Following the White Rabbit

[Raffe]

Ezekiel’s hand at his elbow steered the ship of attention, and Raffe did not think it was unintentional. The man was a lot of things, but he was always there when he was needed. It was half the reason he was so well loved in the undercity. Raffe might have been grateful, except the power was the last thing he wanted to think about or discuss right now. Sage’s concern prompted half a smile. What he wanted was time to speed up a little so that the knot of anxiety in his gut could finally relax. He knew Nox was safe but he’d feel better when he actually saw him whole. The last message received had been about a debrief. The seconds felt like they waded through treacle since then.

“The worst is over, pretty sure.” Which he was. But it might have been hope speaking too. Shame he looked as terrible as he felt though, because if even Cruz put two and two together, then the remnants of Raffe’s second (at least) bout of Sickness was going to be the first thing Nox noticed. Not that he intended to give the other man a chance for noticing. At least not until later.

“It’s complicated,” he said to Cruz, whose genuine surprise suggested harnessing his own gift had come to him as easily as Raffe imagined most things in his life did. Discussing his own inadequacies made him deeply uncomfortable, and he shrugged without elaborating. No one here was likely to actually understand, though plenty of people tried to help.

Nox. Tan Li. Now Ezekiel.

“He tried to help me. It’s under control, I promise.”