Total pages in book: 42
Estimated words: 39596 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 198(@200wpm)___ 158(@250wpm)___ 132(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 39596 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 198(@200wpm)___ 158(@250wpm)___ 132(@300wpm)
Xavier was out of the office, so they put off taking in the notes for a couple of days. Since it was the weekend, Lonnie had cooked Callan a huge breakfast after they got back from the police station, then settled into his recliner with his laptop so he could grade. His students used software to upload their work, and he mostly downloaded the pages into Word so he could use track changes before re-uploading them. Occasionally, he printed out hard copies—it depended on his mood and how sick of his computer screen he got.
Before starting, he checked his favorite message board online to see if anyone had located the figurines he’d been trying to find. He had a message from one of the more vocal users, so he clicked that. It had a link to a rare Gasai Yuno one that he really wanted. Excitement and anticipation created a hot knot in his belly, but that quickly faded when he saw it had already been purchased. Disappointed, he thanked the message board user anyway.
Glancing at Callan, Lonnie bit back a smile. Lonnie had put on one of his recent favorite shows, Blue Eye Samurai. He’d watched it several times, so he’d mostly just look up from his work for his favorite scenes. Callan, however, was completely mesmerized. He was on the couch but leaning forward with his elbows resting on his knees. Lonnie had moved the coffee table out of his way. Callan’s dark eyes stayed glued to the show. Lonnie wondered if Callan identified a lot with the main character, who stood out in her world because of a physical difference. Callan’s size, even with the glamour, made him stand out, too.
Lonnie stayed quiet so Callan could better enjoy the show, though it was hard when he had questions piling up in his brain. Imagine living for four hundred years! It was so hard not to interrupt.
“Why do you wiggle your foot so much?” Callan suddenly asked.
Lonnie stopped waving his foot. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to distract you. If my feet weren’t propped up, I’d be bouncing one leg. It’s just something I do, but I’ll try to keep it still for you.”
“I didn’t say I minded. Was just curious.” Callan looked back at the television. “I like this show. I never thought to watch cartoons before.”
“I guess technically it is a cartoon, but there’s a difference. Not all cartoons are anime. And if you like this one, I have so many more to show you.”
Callan waved a hand around the room. “All these toys are from these shows?”
Lonnie nodded. “And video games. Some manga. I even have a few things from live action movies like the Alien franchise.” He pointed toward that shelf. “Have you ever watched Alien?”
Callan looked to where Lonnie had pointed, real curiosity smoothing out his features. “No, but I’d like to. I’m interested in what you are. There is something I can’t understand, though.” Callan paused as he turned back to Lonnie, head cocked to the side. “You have no thoughts.”
Confused, it was Lonnie’s turn to blink. “I have an overabundance of thoughts. My mind is like a carnival of hamster wheels, all spinning, all the time.”
Callan snorted. “Funny.”
“Many thoughts. Always spinning.” He wiggled his eyebrows.
Callan shifted to face him more, his rugged features bunched a little with confusion. “I mean, I don’t hear them.”
“Hear what?”
Callan rolled his eyes, which should have seemed rude, but the demon pulled it off so it came off different. Kind of affectionate, really. If rolled eyes could be affectionate. His writer brain started to argue the description, but Callan interrupted.
“I can’t hear your thoughts.”
Oh! Now this was interesting. Lonnie set his laptop on the table next to his chair and sat forward. “Is that your magic? Psionics?”
Again with the blinking, and fuck if it wasn’t cute. Seeing this big, normally grumpy-looking demon baffled gave Lonnie a pang in his chest. It was so…endearing.
“Si-what?” Callan asked.
“Psionics. Telepathy, telekinesis, empathy… The ability to read minds falls into that category.”
“Yes, I have that.”
So. Damn. Cute.
“Most people, their thoughts are confusing. It…irritates me. You’re nice and quiet.”
“Which makes no sense considering the party living in my head. Maybe there’s so much going on, it all sort of cancels itself out for you.”
Callan just blinked at him again.
Lonnie was coming to love that expression on the demon’s face. “There must be a reason you can’t hear me,” Lonnie mused. “I wonder what it is.”
Callan snorted again as he settled back against the couch. “You should be happy. Most people have thoughts better not shared.”
“Is it only humans you can hear, or do you hear them all?”
“Most everyone. It’s quiet at my work because Xavier uses magic to help those that hear too much. The ones with… What did you call it?”
“Psionics.”
“Yeah, that.”
Lonnie could imagine he heard some of the worst of what humans had to offer with that ability. In the short time Callan had been there, Lonnie had realized that the demon spoke very little, and he got the feeling he had trouble articulating. He wasn’t slow, but he did seem to think long before he spoke. Lonnie had had to work hard not to interrupt him—a habit he knew was wrong. But his mouth often jumped his brain. And his patience. He didn’t want Callan to feel like Lonnie didn’t accept him for how he was. He’d already learned the demon was pretty damn sweet-natured for being such a large, fierce looking preternatural. Lonnie bet most humans were scared of him. And that Callan was used to that and even took a bit of pride in it.