Page 39 of Carver
Carver hadn’t said anything to him. He’d moved to the edge of the bed and sat on the floor with his back against the side. They sat in silence for several minutes as Carver tried to think of what to say next.
In the end, it didn’t matter. The boy never responded to any questions, nor did he seem all that interested in conversation as a whole.
Rather than pushing him past his comfort levels, Carver chose to embrace the silence between them anytime they were alone. He could feel the bond between them building in a wayhe couldn’t explain. Every moment of them merely existing together created another layer of trust.
Days turned into weeks before Carver knew it. The pair developed a daily routine. It involved baths, proper teeth brushing, and lessons in grooming. Visits to the doctor told him Gideon’s eyes and ears were fine. His throat and vocal cords were too. The doctor called it selective mutism. Carver looked it up later and took note of how people learned to communicate without their words.
Simple gestures became the means after several attempts with other notions. Gideon only stared at him when it came to ASL and writing. Even texting seemed to bore him.
But hand gestures were fine. Carver could mime eating and get a nod. He could move as if scrubbing his body for a bath and Gideon would make his way to the tub. The simple process became highly effective.
More than that, it invigorated Carver. The first time Gideon nodded his way, he nearly shouted his victory. He wanted to run through the building telling everyone what he’d accomplished. What his sweet boy had accomplished.
Despite knowing more about Gideon, Carver couldn’t help but think of him as his sweet boy still. The notion wouldn’t leave his mind despite his better judgement.
It worked in his favor too since Fury had mentioned not saying his real name yet. “We don’t know if it’s a trigger for him. I’d rather see him continue to progress with what is comfortable rather than push for too much too soon.”
Having taken those words to heart, Carver avoided anything about the boy’s past. In fact, he made it his mission to only be in the present. He didn’t even bring up future things for fear of it disturbing anything.
This plan worked for a while. Gideon seemed content. He spent more time outside of his cage, though he still slept inside itevery night. And he never ventured outside of Carver’s bedroom. While he didn’t mind Doc, Fury, and Hex, there was some hesitation with Slash and Slayer. Trix’s arrival was met with a mix of emotions. Sometimes it was fine and other times, it seemed to bother him.
Carver started to observe what the differences were. After a few instances, he noted the way Trix styled his hair was the trigger. He spoke to the other man about it and from then on, Gideon was ok with his visits.
Other small details also became clear the more the boy opened up. His favorite foods were Italian. Spaghetti, pizza, and anything with loads of garlic. He wouldn’t necessarily smile, but he would eat far more of it than he did anything else.
Doc gave the approval for the I.V. vitamins to come out about a month into the process. Gideon sighed with relief once the needles were gone. He was given a bandage to cover the spot, and Carver recalled a time when he was covered in the same kind of material.
They’d already come such a long way in a short span. At night, when he couldn’t sleep and would sometimes watch the boy in his cage, he would contemplate what came next. How much time did the boy need before he felt safe enough to speak? Would he ever, really?
And what about relationships? Would Gideon want to leave the Angels once he was well enough to? Did the future he pictured include Carver or was it away from anything and everything that could remind him of his past?
The thoughts plagued Carver during the night.
When morning came, he’d always put on a calm, friendly face for Gideon. He never wanted the boy to worry over his troubles. Even when club business happened and it was obvious he was struggling, Carver never let Gideon know. At least, he did his best not to.
Everything was going well until Carver got a call while he and Gideon were eating dinner. He looked down to see Orion’s number. He was one of Tank’s guys over at NightShade Security. It was rare for them to call, yet they’d done so twice now. He had all their numbers saved in case he couldn’t reach the big man. It was only luck his curiosity made him answer.
Annoyed at the interruption, he gave a gruff, “What do you want?”
It was then he heard two other voices on the line. The first said, “To what do we owe the pleasure of this call?”
The second immediately grunted and said, “Yeah, what do you want, Orion?"
“Well, gentlemen, I have a little problem. I was going to see if either of you would be able to help me. There’s this guy here who stole my boyfriend's son to turn him into his own personal sex slave. We already got the boy, no worries. But he bought another one already. We returned him to his family earlier this week. Oh, and our little problem is also connected to those really bad guys we've been hunting down. So I need him dead. While I could get messy, I thought maybe one of you would like to have fun with him first.”
Carver chuckled darkly. “I would have a good time with that one. I call dibs.”
The other pair let out noises of their own, as if to protest Carver’s claim. “You can't call dibs. I want in on this. It's been too long since I've shed some asshole’s blood,” said one.
His partner interrupted to say, “You get two for one if you pick us. We can be there sooner than this other guy as well. Whoever he is.”
“Name’s Carver. I bet you can figure out how I got it.”
“Yeah, and I'm Preacher because people pray to me right before they die. Big whoop about your fucking name dude. How close are you? If you beat us, then you can have dibs I guess.”
The sound of keys jingling echoed over the line. Carver clenched his jaw at the thought of missing out on this. Quickly he told them, “Don't worry about how long it'll take me to get there. By the time you show up, I'll already be having my fun.”
Whoever the Preacher guy and his partner were, Carver would show them how to properly torture someone who was as fucked as Orion said. Remembering who he was with, Carver looked over to Gideon. The boy watched him with a curious glint in his eye.