Himiko: Warrior (9 page)

Robbie examined his wound in the mirror and nodded. "It's fine -- head wounds always bleed a lot. I just need to clean it and get a bandage on it. I didn't have a first aid kit in my car. I know I should have had one, but I just never got around to get the box filled up..." He was chattering nervously, clearly affected by the attack.

"Sit still and let me do it for you." Pietr's movements were skilled and surprisingly gentle, and Matt sat down next to Robbie, taking his hand.

"You're going to be fine, okay?" He squeezed Robbie's hand in his.

"Yeah." Robbie still seemed shook up. "You have to go home with me. Aki is going to go ballistic when he sees this."

Matt frowned. "He can't be that bad."

Pietr snorted but kept on wiping blood off Robbie's face.

"He is that bad, and worse." Robbie looked straight at Matt. "He's had a very hard time just relenting enough to let me go out on my own. There's a real risk that this is going to bring back some bad tendencies in him."

"He doesn't hit you, does he?" Matt felt a little out of his depth here.

"No! No, he's just being a possessive asshole." There were both exasperation and a certain fondness in Robbie's mind. "But it's not good for him. He might pull us so far back that I'll have to dig us out with a shovel, and that took a while and a lot of shouting last time. God, he's hard work." Robbie rolled his eyes, the annoyance clear on his face. The love was equally clear in his mind, though, and Matt huffed.

Mates. Can't live without them...

...but luckily they're close enough to kill easily.
Robbie finished the sentence for him. His friend did seem a bit calmer now.

"I have a feeling that I'm missing something here." Pietr wasn't concerned, though, and Matt gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Just discussing how to distract Aki's attention."

"Of course you are." Pietr had refined his sarcasm to perfection by now. He placed the bandage on Robbie's forehead and stepped back. "As good as new. Now let's go keep Aki from killing any furniture."

***

Matt had thought that they were both exaggerating a bit. He didn't think so anymore when he heard Aki's roar. Quicker than lightning, Aki scanned Robbie's mind to see what had happened.

"Jesus, Aki! Will you take it down?"

Aki was completely oblivious to Matt's words, lost in patting his hands down his mate's body to ensure that Robbie wasn't hurt anywhere else before he finally embraced Robbie. It didn't look like he was ever going to let go.

"Aftercare, Aki!" Pietr was speaking loudly and very clearly. It didn't make Aki move at all. "You need to know how to take care of your mate."

Those words made Aki pull back slightly, head turning to look at Pietr.

"Good. You need to listen. Otherwise you can't take care of your mate. Let go of him." Aki obediently took a step back, staggering slightly. Pietr steadied him.

"I... I can't do this." Aki paled, shaking his head.

"What do you mean?" Matt frowned. Aki looked as if he was about to keel over.

"I can't let go! It's too hard, I can't lose him." Aki was shaking, and he was unsteady even with Pietr's arms on him. Matt reached out for him before Robbie could touch him.

Matt felt something like a slight shock of electricity going through him as the connection bound the three of them together again. It was the strong bond between mentor and student, but multiplied into their strange triangle of energy that included Pietr. Matt gently sought out Aki's mind, keeping his mentor from flight and centering Aki securely in the connection with Matt and Pietr.

You're not letting him go, you're just letting him live his life. It's a good thing, Aki.
Matt tried to comfort Aki, a surge of compassion going through him when he felt how hard his mentor was fighting to make this work.

Aki was wound so tight that the Himiko was close to shattering, but he relaxed a fraction as he felt Matt and Pietr's presence. Then he tensed again as if he missed something.

I'm right here for you.
Robbie had Aki's back, carefully embracing him from behind, supporting him.

You see?
Matt was intent on having Aki understand this.
Nothing comes between us, and nothing comes between you and Robbie.

Aki slowly relaxed, letting Robbie hold him and Matt and Pietr stay connected to him. His breathing evened out, and his painfully tight shields loosened a little. It felt healthier, as if he wasn't going to fall apart at the slightest touch anymore. Matt leaned into it, assuring him that this was how it should be.

Yeah? Considering how many people I've taught, I'm completely useless at this.
There was bitterness in Aki's inner voice.

You mean you aren't perfect?
Matt kept his inner voice light, teasing.

I want to be. I should be.
Aki's shields had loosened enough that Matt could feel how his mind was filled with desperation and a burning desire to keep his mate protected, away from anything that could hurt Robbie. Matt realized for the first time what Robbie had been worrying about. Aki was tearing himself apart over this, and he wanted to keep Robbie so close that they would both suffocate from it.

You know that Robbie taught me about stretching our bond, right?
Matt had had a hard time extending his bond with Pietr enough to enable them to be apart.

Aki's mind was curious.

I didn't understand that our bond wasn't going to be weakened because we were apart.

Matt felt a shudder go through Aki at the mere thought of being separated from Robbie.

"Jesus, Aki!" Matt rubbed Aki's shoulder, and Robbie tightened his arms around his mate. "You need to understand this, or you're going to fall apart."

Then teach me!
Aki's inner voice was filled with a desperation so deep that it shocked Matt. This was his unflappable mentor who knew everything.

Well, everything but this, it seemed.

Okay.
Matt took a moment to gather his thoughts.
What you need to understand is that the flexibility makes your bond stronger, not weaker.

The incomprehension was clear in Aki's mind.

Hasn't Robbie shown you?
Matt didn't get this; he had had problems, but Robbie had taught him this in a few minutes.

Robbie tried to, but his mate wouldn't listen.
Robbie was worried enough that his banter had lost its usual lighthearted tone.

