Page 67 of Ring Rust

Jasper nodded. “Thank you. We’ll see if I make it to work tomorrow.”

“Still feeling bad?”

“Yeah.”

“Sorry,” Ryan said, his hands itching to reach out and pull Jasper closer. It had been so long since he’d felt Jasper’s body pressed against his. Sick, with his nose stuffed up and his voice rough from a sore throat, Jasper stirred something protective inside Ryan. His chest felt the loss acutely, no longer the place Jasper wished to rest his head when fighting a bad cold.

“I’m getting rid of the chickens.”

Ryan burst out laughing. “No, you’re not.”

“No, I’m not, but seeing the amount of mess they made in one day did make me question eating anything that comes out of their body.”

“Remember that time I ate those oysters and got food poisoning?”

Jasper snorted, then whimpered and rubbed his nose. “Ow, laughing hurts. Don’t make me laugh.”

“I should have listened to you. You said they were warm.”

“They were being sold out of a car in the middle of summer, of course they were warm.”

“He had a cooler!”

“I don’t care if he had a cooler! He was just some guy, and I told you not to eat them! And then you ate adozen.”

“Well,” Ryan said, crossing his arms. “I’m bringing it up because you said I would never eat oysters again. And guess what, I have eaten oysters about a thousand times since then.” Never from a guy on the side of the road, and always at what Ryan considered to be restaurants where the staff knew what they were doing, but hedideat them again.

“Okay? That’s good, you love oysters.”

“I’m saying you’ll probably eat eggs again, once the witnessed horrors of the day have faded from your memory.”

Jasper laughed, then whined—again. “I asked you to stop being funny.”

Ryan let that hang between them for a moment, not interested in causing Jasper physical pain, but loving his little smile.

They were quiet for a while, and with every passing moment on the couch, Jasper sprawled further into the cushions. His head tipped onto Ryan’s shoulder, then slowly slid down to his chest, where it settled as Ryan shifted his arm to hold him there. Sleep finally took over, and Jasper's warm breath against Ryan's skin stirred the neglected embers in his chest back to life.

They stayed like that for an hour, Ryan too afraid to wake Jasper and lose the moment forever. Eventually, he was too tired to hold Jasper’s head up, and he didn’t want to fall asleep on the couch, afraid Jasper might freak out the next morning and distance himself. Despite how much he wanted to stay there forever, Ryan nudged Jasper gently until he lifted his head.

And, much to Ryan’s expectations, Jasper jolted himself upright when he realized he’d been snuggled against Ryan’s body.

“Shit, I’m sorry,” Jasper said, wiping his mouth of drool.

“That’s okay. But you should go to bed, it’s late.”

Jasper nodded. “Yeah.” He stood up and looked at Ryan, then to the bedding on the chair and back to Ryan. “I always forget how big you are.”

Ryan snorted a laugh. “Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”

Jasper shrugged. “It’s neither. The couch is small, though. For someone your size.”

“I’ve slept on this couch before. It’s not ideal, but it’s survivable,” Ryan said, not sure why he’d offered that reminder.

“It’s just… um.”

Ryan held his breath, hoping with everything he had that he knew where Jasper was going. He stayed silent, terrified he’d say something Jasper would read as pressure.

“You don’t have a bed,” Jasper said.