-1His fingers dug into the deep-seated chair as he tried to breathe normally. DG was pacing somewhere behind him, which didn't help. And whatever Raw was doing to calm himself wasn't helping either, because it was kind of noisy and - wait, what was he doing in this chair?
He glanced at Cain. Only the tin man seemed truly at ease in the room. Like he belonged there; like he knew what he was doing. Hah. Maybe if Cain was in this chair about to have his thoughts displayed -
Right. So that's what he was doing.
"Are you ready?" Raw asked him. Glitch's fingernails became slightly embedded in the chair arms. It was very nice material. He was not ready. He glanced at Cain again, then away.
He answered Raw, but he wasn't sure what he said, but it must have been affirmative because then there was a hand on the back of his neck. For a long panicked moment, Glitch forgot what it was Raw wanted to See. His half-mind snapped to about what he didn't want anyone to See, and then valiantly tried not to think about those things, which of course meant that he did. His thoughts tumbled toward ice-grey eyes and shied away hurriedly, only to collide with the feel of Cain's frozen skin warming under his hands, the lazy smirk tossed his way when Cain's fedora hid his eyes and he thought Glitch wasn't looking.
And then by some miracle, Raw seemed to find what he was Looking for. Glitch heard a young man's voice, a proud woman gently admonishing someone, the sound of militia footsteps and harsh orders. A lean hungry voice counting, smiling. His own pleading, strained and made too quiet by terror.
Ninety-nine, ninety-eight, ninety-
Raw let go. Everyone was looking at him. Glitch opened his eyes, glanced at the mirror on the mantle, stared back. His gut twisted. What had they seen?
"What?" he voiced aloud, and his eyes met Cain's. They were still ice-grey, but warm. They were warm, and they were beautiful, and yes, that look was really for him.
So, he hadn't embarrassed himself or Cain. Well, that was good. Nobody liked too much information.
Who were these people again?
Glitch blinked, unnerved. "Hi. I'm Glitch. How are you?"
Cain smiled at him and DG leaned over and embraced him. Bewildered, Glitch returned it and he remembered where he was, why he was sitting in the chair, and why Cain was looking at him like that.
Glitch glanced at the mirror. It was blank, reflecting only what was in front of it. Not anything it shouldn't be. Had it ever? Worried and relieved, Glitch snapped his eyes away, still holding DG's arm and reveling in Cain's quieter attention.
He couldn't breathe easily until they'd left the house - and the mirror - behind.