When Wolfgang gets to the rendezvous —after the exchange, after Lila’s setup—, the first thing he becomes aware of as his feet touch the ground is the strong arms wrapping around him in a hug. Lito squeezes him tightly and Wolfgang freezes, unsure of what to do next. The last person who hugged him was Felix, but Felix was a known entity in Wolfgang’s life, someone whose life was so intertwined with Wolfgang’s that separating them would be akin to torture.
Lito is definitely not Felix.
For starters, Lito is almost 200 pounds of muscle wrapped in a soft, wool sweater that seems awfully inappropriate for the slightly warm night. Lito’s breath is warm against his cheek as he mumbles something about being right about their plan, his hands are big and strong as they hold him and Wolfgang thinks he doesn’t deserve any of that.
Noticing Wolfgang’s reluctance, Lito pulls back, keeping his hands on Wolfgang’s shoulders to look at him.
“What’s wrong?” he asks.
“Nothing, it’s just…” Wolfgang’s eyes drift away, noticing Dani and Hernando in the background, expectantly looking at Lito and Wolfgang’s reunion.
“I’m so relieved– we’re so relieved that you’re free,” he says, using his arm to gesture at the members of his cluster who have arrived at the rendezvous.
Unsure about what to say, he just shrugs and Lito frowns. “Come on, Wolfgang, what is it?”
But he doesn’t know how to explain that he’s still wrapping his head about the fact that all these people worked together to save him. He’s no one, a nobody from Berlin that, for the longest time, only had one person care for him.
Sensing where his discomfort comes from, Lito says, “nonsense! You’re family!”
Then he hugs him again and kisses the top of his head in an intimate gesture that he wouldn’t have expected from the man, yet it was so Lito that it made his heart ache.
“Don’t hoard him!” he hears Riley say just a moment before Lito pulls back, Riley taking his place seamlessly. “Oh, Wolfgang, you have no idea how much I’ve missed having you around.”
Wolfgang wonders what she could possibly mean. Of the entire cluster, Riley and Wolfgang are a pair who have never been that close, but her delicate embrace feels familiar and right in ways he cannot explain with words. He finds himself hugging her back and resting his chin on the top of her head.
“Man, that was definitely something,” Will says, walking to him as soon as he gets out of the van. Riley not so subtly pushes Wolfgang in the general direction of Will’s open arms and Will hugs him hard. He feels the tension drain out of Will’s body as he briefly lets go of Wolfgang to inspect his face.
“The whole thing couldn’t go on without you, man. You can’t get out of it that easily,” he teases, but there’s a hint of worry underneath his assessing gaze.
“I’m fine,” Wolfgang reassures him, mostly so he’ll turn his concern somewhere else.
“We’ll see.” Will’s eyebrows furrow but he doesn’t say anything.
“Aww,” Riley says from his other side, wrapping her arms around both men.
The door on the driver’s side of the van slams shut and Capheus turns to them, a bright smile on his face. He cheers and yells “group hug!”
Capheus’ strong arms go around Riley and Wolfgang, his happy laugh rings in Wolfgang’s ears, and when Lito comes up from his back to hug him, Wolfgang feels so full of joy that he chokes up. He swallows a pitiful sob and rejoices in the warmth of his cluster.
They hug for a long time, shaken by the reunion and only let go when they hear a car coming up the road to the rendezvous. The house Rajan set up for them is up a very narrow road and there are no neighbors in the proximity, so that car could be the one Kala is in. He cranes his neck up to see better, but it’s difficult when dawn is still an hour or so again. All Wolfgang sees are the lights of the car slowly inching its way upwards.
He doesn’t have to wonder who’s in that car when Nomi visits next to them and tells them, “this van is a nightmare.”
Wolfgang briefly shares from her point of view and watches as Amanita struggles with the van controls, tightly gripping at the wheel, Nomi holding onto the dashboard with all of her strength.
