Leeās Perspective
āVery eventful, I must say,ā Vance finally said to Lee, moments of waiting between Leeās question and Vanceās answer. It had seemed so long, that Lee had almost forgotten he was missing his duties as a prefect. But Vance was a million times more important to Lee. Vance was Leeās achilleās heel, and no amount of pressure from the Headmaster, from Chambers, from the whole house of Arietem, not even from the ghost of General Beauregard himself could pull Lee away from Vance. Lee knew Vance had a littleā¦ hate, to say the extreme, for Lee, simply because Lee was annoying. Lee knew that everybody hated him. He was the epitome of a āfaggotā, a true and blue queer, just with a Confederate flag and not a Pride flag.
āBut all in good time,ā Vance continued, reaching over his hand to give Leeās shoulder a brief, somewhat awkward squeeze. To Lee, it was almost short of a proposal. Lee soaked in this moment, relishing the soft touch that Vance somehow new to master. Vance somehow always knew how to apply the right amount of pressure, the right amount of warmth, however false it may have been. Lee suspected he was being played, but didnāt give a damn. The man he lovedā¦ he acted like he cared and that was enough. Lee, caught unawares, melted in Vanceās hand as he heard him say, āThis year will turn out to be just as eventful, I think.ā Lee, attempting to hide an obvious party-invitation in his pants, gazed off in the distance and imagined Vance giving Lee a slight wink. Dammit, Lee thought, another cold shower tonight.
Lee noticed the lack of humanly twitches and reliefs that even Vance usually sported, though tonight was different. He was as a stiff as a gator in the bayou, and even the cold, refreshing homeliness of the Arietem commons provided Vance any semblance of relief. Now, Lee was worried. Now, Lee had forgotten any amount of his own emotions(despite still sporting quite an obvious erection), and inspected Vance as closely as possible. The boy of his dreams wasā¦ not necessarily bothered, but definitely different. Not as warm, even colder than normal Vance. It was odd.
Vance sat down across from Bellona, close enough to be warm, far enough to maintain some level of whispering between Lee and Vance. Luckly, there was a chair next to Vance that Lee immediately assumed. If Vance sat in a throne, Lee would proudly sit behind him (at least in Leeās delusions). āWhat a tiresome evening this has been,ā Vance remarked, appearing drowsy and somewhat content, though still not at ease.
Lee whispered to Vance, āVanz, wadāya neād me aādo?ā