"Eep."

"Um. I like you too."

Jeremy just kind of stares at him for several seconds.

"You should tell me about your life."

Jeremy is very hot and that several seconds of staring is definitely an experience that Lucien will never recover from.

"Oh uh, what do you want to know?"

"I don't know.  Where do you live, normally?  Did you grow up there?"

"I live in Jersey city normally - we moved there from New York when I was six."

"Do you like it there?"

"I guess? It's a much nicer place to walk around than the city. What about you?"

"I'm not really one for walks.  We've moved around a fair bit, but pretty much always in towns of this size.  Except Atlanta, for six weeks, and then my parents found out they couldn't handle cities."

"How long have you been here?"

"Since the summer before my junior year.  How are your parents; do you like them?"

"Uh, yeah. My parents are great."

"Nice."

He doesn't comment on his own.

Lucien noticed - this means he should ask, right?

"What about yours?" 

"Oh no.  They're... I'm glad they're not in town while you are."

"Ah."

"It's, it's a complicated situation.  I—feel really bad.  About some of the ways I've acted to them.  And my dad is fine.  On his own.  These days.  But—it's good.  That they aren't around right now."

Lucien is rather confused but unsure how to say anything about this confusion.

"They know in principle, but.  I'm not sure how they'd react to me actually having a guy around.  Like this."

"Oh huh. Are they really religious?"

"They used to be.  ...I don't want to bum out the conversation—more than this—do you wanna tell me about the ways in which yours are great?"

"Oh uh."

It takes Lucien a moment to switch mental tracks.

"My dad is an economics professor and he introduced me to Kite's Attending when I was 7 as a bedtime story. My mom pretends to have never read it and to only quote it on accident."



[Editor's note: Kite's Attending is the series of which Banners and Watermarks is the second book.]

"That's—really cute."

"My parents are great."

"Uh, sorry I don't mean to brag just um."

"No, no!  I mean, I'm the one who asked.  It's, nice?  To hear about parents who are nice?  I'm not jealous or anything."