Lesson 133- Remember to measure everything. Before comparing.
An absolutely evil look crosses over Eli’s face, wiping away his expression of misery and self pity. He opens his mouth to speak but I glare at him and elbow him in the ribs. Hard. He sighs and pouts.
“Fine, spoil sport. Torin, why don’t you join us as everyone compliments and somehow mocks me because I, regrettably, have a crush. On Rina’s brother…” He sounds kind of pissed off about it to be honest. I suppose admitting he has a crush kind of does go against his cool guy, player persona that he commits to so well. But at the same time, I feel like he is the kind of person that would do well in an actual relationship. All the things that make him a good friend kind of translate well into being a good partner I would expect. Torin still looks displeased. To my surprise, it’s Kyle who comes to the rescue. He rolls his eyes dramatically.
“We were having an objective discussion about the attractiveness of Eli, mostly about whether Rina’s big brother would want to tap that.” Kyle says bluntly.
“KYLE!” Laura objects but he just shrugs.
“What? Communication issues are stupid. I’m just making things clear.” He grumbles.
“Actually, Eli was trying to explain to us why his magic might not work on Rina’s brother.” Laura adds to the explanation. Torin just stares and I sigh.
“Eli, just finish your explanation please. We’re meant to be setting up for work.” I try to push the conversation along. Eli sighs.
“Well basically, there is a difference between thinking that someone is an attractive person, and actually being attracted to them yourself. For example, Torin here. My magic is useless on him, and he’s got to admit that I’m attractive. He just doesn’t want me himself.” He explains. Torin frowns.
“I don’t have to admit anything.” He grumbles. Although I sense a hint of satisfaction on his face. Probably because he now knows that Eli’s magic would be totally useless against him.
We spend a few more minutes discussing the technicalities of what it means to actually be attracted to someone and then a few more rather uncomfortable minutes for me where Eli and Laura discussed in detail their opinions of every interaction my brother has had with Eli and the chances of him being attracted to him. It is super weird and I am not mad when Torin tilts his head to the side, silently inviting me to come and talk. I get to my feet and go join him.
“What’s up?” I ask. He shrugs.
“Nothing in particular. You just looked uncomfortable. I thought I should give you a chance to leave the conversation.” He explains. I beam a smile at him and pull him into a quick hug.
“Thanks Tori.” I say gratefully. Torin’s phone starts ringing in his pocket. He pulls it out and furrows his brow in confusion. He answers the call.
“Damien?” He says. Wait, is my brother calling Torin? Why?” I pull my phone out of my pocket and realise that I have three missed calls from him. Shit.
“What does he want?” I tug on Torin’s sleeve, but he’s frozen in place. All of a sudden he turns and rushes towards the front door. He unlocks it and throws it open and with a heavy thump, my brother comes tumbling in the door. My jaw drops in horror. He has blood dripping down from his temple like he’s been whacked in the head. His right eye is swollen and his lip is split. I run towards him.
“Dami! What happened to you?” I start to fuss over him, leading him to a seat and trying to get a better look at his eye. Laura is on her feet, rushing to get the first aid kit, Kyle hot on her tail. Eli is frozen in place, sitting on the floor. At least he is for a second, then he’s right up beside me, fussing over Damien. My brother groans when I touch a spot on his face that must be particularly painful.
“Ow. Hey sis, what happened to ‘I will always answer my phone from now on’ or whatever it was?” He asks, his voice hoarse. Is something wrong with his throat? A quick look shows the beginning of some bruising.
“Dami… What happened?” I ask again. Now I’m feeling guilty as well as worried. He sighs deeply.
“You know those guys who came by my house that one time? They came back and this time they… Invited themselves in. Somehow they know that you and I are in contact again. They did this and then told me I have to convince you to leave this bar.” He gestures at his face, then he grabs my arm, clinging to it and holding on uncomfortably tight.
“Rina, I don’t know what’s going on. But if you’re safe here you can’t leave. Those guys… They were… Oh damn this sounds crazy, even to me. But they… There was something wrong with them. They weren’t HUMAN!” He exclaims. Stress in his voice. Oh damn. I glance towards Torin, my eyes wide. Silently I’m asking him what I should do. I mean, my brother has figured out that magical people exist. Torin meets my eyes, then after a moment’s contemplation, gives me a slight nod which I interpret to mean that I should just tell my brother everything. I take a deep breath.
“Dami, I have a lot to tell you…” I trail off. I hear Kyle grumble from the other side of the room.
“I’ll pour him a drink. Maybe two.”
An hour later Damien is sitting there, kind of dumbstruck as he thinks over the insane story I just told him. He was a little unsure at first, but then Laura flashed some magic around and Jane decided to collect an empty bottle from the table in front of us, wave it in his face a little then return to her trap door with a purr. Damien stares after her.
“Rina… Is there an octopus living beneath the bar?” He asks, confusion in his voice. I shrug.
“That’s Jane. I don’t really know what she is, but she’s a great friend. She ate a couple of the guys who attacked me.” I say cheerfully. Damien considers for a second, then shrugs.
“Well alright then. Cheers to Jane.” He holds up his drink then downs it and I grin. Damien will be just fine. Eli is sitting with him and enthusiastically answering all the questions Damien can come up with, meanwhile Torin is sort of brooding in the corner, staring at Damien. Damn. Okay, I need to intervene. I approach Torin.
“You had better not be thinking about putting a binding spell on my brother, or confiscating his phone.” I warn. Torin sighs.
“Things would be simpler if I did. But I know you wouldn’t forgive me if I did that. I know I’ve been unreasonable. I… I don’t want to trust your brother to keep our secret, but I think it’ll be okay.” He says softly. I frown. Obviously I don’t want him to distrust my brother. But it kind of stings that he is just trusting him right away when I’ve had to work so hard to earn it.
“I still technically have you trapped here. As long as I’m what’s keeping you safe, I doubt that your brother will say anything,” He concludes. This is so not good.
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