All of a sudden, he was looking at the wood grains on the table top.
Fii groaned when his chin hit the table, and groaned when he was released again. He lifted his shoulders and massaged it gingerly, trying to feel something other than the sore ache that had seared through his muscles and tendons, exacerbated by a drum of adrenaline when she pushed him down. His fingers were tender and felt strangely not his own at the moment, and he was almost surprised that they were still attached.
I’m not dead, some faint part of his mind supplied unhelpfully, with all the tact of a drunken horse. Not maimed, either.
Well then. He hadn’t really lost anything other than his pride, and hadn’t even been bruised much. All in all, it was not a terrible day.
For a moment, he was almost pleased. Then, he was horribly embarrassed by that little display. Especially the bit where she threatened him.
So it was with a little but of sullen defiance that Fii nodded at the woman’s words, and he only nodded because those words and that man from just now hinted at a first whiff of something greater happening here, swirling around them like an unseen fog. Suddenly, danger was no longer a thrilling, forbidden friend. Danger was a dangerous cut throat killer, creeping in the shadows. Despite the fool that he had seemed today, Fii had always been practical when it came to staying alive.
“Alright,” he muttered.
His boyfriend was coming, now. He eyed the other boy. Then, without another word, he grabbed the other boy’s wrists, and began dragging his new companion out the door.