1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
Kyle’s got his head pillowed against Token’s hard chest, surrounded by the smell of sex, sweat, and the vaguest hint of Token’s deodorant, working overtime, when Token asks, “What’s going on with Marsh?”

Kyle freezes, his post-coital looseness evaporating until his muscles feel as stiff as a board. Carefully, he asks, “What d’you mean?”

Token shifts a little, so that he can see past the red mop of Kyle’s curls and earnestly meet his gaze. “You don’t think he’s been acting weird?”

“Uh…more than normal?”

“Yeah.” The word is a little sharp, a little disbelieving. Token thinks Kyle’s playing dumb, and maybe he is. But he thought he was the only one who noticed how twisted and bent out of shape Stan’s been, so he’s not doing it maliciously. He just…wasn’t expecting it, is all.

“I dunno.” Kyle buries his face a little more deeply into Token’s side, getting a big whiff of armpit hair and finding the intimacy of it oddly comforting. “I think he’s just messed up about college. He’s never, um. Done well with change?”

“That’s true.” Token chuckles, because yeah, the benders Stan goes on when he experiences a breakup, or his parents splitting, or a move, are all infamous. “Sorry. I don’t mean to pry – he’s your friend.”

“He’s yours too.”

“It’s not the same, and you know it.” Token digs his fingers into Kyle’s side, a light tickle, and Kyle squirms and laughs. “I think I’m just seeing something that’s not there.”

“Really?” Kyle kisses the side of his pectoral. “What are you seeing?”

Token won’t tell him. “I don’t want to jinx it.”

“Aren’t you superstitious.”

“No,” Token says honestly. “I’m scared of losing you.”