Back in his own body, Wolfgang huffs a laugh. Riley, still holding onto his arm, looks up at him. “You’re looking so much better already. Just wait until we get some wine in you.”
Shaking his head, he adds “I’ll have a beer.”
Riley lets go of him and Wolfgang immediately starts missing his cluster’s warmth. In the background, Rajan and Hernando have hauled some bread and cheese from the kitchen. Further back, Wolfgang spots Dani with two bottles of wine.
Finally, Nomi and Amanita arrive in the van that contains their tech equipment, coming to a halt with a screech that doesn’t sound good in the slightest. Nomi opens the door and jumps out with a whispered “honey, I love you, but what the fuck was that?”
Amanita starts defending her driving, when Nomi notices him looking in her direction.
“Wolfgang.”
“Huh?” Amanita asks, looking for her girlfriend’s gaze, then following it to him. Her eyes soften when she looks at him. “Wolfgang. Hi.”
Unsure of what to say, he ends up nodding in her direction to acknowledge her. After a moment, she adds “is that it? Not even ‘thanks’.”
Nomi turns to her girlfriend at that. “He doesn’t say much.”
At the same time, Wolfgang adds “thank you. Both of you.”
Amanita gets out of the car and walks up to him. Out of the corner of his eye, Nomi closes her own door and comes over as well. Amanita gives him a quick, one-armed hug, then softly slaps his right cheek. “Thank me with something stronger. Preferably of the hallucinogenic kind. I hear that’s all the rage in Europe.”
Then she walks into the house, leaving Wolfgang looking after her with a raised eyebrow. He turns to see Nomi within hugging distance, but not taking the plunge yet.
“She’s mostly joking,” Nomi says.
“I’m not joking, by the way,” they hear from inside the house.
Wolfgang shrugs. “If she wants to get high, we’ll get her high. Maybe we wait until nobody is plotting to kill us.”
“That seems like an excellent idea,” Nomi says, slightly rocking on her heels.
After a moment of silence, Wolfgang decides to end the current of anxiety she’s broadcasting into their bond. “So, do we hug or—?”
Nomi takes a step towards him, then collapses in his arms. “This has been so goddamn awful, Wolfgang.”
Wolfgang holds her tight and she returns his hug just as fiercely. “Thank you for all you’ve done for me.”
“I’d do it again,” she adds, firmly.
“I know.”
“Let’s not do it again though.” Nomi takes a deep breath and pulls back. “It’s nice to have you back.”
“It’s good to be back,” he reassures.
Nomi follows her girlfriend not long after that and Wolfgang goes to sit at the tables the guys have set outside. He ends up sitting next to Hernando and Dani, who have a long list of questions about his connection to Lito for him. Wolfgang is answering vaguely, unsure if Lito wants him to share any details, but Dani and Hernando are eating up every single detail. She opens up a bottle of red and pours a glass for Wolfgang, who rushes in to say he’d prefer a beer when Dani says “we’re celebrating! It’s just a glass, anyway!”
Two and a half glasses later, just as the sky is turning gray with the break of dawn, they hear another car down the road. The calm presence that approaches the house tells Wolfgang that Sun is coming in that car.
“Don’t look so disappointed,” Sun says, visiting next to him.
“I’m not.”
“It’ll be fine,” she says.
At that, all the sensates’ heads turn to Wolfgang, pulled by Wolfgang’s conflicting emotions.
“What happened?” asks Rajan from his place at the table.
Nomi turns back to Amanita first, then Riley looks at Rajan and smiles. “Wolfgang is chatting with Sun.”
Rajan looks around, unsure. “But—”
“Sun is visiting,” Will clarifies.
Everyone gets back to their own conversations while Sun pulls Wolfgang into the car she’s in. “How do you know?” Wolfgang asks.
“Hmmm?”
“That things will be fine,” he pushes. “Kala’s husband is sitting two seats away from me.”
