“And have you seen any… strange bats? Like mutated ones?” Jake didn’t force his hand back on Knight, but watched him more intently.
Knight frowned. “Bats? What? No. Have you?”
“No! Maybe it was a rat. It was dark. Never mind.” Jake laughed it off and smiled wider at Knight, awaiting orders that weren’t coming.
“Whatever it was, it clearly freaked you out.”
“No, it’s nothing. I shouldn’t have gone there in the first place.”
Knight rustled Jake’s hair. “Well, don’t go against orders again. You see how that ends.”
Jake nodded quickly and put his hands on Knight’s belt buckle. “Should I…?”
Knight sighed. “Nah, Jake. Maybe some other time. I’m seriously too drunk and too tired.”
Jake couldn’t hide his disappointment, and some of the light died in his eyes when he pulled his hands away. “Sure. You want me to help you to your room?”
Knight groaned and briefly hugged Jake’s head to his shoulder. “I’ll be fine. How about you just relax until it’s your time to keep the peace out there?”
Jake nodded. “My shift’s in an hour. But let me know if you or any of the other guys need anything.”
“I will, Jake. You always do a good job. Keep that up.”
Jake smiled and pulled away from Knight in the end. “Gotta get those patches one day, right?” He playfully pushed at Knight’s shoulder before walking off back to the small party room.
Once he was alone, Knight rolled his head against the wall and bumped his forehead against it a few times. He hoped this low libido thing would soon pass, because he didn’t even feel like himself anymore.
In the end he sat on a windowsill, looking out at some early fireworks lighting the sky. A tap on his shoulder made his heart skip a beat, but it was just Beast standing next to him. He wasn’t sure what he was expecting anymore.
“You all right, brother? I think it’s the first time you’re not up for seeing a sex show.”
Knight scowled. “Yeah. Not feeling it recently.”
Beast leaned against the wall with a smug smile. “What was it that you used to say…? ‘You need to get laid, Beast. That’s a cure for everything’,” he said in a mocking tone, reminding Knight of the many times Knight had pestered his friend that he should get some action.
“I can get it up,” Knight snapped in agitation. “I don’t know. Maybe I’m overworked... or depressed, or something.”
Beast nodded slowly, drilling into Knight with his inquisitive eyes. “If you’re overworked, I’ll get you some hangarounds to help. You don’t have to do everything yourself.”
Knight rubbed his nose and crossed his arms on his chest. “Elliot’s acting weird. You think the stuff he’d taken before I found him in the cellar could have left some lingering effects?” he asked, only now realizing how much that was constantly stressing him out.
“Had he puked up the pills, or did he just not take enough?”
“I have no fucking idea,” Knight said, increasingly uncomfortable that he had to lie to his best friend in order to keep Elliot safe. “It sometimes looks like he’s talking to himself, you know. He didn’t do that before.”
Beast wrapped his arms on his chest. “I told you from the start that he’s not all there. Maybe you can only see it now, when he’s no longer wrapped around your dick?”
“What did you want me to do? Save him from his maniac ex and then leave him to freeze to death in that trailer? You haven’t seen that shithole, Beast. He didn’t even have a warm jacket!”
“He’s not your problem. He’s a grown man, and he could find work somewhere. You just chose to care about him for some reason I don’t understand. Brecon has other homeless people, but I don’t see you inviting them over.”
Knight shifted, feeling discomfort roll in his stomach. “Yeah, but he’s not just anyone. I know him. And he might be a bit mad, but he can also be so brilliant.”
Beast gave him a half-smile. “How so?”
Knight reached under his jacket and pulled out the small notebook, which he rarely left behind in his apartment. “So I told you and Laurent that Raphael Mercier was originally from Italy. I was stuck on him, without any leads but Elliot dug so deep he found out the truth.”
“But now you hate each other again? I don’t mean to be a dick, I’m just trying to understand what’s going on with you.”
“I don’t hate him,” Knight said, frowning. “But he thought we were an item and won’t talk to me now.”
“So you want him as a friend again? I mean… it can be tough to go back to that once you’ve fucked him, but maybe he’ll come around with time. Find someone else to cling to, and then you guys could do whatever ancestry shit you were doing together?” Beast laughed and patted Knight’s shoulder.