“I'm not going to ask this again so –” Satara looked up from the needle point embedded in the candle flame. “– are you sure you want to do this?”

“Yeah.” Jason grinned at her. Sweat gathered along his hairline despite the icepack pressed to his left ear. “Of course.”

He's not sure any more. She twirled the needle and removed it from the fire. “Why?”

“Dunno. 'Coz it's cool?” He shrugged but his eyes widened as she approached him.

“You want me to stick a sharp bit of metal through your ear because it's cool?” She sat down on the bed beside him and pressed her thumbnail against his ear lobe, pinning it against the icepack. He hummed in agreement but didn't react, his skin cold beneath the pad of her thumb. Is it cold enough? “I guess it's okay. If you're sure that's what you want.”

“What're you doing?” he asked as soon as she fiddled with the cooling block.

“You need to freeze both sides,” she said.

She shifted it to the front of his ear and blocked his view of her other hand.

“Oh. For how long – Ow?” Jason jumped and looked sideways at her. “Did you just –?”

“Don't touch it,” she hissed, releasing the icepack and grabbing his sleeve. She reached for the thick, square shaped emerald stud on his bedside drawer. “It'll fall out.”

“That – that didn't really hurt, you know?” He blinked away reflex tears and laughed without warning. “You just poked a hole in my ear and it didn't –”

She removed the pin and pushed the stud into his ear at the same time, pressing a butterfly shaped fastening onto the back of it just as fast.

“– Oh my god, Tara!” She let him clap a hand to his red ear lobe but held onto his wrist to control the damage. “Why'd you keep doing that?”

“You would've freaked out otherwise,” she said and handed him his mum's make up mirror. “Trust me.”

“Obviously I already do.” His face seemed exceptionally pale against the vibrant shade of his ear and hair. Too pale. He traced the stone set into his flesh with quivering fingers. “Otherwise I would've punched you the first time you didn't give me a heads up.”

She snorted under her breath. “You would've tried.”

“I would've succeed –” His declaration wavered and he fell silent.

She barely managed to catch both the mirror and his upper body as he passed out.

“No, you wouldn't,” she muttered, putting the mirror aside.

She laid him out on his bed in the recovery position she learned during a junior First Aid course and shook her head as she waited for him to wake up again.