No, I definitely did not need to think about the way his shoulders felt when I clasped them, and I certainly did not need to relive the way he'd kissed me instead of punching me. Fuck, but that'd been hot. Still, he always reminded me he wasn't into guys. Usually right before he did something to make me think he was bending the truth as much as a fae could.
I rounded the corner, heading to my Fundamentals of Metallurgy class, when I saw Pascal shaking his tablet. Since he was in class with me, I veered over to check on him.
"Pas?"
His head snapped up too fast. "Oh, good. It's you."
"Why?" I asked, dragging out the word. "Are you avoiding someone?"
"Right now, our teacher," he said, giving his tablet another shake.
"Because?" I tried next.
With a heavy sigh, Pascal thrust his tablet at me. "I think it's fried."
"How?" Yep, I was getting good at the one-word questions.
But my friend's cheeks got brighter and he dropped his head. "Um, I was trying to open it and it sparked."
"The tablet had a short?"
He made a face. "Not exactly. I... It..." And he scrubbed at his mouth. "Keir, it was like a ball of lightning formed around it and then zapped the whole thing, but that's not possible, right?"
I eyed him again, looking across his expression, then his hands. "Not static?"
"It was a little more than static," he admitted. Then he rocked his head. "And I sorta blew up a lightbulb last night."
"More lightning?"
"I don't really think so."
As if that wasn't vague or anything. So, clasping his shoulder, I turned him toward our class, deciding we could walk and talk.
"Pas, if it wasn't electricity, then what was it?"
"I don't know," he admitted. "I mean, I would've said it was just a bad bulb right up until this happened. Combined with the shit when I woke up?"
"What shit?" I asked, breaking in before he could skip over that.
Beside me, he swallowed. "I, um, had hot water come out of the tap."
"That's what happens when you use the knob with the red mark on it," I teased.
But Pascal just shook his head. "I was filling my cup to microwave it, Keir. It was the cold tap. But halfway across my room, I realized my hands were warm because of the cup, so I checked, and yeah. Perfectly warm tea."
I stopped at the doorway to our classroom. "Pas?"
"I'm crazy, right?" he asked.
"Sounds to me like you might be manifesting." And I slapped him on the shoulder. "Damn, man. Took you long enough, but you're finally doing it."
And his entire body relaxed. "You think so? It's not just a coincidence? I'm finally getting magic?"
"Well, Hawke said you have it, so I can't think of a reason you wouldn't be able to use it. So yeah," I told him. "I think you're manifesting!"
"But..." He laughed, sounding like he was caught between elation and disbelief. "I feel like I'm hitting puberty at the wrong time. Never mind that my homework's on that tablet!"
"I'll handle it," I assured him. "Just go sit. Save me a chair, ok?"
