Chapter 10: Matchmaking
"You know, if you spend much more time down here you're gonna start making Teri jealous," Valentine said.
Harris doubted that. The last time he had seen Teresse she had been in the tailor's shop proper rather than the Archive. Harris had been there with Joshua, picking up the suit that Joshua had agreed to be fitted for, and Teresse certainly hadn't looked jealous. She had looked like she always did, lately- as though she was laughing at some kind of private joke. Instead of bringing that up, Harris said, "She should be. My constant presence will wear you down."
Valentine snorted. "Like you're my type."
Harris pulled his sad puppy face, which Harris was the first to admit wasn't very convincing even if it seemed to work on Joshua like a charm. Lately, one such look was all it took to persuade Joshua to let Harris take him to the kind of restaurant that Joshua was sure they wouldn't let him or his trainers into- though Joshua always insisted on balancing the scales by dragging Harris in turn to the greasiest, cheapest, most out of the way places he could find.
It made Valentine laugh, at least. "Like I'm your type," he added, which was a bit odder. Unlike Valentine and Teresse or any of the other couples in their ranks, Harris had never been interested in starting a relationship with one of his colleagues. It had never seemed quite right to him, and he hadn't felt especially isolated until Joshua came into his life.
Things had changed between them after Harris asked Joshua to the wedding, in ways that Harris couldn't quite define. "Cultural experiences", as Harris might have dubbed them, had given way to quiet dinners, and trips to the theatre had become movie nights on the couch. Joshua had grown less shy of asking Harris over when he was watching Eliza for the night, and he had in turn spent the evening in Harris's home many times. Thanks to him, Harris had been there more often in the last few weeks than he had in the previous few decades. In that time, he had discovered that Joshua cried during Disney movies and that his own eyes didn't always stay perfectly dry either. He had learned that no matter how much Joshua tried to eat healthy and be a good example for his sister he still couldn't stomach Brussels sprouts. And he had always known that Joshua would do anything for his family, but he had been amazed- and flattered- by how easily Joshua had brought him into it. Harris had still managed to avoid spending much time with Joshua's mother, but he had heard enough affectionate stories from Joshua to feel as though he knew her- and he certainly felt like a part of Eliza's life. He had seen her laughing in the park and crying over a skinned knee. He had seen her sick with a fever and proudly showing off the stories she had concocted about her stuffed animals. Harris wondered, sometimes, how he lived without these things- large and small- before.
Valentine gave Harris a long look and then shook his head, lips twitching like he was in on the same joke as Teresse. "Logging 'no progress' again, are we Cionus?" he asked.
Harris nodded absently, still lost in thought. When he was around Joshua, it was entirely too easy to forget everything else- it was when he made his regular pilgrimage to the Archive to report that there had been no further changes that it truly occurred to him how badly things were going.
He spent as much time as ever listening carefully to the stories Joshua told, searching for some sign of interest in anyone he talked about, and he still had yet to find one. The purple flush in Joshua's aura deepened every day- but strangely enough he never seemed sorrowful, never seemed like he was waiting for someone to finally recognize his interest for what it was. To Harris's eye, Joshua seemed happy, comfortable, secure- all the things Harris had come into this knowing Joshua would need before he could fall in love with anyone.
The more Harris came to know Joshua, the more it confused him that men and women alike weren't tripping over each other to be with him.
"And will that be all?" Valentine asked.
"Yes," Harris replied. Valentine waved to whoever was next on his roster and Harris turned away, almost colliding with them.
It was Merlin, and he stopped Harris, catching him by the sleeve. "I heard you were intending to take that boy with you to Cytherea and Mary's wedding."
"Yes," Harris said slowly. He didn't ask how the hell Merlin knew.
Merlin's eyes glinted. "I got him on the guest list."
Harris knew it was best not to ask how Merlin had achieved that either. "Thank you," he said instead. Getting into weddings was always easy for Harris, but it would have been less so for Joshua even if he looked the part.
"You're welcome," Merlin replied. "How's it coming with him, anyway?"
"Just fine." Harris may have sounded a little defensive.
Merlin put up his hands. "All right, all right, off with you, then."
Harris made his way out the door, but before he left the Archive he heard Valentine ask what he could do for Merlin, and heard Merlin growl, "You know exactly what I'm filing," at him.
That struck Harris as odd, because as far as he knew Merlin didn't actively match people- he was more management- but he quickly forgot all about it.
~oOo~
Mary and Cytherea's wedding was simply lovely, though not quite as lovely as Joshua looked in the suit the Agapian tailors had made for him. At the reception as many as five young people made it clear that they shared this opinion- asking Joshua to dance and drawing him into conversation. But Joshua stayed stubbornly at Harris's side, suggesting to him once again that he had no real interest in meeting someone.
Tresnal was there, of course. He was in a relationship with another cupid, Amourt, who was there with him. Harris had always found Amourt a little abrasive, but- given what he was- Harris felt obligated to be warmed by how besotted by Tresnal he had always been, so Amourt had that in his favor.
