Page 47 of Brave Truth

Matty snorted at that. “Well, among them, clearly I would love to find time for you and me to talk about his habits. And which of them might not be serving as well as anyone might like? I’m clear that’s a discussion for you, in particular.” Orion chuckled, and Matty went on. “I don’t know as how I exactly have goals. My time in Germany was rough, in ways no one I know in Albion understands. Claudio’s come close, often enough, but he wasn’t actually there. At least he understands there are those places.”

“Oh, yes, he certainly does.” Orion laughed, the dry laugh of shared nightmares. “We all do. Tell us if we hit something on a rough spot so we can stop doing that.” Then he considered. “So you’re also figuring out what shape things are now for you.”

Matty hesitated, then nodded his agreement.

Orion tilted his head, as if considering a bohort play. “All right. Good strategy says that even if you prefer to keep things private, we should plan in case there’s gossip. Or reason for more than gossip. People will notice Claudio is spending time with you, if they haven’t already. And sometimes there’s a slip, no matter how careful people are. The way not to is not to see each other. Operational security, all that.”

Matty spoke carefully, looking down at his hands for a moment. “I don’t want things to be difficult for Claudio, in the sort of social circles I don’t understand. Yet. Not that way. I know them as people who buy materia, who have opinions about it, who dislike the paperwork or who hire someone competent to do it.” He looked up at Orion, and Claudio tugged slightly to encourage Matty to lean a hair more. “People could be difficult to me, but professionally ... probably not. There are people who’d back me up, so long as my professional conduct is suitable.”

“There is theoretically a point at which there is a potential conflict of interest with the meetings,” Claudio said. “But honestly, if I’m successful in August, that one will take care of itself, and we’re not in any direct reporting relationship to each other. Besides, there’s six other members of the committee to argue their own points. There are formal minutes. And I’m documenting both the requests and decisions within the Penelopes.”

Hypatia chuckled. “If you weren’t, we’d know someone was impersonating you. If you were most other people, I’d ask you about whether you lock up any confidential materials if Matty had access to your rooms. But well, assuming you’re not bringing him home at the moment. And also, I have been the recipient of four— no, five, you got going in bed one night, Orion, three months ago— monologues about the precise nature and layering of the warding on your study at home.”

“What got you onto that?” Claudio asked, amused. “Surely you’ve got better options for pillow talk?”

“You,” Orion said, gesturing with both hands rather energetically. “Had not mentioned until then that you’d actually worked out how to make Thanet’s Sixth Principle stick for longer than a fortnight. Or at least I assume you have.”

“Given that I’m not turning up exhausted that often,” Claudio agreed, adding to Matty, “As published, it requires a bit of work three hours before dawn. Which is not one of the times I’m reliably awake.” Then he shifted to grin at Orion, because honestly he’d been looking for a chance to lay this one out. “You’re going to shout when I tell you.”

“I’m going to shout if you don’t tell me.” Orion growled, utterly amiably. Matty shifted against Claudio’s side, but he didn’t seem particularly nervous. And it would be good for him to see how this sort of thing went.

“First, Ursula got a clean copy of it out of Helios Thanet. Turns out there are three different transcription errors compared to the published version. Two of which don’t really matter, but the third does. Second, it really does need fully potent vervain, or you’ve got to recalibrate the other parts. Mother gave me an idea on that, actually, she’s been doing a lot of work on effective potency one way or another.” Claudio was actually entirely smug about this. He’d earned it. Orion wrinkled his nose and acknowledged the point.

Claudio went on, enjoying himself. “And third and last, apparently all of us forgot that the reason it’s three hours before dawn was that Cassandra Thanet was an astronomer. And thus thought it an entirely reasonable hour to be up. Thesan helped me work through alternate timing, including how to extend it so it’s once a quarter.”

He added to Matty, “It has a layer of intention in it, which I like as a bit of security, above and beyond the more mechanical warding aspects. Wouldn’t do more than warn, say, a maid who’d just started and didn’t know, or someone trying to find me in an emergency.”

