Rooming with the Wicked

23 | tell me

Before I could say, "Don't!" my drape was pulled to the side and Haze's stoic face and smoldering black eyes looked right through me. At least until the Liquid Ice exploded on his head and those tousled strands of obsidian hair and the right half of his face were first covered in glacial blue liquid and flash-frozen a second later.

Too stunned to speak, I just stood there and stared at him.

Steam started rising from the top of his head, and slowly but surely the ice melted as the color returned to his eyes. Soon enough, his hair was dripping onto his neck and shoulders, drenching the top of his tank.

His chest heaved as he slowly clenched and unclenched the fists at his sides. "You... You booby-trapped your space?" he all but whispered.

"Well..."

He took a step forward, clearly unaware of the tripwire inches in front of his left foot. "Well?" he echoed.

I could've warned him. He could've just stopped right there. But I didn't, and he didn't either.

Instead, I watched him walk right into my second trap, too angry to care. Angry at him for getting under my skin, but even more angry at myself for letting him. And maybe a little angry for the things I'd said.

He'd started it though, and that's why maybe he deserved what was coming just a little bit. Even if that made me petty like an absolute child.

I closed my eyes just in time. The solar flare exploded, drowning the entire room in bright enough light that it nearly blinded me through my eyelids. Good thing the components were hard to come by and these things were a general pain to make. There was no way he could have ever seen this coming.

Haze cursed and then I heard him stumble and drop to the ground. The light gradually dimmed and I opened my eyes again to see him sitting with his back against the wall, head in both hands, breathing heavily. He looked absolutely miserable, even more so since his hair was still dripping.

Despite his position, he took up most of the space between my desk and the wall. I would practically have to step over him to leave, which definitely wasn't happening. Seeing him like this, caught off guard and somewhat helpless suddenly made all my anger dissipate. If the circumstances were a little different, I'd probably be laughing right now.

Neither of us spoke for what felt like forever, the only sound in the room being the steady drip of water.

To my utmost surprise, it was Haze who broke the silence with a quiet laugh. With his head still cradled in his hands, it almost looked like he was losing it. "I take it back," he said quietly, his voice muffled. "You're not insignificant."

Nothing could have prepared me to hear those words out of his mouth. It took me a solid five seconds to register that he had spoken them and sounded somewhat genuine doing so.

"Are you just saying that because I nearly blinded you, or do you actually mean it?" I asked slowly.

"Little bit of both, I suppose."

At least he was honest.

Before I knew it, I lowered myself onto the floor diagonally across from him, with my back against the bed. As if my stomach could feel the tension slowly leaving me, it growled loudly. I pulled my knees up against my chest in a futile attempt to stifle the sound.

"I guess I deserved that," Haze said after another moment of silence. "But, damn, did you really need to freeze and blind me?"

"Yes," I said curtly. Sensing this might be the only time he was forced to sit still and listen to me, I added, "What's your problem with me precisely?"