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"Felix."
Felix didn't react. He paced the length of the small basement room with several quick, long steps, hit the opposite wall with his gloved hands and then bounced back, pacing the other way.
"Felix, calm down," Jake tried again. He raised his hand to intercept Felix on his next round through the room, but Felix side-stepped him, getting more and more agitated.
"Felix, stop!" This time Jake's hand made contact with Felix.
Felix blinked, his eyes wide. He looked down at Jake's hand on his chest, swaying a little like he wanted to keep moving.
"Just calm down, okay?" Jake said. "After having been stuck in a different universe for two weeks, I didn't think five minutes in a basement would be such a problem."
Felix made a pained noise and stepped back, starting another circuit around the room.
Jack sighed and leaned back against the wall. This new, non-verbal Felix was freaking him out a little, but due to his tendency to start earthquakes when he was upset or freaked out, Jake couldn't afford to have Felix' mood affect him. He tried to adopt an attitude of complete zen, but Felix wasn't making it easy.
I am a rock - unshakable, unbreakable, and completely calm, Jake repeated in his mind. I'm calm. Calm.
It worked. Well enough anyway.
Felix' pacing was enough to make anyone giddy, and it didn't take long until Jake couldn't handle it any longer. "Felix!" he snapped. "Will you stop pacing and sit the fuck down or whatever!"
"I can't," Felix said, sounding out of breath even though he'd just been walking around a two by two meter room.
"Why not?"
"I'm claustrophobic," Felix admitted. He swayed from foot to foot in an effort to stop pacing, his arms hanging down at his sides. His fingers were moving as if he was playing an invisible piano and his chest was rising quicker and quicker.
"All right, calm down," Jake said, making sure to speak as calmly as he could. If he didn't do something fast, Felix would end up having a panic attack or pass out or something. He kicked off from the wall and slowly closed the distance between them.
Felix' eyes darted around the room like he was looking for escape routes.
"It's okay," Jake said. "We're in Sam's house. As soon as he's finished with his sandwiches, he'll notice we're not back and he'll come looking. Five more minutes, tops. You know Sam - he inhales his food quicker than an alley cat gulps down a free meal."
There was no witty comeback, just Felix breathing harshly through his nose.
Oh, this is so not good, Jake thought, taking another step closer until he was standing in front of Felix. Jake frowned. The basement was all bare concrete walls and stacks of boxes. It was cool in a way was refreshing at first, but started to feel downright cold the longer you stayed down there. But he wasn't feeling cold. In fact, a bead of sweat was slowly running down his temple.
Jake wiped it away and hesitantly reached out for Felix.
They were - Jake wasn't sure what they were, exactly. Not boyfriends, but not just friends either. They were taking it slow, stealing kisses and caresses when nobody was looking. Sam and Andy knew something was up - the surreptitious hand-holding when it was just the four of them kind of gave it away - but he and Felix didn't discuss it and apart from a few pointed looks, the others hadn't mentioned it. But whatever they were, Jake never hesitated to reach for Felix, to use his touch to ground himself.
The moment Jake's hand made contact with Felix' bare arm, they both flinched - Felix because he was in panic-mode and slightly jumpy and Jake because Felix' skin was burning hot.
Not good at all.
"Felix," Jake said urgently. "You have to calm down, Felix, please! You're burning up - if you keep going, you'll set yourself on fire." Or me, Jake thought with horror.
"I-I can't!" Felix said. "I'm not doing it on purpose."
"Well, try anyway!"
Felix' breath was coming in short bursts and he stumbled back, away from Jake. "I can't stop it!" he said. "The walls are too close and I can't breathe and--and--and--"
Felix held his hands to his chest, clutching at the fabric of his t-shirt. Steam was curling up into the air and the air around Felix started to shimmer and blur like it did on hot summer days. Jake could feel the heat even from two meters away. Tiny sparks, like embers of a fire, started to flicker into being in front of Felix, sinking to the ground where they fizzled out on the concrete floor.