“That,” Orion said, now laughing, “Matty, that is why we’re not actually worried about what he’ll do in the actual Challenge. Well, I’m certainly not, and I believe we can all agree I have some basis to know. Does he do that to you when you talk about whatever you talk about?”

Matty twisted a little to give Claudio a rather impish look. “Depends on the topic, but yes. I have no complaints about his approach to problems, challenges, or new ideas. That was, in fact, why I rather desperately wanted to kiss him in the broom closet.” To Cammie, he added, “He had actually explained it in advance, but I was delighted to contribute to his education in the matter.”

She cackled and waved a hand, “Ignorance does not suit him, no.”

From there, the conversation got down to the more pragmatic parts. What the classes of people who might notice or object were, whose role it was to handle what. There was the question of what Matty wanted out of his Midsummer Faire, given that there would be invitations on offer in several directions.

Matty declared he wanted to watch the bohort, and listen to the people hawking goods, and maybe a concert or two if there was something intriguing. Everyone else tumbled over ideas to sweep him up, introduce him round, and make him visibly welcome at the Fairlight tent. With likely stops at the Veritas tent with the Edgartons, and probably two or three others that would take a word in the right ear.

As it came on for supper, Duncan appeared at the door of the terrace to remind them of the time. Cammie stood, shook herself into a furry form, and went charging off around the terrace in bounding loops to work out her tension. Orion coughed. “Word with you, Matty, if you don’t mind? Claudio, would you escort Hypatia in?”

That made Matty stiffen slightly, but Claudio murmured. “Don’t know what he wants. It’ll be fine.” Orion was relaxed, and he had that underlying purr of happiness that Claudio found absolutely reliable. He stood, finally reclaiming his arm, and rolling his shoulder against the stiffness, before offering his other to Hypatia. Cammie had shifted back and claimed her husband’s arm, and they strolled in, chatting.

As Orion and Matty followed— perhaps fifteen feet behind, lingering in the hall as the four of them went into the small dining room, Claudio considered. Orion said something that obviously surprised Matty. Not in a hurtful way, Claudio thought, but there was a visible shock there.

Before Claudio could make a conscious choice about it, he was sorting through the options. Matty wouldn’t know the Fox House bohort signals, but he’d played on the school team. He’d know those as well as Claudio did. He shaped the one that meant something along the lines of, ‘Are you all right? Need a hand?’. Matty took a second to respond, but what he signalled back was that he’d catch up later.

When the two of them came in, Matty was laughing. He slipped into the chair beside Claudio, as Orion sat at the head of the table and Hypatia at the foot. Once the food was served, it gave them a chance for a lovely wrangle about materia, the sort of wide-ranging conversation Claudio loved most. Cammie and Duncan had enough background to follow most of it. But it involved something Hypatia had been nudging about a particular class of replacement options in certain kinds of powders, as opposed to potions.

By the time Claudio and Matty headed out to the portal, Claudio had readily agreed to go round to Matty’s for a nightcap. They were going out to Schola tomorrow. Claudio needed to go home that evening sometime to sleep in his own bed. And gather up half a dozen things for Thesan and Isembard, including two books he wanted to return. He had to be out and about for luncheon with Minerva, since he wouldn’t be free for tea.

Chapter 32

That evening

As they’d come back through the portal, Claudio had asked for a couple of minutes to grab something from the Guard Hall he’d want tomorrow. Matty had, in fact, been a little nervous about the two of them walking back through the streets together and what gossip it might cause, specifically. So he’d said yes, obsessively tidied an already pristine flat, and waited.

Claudio turned up just about ten minutes after Matty got home, just as Matty was about to settle in and worry over how the evening had gone. He pushed the door closed. Claudio set down his bag with a slightly odd clunk— something metal, inside. Then Matty was unable to fuss because he was being soundly kissed up against the wall.

It was, to be fair, an excellent distraction. Claudio might still be learning a number of the variations on kissing, but he was the fastest learner Matty had ever had the pleasure of spending time with. He had a grand grasp on his own body and a precise attention to detail. Specifically, what Matty seemed to prefer.