Jade War

Anden watched Cory standing shirtless in front of the mirror, shaving. He was humming a song, something Anden didn’t know. It was a Seventhday morning in the dead of winter and there was not yet even a hint of morning light outside the windows of Anden’s apartment, but Cory had to take the early bus back to campus because he had study hall that evening. He was in his second year of law school now, and busier than ever. Sometimes he would come back to Port Massy for family events but not have time to see Anden at all, so at other times, he would come into town unannounced for a day or two just so they could spend time together. “Don’t come to the bus station to meet me,” Cory had instructed him over the phone. “My parents don’t know I’m coming and it’s going to be a world of trouble to explain it if someone sees us. I’ll take a cab to your place.”

Anden would clear his schedule; they would have sex, watch television, talk, have sex again. When they wanted to go out to restaurants, the movie theater, or the arcade, they took the subway out of Southtrap to other parts of the city—Lochwood, Quince, Athwart—where they weren’t likely to run into anyone they knew. At first, Cory visited every month, but over time the intervals stretched to six weeks, then eight. Watching Cory now, it occurred to Anden that they had not discussed when he would next visit; neither of them had brought it up.

“Who else are you sleeping with?” Anden asked.

Cory looked at him in surprise, comically frozen with shaving cream on one half of his face. “Where did that come from?” he asked, hurt and indignant. “No one else. Not seriously.”

“What does seriously mean? Is this serious? What we have going on?” Anden had never pegged himself as the possessive type and was surprised to hear himself speaking so fiercely.

Cory finished shaving, wiped his face off with a towel, and came back to Anden’s bed. He sprawled on the bedspread. The trio of jade studs around his navel stood out against his pale skin. “Look, law school is really stressful because we’re working all the time, so when we do let loose, there are some wild parties. I’ve been drunk—everyone’s been drunk—at a few of them, and ended up making out with a few people. And there was a one-night stand, only one, last semester, that was really stupid in hindsight. But that’s it, I promise. I’m not seeing anyone else.”

At Anden’s silence, Cory reached out and tapped him on the chin, giving him an entreating look. “I’m with you, crumb. You’re more real. I mean, you’re younger than me, but there’s something about you that makes you seem older. You take life more seriously. Me”—he shrugged—“I try to take things one step at a time, you know? To live for today. I don’t know for certain what I want to do after law school, but I’m keeping an open mind about it.” He leaned over and kissed Anden on his bare shoulder. “Right now, we’ve got a good thing, don’t we?”

“Cory,” Anden said. He was hesitant to begin the conversation but vexed by the fact that they had never even broached the subject. “Would you ever… want to live in Kekon? If I get the chance to move back to Janloon, I’d want to know if that was… something you’d consider.”

Cory propped himself up on his elbows and looked at Anden intently, eyebrows raised. “Is this hypothetical or is it actually going to happen? Has your family asked you to go back?”

“It’s hypothetical,” Anden mumbled. “I just thought we should talk about it.”

“Well, hypothetically…” Cory rolled onto his back and crossed his hands behind his head, gazing up at Anden’s ceiling. “Yeah sure, I wouldn’t mind spending some time overseas. Seeing where my parents are from, getting in touch with my ancestral roots, that sort of thing. I’ve never lived in another country. It could be a toppers life experience.” His eyes danced with optimism at the idea. “Of course, it would depend on timing and circumstances, but anything’s possible, crumb.”

“What would your parents think?”