The Halo Effect

Noel pushes himself up before he can think better of it. "That's too—ugh—" he breaks off, wincing as pain lances through his body. Then a large hand seizes him by the shoulder and shoves him back against the pillows. Blinking his eyes open, Noel finds himself staring up at Jade's looming face.

"Stop moving," he scolds, practically sneering. "Are you stupid?"

"Why do I need to live with you?" Noel demands, wiggling in an attempt to dislodge Jade's hand.

It doesn't work and Jade just clamps down harder. "So I can keep an eye on you," he says without a hint of shame. "I don't trust that you're not going to go running off somewhere, or crawl back home to your daddy to hide from me."

"I wouldn't—!"

"This isn't a negotiation," Jade mocks, leaning down until their noses are nearly brushing. "I'm not asking, I'm telling you. You'll be staying with me."

"And what if I refuse?" Noel asks, trying not to let Jade's proximity shake his voice too much. He can feel his heart thudding in his chest. "What if I won't guide you under that condition?"

"Then I'll tell everyone about you. It's not like I'd have anything to lose at that point."

Noel grits his teeth. "Living with you conflicts with my condition to keep things normal."

"We don't have to tell anyone." Jade eases back slightly, enough to let Noel take a full breath. "You won't be staying here, it'll be at my own apartment in the city. You can even keep your own lease if you want, but you'd just be paying rent for nothing."

"My cats," Noel protests weakly.

"I don't mind cats."

"This is ridiculous! We barely know each other!"

"It's not like we're getting married," Jade says disdainfully. "This is my condition. Take it or leave it."

Noel glares at him for a moment, mind spinning. "Fine," he concedes at length. "As long as you follow all of my conditions as well. The instant you break one, I'm gone."

Looking smug, Jade leans all the way back. "Good. Glad we cleared that up."

A wave of exhaustion hits Noel like a wall and he lifts one hand to rub his forehead.

"Go back to sleep," Jade orders tonelessly, pushing himself to his feet. "You'll have a lot to do when you wake up."

Noel wants to say something cutting, but before he can think of anything, darkness washes over him and he sinks.

----------

Noel knocks on the door to Dr. Summers's lab but doesn't wait for a response before pushing inside.

She immediately drops the folder in her hand and hurries around her desk. "Guide Arden! I'm so glad to see you—are you already back at work?"

"No, I have some other stuff to take care of first," Noel says shortly. "I just stopped by on my way out."

Grimacing, she indicates for him to come in and unceremoniously shoves a stack of paperwork off of the chair opposite her desk. "Sit down—uh, I meant to come talk to you while you were still—" she points upward to indicate Jade's penthouse, "—but Jade was being a little bitch."

"Isn't he always?"

"Wow, it's like you've known him all his life."

Noel sits down in the chair, relieved to be seated again. Even the walk down here was taxing. "I assume he told you about our deal."

Dr. Summers nods, leaning back against the edge of her desk. "Yes, and thank you so much for agreeing to this. You really can't know how difficult it's been for everyone involved, especially Jade, but also me, because I'm the one who ends up having to deal with his meltdowns."

"How have you managed it in the past?"

"Well, Jade has never really gotten quite that close before," she admits, linking her hands in front of her. "He's been over threshold before and usually manages to keep a lid on it. The few times he has nearly lost it, we've just had to guide him by brute force. It's painful for both him and the guide, but it's better than dying."

Noel picks at his thumbnail absently. "Right. Better than dying."

"That's why we're so happy you're here now, Guide Arden," she continues brightly. "Any amount of guidance you can give him is better than what he would receive from the other guides here." She smiles. "So what can I do for you today? Do you have any questions?"

"I need to tell you something."

She blinks. Noel struggles to hold her gaze, his eyes dropping down to his lap and then back up as his stomach twists.

"That sounds serious," she says.

"It is. It's about—" Noel takes a deep breath. Reminds himself he doesn't have a choice. If he's going to do this, he'll need help. Dr. Summers would likely just find out on her own at some point anyway. "It's about my guiding ability."

Her brows knit together. "Is everything okay?"

"Yes. No. Look—" Noel shifts in his seat. "I'm…a very low level guide," he starts, meeting her guarded gaze. "I really am only D-class in terms of power. I've been tested multiple times, and that's indisputable. Despite having such a high sync rate with Jade, there's no way I'd be able to make a dent in his corruption under normal circumstances."

She frowns but remains silent, expecting him to go on.

His heart trembles in his chest. "The reason…the reason that I'm able to guide Jade at all is because…because I'm—" he steels himself. "I'm a transferral guide."

She stares at him.

"I was transferring his corruption as I guided him," Noel continues, voice shaking. "That's why I passed out both times, and why so much disappeared at once."

Dr. Summers doesn't say anything. After a beat of silent staring, she straightens up, rounds her desk, and sits back down in her rolling chair. Another second passes. Then she steeples her fingers in front of her and says, "Fuck."

Noel spreads his hands helplessly.

"Are you sure about this?"

"I was tested as a child."

"A D-class transferral guide?" Dr. Summers asks incredulously. "That shouldn't be possible."

"I'm telling you, it is, because I am one."

"I did think it was a bit odd how much you were able to purify—I speculated that your class must have been higher than any of us assumed, but…." With a choked scoff, she slumps back in her chair, making it creak. "Well." She rubs her forehead. "I've gotta be honest with you, Guide Arden, that's not ideal."

Noel huffs. "Tell me about it."

"Since you're so low level, you can't efficiently purify the corruption you absorb, so it will just stay inside of you and get worse."

"That's the gist of it. You see why I don't do it normally. That first time with Jade…it was an emergency. We were dead either way."

"And then in the basement—" Dr. Summers cuts off on a groan. "That's why you were so scared! I thought you were worried it wouldn't work." She regards him with open disbelief. "It's no wonder you were so resistant to becoming his guide. You'd basically be signing your own death sentence."

Noel cringes. "It's more that I was afraid my secret would get out, and then—"

"And then Halo would dissect you or something," she says flippantly. Then she jerks upright. "But wait, Jade said you agreed to be his guide! You actually agreed, even knowing that—"

"I made him promise to keep looking for another guide," Noel cuts in. "If this is just…temporary, then I might be able to handle it, as long as I don't have to guide him too often. A few big chunks of corruption should be enough to tide him over for a while, right?"

"Does Jade know—"

"No," Noel insists. "And he can't know. He's too close to the top, and he has no reason to keep my secret. And it's not like it would…change my decision anyway."

"Then why tell me?"

"Because I trust you more than I trust him, and if I'm going to keep this a secret, then I'll need help."

"What kind of help?" she asks, curiosity winning over suspicion.

"If I—pass out after every guiding session, Jade is going to get suspicious. Even a large level difference shouldn't affect someone that badly, especially not with our sync rate. I'll need your help to cover stuff like that, and come up with some bullshit justification as to why I can't guide him very often. If I feed him some nonsense, he won't believe me, but coming from a scientist—"

"I wouldn't say that Jade respects what I say or anything, but I get what you mean." She purses her lips. "Essentially, you want me to help you hide your transference from one of the most powerful espers in the world?"

Noel offers her a pained smile.

She sighs. "Not like I have much choice." Thrusting her hand over the desk, she fixes Noel with a solemn stare. "I look forward to working with you to keep the number one esper in the country from exploding."

Accepting the handshake, Noel lets his smile soften slightly. "Likewise."