Page 24 of The Sixth Spring

“You have helped,” Itori said, nodding down at his leg. “My leg would not have healed this far without your help.”

“It was just some scraps of fabric,” Will said. He’d done barely anything.

Itori tilted his head. “No, the exchange. You gave to me your health.”

What?

“The bite?” He asked.

“No. The bite was for language,” Itori said. “The exchange before that was for energy.”

The exchange before…?

Oh.

Oh.

“The–the–what we did last time?” Will’s face was getting hot despite the cool night. He saw flashes of it behind his eyes. Felt the phantom heat of Itori in his hand.

He’d spent all day pretending it was some fucked-up fantasy he’d made up. But it had been real.

“Yes.” Itori looked at him steadily. He seemed unbothered.

Will took a breath, forced a swallow, and tried to be normal. “H-how did that help your leg?”

Itori stared at him. “You gave me energy.”

Will didn’t understand.

“You do not have exchange? Not by fluid or by intent?” Itori asked.

Will licked his dry lips. “I don’t think so. Not–not like what I think you’re saying. What we did wouldn’t have healed me.”

“Then how do you heal?” He asked.

Will shrugged. “Time. You have to wait for your body to heal. I mean, there’s medicine we can take, but it’s mostly just time.”

“That is strange,” Itori said. Will thought the same of him. He’d been healed by… what they’d done together? “You are saying your giving did not drain your energy? Your gift did not cost you?”

Technically Will had been exhausted when he’d gotten home, but Will didn’t think that was what Itori was referring to.

“No.”

Itori’s gaze dropped to his own leg. A finger traced the scabbing thoughtfully. “That is strange. The exchange is how we trust. It can be an offering or a way to share burden. We share energy, health, memory, pain. We can give and we can take, to make balance. To help.”

Will tried to wrap his mind around that.

Itori was staring at him intently. “You can give, and not empty? You gave me so much energy last time. I thought…” he trailed off, as though he was just as confused as Will.

“Human’s don’t have that,” Will said. “What we did last time, I didn’t lose anything, I don’t think?”

“Really?” Itori said with clear interest. He leaned toward Will. “Would you give again?”

The sudden closeness made Will freeze.

“Machines collapsed the vein, I am stuck here,” Itori said. “I am not strong enough to leave the water, but if I could heal, obtain more energy, I could. Go north. Find an untorn place to retether myself. I would not die.”

“Energy would help you leave?” Will asked, making sure he was understanding it correctly.