Tasteful

Chapter Three: Hooks and Snags

Chapter Three: Hooks and Snags

 

Taylor blinked his eyes open with a frown. He felt almost like he was hung-over, but he knew better than that. He had barely drank anything at that bar last night because his head had been throbbing, and the emotions had been horrible. Swallowing, he grimaced at the stale taste in his mouth. His head throbbed, but like he was coming out of something, and he wasn’t sure what it meant. Yawning, he rolled over and saw a note sitting under his phone on the pillow next to him.

Seriously, Lo, still with the notes? he thought to himself as he sighed and propped himself up on an arm, pulling the note out from under his phone. He unfolded it and read it.

Talk?

That was all that was written. The word talk written as a question. Taylor sighed and shook his head, knowing it was Lo-speak for ‘I’m sorry, can we talk?’. He sat up and scrubbed a hand over his face, knowing that he probably needed to shave again soon. He was starting to get some stubble. He stood and entered the bathroom that was in their hotel room. Lo was nowhere to be seen, but that was why he’d left the note. Lo and conversations didn’t go well together.

Taylor showered quickly and dressed, coming out of the bathroom when he heard the hotel room door open and close. Lo stood there, looking at him, and Taylor stuck his tongue out at him and moved toward his bed to put on his socks and shoes. “Alright,” he sighed when Lo just kept standing there as though he didn’t know what to do, “c’mon. Let’s talk.”

Lo paused for a moment and then moved and sat on his own bed across from Taylor’s. He hesitated momentarily and then shrugged. “You keep leaving shit in my car.”

“Noted. I’ll take my phone with me from now on.” Taylor shook his head and sighed, tasting that Lo seemed reluctant about something, and yet also nervous. It put a somewhat bitter taste in his mouth and he didn’t like it.

But at least he could taste Lo’s emotions again - unlike last night. Whatever had happened at the bar was gone now.

“Taste?” Lo asked nonchalantly, but Taylor could taste something bittersweet.

“All better now,” Taylor said with a nod. “Though I feel like I have a bit of a hang-over but I don’t recall really drinking much of anything.”

Lo frowned. “You’re a lightweight.”

“Whatever.” Taylor scowled.

“I called Corbin this morning.”

“And what’d he say?”

“I told him about what…happened at the bar,” Lo told him. Taylor knew that must have been hard for him. Lo hated talking on the phone almost as much as he hated talking to people in general. “And he thinks what we’re dealing with is a rogue psychic.”

Taylor blinked at him. “Psychics are real?” he asked incredulously. Because, sure, he was an emotion taster - or at least that was what Corbin had dubbed him, and he liked it better than it being called the ‘Taylor’. Lo was a dog-person, whatever the proper name for that was. But a psychic?

Lo frowned at him. “Always a skeptic, T?”

“Duh! I didn’t even know any of this shit was possible until I woke with brand new taste buds.” Taylor folded his arms across his chest and sighed, the information sinking into him. “Alright…fine…a psychic. How does he know?”

“Because he said it sounds like the rogue got a hook in you.”

“A what now? I’m not a damn fish.”