when the last thing Danny felt was normal.
Was he really any better than Cho after the things he’d done? Any better thanThanatos?
“Although I think we can both admit,” Cho continued, “life would be boring if you didn’t deal with an Elemental like me once in a while.”
“Boring is not the word that comes to mind, but compared to other Elementals, I do prefer you.” Danny said it too quickly to deny it was the truth. He looked into Cho’s eyes just as the other man turned off the water and grabbed a nearby towel to dry their hands. All of Danny’s cuts were healed.
The contact was nice and charged differently somehow. Little by little, Danny’s pulse slowed to its usual hummingbird titter, like a livewire from his lightning.
