“That’s a hell of analogy.”
He shrugged. “It’s a hell of a feeling.”
I couldn’t help but smile. He grinned right back and I felt a rush down my spine, that butterfly feeling that I still got when he smiled at me. I couldn’t love this guy more.
Then his smile fell a bit and something dark came across his face. “Perry,” he said.
I stiffened, wondering what was next. “Yeah?”
“You know I didn’t keep all that Maximus stuff from you because I was ashamed or I didn’t want you to be in the loop. I always want you in the loop, kiddo. You are my loop.”
“I know, I get it.”
“It was more that I couldn’t think of the right time,” he continued. “And I couldn’t imagine it would ever be relevant. Sometimes…the heavier and more crazy the subject, the harder it is to bring up. You know how that is.”
I frowned at him. What was he getting out now? “I do…”
He swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down. “So, it’s not a matter of keeping stuff from you. It’s a matter of deciding how and when to talk about it. In this exact case, I just didn’t know when it would be a good time.”
“And I’m sure it didn’t help that it wasn’t your secret to tell,” I said, trying to alleviate some of the burden he suddenly seemed to bring on himself. “It didn’t really involve me. It was about you guys.”
“Yeah,” he said but his voice wavered. I stared at him for a moment, wondering what else was on his mind, until I noticed a trickle a blood coming out from his nose.
I jerked back. “Oh god, Dex, your nose.”
He sat up straighter and ran his fingers underneath his nose. He stared down at them, shiny and red with blood. “Huh,” he said, staring at it in awe. “That’s weird.”
I scrunched up my face. “Totally weird. You don’t normally get them, do you?”
He shook his head and the blood poured out harder, spraying onto the sheets. He let out a gruff cry and I shot out of bed, grabbing the nearest box of tissue paper and bringing it over to him.
I scrunched up a wad and shoved it under his nose. “Easy now,” he said, his voice nasally. “I’m all you for playing nurse and all, but you know you have to wear the uniform.”
“I’m naked, what more do you want?”
He grinned and I put my hand behind his head, holding him in place as I tried to stop the bleeding. He eyed me. “You know, if you had told me that Michael was an alien, this would make a lot more sense. Alien abduction victims are always complaining about nosebleeds and lost time.”
“Don’t you dare even mention aliens,” I warned him.
He smiled and I only pressed the tissue harder. “Aliens? You have a problem with them, Scully?”
“Yes, Fox Mulder,” I told him earnestly. “I do. They freak the hell out of me. I can’t even.”
“So all this time, you brush off ghosts and demons and sasquatch but it’s aliens that really get under your skin, huh?” When I didn’t say anything, he clicked his tongue. “Well, you learn something new every day.”
“And I’m learning that you have an awful lot of blood up your nose,” I told him, tossing the blood-soaked wad aside and applying fresh new ones. “Good thing you don’t seem to be squeamish, or I’d say when I get pregnant, you should definitely avoid the delivery room.”
The air around us seemed to still. Dex sucked in his breath through his teeth and his eyes immediately left mine, focusing on a bloody spot on the sheets. I immediately felt a bit stupid for mentioning the pregnancy thing. I wasn’t sure why. I mean, we were getting married. It was pretty much a given that at some point in our marriage, I would be pregnant, or would at least be trying to be. Maybe not in the immediate future – I was still young and my biological clock wasn’t really kicking me yet – but it wasn’t unreasonable to start planning on it.
“Sorry,” I said awkwardly. “Aliens and babies are touchy subjects for us. They even look the same.”
At that, there was a knock at our door. Normally I would have been annoyed considering I was naked and Dex’s blood was in my hands, but I was eager to leave that conversation behind.
“Just a minute,” I said loudly and placed Dex’s hand over the tissues, motioning for him to keep applying pressure. I quickly grabbed a cushy robe from the closet and wrapped it around me before answering the door.
Ada was standing on the other side. She looked a bit wary but the minute she saw my blood-stained hands, her eyes widened maniacally. “Oh my god,” she said. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, yeah,” I told her and looked over my shoulder to make sure Dex was decent before inviting her inside. He tugged the sheets higher over him and then gave Ada a wave. “He just has a nosebleed.”
“Ew,” she said, looking totally disgusted. “There was this kid in grade school who kept getting nosebleeds all the time. Aynsley I think her name was. Totally gross. They said she couldn’t keep her finger out of there.”
“I don’t think this has anything to do with Dex’s finger,” I told her.
“It’s true!” Dex shouted. “My finger prefers other holes.”
Now Ada really looked like she wanted to vomit. “Ugh, okay I’m going to go.”
I reached out and grabbed her arm before she could turn away. “Seriously, what’s up? How are you feeling? I know you must be all sorts of messed up because of the Veil.”
She stared down at her fingernails, seeming to examine them, something she tended to do when she was trying to appear blasé. “Yeah, I definitely don’t feel one hundred percent. I feel really spacey, like I’m drunk or high but it’s not as comforting.”
“It will pass,” I told her, though I honestly didn’t know if or when it would. I could only hope.
She cocked her head to the side. “Will it? Because it’s not just feeling like I’m walking on the frigging moon without moonboots.”
“What do you mean?”
She sighed and looked over my shoulder. “Should I come back at some other time? I don’t want to interrupt your bloodplay.”
“Ada,” I reproached her. “He has a bloody nose. And how do you know about bloodplay?”