Page 67 of Brave Truth

“I did say you could,” Matty pointed out.

“I didn’t ask that specific thing.” Claudio said too softly.

There was a note there that made Matty peer at him, then cup his cheek. “I said yes. I certainly had an idea of the range of things you might do. And what the gossip’s been. Mum will— well, I suppose I can imagine her and your mother both disapproving in their own ways. And be a little amused as long as they aren’t doing it directly at me.” He had to figure out words for this. “We’ll make it work. And people did point out that, um, nasty slander has new legal consequences now, and reminding people of that might be handy.”

“Mmm.” Claudio shifted to rest his head on Matty’s shoulder. “You are very encouraging. And, well.” He let out a huff of breath. “There were a lot of things in the Challenge. I don’t know what I want to talk about yet. I think I need to talk some of it out with Gabe first, because he’s been through that? And a bit with Orion, but I think Gabe might be more specifically relevant. But she approved. The Lady. Of you and me, and the fact I said you were my lover and partner out loud.”

“Did you?” That was, frankly, even more shocking than the kiss. Or at least the social implications of the kiss. “That’s why you came out, and the first thing you wanted to do was kiss me?”

“That.” Claudio said just the one syllable. “Are you good?”

Matty inhaled, held his breath for a second or two, and let it out more slowly. “If, um. Is this the sort of thing where you can tell her things later? Or is that something only for a Challenge?” He did not expect Claudio’s reaction at all, which involved laughter into his shoulder. Claudio made an inquisitive noise when he could breathe again, and Matty said, “Taking that as a yes. Would you tell her I’m glad she approves? Whatever way you want to put that.”

“Will.” Then Claudio wriggled. “And thank you for last night. The sex was exactly the right thing. Tell you more about that later. Probably when we can work ourselves up about it enjoyably.”

That was definitely not tonight. Matty’s thighs were in fact still complaining, despite some deliberate and vigorous training to be up to the task. He ran a hand down Claudio’s shoulder. “All right. Tomorrow we should talk about the Ministry and the gossip. That’s tomorrow. I have the day off. You have the day off?”

“Do.” Then Claudio did one of the little shifts he did, like a kitten claiming a spot to curl up in. “Sleep now.”

There was no arguing with it, not that Matty wanted to. He arranged himself to be comfortable and found he was tired enough to drift off promptly once the conversation was done.

That lasted until sometime in the middle of the night. Still truly dark outside, the thing that woke Matty was Claudio thrashing. He knew the risks of waking someone in the middle of a nightmare, but he also didn’t need an elbow in the ribs or nose. That would be extremely difficult to explain. Healers could do a lot about many things, but bruises and noses were both tricky to fix quickly. He managed to get a hand on Claudio’s shoulder. “Claudio? Bad dream. Can you wake up?” It sounded far too rational, but his voice must have worked.

Claudio shivered several times, curling in on himself, and Matty just settled behind him, chin hooked over his shoulder, both of them on their left sides. It let him get his right hand around Claudio’s chest, fingers touching his hand, until Claudio laced his fingers through. They lay like that, not talking, until Claudio’s breathing evened out again.

Not everything in the Challenge had been approval, then. Or at least that was the logical analysis, given the evidence Matty had.

Chapter 43

Monday, August 14th

Claudio woke up groggy, his head half buried in his pillow. Then he realised there was an arm around him, that the bed was his, and then where they were in a more general sense of the world. He shifted warily, trying to figure out if anything had cramped up overnight. The hand on his chest closed for a second, then opened before Matty nuzzled at the back of his shoulder. “M’ning.” It was mostly muffled.

“Morning,” Claudio didn’t try to rearrange himself. “You?” Then he had a muzzy memory of a nightmare, his father knotted up in it. Father having done something Claudio had to untangle, even though Father kept making it worse. “Did I— last night?”

“Nightmare or something.” Matty moved his head so his voice was clear. “You all right now?”

That was an excellent question, and not one Claudio was entirely able to answer. “Don’t know yet.” He let out a breath. “You?” There, maybe he’d get an answer.

Matty took his time answering. “Want the loo. Maybe a bath? Food. Not sure how all of that works here?”

“Ah.” Claudio did move at this point, wriggling toward the far side of the bed so Matty had space. “Bath, certainly. I could get a tray up here. Or we could go down.”

“Your mother?” Matty pushed up on one elbow. It was, of course, the most relevant concern. “Oh, and the Edgartons warned me last night. There’s going to be ferocious gossip. Do we need to worry about people looking in the windows or anything?”

“Portal’s warded. I’ll show you sometime today how to get through. Otherwise, people can only get here the long way round by train. In practice, they don’t. It’s a bother. Much easier for them to lurk somewhere else. Outside the Ministry buildings tomorrow, for example. We should talk about that more sometime today. If we want to court gossip, we let them know we’ll be in Trellech later and take callers somewhere. Probably Bourne’s for this. They’re used to it.” He shrugged and added, “Father had opinions. In the particular case of warding against gossip, Father’s opinions were not actually wrong.”

Matty snorted at that. “And your mother?”

“I’d rather go downstairs if you don’t mind. I’ll put myself between you and her. Besides, she’s not a duellist, and I’m faster with a silencing charm if it’s needed. But she’ll probably just be coldly polite.” Claudio paused, then asked. “Are you regretting the kiss last night?”

“What? No! Not at all. Talking to my mother about it is going to be all sorts of odd, though.” Matty pushed himself more upright, sitting on the bed. “I bet she’s going to be torn between horror that I’m— well. And that I’m seeing someone at the peak of Albion society.”

“Seeing, debating, bedding. Vigorously,” Claudio agreed, though he was smiling now. “You let me know if I can help with it, all right? Come round and look exceedingly presentable and all that?”

“You do clean up nicely.” Matty agreed. “I’m envious of that bit.”

“Oh, I can absolutely get you in with my tailor, if you like. Also Gabe’s tailor, so, you know, designed more for energetic magical work than you probably need, but he’s excellent at the tailoring, too.” Claudio swung his legs out of bed. “Look, let me grab my kit from here, and I’ll use the other bath. You lounge in this one. Take your time, I’ll write down for food in— how long?”