"Shit," Jake muttered. "What do I do? It's not like I can use your method of calming someone down - it would burn my lips right off!"
Felix huffed out a laugh that quickly turned from genuine to hysterical.
Jake was just starting to panic when the door opened and Sam stuck his head in. "There you are! What did you close the door for? This is the one with the broken lock - you can't open it from the inside."
"We noticed," Jake said. "Sam, step away from the door."
"What?" Sam asked.
"Now," Jake said, "unless you want to get second degree burns from Felix."
Sam disappeared from Jake's view as Felix rushed out of the door and up the stairs. When Jake stepped through the door, he discovered Sam on his backside, like he'd toppled over in his haste to avoid being barbecued.
"What the hell happened?"
"The door closed on us." Jake shrugged. "Felix is claustrophobic."
Sam nodded. He let Jake pull him to his feet. "Claustrophobia... that's the one with the--?"
"Small spaces," Jake said. "He freaked, powered up and then couldn't turn it off." He shot a concerned glance in the direction Felix had disappeared in. "Look, why don't you get the maps and stuff and we'll meet you at Andy's?"
Sam agreed and Jake jogged up the stairs. The front door was closer, and he figured Felix had taken the closest exit he could find. Anything to be outside where there were no walls keeping him in. Jake made a quick detour to the living room to grab Felix' bag and then headed out the front door, making his way down the street when he couldn't see Felix anywhere in the front garden.
He had a feeling he knew where Felix was headed, and a couple of minutes later when he pushed through the underbrush and stepped into the woods, he found Felix sitting on the ground with his back to a tree. The same tree that Jake himself had nearly uprooted weeks before, showing an impressive loss of control.
"Do you ever think it's weird?" Felix asked without looking up. "Two months ago, you only knew who I was when you needed a break from making Mike cry, and now you know me well enough to predict where I'm going before even I know."
"Not really." Jake shrugged. "I know Andy and Sam better now, too. We've been spending more time together. It's not weird."
Felix hummed. "I suppose. But it is weird that I think of this as a safe space."
It wasn't a question, but Jake answered it anyway. "Maybe it's a little weird," he said, "but it is a safe space. You don't have to worry about me. I have a lot more control now," he added, waving his hand to the side. A clump of earth shook loose from a root poking up through the ground and started going in a small circle, spinning and dancing in the non-existent wind.
"I, apparently, do not," Felix said, sounding annoyed with himself.
"That could have happened to anyone. It did, in fact, happen to me once. You don't need to be perfect at everything," Jake reminded him. "In fact, I'm pretty sure you suck at a lot of things. Like throwing a ball."
Felix fought against the laugh, but it came out anyway. "Shut up," he mumbled.
"You always say that when I'm right."
"Or when I want you to shut up."
Jake made a 'believe what you want' noise. "I sent Sam over to Andy's place without us, but we should probably catch up to him and get started." He held out his hand.
Felix sighed but took his hand, brushing the dirt from his jeans once he was standing up.
Jake turned to leave when he felt Felix' hand on his shoulder, his fingers working under the strap of his bag.
"Thanks for bringing my bag," Felix said, but the seriousness in his eyes thanked Jake for more than that. He leaned in and brushed a soft, careful kiss over Jake's lips, transferring the bag from Jake's shoulder to his own at the same time.
When Felix pulled back, Jack followed, capturing Felix' mouth in another kiss. They were alone now, nobody to see them but the trees, and Jake wanted more than a small peck.
"This okay?" he asked when they broke apart, aware that he was doing things kinda backwards.
Felix nodded, strands of his long loose hair tickling Jake's cheeks. He pressed his lips to Jake's cheek, then the corner of his mouth and his lips again. "Very okay," Felix said. "But we don't have time," he added with a mournful sigh.
"Later then," Jake suggested.
Felix grinned. "Definitely later," he agreed.