A Scripta

Eule came down the hall to see Stefan and Grim sitting at the table in the Grotto. Grim turned in Eule's direction and squinted, then relaxed, looking at him. "Who's there?"

"Eule," he said, coming closer.

Grim began, "The owl is wary, the owl is wise.
He knows all the names of the stars in the skies.
He hoots and he toots and he lives by his wits,
but mostly he sits. . . and he sits. . . and he sits."

Eule said nothing, but smiled and blushed. Stefan smiled at Grim as well.

"So is that what you do? You watch?"

"I look in other people's minds. If their minds are weak enough, I can hurt them."

"Kind of like Jack?"

"MindStryker? I don't have telekinetic ability."

"Hm, yeah, I wasn't looking for that when I hired you, I just needed a telepath."

He nodded, then realized Grim couldn't see that. "Yes."

"Sorry about Raina last night," Grim said, and moved his hand slowly across the table. Stefan leaned over and pressed the can of Coke into Grim's hand. "Thanks, love."

"Anytime," Stefan said with a smile. Eule watched the two of them. They looked so in love with each other, he wondered whether anything like that could happen to him.

Eule said, "I...um, I might be joining you in the training class."

"Oh really? They didn't teach you close quarter combat in Hero Corps?"

"That's not what they're there for," Eule said, and took a seat at the table across from Stefan. "We're hired out as needed. They taught me basic stuff on how to control my powers, but I never got formal training like I might at say GIFT."

"Maybe you can talk to Jack."

He shrugged. "He already has a student." He looked around. "I really don't know what's going on around here, like who's paired with who and personal stuff like that. Timetripper doesn't put that kind of thing in her reports."

"What do you want to know?"

"Why does Raina hate Hero Corps so much? Why do you hate LeBeau? Where did Rusty go? How come I when I mistakenly touched Adam's mind I didn't get anything?"

"Whoa, whoa...too many questions. I'd be here all day."

"I could go into your mind and look." It was an automatic statement, and he expected the normal reaction between "No" and "Hell no."

Grim looked at him. "Yeah, you could." He nodded, and put the can of Coke down. "Go ahead."

Eule blinked. "Really?"

"Really." Grim smiled. "I trust you."

Stefan smiled also, and sat back in his chair, his wings spread out behind him.

"Okay." Eule concentrated, and gently slipped into Grim's mind. He sensed initial resistance that fell away, and all of Grim's knowledge of Havens and their relationships came to the fore. Clearest was his relationship with Stefan, full of love. Stefan, he noted with a shock, was a real angel and Grim's guardian.

He sensed Grim's hatred for LeBeau, even after LeBeau was kind and helpful to him. He noted Grim was hiding something. Eule didn't press it.

Grim's relationship with Kalius was also clear, tinged with caring, compassion, and worry. Kalius was a rough warrior, first existing on hope, now anger and fury fueling his existence. Grim had wanted to help Kalius with his anger by siphoning it off physically and enviornmentally, but Kalius was bottomless. Eule also got the explanation from Grim about how Kalius/Kevin existed, and what they had done over Christmas, how and why Grim had chosen Stefan over Kalius. Then he got the image of the two of them in bed together, and he backed off immediately.

"I get the hint," Eule said, and eased out of Grim's mind.

"You wanted to know," Grim said with a leer. He looked up. "Who's there?"

They all turned around to where Grim was looking, but saw no one there. Stefan said, "Adam."

Adam faded into sight. "You could see me?"

"No," Stefan said. "He could. We couldn't."

"Oh."

"Here for training?" Eule asked.

"Yeah," Adam said wearily. "He knows what he's doing, but he's tough."

"Got that right," Grim said.

"Who is?" Kalius came up the stairs and studied the group. Eule watched Kalius bristle at Stefan. Eule could have easily gone into his mind to try and ease it, now that he knew why Kal was furious at Stefan. Eule was slightly angry at Grim as well, for treating Kalius like he did. Kalius wanted a lover for his own, and Grim was too free-wheeling to do that. Kalius - Kevin - could settle down, why couldn't Grim?

Kalius meanwhile, regarded Grim. "You think being blind will get you out of training?"

"Kal, you're kidding, right?"

"I would have blindfolded you eventually," he said. "Consider this a warm-up." Kalius looked at Adam. "Meet you in the training room."

"Wait," said Eule. "I'm coming too."

Kalius assessed Eule. "You'd better not be wearing those jeans, they'll rip."

"Oh, right."

"I can give you a pair of shorts," Stefan said, getting up. "I'm not using them anymore anyway." He patted Grim's hand. "Be right back."

Kalius had his back turned to Stefan and didn't see the action. Eule did, and suddenly felt the pain that Kalius must have been feeling if he saw that. He watched Stefan walk away.

"Well, c'mon then," Kalius said, and picked up his gym bag to go to the training room.

Adam looked at Grim as he got up. "Need help?"

"Yeah, I think so."

Adam put his hand on Grim's shoulder and guided him toward the training room. Kalius put Grim directly in front of the punching bag and told him to hit it until he told him to stop. Meanwhile, he started showing Eule some basic moves while Adam did some stretching exercises. Stefan arrived with the shorts, and Eule ducked into the closet to change. Stefan left the room, probably not wanting to cause any trouble.

Kalius kept moving Grim around the punching bag, so he would come at it from different angles. Grim would miss the first few times, but eventually would connect once he was able to sense where it was. As Kalius trained the other two men in movements and avoidance, he would stop for a minute and move Grim or make the bag swing back and forth. Grim got knocked over once by the bag's swinging, and Kalius bent to help him up. Eule saw Kalius' compassion again, like he had seen with Raina, and his heart swelled.

Finally, after two hours of intense training, the three men were ready to collapse. Kalius hadn't even broken a sweat, even though he had been as intense as they were. That image of Grim and Kalius in bed together...he shoved it away. He really wished Grim hadn't shown him that.

"Hit the showers," Kalius said, turning to his gym bag. The men stumbled out, Grim holding onto Adam's shoulder as he guided him forward. Eule turned back to look at Kalius, who had turned his attention to the punching bag. He watched as he punched it hard a few times, then punched it once really hard, making a hole in it and pouring sand all over the floor. Kalius glared at the sand. Eule looked at him sadly, then walked away to the showers.