You Are the Moon That Breaks the Night |Virgato|

Chapter 11: Imbue (Part 1)

Imbue

verb, to imbue

1. To inspire or influence thoroughly.

2. To soak, especially with moisture, dye, etc.

Chris woke up on one of the sofas in the living room. Dawn was breaking outside of the windows so they must have been out for not more than an hour or two. A sticky feeling on his chest directed Christopher's gaze downwards. There were small, oval electrode patches glued to his chest, no cables attached. Emanuel must have taken his vitals after Joel had brought him in. The skin around the patches was clean, as opposed to the rest of his body which was covered in a thin layer of dirt. If he focused, Chris could hear Joel and Emanuel talking in the kitchen, his brother giving Joel instructions on how to cut up a pepper.

Chris was about to sit up when he heard commotion coming from the hallway. A second later, Richard and Erick strolled into the room, their voices raised.

"No way, I won!"

"Shut up, Erick. I clearly reached the handle before you. My hand was beneath yours."

"Yeah, because you wedged it under mine after I had already gripped the handle. Admit it, Richard. I am faster than you." The smugness in Erick's voice nearly made Chris grin.

"You think so, huh?" Richard growled, taking a step forward and into Erick's personal space. Erick faltered just the tiniest bit, but his chin raised, "Hell yeah."

Growl intensifying, Richard raised his finger. Then he poked the black haired boy in the cheek. A second later, they burst into fits of giggles. This time, Chris did grin. It made him feel indefinitely better, knowing Erick was fine, happy again.

Eventually, Richard and Erick had calmed and Chris watched Richard grab Erick's hand, biting gently into the knuckle of Erick's ring finger. Chris could feel his eyebrows raise.

When Richard spoke, his words were not louder than a whisper, and so soft that Chris wasn't sure at first that it had been Richard who had said them, "You are everything to me, you know that?"

Chris didn't have to be able to see Erick's face to know he was beaming. Chris had known that the relationship between Erick and Richard was going far beyond any type of your average friendship, even under pack measures. He hadn't know they were together like that. The longer Chris thought about it, the more sense it made, though. The doubled, overwhelming echo of adoration made Christopher's heart swell. As soon as he saw Erick lean up, Chris closed his eyes. That moment wasn't for him to see.

Quickly, he relaxed his muscles and schooled his breathing into a deep rhythm. He was sure Richard and Erick had been too caught up in each other to notice him having witnessed their moment.

As soon as Erick and Richard had clambered off into the kitchen, receiving a sharp call from Emanuel to wash their hands before they touch any of the yet to be cut vegetables, Chris contemplated dozing for a little bit longer. The couch was comfortable, and his metabolism high enough to grant him instant sleep upon request.

His plans were destroyed, however, when he felt fingertips brush over his forehead, the warm hand wrapping around his neck a second later.

"No," Chris whined, edging further into the couch. "Sleep."

The hand around his neck squeezed, its thumb rubbing the ticklish spot beneath his earlobe and Chris squirmed.

Reluctantly and with an exaggerated groan, he pried his eyes open, "You are mean."

Joel smiled at him, calm and collected as always, but with a hint of fondness in his eyes that Chris savored more than was probably healthy, "Do you want to stay for dinner? Emanuel's making a paella."

Chris hummed and closed his eyes, pretended to contemplate the question. A triumphant giggle escaped his lips when he managed to grab Joel's arm blindly and pull the other boy onto the couch. Joel wheezed out a surprised laugh, but before Joel could wriggle himself out of his grasp, Chris threw a leg over the other boy's thighs.

"I can't stay for dinner, but I'd like some quality time with my alpha," Chris spoke into Joel's collarbone that was pressed against his face.

Joel didn't answer, didn't move at all for a couple of seconds. Chris was about to get worried, wondered whether he had said something wrong, but then Joel wrapped an arm around Christopher's waist and buried his nose in Christopher's hair. With a content sigh, Chris pressed his face deeper into Joel's neck. He could hear the other boy's heartbeat thump against his ear, steady and just a fraction faster than that of an average person. Chris smiled. They matched.

_

When Chris got home, he found his mother's car gone and his siblings asleep on the couch. After he had carried both of then into their respective beds, he trudged into his room and slumped down at his desk. Having spent the majority of the weekend at Joel's house, there was now a pile of homework left, the sheer size of it making Chris want to give up and just go to bed. He didn't, however. Apart from all the things complicating his life at the moment, he didn't want to add failing grades to the list. Suppressing a yawn, Chris flicked on the desktop light his mother had bought when he was seven and grabbed the first book.