“It sounds like it’s going well, then,” Linus said dryly. “Did they listen to the entire thing?”
“We all did,” Zoe said. She lowered her voice. “Helen and I tried to distract them when Rowder started jabbering on, but they wouldn’t hear of it. How’s Arthur?”
He pushed himself off the wall, crowding against Linus, heads close together as Linus lifted the phone between them. “I’m fine, Zoe. A little tired, but nothing a good night’s sleep won’t fix.”
“Linus?” she asked.
“He’s all right,” Linus said.
“And you?”
“Angry. Frustrated. Worried.”
“To be expected. Rowder is a piece of work.”
“The children?” Arthur asked.
“They had … a few choice words about the proceedings that they absolutely did not learn from me. Talia called them all mud-guzzlers? I’m not quite sure what that means, but she was very forceful when she said it.”
Arthur chuckled. “It’s a Gnomish insult, one of the worst. A mud-guzzler is someone foul who eats the soil rather than growing things from it. I don’t think I’ve ever heard her say that before. I feel terrible I missed her first time. It must have been delightful.”
“That’s one word for it,” Zoe said. “To be honest, it pretty much went downhill from there. Even Sal said some things that— Lucy. Talia. That had better not be grave-digging equipment I see. I said no murdering!”
Arthur missed them all terribly.
“Can you put us on speakerphone?” Linus asked. “We won’t take long. It’ll be better to explain everything when we return home the day after tomorrow.”
“Hold on. Kids! Arthur and Linus want to talk to you. Theodore, just because Arthur made fire indoors does not mean you can do the same. Sal, would you help him— Chauncey. Where did you … Are you eating a pine cone?”
“Phee says it’s not cannibalism, and it makes my poops an adventure!”
“I said you could eat the seeds, not the whole thing!”
“These are definitely your children,” Zoe muttered, and Linus and Arthur grinned at each other like a pair of fools. “Okay. You’re on speaker.”
“Linus?” Talia asked.
“Yes?”
“The man on the radio said you threw something at Arthur’s head.”
Linus looked at Arthur helplessly, who shrugged and arched an eyebrow. “Yes, I did,” Linus said, glaring at Arthur. “But only because—”
“Violence is acceptable when you need to get people to pay attention to you. Got it.”
Linus groaned.
“Children,” Arthur said. “You undoubtedly have questions, and I look forward to answering them as best I can upon our return. For now, I think it’s important to—”
“We do have questions,” Sal said, voice crackling through the line. “But they can wait, except for one.”
“And what’s that?” Arthur asked.
“Are you all right?”
“I’m fine,” he said, blinking against the burn in his eyes. “Much better now that I get to speak with you. But fear not; Linus is with me, and woe to anyone who tries to get in his way.”
“Damn right,” Linus said fiercely.
They ate a quiet meal—takeaway again, the hotel nowhere near fancy enough for room service—and after, Arthur stood in the shower for a long time, the water scalding as he tried to put his thoughts in order. Once he saw to his evening ablutions, he went back out into the room, dressed in a pair of sleep shorts and an old shirt.
Linus had turned off the lights, the only illumination coming from the blinking neon sign across the street for a pharmacy, flashes of blue, blue, blue. Sitting up against the headboard, Linus pulled back the comforter and patted the bed beside him. “Sleep,” he said. “Tomorrow is another day, and one we need to be prepared for.”
“David,” Arthur said as he climbed into bed next to Linus, who pulled the blankets up and over them, cocooning them in darkness. Through the blanket, a pale pulse of neon blue. For a moment, he could pretend it was the sea.
Linus gathered him up, pulling him over, letting Arthur’s head rest against his chest. His heartbeat was slow, steady. Listening to the pleasant thump, thump, thump, Arthur took a deep breath, letting it out slow.
“David,” Linus said. “They know about him. Or, they think they do.”
“It doesn’t change anything.”
“Doesn’t it?” Linus asked, hands in Arthur’s hair, scratching his scalp. “Not because I don’t want him to come with us, but if they’re sending another DICOMY inspector, he could be in danger. Should we put him in such a position?”
“He can’t stay where he is,” Arthur murmured, stretching his legs, tangling them with Linus’s. “You know that. Helen said it was always meant to be temporary. He needs space. Room to grow. We may have to hide him when the inspector arrives, but I’ve done more with less.”
Linus stiffened slightly underneath him, but his heartbeat remained calm. “You have.” It was not a question.
“Yes.”
