The Edifice

34. Finally... A Kiss?

OTIS

I find Lee outside, in his greenhouse, bent crooked with his knees curled close. The dwindling cigarette hangs limp between his fingers.

"Are you alright?" I ask, for politeness' sake. I can hear his even, slower heart rate from the doorway. Even after the drugs and drinks I can still feel the air shift ever so slightly when he draws a deep breath and holds it, counting the beats to stay calm.

"Yes," he replies after a long moment, not bothering to turn around and face me. "I'm... sorry about that. I haven't had the easiest track record coming to terms with... sexuality. Where's Olivia?"

"Upstairs, watching 'All or Nothing," I say. "Apparently they never managed to crowd-fund it, back on Earth."

Hesitantly, I wind my way between the potted plants and long vines of vegetables towards his quiet corner. It should be absurd, for someone with such a strong affinity for fire to be a green witch, yet somehow it suits Lee. It's certainly done wonders to calm him. He puts out a cigarette on the paver and reaches for another.

"Why did you really leave Earth, Lee?"

Leaning as close as I can to gauge his face, I'm only treated to a condescending side-glance from those ebony eyes of his. The fresh smoke of his cigarette plumes between us.

"I thought it was pretty clear that I was sick of the all fucking questions upstairs. That apology was me trying to shut you up."

Yeah, that's fair.

Well, if he doesn't want to elaborate, I certainly will. Levi Noble, a real, living refugee to the Edifice. Someone who found his home world so insufferable that he really jumped across the veil itself to come here, leaving everything behind. He drew the parallels between how we'd each treated Olivia, but the mirror image clearly doesn't end there.

"I haven't really come to terms with myself, either. For different reasons, of course," I explain, collapsing cross-legged behind him. "If you were wondering why I want what you and Olivia have so badly. Why I'm leaving here behind."

He huffs indistinctly.

"May I?"

Once again, no reply as I reach forward and offer my hand, taking the long, warm fingers of his left hand in my own. It's only when I move his touch closer to my chest that his brows furrow in confusion and he flinches.

"Otis, I literally have sex with men and this is fucking gay even for me-" Lee cuts off abruptly as the seconds tick by and he finally realises what he's feeling for. He presses harder into my chest and holds it there, right hand raising to grasp my neck, index fingers probing the flesh I've constructed there. "Oh."

"...H-How's your stomach for blood? Well, among other things?"

"Otis?" Lee asks curiously in response as I take out my phone.

The video I'm looking for has been saved in my phone for six years now, since I first, legally sought independence from my parents. Even so, I still have to muster every shred of willpower I have to open it, passing it across to Levi who takes it wordlessly.

The court proceedings had been on every screen I'd passed on the months following my emancipation, every newspaper, magazine and tweet I was mentioned in. Every single shred of my upbringing brought up before millions of strangers, no matter how blurry the photo or outlandish the witness testimony- all but this video.

The Creed legal defence had set a world record for the salary of their team, for very good reason. This portion of my case had been moved to the privacy of the Children's Courts, aired in a tiny basement before a single judge. NDAs had been signed by every party in attendance. Due to the historical practices High Fae are known to have had with their children, my past falls into the legal grey area between child custody and property law here in the Edifice. Nevertheless, more brand than family, Creed Estates had a reputation to uphold.