“So?”
Wolfgang sits back, letting the car take his thoughts back to his body. Sun allows it, changing the topic by answering Mun’s questions about visiting and sharing. Wolfgang lets the chatter distract him until the car pulls up at the house. He jolts back into his body when Sun gets out of the car and walks to him. She hugs him briefly, but her fingers caress his cheek leaving a trail of warmth that most people would not associate with Sun.
He shakes Mun’s hand and nods along to a couple of his questions, but Sun pulls him away to a seat farther away where they settle down whispering in Korean to each other. Wolfgang wonders if Mun knows most of them understand what they’re saying or not, but doesn’t voice his thoughts out loud.
Birds sing in the background as the sun slowly climbs up the sky when Wolfgang notices Riley staring blankly into space in the corner. She blinks back into her body and looks in Wolfgang’s direction. She continues talking to Will and Capheus, but visits next to him and says “she’s almost here.”
Wolfgang nods and sits on the table, snacking on some bread until he feels Kala’s nerves ramp up as she gets closer to the house. He doesn’t know what he is supposed to do with Kala’s husband right there. Wolfgang isn’t allowed to make a move. Yet he wants to know what it will feel to be wrapped in Kala’s arms when she’s not in his head, but right here, in the flesh.
He stands up, glass in hand, and grabs a bottle of wine from the table in front of them. Wolfgang walks in Rajan’s direction where the man paces around glancing at his watch every once in a while.
“They’ll be here soon,” Wolfgang says, pouring some wine for Rajan.
Rajan nods, looking into the distance, then back into his glass. Wolfgang’s stomach tightens. He knows that whatever he says now won’t be enough, that there’s no way he can convey how grateful he is. Still, he tries.
“Rajan.” The man looks up, his beautiful brown eyes focused completely on Wolfgang. There’s a fire at the pit of his stomach that he can’t explain, so he doesn’t even try. If he looks down at Rajan’s mouth as he speaks, Wolfgang is quick to avert his eyes to hide his want. “Most men wouldn’t have done what you did for me.”
“I did what I could,” Rajan replies, quietly.
“I’ll never forget it,” Wolfgang says, keeping his eyes on Rajan’s.
Rajan smiles, still a bit unsure, his face is soft edges and light. Wolfgang can see how Kala could fall for him. They toast and Wolfgang takes a big gulp to hide the thoughts that must be plain on his face.
A car slows down as it comes up the road.
“Here they come,” Rajan says.
Wolfgang takes another drink, then leaves his glass and the bottle on the table, watching the car. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Kala’s distress makes him tense up.
After a moment, Kala gets out of the car and walks to Rajan, kissing him. Wolfgang’s stomach twists: not jealousy but anticipation, aware that Kala is finally within reach. He watches as Kala talks to Rajan, her eyes bright, then she hugs him tightly.
For a second, Wolfgang watches, frozen, as Kala and Rajan hug. Then Kala walks towards him, her hand reaching out, and Wolfgang takes a hesitant step. Their fingers touch and sparks light up his nerve endings. He is there as Wolfgang and Kala at the same time, his sense of self dissolving under the fire Kala ignited in his veins.
Their kiss is impossible to prevent. Wolfgang has never kissed someone and felt the world light up around him, he’s never felt a pull so strong that shakes him to his core. Kissing Kala is real in a way other kisses haven’t been before. He suddenly understands how people can believe in God.
Kala’s hand slides to the back of his neck as they come up for air, keeping their foreheads together as they joyfully breathe the other in. Kala jumps, wrapping her legs around Wolfgang’s and he is so elated that all he’s able to do is hug her tight before burying his nose in the crook of her neck.
Visiting, the rest of the cluster gather around them, coming up from all sides to wrap him in a group hug. Wolfgang closes his eyes, letting the warmth of his cluster carry his weight for a while as the early morning sun warms up his skin.
It’s the safest he’s felt in years.