Bolting upright as his brain came to full alertness, Danny realized—remembered,oh god, what had he been thinking—that he was not in his own bedroom. He was in Cho’s. In Cho’sbed. He hadn’t gone up to the bedroom himself, had he? He couldn’t have. He’d waited on the sofa, planning a surprise strip tease once Cho walked through the door. Only the thief hadn’t come home, and instead Danny had laid back against the cushions and closed his eyes. He’d been so exhausted from the excess lightning jumps.
Glancing down at the covers pooled in his lap, he saw that he wasn’t wearing his costume now. He lifted the covers fully but—nope, only his underwear. Frantically, Danny looked around the room. He shouldn’t have been surprised to find the suit on a hanger dangling from the bathroom doorknob. On the floor in front of it was a neat pile of clothing that looked to be sweats and a T-shirt.
Cho had found him on the sofa, and instead of rudely waking him, he’d carried Danny up to bed—somehow, becauseseriously, Danny wasn’tthatlight—undressed him, and set out comfier clothes for him to change into.
Danny took another strong whiff of cinnamon.Andhe was making breakfast.
A smile twitched at Danny’s lips. Maybe he was in the Twilight Zone and Cho’s evil—or in this case, not evil—twin was downstairs. But then, so far, this wasn’t out of character with how Cho had been acting.
Acting, Danny reminded himself, shaking his head to clear it as he crawled out of bed and headed for the sweats. It was just an act. Just Cho playing it cool like he always did. It wouldn’t last. Nothing in Danny’s life ever did.
The sweats and T-shirt were well-worn, soft and clean. Danny was grateful to have something other than his Zeus suit to walk downstairs in, but what was he supposed to do now?
Ducking into the bathroom, he splashed cold water on his face. When he glanced up at the mirror above the sink, the pale young man staring back at him looked as tired as Danny felt. He was starving. Overusing his powers had drained him, leaving him vulnerable like he’d been the first time he pushed himself to do too many jumps and ended up at Cho’s feet. Cho hadn’t taken advantage of him then either.
“Hedeservesthis,” Danny said to his reflection. “He deserves this…”
After drying his face, he headed back into the bedroom. The clock on the nightstand said 7:15. He had time before he needed to get to work.
Oh god,work. He’d have to go straight to work or stop home to change, but if he did that, would his father’s third degree be better or worse? Was Danny only postponing the inevitable if he went to work first? He had extra clothes there—sort of mandatory being a superhero—but there was no way John hadn’t noticed Danny never came home last night.
When Danny didn’t show, John would have called to check in, only Danny didn’t have his cell phone with him. So John would have called the morgue, then Lynn and Andre directly. Or maybe they just called him, worried about Danny after he ran off from…
From…
Almost losing his mind against someone who hardly deserved it.
Danny couldn’t avoid the conversations he had coming, but he still wanted to delay them for as long as possible. John would want to talk for sure now, and if Danny kept deflecting, his friends would stage an intervention before long. He just wished it could all go away without having to see their disappointment.
Grabbing his suit, he padded down the stairs.
“Please tell me this isn’t some awful form of torture and you’re going to flip that right into the trash to spite me,” Danny said as the full blast of—mmm French toast—assaulted him when he neared the kitchen.
Cho glanced over his shoulder with a smirk. He wore a grey and blue sporty zip-up and a pair of fitted sweats, and his hair was tied up loosely like he’d just gotten back from a run. Danny laid his Zeus costume over the back of the sofa and took his usual stool at the island.
“Still debating how you’re gonna pay me back for breaking in here last night. But for now you can enjoy the French toast on loan. Expect me to cash in your tab very soon.” Cho turned back to the stove, flipping the toast one last time, though a couple pieces had already made it onto two separate plates. They looked flawless, made with thick-cut slices of bread.
“I thought you said I never owed you anything,” Danny teased, making sure to keep his smile so Cho knew he was joking.
“Never wrong me and you never will. But keep showing up unexpected and I might stop finding your antics so endearing.” He flipped the last two pieces of French toast on top of the otherson one of the plates, and with practiced motion, turned off the stove, set the spatula aside, and snatched up both plates to bring to the island where butter and syrup already waited. He’d given Danny an extra serving. It was all so…sweet.
Never wrong me and you never will.
“Thanks,” Danny said, digging in as Cho came around to sit beside him. There was still a bit of dampness on the other man’s brow and color in his cheeks from his run. The scent of sweat about him was subtle, almost intoxicating.
They chatted as they ate, and all the while Danny waited for Cho to ask—why had he come over last night? Why had he waited so long even after Cho didn’t show up? But Cho never broached the subject. He teased Danny and flirted and gave him that alluring side-eyed glance down his body as if contemplating all the ways he could make Danny squirm, but he didn’t pry. Danny found himself leaning into Cho, closer and closer as they ate.
Cho still warned Danny to take it easy with zapping into his apartment and dropping by unannounced. “I don’t tend to bring illegal activities into my home, but if you ever walk in on something incriminating…”
“Our deal comes first,” Danny said. “I get it. I really didn’t mean to fall asleep here last night. I’ve just been...extra tired lately.”
Pushing his plate away since he’d finished, Cho had left a couple bites behind that Danny immediately speared with his folk even though he’d already eaten everything on his plate. “Didn’t think you got worn out like us normal Elementals. Tired from too many jumps, sure, but insomnia? Back aches? Sore muscles?”
“Oh, I get sore muscles,” Danny said. “And I’d hardly call younormal. But just because I heal fast doesn’t mean I don’t feel everything. Sometimes after a night of patrol, it’s likephantom limb pains—everything hurts at once. Sadly, Lynn’s skills with physical therapy don’t include a full body massage.” He snickered lightly.
Whenever something did hurt, it always felt better so quickly. He’d felt pain over the past year like nothing he’d known his entire life before he Awakened, but what right did he have to complain when that pain vanished without lasting repercussions? When he was still alive—and others weren’t?
“Come here,” Cho said, standing abruptly and grabbing Danny by the hand to pull him to his feet. It was an interesting role reversal; Cho leading Danny to the sofa. His touch was always so deliberate, always with a plan in mind, and for once his usually cool hands were warm from his run and cooking breakfast.
