Chapter 655: Commentary

Grey’s knees hit the dirt almost immediately after Sabrina’s shin connected, both hands dropping between his legs while a strangled sound escaped his throat. Whatever dignity he had managed to maintain through Gods, monsters, and repeated death disappeared completely as he folded forward, which apparently gave James and Duke exactly the opening they needed.

"And Grey Temolt goes down in the first round!" James called from beside the tractor, cupping one hand around his mouth like he had a microphone. "A devastating opening strike from Sabrina. Duke, absolutely no respect shown for the returning hometown favorite."

"I don’t know what he expected, James," Duke replied with all the seriousness of a professional analyst. "Calling her princess was really a bold move. Using the same pet name on two different girls? King Kong truly does not have shit on him."

"Judging by his current position, it doesn’t seem like that strategy worked out."

Grey lifted his head enough to glare at them, but another pulse of pain rolled through his stomach and forced him back down. "I didn’t—"

"Interesting defense from Grey there," James continued. "He’s disputing the play call instead of addressing the larger issue, which is that his testicles may currently be somewhere in his kidneys."

Duke nodded solemnly. "Rookie mistake."

"Fuck both of you."

Sabrina had been standing over him with her jaw clenched, looking as though she still had several months of anger left to unload, but whatever she had planned vanished when Grey’s voice reached her properly. Her face crumpled, she dropped onto her knees beside him, then threw both arms around his shoulders hard enough that Grey groaned for an entirely different reason.

"You fucking asshole," Sabrina choked out, burying her face against him while tears immediately soaked through the shoulder of his shirt. "You absolute fucking asshole."

Grey awkwardly lifted one arm around her, still keeping the other between his legs. "Happy to see you too."

"And now the momentum completely shifts," James announced. "Sabrina transitions from attempted murder directly into the emotional ground game."

"Extremely versatile competitor," Duke agreed. "Grey’s in trouble here, James, I don’t know if he can survive the hug after sustaining that kind of damage downstairs."

Benn remained beside the tractor and simply smiled, the old man’s eyes glassier than he probably wanted anyone to notice. Lilac stood beside him with something unreadable flickering through her gaze as she watched Sabrina clinging to Grey, but whatever it was disappeared a moment later and turned into a genuine smile.

"Hey!" a voice yelled from near the hay. "Don’t forget about me, I’m fucking injured over here!"

James and Duke finally stopped their commentary long enough to look toward the young man Grey had dumped beside the fence. They started forward to help Grey first, only for Sabrina to lift her head and send them a glare sharp enough that both immediately changed direction without a word.

"Good call," James muttered.

"Survival instincts," Duke agreed.

Sabrina wiped at her face, then slid one of Grey’s arms over her shoulders and helped him back to his feet while the boys went to collect the other injured idiot. The young man immediately complained when James hooked an arm under him and Duke took the other side.

"I’ve had a lifetime of gay interactions today."

James looked offended. "Speak for yourself."

Duke nodded. "Don’t drag us into whatever journey of self-discovery you’ve been on."

"Fuck all of you."

...

By the time everyone made it inside, Grey had discovered that getting kicked in the balls was far worse than he remembered imagining it would be.

He had taken blades through organs, gotten limbs broken, been burned, crushed, and killed in enough different ways that he had stopped keeping track, but somehow Sabrina’s shin had managed to create a deep nauseating ache that refused to go away. Grey sat leaned back on the couch with his legs spread carefully apart while Sabrina stood beside him, pressing a cold towel against his forehead as though that was somehow supposed to help what she had actually injured.

"You know the towel isn’t really addressing the problem," Grey muttered.

"I’m not icing your balls."

"Then what kind of friend are you?"

Sabrina looked like she wanted to hit him again, but the guilt in her expression stopped her before the thought could go anywhere. Half of her clearly still believed Grey deserved the kick after everything she’d watched him do on television, while the other half was becoming increasingly worried by how poorly he seemed to be recovering from it.

Grey was starting to wonder the same thing.

The pain should have faded by now, at least with the body he’d gotten used to having, but there was something strangely wrong with the way it lingered. His Neural Frame still existed, he could feel that much, yet every signal moving through it seemed sluggish and delayed, almost as though the systems responsible for reinforcing his body were trying to respond through several feet of mud.

"Is he gonna be okay?" Lilac finally asked from the other side of the room.

Sabrina froze.

Grey saw the blood drain from her face before she looked down at him again, and suddenly the guilt won by a landslide. The Grey she’d been watching on television had survived things no human should have been able to survive, so from her perspective, kicking him between the legs probably shouldn’t have been any more dangerous than punching Superman in the chest.

She had also seen Grey come back from bloody cage matches years ago, matches he had absolutely been too young to participate in, and even then he hadn’t looked half as miserable as he did now.

"What did I do?" Sabrina whispered.

Grey barely had time to open his mouth before she started crying again and wrapped herself around him, this time carefully enough that she didn’t crush anything else. He sighed and rested a hand against her back.

"I’m fine, idiot. Something’s just wrong with my—"

Red light swept through the windows.

Everyone in the room went still as another beam passed across the walls, then another followed from the opposite direction. The low mechanical hum outside multiplied until it sounded like several patrol units were circling the farmhouse at once.

A booming artificial voice rolled across the property.

"GREY TEMOLT, EXIT THE RESIDENCE IMMEDIATELY."

Another voice joined it from farther back, then a third.

"COMPLIANCE WILL ENSURE THE SAFETY OF ALL OTHER OCCUPANTS."

Grey slowly looked toward the window.

"FAILURE TO COMPLY MAY RESULT IN FORCED ENTRY AND CASUALTIES."