Harris had introduced them to Joshua before the ceremony, and, when they went their separate ways, Joshua- a gleam of anxiety in his eye and an expression of exaggerated casualness on his face- had leaned close to Harris and said, "Dull as fuck, those two, eh?"
"Yes," Harris said, trying to breathe evenly. "Yes, I suppose they are." It was mildly terrifying, knowing for sure that he was the only one Joshua noticed but still having no idea why. What was more, it proved to him that Tresnal was right- Harris could easily pass Joshua off to another cupid who would have a much simpler time of it- and probably get Joshua the love he deserved.
Joshua took Harris's hand. "You all right?"
"Of course," Harris said quickly. "Just- uh- weddings. That's all."
"Yeah," Joshua replied. He had held Harris's hand tightly through the whole ceremony.
By the reception, Harris was still distracted by the truth that not only could he give Joshua up, it would be the best thing for him. Joshua's arm was warm and perfect against his shoulder, his smile as he made observations about their fellow guests was a gift, and Harris was very much afraid that Joshua wasn't dancing, wasn't mingling, because he was worried about Harris and didn't want to leave him alone in this state. Harris was facing the very real possibility that he was holding Joshua back, that he had been all this time.
Joshua touched Harris's face. "Hey, now," he said, those lovely sea-colored eyes glowing with concern and affection. "Talk to me."
"What about?" Harris managed.
"I dunno. How about you tell me how you know the brides?"
"I hardly know them at all. The fact is, I've walked past Mary's flat most days for years. We saw each other now and then but it wasn't exactly a relationship. I happened to run into Cytherea passing by there one day, spilled coffee on her shirt, and Mary happened to see it and loan her a change of clothes."
"You're the reason they got together?" Joshua sounded amused, and when Harris looked at his face the wideness of his smile was breathtaking.
"More or less."
"Wow. Hell of a twist of fate, yeah? And they fell in love?"
"Maybe that's how I planned it," Harris said, realizing that the joke hit a little too close to home only when it was already out of his mouth.
"Oh, you're a matchmaker, are you?"
"Maybe I am."
Joshua sat back in the chair next to Harris's and surveyed the room. He looked very pleased with himself, perhaps primarily because he'd managed to draw Harris out of his bad mood. "All right," he said. "Pick somebody out, then."
Harris's heart practically stopped. Here Joshua was, asking him to actually do his job, and Harris wanted to do nothing of the kind. He didn't even know why the idea made him feel like his blood had frozen in his veins, but it did. In that moment there was nothing Harris wanted less than for Joshua to leave his side, even for a moment. Still, he looked around. His eyes settled on a young man called Hugo, an old school friend of Mary's that Harris had briefly considered as having the potential to be something more. He was the kind of boy Joshua would normally have no time for, but given the chance they might find they had complementing personalities. Harris pointed. "Him."
Joshua looked skeptical, but then he shrugged and made his way over, striking up a conversation with Hugo with all the ease he had lacked with the girl in the café.
This was exactly what Harris was supposed to want. He felt sick to his stomach.
Joshua talked to Hugo for a good while, bid him what looked like a reasonably fond farewell, and returned to Harris. He flopped down in the chair next to him, legs spread wide, posture terrible, and let out a long breath. "Well, he's a prat, isn't he? He ain't so bad after a few icebreakers, though, and I guess even posh wankers deserve to find true love. All right-" Joshua sounded as if he was making a great concession- "who do you like for him?"
Harris kept still as a wave of relief so strong it made him dizzy washed over him. Joshua thought they were playing a game, and hadn't for a second considered Hugo as a potential partner. Given that reception, Harris could hardly say now that he had meant that Joshua might like him. It would ruin his credibility and quickly shut the window he had opened for himself as someone interested in such things. Better to take this slowly and let Joshua open up to him on the subject in time. Better to play this off for now. Harris scanned the crowd for someone, anyone, and out of the corner of his eye he noticed Joshua doing the same.
"Fuck," Joshua said, going still.
"What is it?"
"That guy." He nodded to another school friend of Mary's- Ethan Morton was his name, and Harris had definitely never considered him as having the potential to be something more. He was her friend because he was the kind of person no one wanted to alienate and yet never actually liked. Joshua did not sound happy. "I know him."
Harris blinked, momentarily so awed by the proverbial smallness of the world that he didn't really think about what he was saying. "In what capacity?"
"He was a- a customer."
Harris had not thought about the things Joshua used to do in some time, since most had ceased even before his stepfather was out of the picture and were now very much a thing of the past. But now it was coming into play again. Given the look on Joshua's face and the way he held himself when Morton leered and walked over, it was in Joshua's capacity as a rent boy that he had known Morton, and it was not a relationship Joshua had any desire to renew.
Morton took them both in with a look that suggested he had a very clear idea of how they knew each other, what Joshua was doing here with a man so much older than he was, and so very dull. Harris saw it in Joshua's face when he realized the same things. He went very pale and hung his head.
"Well, well, well," Morton said when he got close. "Look who's gone up in the world."
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