INCAPACITATION
“Who do you think about?” Peter frowned, rolling over to stretch out on his back. “Who?” “Yes, who.” Peter could hear the smile in Adam’s voice, and he wondered for the umpteenth time what Adam looked like. “Who do you think about during these disastrously long, quiet spells - oh, you know, when you aren’t romping about with Elle.” Peter sat up, swinging his feet over the side, eyes narrowed warily, tired body nevertheless ready to fight. Suddenly, anger surged through him - it wasn’t enough that Adam relentlessly teased him about Elle, but to bring Claire into it? Was he really on the opposite side looking for Claire? He stopped this train of thought just in time to realize how idiotic (and embarrassing) it was. It was an innocent enough question, and why would Adam be after any of his friends, muchless Claire; and perhaps more importantly, why did he automatically assume Adam was talking about Claire? He didn’t even know Claire! Adam seemed to pick up on Peter’s agitation from his silence, and his voice immediately took on a soothing tone. “Hey, I’m in the same boat as you are, kid! I’m not gonna hunt her down.” And this time, Peter was surprised. “Her? Who said it was a her?” “Didn’t have to say it,” Adam said softly. and Peter could tell he’d scooted closer to the crack and was now speaking through it, voice conspiratorily low. “Just because I’m three-hundred some-odd years old does not diminish the fact that I am male and you are, too. Not to mention you just make it so obvious. I’m a man, and I couldn’t have gotten through five minutes of this if I didn’t have anyone to think about.” Peter kept his mouth shut. Adam had him cornered, but he didn’t have to tell him anything - and the best way to do that was to simply keep his mouth shut altogether. “She was Japanese,” Adam said abruptly, and it took Peter a moment to figure out what he was talking about. “And she was strong and brave and stubborn as hell.” And Peter thought of Claire and smiled. “But she never loved me,” Adam added softly, even as Peter’s heart dropped to his toes, afraid the similarities between Adam’s ’who’ and his wouldn’t end at ’stubborn as hell’. “For a little while she thought she did, but she didn’t.” Peter frowned. “Where is she now?” And if he said Odessa, Texas, he was relatively sure he was going to die. “Dead. Somewhere in Japan. She died about three hundred years ago.” Peter gaped, still trying to wrap his mind around his friend’s age. --Cayenne
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