That was a stupid fucking reason, Theo thought with a frown; didn’t he know he already looked ridiculous like this, playing at being a ghost? Just drifting around town, coasting and freewheeling and diving without a snitch in sight (and without the wind able to ruffle his hair the way it should). And he was – too cheerful. Too glib. And all but impervious to him.
He had opened his mouth to say something like yes, you’re ridiculous; I don’t like this, in case you haven’t noticed; or just can you not – but Cash’s arm colliding with his leg cut him short. He had braced for a shock of ice as it passed through, not that: so he found himself stumbling a pace backwards, all too aware of the rush of blood through his body and a sudden rising warmth to his face.
“What did you do?” Theo said stiffly, because... had he really become so starved of touch in the past year that the slightest, most incidental brush of contact was enough to fire up his imagination like that? In answer, his face was still hot: all his annoyance had betrayed him by becoming breathless embarrassment. “You’re not – cold.”
He had opened his mouth to say something like yes, you’re ridiculous; I don’t like this, in case you haven’t noticed; or just can you not – but Cash’s arm colliding with his leg cut him short. He had braced for a shock of ice as it passed through, not that: so he found himself stumbling a pace backwards, all too aware of the rush of blood through his body and a sudden rising warmth to his face.
“What did you do?” Theo said stiffly, because... had he really become so starved of touch in the past year that the slightest, most incidental brush of contact was enough to fire up his imagination like that? In answer, his face was still hot: all his annoyance had betrayed him by becoming breathless embarrassment. “You’re not – cold.”
