Never Again – 42

 

Cal followed Joseph up to the bedroom to wait while he showered and got dressed. When Joseph came out of the bathroom, having left his dirty clothes in the hamper next to the sink, he had a towel wrapped around his waist while he finished drying his hair with another one.

"Joe," Cal said, his voice filled with shock. "It's gone."

"What?"

"The cut, the wound, whatever you want to call it. It's healed. That's not possible."

Joseph smiled slightly. "Yes it is. Just like what happened last night was possible, so is this."

And now we've finally acknowledged the elephant in the room.

He sat down on the bed next to Cal. "It's one of the perks, so to speak, of shifting. Each time I do, my body regenerates and any damage is healed."

"Oh," Cal replied quietly. "That would be damned useful in Iraq—which was a real non sequitur but—"

"It was sort of, but I know what you mean." Taking a deep breath, Joseph continued. "The regenerating has another effect as well. Remember my telling you Rawleigh died in the war?"

"Iraq, yes."

"No. The War Between the States."

"Holy hell," Cal whispered, moving away from him. "Just… damn, Joe." He studied his face for a long moment. "You're telling me you're… almost a hundred and fifty?"

"A little older than that actually, but not by much."

"I… see." Cal drummed his fingers on his thigh, still studying Joseph. "So each time you shift it not only heals you, it keeps you young."

"Oh, I do age, just very, very slowly. And yes, it's because of the shifting." He smiled a bit remembering, then told Cal what he'd been thinking. "My sister got very pissed at me when I refused to shift one time. I didn't want Rawleigh to realize I wasn't aging. I thought by not shifting, well, you know."

"Sister?"

"Elizabeth. She wasn't a shifter herself but she carried the gene, which is why…well, never mind. At the moment it's not germane to what I'm telling you. When I refused to shift, Elizabeth laid into me. It seems I also got very cranky, to put it mildly. Since shifting is part of my nature, not shifting is not good."

Cal chuckled. "So when you start getting really pissed at me, I should tell you to head for the bayou and do your thing."

"If you don't want me biting off heads," Joseph agreed with a laugh.

"I'll remember that," Cal said, sobering. "This means when I'm older, you're still going to look the way you do now."

Joseph nodded. "Pretty much, yes. As I said, I do age, so when you're say, fifty, I might look a bit closer to thirty-five."

"That could set some tongues wagging."

"Probably will, if we stay here."

Cal frowned, obviously thinking about what he'd said. "True," he replied, "we could move somewhere else where they don't know us." Suddenly his eyes lit up as he stared at Joseph. "Do you realize what we're talking about? What we're saying?"

"Umm hmm. We're talking about us and a future together. And I'm getting the impression you like the idea. Am I right?"

"You are. Do you?"

"Very much so."

"You know it's still early on," Cal said. "We've only known each other for a little while. For you, it would be a very little while in the grand scheme of your life."

"True. On the other hand, we've been through a lot together and are still, well, together. I think that says something about our feelings." He chuckled softly. "Although this afternoon I was beginning to wonder if you were having second thoughts."

"To be honest, I was. It was the first time I really had a chance to think about last night and… and what you did. I began to be frightened, Joe. I mean, first off, I've never really cared about someone the way I do you, which in itself is scary for me on an emotional level. Then to have the whole shifting thing added in on top of it, I began to wonder if I had what it takes to handle it all."

"I guess you decided you could?"

Cal nodded. "I weighed the pros and cons, and the pros came out well on top."

"Thank goodness." Joseph stretched out his hand and when Cal took it, he tugged him closer. Close enough to kiss him. "I don't know what I would have done if you decided to walk away," he whispered against his lips.

Cal pulled back a bit to look at him. "Well, it's not going to happen. I'm not sure that I can say this is love just yet, but I think it's damned close to it."

Wrapping his arms around Cal, Joseph sighed happily. "I lost one man I loved and vowed never to let it happen again. But it has, and I'm not complaining in the least."

"Why? I mean, why did you tell yourself you wouldn't let it happen again?"

"Honest truth? Because loving someone, especially someone human, means eventually I'll lose them and have to go on without them."

"Joe, that can happen anyway and you know it. Even if you were human yourself, it could happen."

"But I know anyone I love is going to die before me," Joseph countered.

"Bull. Unless you're immortal, there's always the chance you could be killed. Right?"

"Well, yes."

"Then I'd be left without you, but I'm not about to throw everything away just because that might happen."

"All right, all right." Joseph laughed. "I'm getting the point. I'm stuck with you, which means I should get dressed so we can celebrate."

"Celebrate your being stuck with me?" Cal looked amused.

"No, you nut," Joseph replied, getting to his feet. "Well, yes, that too, but also the celebration we planned on having now that the problems at the site are over." He kissed Cal again. "So don't move. I'll be dressed in two seconds flat."

"Five minutes."

"Three."

Cal laughed. "Four. Five, if you don't start right now."