Behind Bars by Meredith Katz

Author:Meredith Katz [Katz, Meredith]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: LGBTQ, Fantasy, Romance
Publisher: Less Than Three Press, LLC
Published: 2017-02-14T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Six

Pel didn't get much sleep that night, and what little he got was awful. To make matters worse, when he came down late the next morning, he found—unsurprisingly—that none of the cleanup from the night before had been done.

That's fair, he decided, staring at the mess in exhaustion. Bruant had come to talk as soon as work ended, and then Pel had told him to go to his room. There wasn't exactly a chance for Bruant to have gotten to it even if he'd wanted.

He considered, briefly, going up to Bru's room and calling him down to clean. Maybe they could talk more while they worked together—

But what more was there to say? They both had their opinions on how things should go, and neither could meet in the middle. So he did the cleaning himself, spending a few hours mopping and sweeping and putting things away as morning turned into afternoon.

When he was done, Bruant still hadn't come down. Was he just staying up there to spite Pel at this point? Like he wouldn't come out until Pel gave him permission? Pel scrubbed his hand over his face. He did need to talk to Bruant, if only to apologize for yelling. He knew that. I'll tell him we have to agree to disagree. Bruant should at least understand that he did it out of love, not hate. Surely that would matter.

Not wanting to give himself time to change his mind, Pel went up to Bruant's room, but he found it empty. In fact, it looked like Bruant hadn't slept there—though he couldn't be sure, not with how rarely Bruant actually made his bed. The cat wasn't there either, and the window was closed.

It disturbed him to think that perhaps Bruant hadn't gone back to his room at all. Had he gone right out and tried to track Tari down? Hopefully not. If he had tried, hopefully he hadn't succeeded.

Perhaps, Pel thought tiredly, he just had gone to stay with a friend, get some space between them so he could cool down.

It wouldn't be the first time that had happened, even before all this.

After dithering around a little longer, Pel gave up on being productive and made himself lunch. Wanting to be at home just in case Bruant came back, he skipped his pre-meal workout, substituting it by mixing himself a strong drink to wash it down with. Little early to start, he thought with grim humor, but it feels like the occasion calls for it.

He was mid-meal and on his second drink when Bruant finally walked in, slow and exhausted-looking, cat winding between his feet as he walked.

Pel finished chewing his bite and put his meat bun back down on the plate. "Bru," he said, rough.

Bruant jumped; he apparently hadn't seen Pel there until he spoke. "Father," he said finally.

Whether he'd cooled his head or was simply too tired to be angry, Bruant seemed much more subdued, the circles under his eyes both dark and ashen. Kip, apparently

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