Radek held his breath as he traced the knuckle with just the tip of his finger. “Understood. What else… Oh. I can hear the foxes. They don’t speak in full sentences, but I understand. Can you speak to wolves?”
Yev smirked and bumped his forehead against Radek’s. It only then occurred to him Father and Mother shared that same gesture all the time, and he looked away, clearing his throat. “On a very basic level, we can understand one another. Wolves always respect a were-brother and will always answer his call for help.”
Radek lowered his head and squeezed Yev’s hand more firmly. “I didn’t answer their call. The foxes. I just fled and hid in your house, prancing around and eating egg yolks while they were being slaughtered. The little one in there,” he pointed down the corridor, “he was suffering all this time. I should have done something sooner.”
Yev’s face fell as Radek’s sadness somehow wound itself into his heart, like a copper wire that snaked its way into his flesh and jolted him with echoes of Radek’s grief. He rubbed the boy’s back, trying to ease the knots of tension as thoroughly as possible. “You couldn’t have helped him. You need to deal with your own problem before you can solve someone else’s. At least you started the process now. Doesn’t that count for something?”
Comforting another man felt so very new. In his world, a man licked their wounds on their own, yet Radek wasn’t rejecting his help or the soothing touch. Just like Ember had climbed into his lap, seeking protection, Radek only leaned closer against him.
“Why is doing the right thing so hard?” he whispered, and raised his arm to his face as if to push away his hair, but then huffed in frustration and rested the stump on his thigh again.
“I hear doing the right thing is often quite hard,” Yev said, pushing the red locks out of Radek’s face.
“Would have been much easier if everyone was decent. What if I’m wrong though? I don’t know what I’m doing. I’ve never actually run the company.”
“People have different ideas of what the right thing is. But you’re smarter than you think. I’m sure you can do it.”
Radek looked up, his eyes like pools of gold with a translucent glaze of tears. “What do I know? I’m just a fox.” He was trying to joke, but his smile remained shaky. Radek had a fighter’s spirit, and was ready to take on tough challenges, even if he didn’t stand a chance against the weakest of werewolves.
Electricity sparked in the air, humming in Yev’s ears as he stared into the golden wells Radek had for eyes, ready to take a plunge, but the moment doors opened somewhere in the background, he pulled away. Just in time, because Karolina entered the waiting room the moment he unwound his hand from Radek’s.
“Thank you for waiting so long,” she said, exhaling.
Yev rose, stuffing his hands down his pockets as she approached. “S-so, how is he?”
She bit her lip, and her shoulders slumped as she met his gaze. “He’s in very bad shape. The tail might be salvaged but that eye? That’s a tough one. Same thing as last time, Yev, a decision needs to be made, because the poor guy needs extensive treatment and we don’t even know if he’ll pull through. Do you want to—?”
Radek shot up to his feet. “I’ll pay for whatever’s needed.”
“We’ll take him in,” Yev said, and Karolina stalled.
“Oh, you have a roommate now, Yev?”
Shit. Fuck. No one knew Radek had moved in with him. How the hell had it come out of his mouth in the first place?
“Ah… temporarily.”
She laughed and gave Radek’s stump a meaningful glance. “Like the fox. How’s the other guy doing? You found him a new home yet, fox daddy?”
Was she… flirting with him? Yev had never been good at telling those things with women.
“He’s staying,” Radek said.
“Oh, he’s great. Half-dog, half-cat, right?” Yev said, rubbing his hands together. “Shall we wait?”
Karolina shook her head. “We want to run some tests, clean him up, and see if we can save his eye. You might as well come back tomorrow. Does he have a name yet?”
“Coal,” Radek said, and it took all of Yev’s willpower not to pet his head.
They dealt with all the formalities, but the atmosphere changed, and when they finally reached the car, Yev didn’t know how to react to Radek’s silence. The little detour into McDonalds’ Drive Thru didn’t improve the mood one bit, and once they were done with the burgers, fries, apple pies, and ice cream, they left the parking lot in uncomfortable silence.
“You not cold, Ember—Radek?” Yev asked, noticing how unusually pale the boy’s skin was.
Radek shrugged, but his shoulders remained slouched.
Yev bit his lip. He’d never been good at reading emotions that didn’t make a person’s scent stronger. Fear, aggression—that he could recognize—but Radek’s behavior was spiking his sense of unease. “Your coat should be behind your seat,” he tried on the way through the outskirts of the town.