Baine knelt down with his arm still pressed firm against his chest, shielding the injury while it healed. His face was stone cold, flat, and expressionless. This was the Baine that Iggy knew. This was the warrior that had protected him for his entire life. He was the best of the best, and the strongest of them all. If there was anyone that Iggy could rely on to save and protect him, it was Baine. Regardless, Iggy's heart blasted in his chest, his breath sped up, and his limbs started shaking. The panic was coming.
Iggy said Baine's name, but it sounded like a small whimper escaping his lips. He had done it again. He slid a palm across the carpet a little and Baine jerked back. Yes, Baine jerked back. He was startled, just like the others standing behind the wall.
Iggy retracted his hand, and scooted across the floor until his shoulder molded against the wall. He brought his arms in to cover his chest and lungs, and he huddled over his bent up knees. He couldn't help but swallow as if he was still drowning in blood.
A worried bystander pushed her head out from around the corner. "Baine, this isn't sustainable," she nervously called him out. "You need to send him away."
Emi stood straight up and faced the watching group. "Why are you all still here?!" she hollered in offense. "Haven't you seen enough?! Get out of here! Go away!"
The group jostled around, anxiously, but weren't leaving, only shuffling as Nansen slipped through them. His shirt was unbuttoned and his hair a tattered mess, his eyes red and groggy. Amare trailed behind him like a living totem pole, by far the tallest one there, and could see the whole scene even before coming to.
Nansen planted himself right before Baine and Iggy, and hooked his hands on his hips so that his elbows made wide triangles at his sides. "Every time I leave you alone, something unnecessarily wasteful happens." He glared down at Baine and then up at Emi. "Can't at least one of you babysit worth a damn?"
Baine returned his glare, annoyed, too. He rose to his feet, still cradling his arm, and fired back, "you haven't been around. Are you so busy with your boyfriend that you think it's OK to leave Iggy alone with us all the time?"
Nansen rolled his eyes. "I've worked hard for many years keeping this kid alive. This is my time to rest. Finally, I must say." He grasped one of Iggy's trembling arms. "Come. Let's get you up off of the floor."
Iggy stood up and became even taller than Baine. He felt heavy and large as if he was taking up a lot of space. He pulled every little part of his body inwards, trying to shrink the feeling, but unable to do so.
"Oh… man…" Nansen's eyes trailed him from his neck collar down to his blood stained shoes. "That must have been fun," he whistled.
Iggy met Nansen's eyes, then reached out and pinched his shoulder. "Nansen… are you gay?" he asked.
Nansen's lips parted and a daze crossed his face. He lifted up an eyebrow. "Why are you asking me this, again?"
"What?"
He nodded once and widened his eyes to see better. "You've asked me the same question every night for the past two weeks. You're very confused. I think you're broken." He playfully slapped the top of Iggy's head with his hand, and jostled his hair up. Then, he laughed, "broken toy!"
Behind him, Amare towered nearby, glaring at Iggy with hot disapproval. Amare's hands clutched his elbows, then, without any restraint, he turned his sights onto Baine. His voice was loud like a horn, a surprising part of his tall dark self that surprised Iggy every time. "Your brother is too dangerous," he barked. "You need to take him away. To your father!"
Feeling genuine hate, Baine turned his head and snarled back at him like a bear. His voice had a cruel tone to it, unlike anyone else's. "If I go back without an invitation, Firmin will kill us. All of us, and you know he will."
"We'll die here! If we keep taking more people, we're going to be found." Amare opened his arms and gestured toward Iggy. "He's his father's child. It's obvious. We've all seen him phased out right here in the open without any real triggers. What if there's more? The virus is working in him too strongly. You won't be able to handle him. You must send him away."
Emi rushed to Iggy's side and pried herself in between him and Nansen. Her legs spread wide so that she had a good stable stance and her hands balled up into fists. "No one is taking my life partner away from me. No one."
"You don't know what you're saying-" Amare attempted to discredit her, but she ignored him.
As she gazed into Iggy's panicking eyes, her smile became relaxed and loose. She glided her hand into his palm and she gave him a gentle squeeze. "How about we go watch the stars? You love the stars. Come on, let's go."
Amare still complained, Baine's face glowed with red hot madness, and Nansen looked disappointed as if his "broken toy" was being taken away, but even so, Iggy rushed off with Emi. They went upstairs to his room where it was a safe private place to sit around for a while. Emi laid across the bed, and Iggy stood against the window sill, watching the colors of the sky becoming lighter and lighter with each passing moment. Sunrise was soon approaching, yet he stood unalarmed, simply watching. "Why can't I remember anything?" he wondered. He looked over at her.
Her relaxed expression harbored zero worry. Her voice was as soft as a whisper. "I don't mind it." She peeled herself off of the bed and approached him. She proceeded to touch him. She tucked his right hand around her waist and held his left hand high toward his own shoulder. Her fingers intertwined with his and her head laid against his chest, and she pushed them off into a gentle rock from side to side. The swaying felt familiar to him.
"What are we doing?"
"We're dancing."
"Dancing?" He peered down at the top of her glowing white head. "To what?"
"Nothing." She turned her cheek and nestled the other side of her face against him. "We do this often." He caressed the back of her neck with one finger and threw the hair off of her shoulders. He spread his fingers through her hair and laid his palm against the back of her head, pressing her into himself. "Just like clockwork," she chuckled. "You're six inches taller and eighty pounds heavier. We sleep once every twelve hours, and feed once every twenty four hours. Our schedule is erratic; your brothers can't keep up with us."
His voice became rigid. "Why are you telling me this?"
"Because it's been two weeks since you've made your last memory. I don't want you to be scared."
The pressure in his fingertips hardened just before he let her go. He stepped back. "Time has been passing and I haven't been here for any of it?"
"Not necessarily." She dropped hold of him and returned to the bed, sliding across it like ice. "You've been here, you just don't remember any of it."