I did listen -- we can be apart just fine.
If it hadn't been the fearsome Aki talking, Matt would have said that the Himiko was pouting.

You obviously missed the point, Aki.
Not for the first time, Matt felt exasperated by all this alien-stuff. It was a never-ending battle to get things right.

Really? Then tell me how it can ever be a good thing when I can't reach my mate, when I can't feel what he feels except when he's in mortal danger!

Well, when Aki put it that way... Matt pulled himself together.

Because your bond is stronger that way! You're not dependent on being within physical reach, and the more you can do this, the closer you get. Look, I'll show you.
Matt showed Aki the same image that Robbie had showed him back when he had to learn, of a bond made of elastic with an unbreakable core harder than any metal.

I know how it looks!

Then why don't you get it? Look, here's the bond you're trying to create.
Matt made a mental image of a rigid iron beam.

And so what?

Matt gritted his teeth. Aki was more stubborn than a sullen teen.

And so it isn't strong enough!
Matt made a mental image of what happened when you used a lot of force against an iron beam, shattering it in a cascade of tiny splinters.

Aki's roar was deafening, the Himiko struggling to get loose.

"Listen to me!" It was only Robbie's grip around Aki's waist that kept Aki from attacking Matt, and Matt had to use all of his mental force to get Aki's attention again.

I said, listen to me!
Matt's inner voice was loud enough to stun Aki to silence. He took a deep breath.

Okay. Now, look at this instead.
Again he showed Aki the image of an elastic bond with a firm core, showed his mentor what could be done with the bond, how it would never break the way a rigid bond would.

In the beginning, Aki was dismissive, unwilling to even listen. Matt didn't pay any attention to his protests, but simply forced him to watch how Matt could twist and stretch and bend the bond without ever breaking it.

See? Nothing can happen to this.
He had caught Aki's attention now, his mentor reluctantly following his demonstration. Aki shuddered when he pulled the imaginary bond so thin that it was almost invisible, but Matt refused to stop.

This is what you need to learn. It won't snap. Ever.
Matt pulled the bond even thinner, showing how strong it still was.

Suddenly, something fell into place in Aki's mind, and the Himiko relaxed so quickly that Robbie had to support his body to keep him from falling.

Is it... Is it really like that?
But Aki already knew, the revelation making all that fear and tension leave his body.

It's really like that. I promise.
Matt briefly wondered at the improbability of a human teaching his Himiko mentor anything about the Himiko bond. But it had been necessary.

And this Himiko is more stubborn than you'd think possible.
Robbie fondly nuzzled Aki's neck.

You don't say so.
Matt allowed himself to enjoy their connection for a moment, the way he was close not only to Pietr, but also to Aki and, through his mentor, to Robbie. Then he prepared himself to end it.
Very good. We'll let you go. Behave, now.
Matt reluctantly pulled back.

Pietr shook his head. "You really have a way with words, honey."

Their connection was broken, and it almost felt like a loss to Matt, even though he still had Pietr.

"Now you can fuss."

Aki looked uncomprehendingly at Matt. Then a horrified look went over his face and he turned back to his injured mate.

"Oh, no, you blew it, buddy. You can't be all happy with letting me cuddle you and then go back to thinking that I'm dying." Robbie kissed Aki's nose and turned to make them something to eat, much to his mate's consternation.

"I'd just give up if I were you, Aki." Pietr was shaking his head. "You have to pick your fights."

"You do." Matt raised an eyebrow. "Of course, it's not hurting my mate's great insightfulness that he's really hungry for those sandwiches."

Someone's sleeping on the couch tonight, baby.

Matt laughed out loud.
As if you would want to miss what I'm going to do to you.
He gave Pietr one or two images of what kind of fun he intended them to have tonight. It wasn't until he heard Aki sputter that he realized that he hadn't quite severed their common connection yet.

"Has that couch ever been slept on?" Robbie had turned away from the sandwiches he was putting together to look at them. "Because that's getting to be an empty threat by now."

Matt cringed inwardly as he remembered how Pietr had stayed away from him after he found out what Pietr did for a living. But he couldn't reveal anything about that to his friends without risking their lives, too. "Well, it's always good to have a deterrent." Matt leaned back against his mate, encouraging Pietr to embrace him, wanting everything to be back to normal. The Himiko held him tightly. Matt sighed in spite of everything. When mates didn't need to be killed or hit they were quite nice to have around.

Oh, my God, after that overwhelming declaration of love, honey, I'll just have to fuck you senseless right away.

See? It worked.

***

After dinner, Matt cuddled up with Robbie on the couch while Pietr took Aki outside. Aki looked rebellious, but Pietr just pulled at him.

Aki needs to let go a bit,
Pietr thought to Matt.
And Robbie is going to kill him if he fusses another second.

Matt laughed inside. Apparently you didn't have to know Robbie as well as Matt did to see that the Himiko was this close to losing his patience. Robbie only just held it together long enough to shoo his mate out of the door.

That guy is so much hard work.
There was a good deal of exasperation along with the love in Robbie's thoughts.

Yeah. Mates generally are.

Robbie shuffled a bit closer, and Matt put an arm around his shoulder.

Are you okay, by the way?
Robbie kept the question light.

What do you mean?
Matt tried to pretend he didn't know what Robbie was asking.

Don't even try; I've been bossing Aki around for months. I'm in great shape when it comes to getting people to talk.

Matt sighed.
It's not that I don't want to talk about it, but it's kind of private. I can't really talk about it.