He opened the bathroom door and instead of going toward the dining room, he made a right hand turn and wandered in the direction of the back of the house. A door sat open at the end of the hallway and he saw a small light on, beckoning him forward. He entered what looked like an office or something similar. A large L-shaped desk with a small TV on it faced the door. The walls were lined with shelves of books and there was a couch underneath a window with a couple of doors leading to the outside. A fireplace, currently unlit, had a pretty fluffy brown rug in front of it and Sean had the urge to go roll around on it to see if it were as soft as it seemed.
Something sent him to the desk though and Sean ran his fingers over the shining smooth surface, smiling at how cool it felt beneath his fingers. The room smelled strongly of Declan so he felt pretty certain the space belonged to Declan. He pushed a large leather chair away from the desk and sat down in it gingerly. The air squished out of it in a rush and Sean let out a small chuckle at how it almost engulfed his smaller form. He snuggled into it, closing his eyes and breathing in the scent of tiger shifter clinging to it. He curled his fingers over the armrests and used his feet to swing the chair back and forth. A happy giddiness swept through Sean. Being surrounded by Declan’s scent gave him a sense of safety he had never experienced in his entire life.
A creak alerted him to someone’s presence and Sean opened his eyes to see Declan standing in the doorway, full lips curved into a slight smile. “I wondered where you’d gotten to,” Declan murmured.
Guilt flashed through Sean and the peace he’d felt seconds ago vanished. He stood abruptly and stepped away from the chair. “I’m sorry. I-“
Declan moved further into the room. “It’s okay. Sit back down.”
Sean shook his head and inched his way around to the front of the desk, hands clasped behind his back. He looked everywhere but at Declan. “You must like to watch a lot of TV,” Sean mumbled.
“What?” Declan asked with a confused look.
He pointed at the monitor on Declan’s desk. Understanding and something else chased over Declan’s features. “You’ve never seen a computer before?” Declan asked.
Frowning, Sean tilted his head. The other children had mentioned things called computers and video games, but Sean hadn’t expected to ever have the chance to use one or see one so he’d never tried to learn too much about them. “No. What do they do?”
Declan motioned for Sean to return to the other side of the desk. “I’ll show you.”
Sean cautiously followed Declan, who insisted he sit back down in the chair. He tried to refuse, but Declan gave him a look which Sean couldn’t deny so he lowered himself into it, tensing when Declan came in close to hit a button on a strange object on top of the desk that had letters on plastic squares. “This is the keyboard, that’s the mouse which you use to navigate through the menus and windows, and the screen is your monitor.”
The “TV” lit up and a picture of Declan with Rose and Ronnie covered with other objects appeared. Sean stared in awe at the images. Declan placed his hand on a rounded plastic item he’d called the mouse and Sean saw a little arrow on the screen move when Declan moved the mouse. Sean couldn’t help the noise he let out. “What is it for?”
“What?”
“The computer. What is it for? Why do you have one?”
Declan crouched down beside Sean. “People use them for many purposes. Business, playing games, storing files. It all depends on what they need it for. I mostly use mine for streak business and communicating with others.”
“You can talk with other shifters through here?” Sean asked, peering at the monitor. “I don’t see a telephone.”
Declan chuckled and brought his free hand to rest on Sean’s knee. “There is a way to connect a microphone to the computer so you can verbally speak to someone through it if necessary, but you can also e-mail someone, which is an electronic letter of sorts. Maybe I can show you how to do that someday soon. Would you like to see one of the video games?”
Sean frowned. “I don’t think I’d be very good at it.”
“That’s okay. Everything takes time to learn.” Declan squeezed Sean’s knee lightly, sending a thrill through him. Sean watched as Declan clicked on several things and a window came up with rectangular objects he recognized as playing cards. Carl McNeely may not have done much, but he had been a gambler so Sean knew what cards were. “This game is called Solitaire. It’s a pretty easy game. You see those four blank squares there at the top?”
Nodding, Sean listened as Declan explained the rules and began shifting cards around on the screen using the mouse. His heart beat fast against his ribcage, his mouth dry as he breathed through parted lips. When Declan finished and won the game, bright colors exploded across the screen and Sean squeaked, his eyes widening further.
“Do you want to try?” Declan asked.
Biting down on his bottom lip, Sean hesitated. He didn’t want to look even more foolish in front of Declan. Declan took the decision out of his hands by carefully picking up Sean’s hand and placing it on the mouse. He guided Sean and the mouse on how to start a new game as well as through the first few simple moves. The weight of Declan’s hand on top of his caused electric tingles to race down Sean’s arm and into his chest, but it was the strange ache left behind when Declan removed his touch which confused Sean. He didn’t understand any of the emotions Declan triggered inside him and most of them he had never known and had no way of identifying what they meant.
“Sean?” Declan rumbled near his ear, disturbing him enough to recognize he’d been sitting there staring at the screen instead of trying to play.
Pushing aside everything else for now, Sean started clicking and dragging the cards on the screen, imitating what he’d seen Declan do, but when one just returned to its spot, he frowned. He tried again and it still wouldn’t stay.
“It’s because they aren’t alternating colors,” Declan explained. “See these here,” he pointed at the others, “they’re all red and then black and then red again. You can’t place two black cards on top of one another.”
Sean nibbled his bottom lip in concentration and even though it took several games he managed to win one. A huge smile broke over his face as the fireworks exploded on the screen. “I did it!”
Declan grinned at him. “You did. Well done, baby.”
“Why do you call me that?” Sean asked abruptly, wrinkling his nose. “I’m not a baby.”
Declan blinked in surprise at his question. “It’s an affectionate term. An endearment.”
“En-endearment?” Sean repeated hesitatingly. He’d never heard the word before.
“It’s a nickname someone gives to another person they care about. It isn’t because I see you as a child, Sean. Far from it,” Declan replied.
“Oh.”
Standing from the crouching position he’d been in for so long, Declan held out his hand to Sean. “Come on. I think it’s time for you to get back to bed. You’ve had quite a bit of excitement tonight and the doctor hasn’t given you the all clear to be walking around just yet.”
“I’m really all right,” Sean protested.