💎A Collision of Fates💎 (Straight to Gay) (MxM) (18+)

87 - Breck and Nick (18+)

Nick was jealous of the water.

Water was simple. Water never had to make choices, it didn't have to think, it merely flowed where it was directed to, caressing the ever-present rocks that surrounded it. Water didn't have to consider anything. Water didn't feel. Water didn't care.

The twin waterfalls of Jkaal splashed into the swirling, roiling pool of dark, purple liquid below. Nick leaned over the edge of the rocky bridge, his mind lost in that frothing, bubbling mess.

This mission was not going as well as he had hoped it would, and that was probably an understatement.

Henrov hated him. This was his first excursion as an official defender. That journey to the coastal cave, the journey to save Adam's life, that had just been a father's duty. This was the mission that he needed to prove himself on. And, unfortunately, Henrov was the one leading this mission.

Fuck.

Nick had been so determined to impress him, or at least to stay on his good side. And he had been successful at neither.

But now, things had changed, hadn't they? His thoughts about Henrov were red-hot with hate. Nick was furious at the older defender. Whatever else that had happened, Henrov had been about to burn Breck, had been about to turn his elel abilities on a fellow defender. That was inexcusable. Henrov deserved to be fired from his position, he deserved to be jailed. What would Commander Unil say about their little spat in their room? Surely, he would take Breck's side. It didn't matter that Henrov was more senior, the guy had been about to attack a defender. In Nick's eyes, that was tantamount to treason.

The worst part, though, the excruciating part were the images that those thoughts shoved into his mind. The idea of Breck getting hurt, of Henrov burning him, made Nick want to storm down to wherever Henrov was and punch him in the face, and follow that up with a few hundred more. Breck was a thousand-times the defender that that old, sad man was. And Breck had put himself in that situation to protect Nick, he had stood between Henrov and Nick, a solid, impenetrable barrier.

Warmth bloomed in his stomach.

As Nick's eyes wandered over the water below, a pair of young men appeared at the corner of that frothy, swirling pond. They were walking down a series of hidden, narrow stairs that seemed to descend from the top of city to the water below. The steps were carved into the side of the rock. Smiling, the two of them reached a small, stone platform, and then they both jumped into the water. They swam together, circling each other, splashing each other, laughing.

God, he missed Sally.

"What's on your mind, Nick?"

Breck's voice brought him out of his contemplation. Nick shook his head, and leaned back from the railing. Breck was standing beside him, his back against the railing, looking up at the sky.

Night had fallen over The Spread. Above Jkaal, there was a small, oval gap in the canopy. The dark, night sky peeked through that space. The moon hung bright and blue in the sky, casting delicate rays down onto the City of Rushing Waters.

"Trying to process what happened." Nick sighed. "I am not in the mood to attend another brizzok tonight."

Nick seemed to be alone in that sentiment. The city was bustling. Groups of men, dressed in crallos, crossed over the bridge and into the palace, obviously going to the brizzok. The evening air was full of laughter and music.

Breck nodded. "I know what you mean."

"This mission... is not going as well as I had hoped."

A pause. Breck turned to face Nick, a serious look on his face. "What?"